‘Get down!’ Philip shouted at her above the noise, grabbing her arm roughly and pulling her down again.

‘But Mavis – and Isobel – they’re in there. I know they are.’

Philip got up and pushed his way out of the trench. In an instant, Kate was right behind him.

‘Stay there,’ he commanded.

‘No – I’m coming too . . .’

‘Hilton – that’s an order.’

Kate hesitated. It was a serious matter to disobey a direct order from her CO. Philip had turned away and began to run across the stretch of grass between the shelter and the control tower. Fire crews and medics were already running in the same direction. She saw Philip raise his arm to direct a crew towards the tower, one corner of which was badly damaged. Another enemy plane swooped low, aiming its nose directly at Philip as he ran. In his urgency to reach the control tower personnel, it was clear he had not even noticed the plane coming directly for him.

Kate screamed at him, ‘Philip – look out!’ but above the noise and confusion, she knew he could not hear her. She was up and out of the shelter and running after him before she knew what she was doing. The plane, directly in front of him, was coming closer, but the space between herself and Philip was narrowing too. She saw him glance up, see the aircraft, realize that its blazing guns were heading straight for him. He slowed his pace and hesitated, staring up at the plane. In that split second, Kate reached him, grasped his arm and pulled him a yard to the right. They fell to the ground together as the hail of bullets spattered the ground, pitting the earth exactly where he had been standing.

They lay there panting.

‘I thought I told you – to – stay there,’ he gasped, lying flat on his back.

Kate raised her head to look at him, disbelief on her face.

He got up and held out his hand to haul her to her feet. ‘Looks like they’re clearing off now. Out of ammo, I expect,’ he said grimly.

He stood there for a brief moment amidst all the chaos, still holding her hand, looking down into her eyes. ‘Kate Hilton,’ he said softly, his voice a caress now, ‘are you going to make a habit of saving my life?’ Then he squeezed her hand. ‘Come on, we’d better find your friends . . .’

The bomb had fallen on one corner of the control tower, demolishing the Signals Room and, below it, the Met Office. There could easily have been as many as five people in the two rooms at the time, Kate knew. The Control Room, where Mavis and Isobel worked, looked, at first glance, comparatively unscathed, although the glass observation room on the roof was completely shattered and fragments were scattered everywhere.