They Spread Their Wings Read Online Free Page B

was thrusting towards Alexandria and rolling the Eighth Army back day after day. But Rommel’s lines of communication and supply were stretched thinly and in August 1942, the Eighth Army acquired a new commander: Lt Gen Bernard Montgomery. As the opposing forces reached a natural ‘funnel’ that squeezed the effective fighting front into a narrow gap between the sea in the north and the ‘depressions’ region to the south, El Alamein would become Montgomery’s ‘line in the sand’. This was where he would make his stand.
    While all this action and retreating was going on, Howard was still at Shandur trying to put in some flying hours, but there was little chance due to a shortage of aircraft and a large number of new pilots trying to fly, so he filled in time playing cricket. On 27 June three of the new boys each flew a Hurricane IID to the squadron at LG 106, but within another twenty-four hours ‘A’ Flight was ordered all the way back to join ‘B’ Flight at LG 91 Amriya. Still waiting to go into action, Howard took the opportunity to go sightseeing in Suez town, which he described as ‘pretty horrible, although the French Club was OK’.
    The ground fighting situation was now so grave that on 30 June Air HQ Egypt sent a ‘Most Immediate’ signal to all squadrons to the effect that: ‘Every available aircraft is immediately to be made serviceable, to be armed and where applicable be made ready to carry bombs. Major inspections may be ignored during the present crisis.’ The following day, ‘B’ Flight of No 6 Squadron began its withdrawal from LG 91 back to Shandur and a couple of days later, on 3 July, Howard managed to get airborne for thirty minutes in a Hurricane I, to practise low flying. He was putting in more hours swimming in the Suez Canal than he was in a Hurricane! On 4 June he had another forty minutes of low flying; on the 6th fifty-five minutes formation flying and then on the 7th, wonder upon wonders, he finally got to fly in a Hurricane IID: first forty minutes familiarisation in BD136, then thirty minutes in BD979 during which he fired the machine guns. To round off what must have felt like his best day so far, he carried out a one-hour, twenty-minute operational patrol in Hurricane Mk I, Z4350, over the Alexandria port area. Next day Howard had forty-five minutes formation flying in IID, BD979, and on 10 July he was let loose in IID, BD136, to fire its 40mm cannon on the range for thirty minutes – he was delighted with his performance, too. The main part of the squadron was still mounting operational sorties from LG 91 Amriya as part of No 239 Wing, where the squadron war diarist noted: ‘so far all is well and we are holding the Alamein Line all right. Every day we are here means we are getting safer as our defences are getting reinforcements from the 9th Army and the Australians.’ Everyone was optimistic that the Germans could be held then thrown back. Even Howard wrote: ‘the general opinion out here is that we shall be in Tripoli in six months.’ He had another sortie over the range firing the 40mm cannon in IID, BD979, on 11 July.
    With the ground situation still fluid, on 28 July the squadron was ordered to LG 89, but this strip was still in the Amriya area – one of a number of LGs in this general vicinity – and described as ‘just across the road’ from LG 91. Here the squadron, under the control of No 244 Wing, occupied the LG alongside No 7 Squadron, South African Air Force (7 SAAF), who operated Hurricane Mk Is with bombs, and it was intended that the two squadrons should co-operate in due course.
    In a letter to his parents dated 1 August, Howard told them of his couple of days’ leave in Alexandria and how it had been ‘damn nice to have a bath’. He also mentioned that the two ground crew of his aircraft came from Boston, Lincolnshire, and since Howard flew his first operational sortie in a Hurricane IID on 6 August, it seems likely he would have moved out