The Spitfire Girls(77)
‘Thank you,’ May said when they eventually landed, pulling Polly in and holding her tight in a long hug. ‘You handled that exceptionally well. I’m so proud of you.’
‘I had precious cargo to protect,’ Polly said stoically, and May saw herself in the young woman.
‘You’re an amazing young pilot, Polly,’ she said honestly. ‘And I’d already made this decision before you saved my life, in case you were wondering, but would you like to be considered for conversion to fly the four-engine bombers? You’re more than capable of being charged with a Halifax flight now.’
Polly looked like she was going to faint. Either that or she was going to scream. ‘Yes! I would love to do that.’
‘Consider your application approved then. You’ll receive your orders as soon as I have all the paperwork completed.’
Polly’s smile said it all, and May prepared to exit the aircraft. But then she had a thought. ‘Can I ask how you knew to fly high and when to drop through that cloud? I don’t know if you just have incredible instincts or whether there was something else at play.’
‘I’m used to navigating that particular airspace, and I suppose I’m good at trusting myself.’
‘Well, you were great out there, Polly. I couldn’t have flown better myself.’
When they stepped out and the rest of the women joined them, May whistled for everyone’s attention. ‘Ladies, listen, please!’
Their chatter turned to murmurs and then silence.
‘I’d like you all to give our pilot a round of applause.’ May began to clap, and the others all joined in. ‘While you lovely ladies were back there snoozing and knitting, Polly here was navigating our plane away from an enemy aircraft. We’re all very lucky to be alive.’
The clapping stopped, and every single woman stared in stunned silence.
‘It was my worst nightmare come true, and then some,’ Polly said. ‘Sorry for dropping the plane so suddenly back there.’
‘Are you crazy?’ exclaimed Ruby. ‘You saved us all!’
Polly smiled, a little bashful. ‘I’ll be flying straight back in the morning, as soon as visibility is better. And then I’ll bring anyone back who needs a lift from Colerne.’
May left them all to talk and headed back towards her desk. After almost thirty-six hours away from base, there would be a lot for her to attend to, even though what she really longed to do was find Ben and throw her arms around him. After that near miss, she craved his reassuring touch; for a moment there she’d thought her poor mother was going to lose her other child, too.
She stopped as one of the administration staff raced towards her.
‘Commander, we’ve received bad news.’ Andrea, one of their few office workers, was wringing her hands together.
May wasn’t sure she could cope with anything else today; already, she was fearing the worst.
‘What is it?’ she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
‘Only one more pilot reached Colerne after you left.’
May swallowed. ‘The rest are essentially missing then?’
Andrea nodded. ‘Yes, ma’am.’
Missing didn’t mean dead. Missing meant they simply weren’t accounted for at this exact moment. May started to shake and clasped her hands tight. ‘Thank you. Please update me the moment we hear more.’
She shouldn’t have ignored her gut. She was never wrong when she had that feeling. ‘Andrea,’ she called out, and the young woman turned. ‘Please keep this on a need-to-know basis. I don’t want any of the other pilots worrying without cause.’
It was going to be a long wait. May went inside and consulted the board, made a calculation of how many pilots she had in the air and cross-checked the pilot allocations. They’d all flown from different bases due to the new Spitfires being in different locations this time, so some of the girls had flown out directly from Hamble. She sat down to write a letter to Lizzie, not able to concentrate on anything more pressing.
Dear Lizzie,
Your letter was a welcome morale boost for us all today, and I read it aloud as we all sat waiting to fly back to base. It’s hard to explain our role to an outsider, and now that you’re in charge of so many women, you’ll realise that your life becomes an exercise in ‘what if’. As I write this I’m waiting for news, and all I can think is that I’m the one who put those women in the air, who decided when and what they were going to fly. Logically I know that the war is out of my control, as is the work that comes in from Ferry Control each night, but the feeling never goes. I sometimes wonder if the captain or commander who sent my brother into the sky felt the same degree of guilt when he never returned.
On a lighter note, I have a feeling that your next letter might paint your Captain Montgomery in a different light? Sometimes the men who infuriate us most are the ones we are most drawn to, and I could sense a spark of something between you both here, even though it probably felt like nothing more than anger and butting heads to you! He’s a good man, Lizzie, truly he is. You know, you were right about me and Ben. He’s a good man too, and I’m finally ready to admit how much I need him.
Tell me more about your logistics if you’re permitted to. I’d certainly like to hear what obstacles you’re up against and whether you need any advice on navigating such a difficult transition. The acceptance of women pilots is, for some reason, not something that comes easily.