The Longboats

After several hours of rest, I sat at the long table next to the wall of the Greta Hall, the Skipper pulled up a chair next to me with a pile of paperwork he spread out in front of me. He seemed to be looking for something in particular, when he found it he slid it in front of me. It was a sketch of a larger, steel ship that resembled a destroyer.

“I’ve been working on this for a few months now but never spoke to anyone about it yet.” He looked at me with a slight smile, as if looking for approval.

“Skipper, we’ve been at war with these Greeks now for what, six or seven years?” I said as I looked at the sketch. “We’ve taken all of our land back and helped the Germans get most of theirs back, we’ve lost hundreds if not thousands of lives but they just won’t leave us alone.”

The Skipper nodded in agreement.

“Now they show up with a World War One battle wagon and clear the seas from us!” I took a deep breath.

“This ship should do the trick, but.” I stopped short and sighed loudly. “It will take at least a year to build.”

I put the sketch down.

“This is a go. Start as soon as you can but don’t stop with just one. I fear the Greeks are still building and they will have several more in the water before long.” I looked at him as I leaned closer.

“What we need is eyes in the air.” I said.

The Skipper leaned back, folding his arms across his chest as he looked at me.

“Aircraft?” He said flatly then chuckled.

“Yes.” I leaned on the table, more from exhaustion than anything, then looked at him.

“If we can conquer the air, we win the war.”

“You do know we don’t even have oil to make fuel with, don’t you?” He said.

“I know that too. And an internal combustion engine!” I looked at the rest of the sketches the Skipper placed on the table and they were all different parts of the destroyer, engine room, gun mounts, bridge, etc.

“We will never get enough ships out there in time to stop the Greek navy. You know this. The only thing we can do is push forward on land and try to hold them at sea.”

I turned to one of the aids that were sitting at a small table nearby and motioned for one to come over. A tall female soldier that was wearing the green uniform and the new green and white Valley of Death ribbon on her chest came over at attention.

“Stand at ease, please!” I said as I looked at her. “That ribbon looks good. How do YOU like it?” I asked her, then waited for her answer.

“It’s something different to us but it shows what and where we have been without bragging about it.” She smiled broadly.

“I’m glad you made it out of there....and out of the front.” I said as I stood slowly with a grunt. She started to reach for me to help but I held up my hand.

“I’m all right. I need you to go find Hennison and Scott, tell them I need to see them quickly.” I said then held onto a chair back as I reached for the mead pitcher.

“Aye, aye, sir.” She said and was off before I could even get the pitcher.

“Hennison?” The Skipper asked.

“Yes. Well, he’s a genius at making weapons so I thought he might know something about gasoline engines. Or he might know someone that has worked on them.”

“You’re dead set on making an airplane, aren’t you?” The Skipper said with a crooked smile. “Even if you do, who the hell is going to fly the damn thing?”

“I am!” I said as I poured some mead for both of us. “I had a private pilot’s license back home. Flew the little Cessna one-fifty.” I sat back down with a loud sigh then took the sword from my belt and laid it on the table.

The Skipper leaned over looking at it then at me.

“May I?” He asked wanting to hold it.

“Yeah!” I said and handed it to him.

“This is a lot lighter than it looks!” He said as he pulled it from its scabbard and looked from tip to hilt then replaced it and gave it back. “A sword fit for a king!” He smiled.

Scott and Hennison came into the Hall and walked to the table. Both were black with dirt and grime as they came to the table and stood at attention with smiles on their faces.

“At ease, come on you guys. You don’t have to do that anymore.” I said but they looked at each other and chuckled.

“We know but that uniform looks so damn good.” They laughed.

“Look. I need something from you two that will take a lot of work. More work than you have been putting in lately.” I leaned back in the chair.

“Hennison! Do you know anyone that worked on car engines?”

“Well, yeah! There’s a few here that even built their own engines for drag racers.” Hennison said, wiping his hands on a dirty rag.

“Good. Go get them and send them here ASAP.” I said and he turned and left at a trot.

“Scott!” I turned to him. “How’s the radio coming along so we can talk to each other instead of telegraph?”

“I have two working models but they only have a little bit more range than that prick twenty-five we used in the Corps.” He said.

“And they work?” I asked curiously.

“Yeah! But they only have a range of about four, may be five miles and that’s only in line of sight. Anything gets in the way and you get squat, just like that damn prick twenty-five.” He said.

“Well. How long will it take to get , say, five dozen in the field?” I asked watching his face.

“GEESH! That many? I don’t know, may be two weeks I guess?” He said.

“OK. You have ten days.” I said and waited for his response.

“TEN DAYS!” He stood there with his mouth open.

“You heard about the Greek dreadnought?” I asked him and he nodded.

“Well. We have to go after it and we need voice comm on all the boats. And....we need comm on the battle field too.”

“I get it, Gunny. OK.” He stuffed his rag into the back of his pants pocket. “I’ll get right on it then and I’ll need to get with Hagan on where to install these things too.”

“You got it, Marine. I’ll tell Hagan to go see you this afternoon.”

He turned and walked out the double doors of the Hall and I turned to the Skipper.

“Now all we need is a plane to catch and destroy this dreadnought.” I said, leaning over the table and looking at the planes of our new ship.

“I’ve sent word for our ship builders to come in this morning so we can go over these planes and get started on this thing. The sooner the better,” the Skipper said.

“I agree. No use waiting.” I moved the chair closer to the table then drank some mead.

As Scott was leaving, two of my Marines entered the double doors, walking up to me at the table.

“You wanted to see us, Gunny?” They were both dirty and oily with dark spots on their faces.

“Yes. Are you the two guys that know how to work on engines?” I asked as Skipper leaned forward with a smile.

“Yeah. We use to build engines back home for our racers. Me from Texas and Mac here from California.”

“What’s your name?” I asked the one.

“Greg. What’s this about, Gunny? You got a car that needs tuning up?” They both smiled.

“I have an important project I absolutely need you to accomplish as quickly as possible. Now, I know it will take a very long time, if it’s possible at all. But! I need you to build an internal combustion engine. We need airplanes.”

They looked at each other for a second then started laughing loudly.

“NO!” I said as I tried to stand too quickly. “I’m serious!”

“Well, Gunny!” Mac said as he wiped his hands on a rag, looking at Greg, still smiling as he approached me. “We have had one that works for about six months. A straight four cylinder but the problem is fuel.”

“WHAT?” I said as I felt my face go blank. “You HAVE a working gasoline engine and didn’t say anything about it?”

I looked at the Skipper and he had his face in his hands, shaking his head.

“Why didn’t you tell us this before?” The Skipper asked, still shaking his head.

“Well. Like Mac said. We can’t make enough fuel to run more than a few minutes and, well....”

“WHERE is it?” I asked, taking a few steps towards them. “I want to see it right now. Do you have any fuel left for it to run for me?”

“I think we have about a quart left we were saving.” Mac said as he reached out to help me from falling.

“Come one. Let’s go. I want to see this thing in operation.” I said as they led us to their work shop.

Hagan saw Scott coming onto the docks and went out to see him as his men were starting to strip his boats to the hull. Scott carried what looked like a simple wooden box, much like the telegraph system he had on all his boats but this one had more wires coming out of it. There was also something that looked like a screen on the front with dials and nobs on the side. A long wire with a ‘U’ shaped object was attached to it as well.

“Here’s one of the radios we have. “ Scott said as he set it on the docks. “I need to know where to install it so we can get the battery in place.”

Hagan squatted down to look at it closer, picking up the ‘U’ shaped object.

“That’s the transceiver. You can talk as well as hear from it. Here, it works like this.” Scott held it up to his ear.

“You just push this button to talk, then let it go to listen.” He said. He turned and motioned for one of his men to set up another radio on the other side of the docks.

“OK. My men are going to set it up and show you how it works. Very simple.”

In just a few minutes Scott flipped a toggle switch up and Hagan could hear a humming noise coming from the box, then a voice came through the hand set.

“Station one, this is station two, radio check, over!”

“Lime Charlie,” Scott said then handed the hand set to Hagan.

“Here. You try it.” Scott smiled.

“Hello?” Hagan said, not knowing what else to say but heard a voice coming through the hand set.

“Station one, I have you loud and clear, how me, over?”

Hagan slowly smiled until his face seemed ecstatic with joy.

“This is amazing!” He said. “You have to teach me what you were saying to that other man.”

“It’s called radio procedures. And yes, we’ll teach you how.”

As the Skipper and I stood over the small engine, Mac and Greg went to work pouring the last of the fuel into the tank, then got to the side where the starter was and pushed the button. The engine turned over once and fired up loudly. Greg yelled over the noise.

“There’s no muffler so it’s kind of loud!” He yelled.

“TURN IT OFF!” I yelled and Mac hit the switch as it came to a stop.

“I can see those gears moving in your head, Gunny!” The Skipper said as he stood there watching me just stare at the engine with my eyes wide in amazement.

“Guys! This is a dream come true!” I said. “What horse power is it?”

“Without the proper instruments we think it’s around two hundred horse power.”

“TWO HUNDRED?” I said as I looked at them. I turned to the Skipper. “The French Spade was only one hundred and eighty horse power in nineteen-seventeen!”

“Gunny!” The Skipper started to look worried.

“The German Albatross had a plywood fuselage and it was about the same size engine.” My mind was racing.

“We don’t have aluminum so we would have to go the World War One rout for planes.” I said. “Wood and fabric.”

“Gunny? You have that look again every time you want to create something new!” The Skipper said.

I looked at Mac and Greg.

“How long will it take to make just one engine if you had a crew and everything you needed?” I asked.

They looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders.

“Well I don’t know. We made this over a period of a year, just here and there.” Mac said.

“May be, with a full crew and all the dies made and machinery all in one spot? I would say we could put one out in about a week? I think.” Greg said as he pushed a rag across the top of the engine.

“A week for just one engine?” I shook my head. “We will need to get at least two made every week at bear minimum!”

“But, Gunny!” Mac said as I turned to the Skipper.

“What about the fuel?” I said excitedly.

“Where’s the place you make the fuel?” I asked and he pointed to something that looked like a still near the back of the shop.

“How did you know about making gasoline?” The Skipper asked.

“Well, Greg here worked with his dad in Texas at a refinery so, his dad use to tell him how they made gas, diesel and even rubber!”

“So you just made a still? Where did you find the oil?” I asked.

“We were chasing a deer into the bog one day and saw it oozing from the ground and that’s where we got the idea of an engine.” Mac said.

I shook my head as I looked at them both with a smile, then looked at the Skipper.

“I need to get with you on planes for an airplane.” I told him as I looked at the engine from front to rear.

“It will need to carry two machine guns as well as a small load of bombs for a single seater.” I turned to the two Marines.

“How about a larger engine? One for a two seater aircraft?” I said.

“Well. Yeah, it would just take different dies is all. We can make it bigger, of course.” Mac said as matter of fact as he could.

I turned to the Skipper.

“Come on, Skipper. We have a lot of work to do!” I said, then stopped and turned to Mac.

“Can you go get me the head person in charge of the carpenter shop and send them to the Great Hall? I have a big job for him.”

“Gunny? You’re going to kill yourself in a damn airplane!” The Skipper said as we walked out of the engine shop.

“It’s called an Areophane these days, Skipper.” I laughed from the excitement of thinking I would fly again.

Colonel Hendricks had word from the rear to dig in and hold where they were so he had ordered all units to stay in place. Over the last few weeks he had seen them dig trenches deep enough to walk in with at least three feet of trench above their heads and fortified positions every fifty yards. Being close to Amsterdam he could hear the firing from the Greek Dreadnought as it came steaming by every day to pound the city, then sail away as our shore batteries returned fire. He couldn’t get in too close our it would be sunk from all our artillery surrounding the city.

Sigrun was with Ralf and they did a good job of defending the city with a ring of artillery around the outskirts of it that blended in with Colonel Hendricks infantry. The rail road had been completed and was bringing in supplies and reinforcements on a daily basis then carrying out wounded soldiers to the rear. When an officer from the rear came in, she reported to him a message from the Gunny that he had something to take care of the Greek ship with but it wasn’t complete yet and for him to just hold in place and not attack. His mind was racing as to what it could be. A tank was all he could think of but that would be for land. He would just have to wait and find out but the waiting was actually killing him. In the mean time it was a stale mate between them and the Greeks.

Three weeks have gone by and the Skipper was going over the air frame of the plane he and Gunny designed. Both of them had flown radio controlled airplanes as a hobby but the Gunny was the only one that had actually flown an airplane. With both their heads together, they had been able to draw planes for a biplane, but the first set of planes they had were for a mono plane and that didn’t seem to work out because the wood just wasn’t strong enough to hold the stress and would have broken apart in the air. So they went to the biplane in the shape of an Albatross. That design seemed to be the strongest air frame they could come up with because of the plywood covered fuselage.

Now, the Skipper was moving his hands across the finished fabric of the lower wing as it sat in a make shift hanger. The engine had been mounted and started for trial runs to make sure the fuselage would take the stress. All parts had been gone over a dozen times to ensure they worked properly and that the Gunny would not die due to a malfunction. He even had a tailor make some goggles for the Gunny so he would be able to see once in the air. He checked the two machine guns over the cowling to make sure they were loaded,synchronized with the propeller and ready for tomorrows test flight.

As he stepped back to look at it, it was the spitting image of the Albatross D III of World War One fame except for the paint. It was painted light blue with three red bands around the fuselage just behind the cockpit. Neither he nor the Gunny had any thoughts of what markings to put on the wings for identification but that didn’t matter, the Greeks had no planes any way. He smiled as he stood there looking at its sleek design. He only hoped the Gunny didn’t kill himself once he took off.

“Well. Everything is ready for tomorrow.” He said to himself, then heard foot steps behind him. It was the Gunny.

“I know,” I said as I came into the hanger and ran my hands across the wing.

“Beautiful, isn’t she?” I said with a smile.

“Yes it is!” The Skipper stepped back.

“We’ve tested the guns with the interrupter gear and they work, firing through the propeller. All control surfaces work. Engine runs like a purring kitten.” I said as I walked around it, looking under it as well.

“In a few hours you will either be dead or the world’s first fighter pilot.” The Skipper said as he folded his arms across his chest.

I looked at him with a smile.

“Well. Actually it’s already tomorrow. The sun will come up in about an hour and the run way has been cleared. I want to get up as soon as possible but the test runs will take a few hours.”

“OK. Tell me again what you’re going to do?” The Skipper asked.

“First. I’ll run the engine up while we have a dozen people holding it down and the wheels chocked. Then set to idle to see if she over heats. Then I’ll run full speed down the runway to the end to see how she handles, turn around and come back, shut her down and have all the movable surfaces and the engine checked again. Next I’ll take her up a few feet off the ground to the end of the run way and land, come back and have it checked again. The last test I’ll take her up and fly around the airfield one time and land. After that she should be ready to fight.”

The Skipper looked at the ground and shook his head.

“I sure hope this thing works, Gunny. There’s a dozen more in the shops being built and the engines are taking shape as well. If it DOES work, we’ll have the first fighter air force in the world and the Greeks won’t know what hit them!”

“And that damn Greek Dreadnought will be at the bottom of the channel!” I said with a smile.

“OK. Let’s go get some tea and breakfast. You’re going to need it for today, Gunny.” The Skipper slapped me on my back as we walked to the Great Hall.

Just as the sun came up I was on the airfield as the plane was being pushed out of the hanger. The Skipper came up to me with some leather clothing and handed it to me as my stomach began to feel as if butterflies were flying around in it.

“Here! I thought you might like this, being a historian and all.” He handed me the clothing.

I held up a brown leather knee length coat and a leather flight helmet with the goggles he had made. I laughed as I put it on.

“Now you look like the Red baron!” He laughed as I slapped him on his shoulder.

Yngvildr, who had returned from the front a few weeks ago but has been staying at home with the children, came out from behind the hanger. Her face showed she was not amused at this as she came over.

“Will this be the last time I see my husband alive?” She asked as she stood with folded arms across her chest.

I grabbed her shoulders and kissed her.

“Absolutely not!” I buttoned the coat and put the leather helmet on and moved my hair back into the helmet, adjusting the goggles and climbed into the cockpit with a broad smile. I felt exhilarated but my heart was pounding fast as I climbed in.

I looked over the interments in front of me and could see the fuel gauge, oil pressure gauge, the tachometer for RPM, the air speed indicator and a small level that was placed on the bottom of the panel so I could tell if I was flying straight or not and a fuel gauge. That was it, no other instruments than that and there was no altimeter to tell how high I was going. I took the starter switch in my hand.

“CLEAR!” I yelled as I looked over both sides to make sure no one was near the propellers as I turned it on.

The fuselage shook as the engine came to life with a loud noise and a burst of white smoke from the exhaust. There were a dozen people holding the wings and tail section as I put my hand in the air for the first test of the engine. I pushed the small throttle lever forward and it worked perfectly so I lowered the throttle back to idle as a mechanic looked into the cowling. I then went through the taxing to the end of the run way, then the full throttle down the runway and the take off at three feet high and returned and turned the engine off so the mechanics could look her over.

The next test was taking off and fly around the field. I was conscious of everything on the plane each time, looking at the ailerons, back at the tail section and the gauges in front of me. Everything looked good so I waved the people from holding my wings, smiled at the Skipper and Yngvildr, pulled my goggles over my eyes and gave it full throttle.

I could feel the power of the engine as it pushed me back into the small seat. In only a few feet she was off the ground and tried to climb too quickly, which would have put me into a stall so I pushed the joy stick slightly forward as it climbed into the still morning air. I loved the sound of the engine as I climbed higher then made a left bank to circle to field. Looking down I could see the entire town coming out of their houses looking up, shading their eyes from the early morning sun as I sailed over them. The wind in my face was fantastic! I could smell the gasoline and oil coming from the engine as well and feel its warm goo splashing on my cheeks.

I didn’t want to land yet so I turned right, heading to the water not far from the airfield to test the guns. No one was near a small inlet as I circled it so I pointed the nose down, reduced throttle and aimed the nose for the water. Pulling the trigger I could feel the plane shutter as the machine guns barked louder than I expected but I could see the rounds hitting the water below me. I pulled up, full throttle and banked back to the field to come in for a landing.

“By the GODS I love this plane!” I yelled to myself into the wind and noise of the engine.

I circled the field, waving as I made a pass. Once I landed and came to a stop, I unhitched my seat belts and sat on the edge of the cockpit, smiling as a boy on Christmas morning.

“You were only supposed to fly ONCE around!” The Skipper yelled as everyone ran to the plane.

“I couldn’t help it, Skipper. This is a thing of beauty!” I said as I laughed loudly.

Yngvildr stood there breathing heavily. I jumped out of the plane and went to her with a hug.

“Your face if filthy!” She said as she looked at me. “How did that happen?”

“The exhaust from the engines.” I said, then turned back to the plane and the people around it.

“Take it back in side and give it the once over, check all movable surfaces and the engine too. Reload those guns and check all internal parts you can for stress, I have work to do.”