Chapters (52)
- Cover
- Margaret Dickinson
- Dedication page
- Contents
- Part One
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Part Two
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Sow the Seed
- Note
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- Copyright page
From this distance, she could not see which was D-Doggo, but it did not stop her praying, ‘Oh, please let him come back safely – let them all come back safely . . .’
Soon they’d be flying over the coast, maybe over Fleethaven Point. Would Danny be thinking of Rosie far below, blissfully ignorant of the danger he was in, when she, Kate, knew only too well?
In the control tower, in a pool of light, the personnel on duty – Mavis and Isobel among them – began to plot the movement of the aircraft.
As the sound of the last aircraft faded into the distance, Kate felt a light touch on her shoulder and turned to see Philip’s concerned face. ‘Come on, Kate,’ he said gently. ‘We’ll go back to my office.’
She nodded. ‘I’ll drop you off and then – then I want to go back to my hut . . .’
She hesitated as she saw the pain flit across his face, and added swiftly, ‘I need my coat, but I’ll come back if – if you want me to.’
His voice was husky as he said, ‘Of course I want you to.’
She took Philip to his office, leaving the staff car parked outside, for they would need it once more in the cold light of dawn as the Lancasters struggled home. She walked out of the airfield’s main gate and across the road to the WAAF site. Inside the hut she pulled on her greatcoat, feeling suddenly cold. About to turn away, she paused and, with fingers which trembled slightly, pulled open the drawer of her locker. The whelk shell nestled against her pile of clean handkerchiefs. Hesitating only a moment, she picked it up and slipped it into the pocket of her coat. It was their talisman and during the long night ahead she was going to need it. There was nothing to do now but wait!
When the first aircraft were due back the airfield beacon was switched on. How glad the crews would be to see it flashing the signal SB; Suddaby, home and safety. As the first planes began to land, Kate and Philip were back in the Control Room. While Philip stood quietly behind the R/T operator, Kate sat in the shadows in one corner, listening and watching in fascination as the personnel worked. There was an air of deliberate calm, and yet the atmosphere crackled with tension. A WAAF began to fill in the landing times of the returning aircraft on the huge board. Kate’s glance kept coming back time and again to D-Doggo.