I Sank The Bismarck by John Moffat Read Free Book Online Page B

Lough and it had a surface of hard-packed cinders. In
winter a cold, bitter wind blew off the water, cutting through
anything that I was wearing. I was being taught to fly in an
aircraft called theMiles Magister, which was a single-engined
monoplane with two open cockpits, one for the pupil, the
other for the instructor. To start the engines we had to turn
them over, swinging the propellers by hand to circulate the
lubrication oil and forcing the petrol mixture into the
cylinders, and this could be very difficult on a cold morning
with everything covered in thick white frost.
    There was quite a lot of classroom instruction, as well as
practice take-offs and landings with the instructor. The
Magister was a modern aeroplane, having been designed in
1937 as a purpose-built trainer for the RAF, so it was a very
good plane to learn on, fun to fly and with none of the vices
common to more high-performance planes that could take the
inexperienced pilot by surprise. I learned a lot of my basic
acrobatic skills in it.
    I made good progress and thoroughly enjoyed flying. There
was something absolutely unique about the sense of freedom
that I experienced, the thrill of soaring high above the ground.
On the practice flights one could see right over Belfast to the
hills beyond. Looking down, I could see the shipyard, now
full of warships under construction, one of them a big aircraft
carrier that I was later to serve on, although at the time I had
no idea what it was.Flying is exhilarating, and I have never
lost that sense of joy I felt as the plane became airborne, kept
aloft by nothing more than the rush of air over the wings.
Other feelings could quickly take over, however, when I was
flying off a carrier on an operation. But that was to come
later; for now I couldn't wish for anything better.
    The time for my solo flight came quickly. My instructor,Flight Sergeant Jack, thought I was ready and I remember a
sense of mixed pride and nervousness as he climbed out of his
cockpit and sent me off on my own for thefirst time. I took
off to do two circuits of the aerodrome before making a final
approach and landing. As I flew around I was so happy to
have at last achieved my ambition that I could not contain my
joy and was singing the hymn 'Onward, Christian Soldiers' at
the top of my voice. I still can't believe it, but I did – I had
such a great sense of achievement. I felt that I had accomplished
more in the few months since I started my training
than in the whole of my early life.
    I also felt that deciding to join the navy had been the right
thing to do. The navy was getting some excellent publicity as
a result of some daring exploits. One of the German pocket
battleships, Admiral Graf Spee, had been tracked down and
there had been a major battle. Graf Spee had sailed for several
months around Africa, in the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans,
and had sunk nine British merchant ships, one of the most
well known being Doric Star, run by the Blue Star Line. The
German warship was finally spotted in the South Atlantic by
three British cruisers, Ajax, Achilles and Exeter, and they
opened fire. The British ships were hit, but kept up the chase
and Graf Spee sought sanctuary in the harbour at Montevideo
in Uruguay. She too had been hit and suffered damage. After
three days she was scuttled in the harbour and the crew
interned. The British ships were badly damaged and there
were severe casualties on board, but Graf Spee was better
armoured and had much more powerful guns than our
cruisers, so it was seen as a major victory, with the British
taking on a superior enemy and winning the day.
    The aftermath was even more exciting. The captain of Graf
Spee had behaved very decently, usually allowing the crews of
the merchantmen that he intercepted to man the lifeboats
before he fired on their ships. Some of them, however, had
been taken prisoner and put on to Graf Spee 's supply ship, Altmark. Some weeks after Graf Spee was scuttled, Altmark was spotted