The recovery.

Sam pulled with all his might to move Christopher, however the unconscious pilot remained a dead weight. The Mosquito fighter bomber continued in its death spiral! The North Sea was growing ever closer! With one last effort Sam smacked Chris across the face! Chris was woken from his blackness, he grabbed the joystick and heaved back. The grey green ocean beckoned but not today and not now!

Chris stamped on the right hand rudder side pedal and gritted his teeth as he fire walled the two throttle levers on his left hand side. The 53 litre Rolls Royce Merlin engines clawed at the air. Sam was thrown back into his seat with the ‘G’ force. The wooden wonder slowly responded to its master, the Merlin V12’s screamed back at the world, saying “Not today!”

The propeller blades kissed the sea and left two straight lines in their wake. Chris shouted over the sound of the screaming engines.

“Who hit us? Blood sucking bastard?”

Sam replied,

“It was a ME109 I think, I didn’t see it coming maybe it was underneath us? You got hit and we spiralled down remember?”

Chris now fully awake replied.

“Right we are going to find him and kill him!”

Sam retorted.

“Chris, I mean Captain forget it you’re bleeding head for home, steer 120 magnetic”

Chris wiped the blood from his eyes and took a silk tissue from his pocket and jammed it into the gash on his scull and said.

“No, we find it and shoot it down. keep a look out I’m turning back to Germany”

Chris put pressure on the left hand rudder pedal and pulled on the joystick the De-Havilland Mosquito rose to the challenge. 110 Octane petrol was sucked greedily from the Carburettors. Chris checked the knots gauge it registered 300! Chris levelled out the Mossie at 2,000 ft. Anger was in control now, wind poured through the shattered canopy glass. Chris leaned forward and pulled the cocking lever for the four 20mm Hispano cannons.

Sam tried to reason with his pilot.

“Chris please leave this we can make it home, you need a hospital if we find the bastard it’s a single engine fighter for god’s sake you can’t hit that!”