Rick Rawlings

No. 24 Sqn,

November 1916

Bertangles Aerodrome



My promotion to full Lieutenant came through the other day, close on the heels of my tenth air victory. More importantly, the promotion came with two weeks of leave. Lately, it has all been Halberstadts and Albatroses, which means that every fight is a near thing, no matter what our initial advantage may be, and my nerves are shot. There are few of the men left from when I joined, having lost Garfield on the attack on Bertincourt


and Rogers was killed while I was recuperating from when an Albatros scout rammed my plane...


Fortunately, the last flight we took on was of Fokker biplanes, which are not as dangerous and I was able to bring one down.


The Major, if course, is still a source of inspiration for us, but I wonder if even he is getting discouraged? It is a sobering thought to remember that with these new German scouts, however many rounds you send after them, twice as many will come back you way...


The older I get, the more I realize I don't need to be Han, Luke or Leia. I'm just happy to be rebel scum...