The ship continued to explode from the fuel they had on board, and the scene on the shore was one of organized chaos. Ambulances were coming and going, rescue boats were circling. Rescuers and severely injured men and dead bodies were in the water. The rescuers worked steadily until dawn as best they could to save any survivors. There weren’t many. In the end, three hundred and ninety souls were saved. Fourteen hundred men had died. The ship sank before the sun came up, and steam continued to rise from it for hours. The rescuers were filthy and exhausted when it was over, and the hospital on the base was bursting at the seams. Their fleet of C-47s had to be used to transport hundreds of wounded to other bases and hospitals. Lizzie flew a hundred of them in four trips to the hospitals equipped to take them, and she lost several patients before they got there. Many were burned beyond recognition.

She saw Ed at the main mess hall for the base when she and her crew went there for something to eat when they were finished. It had been a hard night’s work and a tragedy of epic proportions, and a huge victory for the German air force. They had sunk two ships that night, and there had been only eighty-four survivors from the ship they sank en route to Southampton. The rescue crews were tired and angry over the merciless murder of so many men. Ed and Bertie, Reggie’s copilot, came to sit at her table when they saw her, and Pru joined them a little while later.

“Are you okay?” Ed asked Lizzie, and she nodded. Disheartened and sad, she kept thinking of the parents who would receive visits that day from officers, and telegrams for those of lesser rank, and all the broken hearts over their lost sons. She understood it only too well now.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Ed said with a savage look.

“I hope I never do again,” Bertie muttered under his breath. It was war at its worst and most cruel.

They all had the afternoon off. They were too tired to fly any more missions, and couldn’t get to the men at the front that day. The nurses sat in small groups talking about it, and all had double shifts at the hospital. Lizzie volunteered to help them. Ed went back to his barracks to sleep for a few hours. They were all exhausted.