Trial by Fire
By Richard Townsend Bickers
August 1939. War is about to be declared in Europe. Roger Hallowes, an RAF sergeant pilot returns to the hangars with his comrades from B Squadron to see who else had returned from the latest attack.
Only one more Blenheim had come in.
Of the nine that had taken off, three had been shot down. One crashed on landing.
One captain, one second pilot and two wireless operator-air gunners had been killed in the six which had survived the battle.
The mental arithmetic Roger did to calculate his chances of surviving another half-dozen operations gave him no comfort.
Three young men, Roger and his two cousins, share the last few precious days of peace with their families and friends.
Their carefree, comfortable lives are about to be shattered by the hardships and horrors of the Second World War.
