Chapter 8: The Me 262's Family Tree
One of the biggest blundering buffoons in WWII history was Herman Goering. A veteran of the First World War, Goering became Hitler's second in command and was put in charge of the Luftwaffe, Nazi Germany's Air Force. However after proving his airplanes and pilots valuable in the early days of the blitzkrieg he quickly went down hill from there. His men failed to break the spirit of the RAF during the Battle of Britian when they successfully kept his planes from getting air superiority. It was a close call, but the English managed to keep their island safe from Nazi domination of the air, as well as the next obvious step invasion. After that Goering's Luftwaffe lost favour with Hitler and when the Allies landed in Normandy soon lost all capacity to wage war. Goering was outraged at his pilots, called them cowards, idiots, weaklings and failures. He even sent them records telling wounded pilots how useless they were. Of course this gave the pilots the rare opportunity to tell Goering where to stick it and not get in trouble for it.
(Red X shoots record with a pistol while sitting in his hospital bed)
Red X: Oh I'm sorry Herr Reichsfuhrer I didn't mean to destroy your little rant, its just that... well I just wanted to prove to myself that I could still shoot while I'm sick. Also, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to shoot a bullet thrhough that oversized head of yours.
Worse, Goering had no concept of what the future of air combat was. The Me 262 almost never saw any combat service in WWII because he dismissed it as a toy, he didn't even consider that this aircraft was the start of new area in the history of Aviation. 262 was also the end product of a long line of jet fighter aircraft that the Germans had been testing since they first realised the Jet Engine's potential as a possible weapon. So lets look at the 262's ancestors and see where the Germans had planned to go next.
Robin: We're actually going to document every Jet-aircraft they had planned to build?
No, just the ones that they were close to building. Some of them are cool... others kinda lame... from a pilot's stand point.
Robin: Why you say that?
I'll explain in a second, for now lets look at the beginning of German Jet Fighter Technology. Before its start, Germany had tried out the idea of Rocket aircraft, culminating in some incredibly unsafe vehicles.Think of it this way, strapping rockets to your plane... stupid idea.
(GIR inside a plane strapped to rockets)
GIR: I'm an Astronaut!
Robin: This gives me some kind of sick joy. (Presses button)
(Plane blasts off into the sky and explodes soon afterwards, GIR falls down in pieces soon after, head lands at Robin's feet)
GIR: YAY! Again!
Robin: High tolerance for pain this one.
Rocket planes were extremely difficult to land, sometimes even more dangerous then actually flying the plane, which inevitable led them to another use in the War in Europe but thats for another chapter. A jet engine and a rocket plane are two totally different planes and to include specs for both in this chapter would be silly. So fans of the Komet Rocket Plane, please remain calm, we're getting to you.
WWII buff: Aww, man.
Lets get back to Germany's Jet Aircraft now and see where it all began.
Robin: Flashback time!
It all started with Hans Von Ohain when he created the turbojet engine, the grand-daddy of all jet engines.
(GIR looks at Turbojet)
GIR: (Long Pause) Grandpa!
It's gas powered turbines took in air through its inlet, then the air was compressed in a chamber, before it was heated. This combusted air was then allowed to expand out the back of the engine creating a forward thrust. Meaning, so long as the plane had fuel and air in front of it, it could keep sucking in and blasting out air fast enough to outrun any prop-plane of the era.
(GIR takes Turbojet's exhaust blast straight to the face)
GIR: YAY! IT BURNS!
The Germany's Arms Manufacturers quickly saw the potential of using these engines to make planes faster and thus out fly their enemies, the idea was especially liked by arms manufacturer Ernst Heinkel and his company. Before the war they designed, built and test flew the first turbojet aircraft, the Heinkel He 178, succesfully flying it in August of 1939. Unfortunately when shown before conservative military officers in the Luftwaffe at the time they expressed no interest. Why have a jet plane when regular prop planes worked fine.
Robin: Idiots.
Let's not be too hard on them, this was years before the movie top gun came out remember? They had no idea what they were looking at.
Robin: I still think they're idiots.
Heinkel's company wasn't willing to give up, and they set their sights on making new jet fighters. The Heinkel He 280 was born over the next few years. It was poorly underfunded by the German government and production never got off the ground. It was unable to breakthrough to the Luftwaffe that jet fighters were a valuable weapon. They just didn't get the design...
Bro. Blood: Where's the Propellor?
Control Freak: It doesn't need one, its has jet engines.
Bro Blood: But where's the propellor?
Control Freak: Why the hell would we need a propellor on a jet plane!
Bro. Blood: I'm sorry, despite the fact its super fast and futuristic the plane doesn't interest me. I just can't picture a plane without a propellor. See ya. (Walks off)
Control Freak: Fine! Go ahead! Waste your time in the past! I'm looking to the future of air combat you peon! (Mumbling) Bastard.
Eventually the He 280 and its jet fighter premise were accepted as a good idea... unfortunately the project was cancelled because of another aircraft, the Me 262, was seen as a superior fighting vehicle. Had they listened to Heinkel at first, they could have had jet fighters fighting over London in 1940. Thank god for their lack of foresight. Ernst Heinkel remained developing mainly bombers for the rest of the war, a job he hated and complained about till his death.
Heinkel: Don't you understand Control Freak, I could've been a contender! I could've been somebody! Instead of a bum... a disgrace. (Starts crying into hands)
(Control Freak is... pardon pun, freaked out by all this)
Control Freak: Oh look this is my stop. (Opens door of Taxi and jumps out)
Heinkel: Hey wait! (Sees Control Freak getting up and running off) Shoot, oh well. Driver, take me to the nearest bar. I need to drown my sorrows.
Heinkel eventually did get one of their jet fighters into the air, the He 162 became the second jet fighter to be used by the Luftwaffe, it was a single engined aircraft that was essentially attached to the top of the plane's fuselage. They came into action on the 19th of April of 1945 and by that time the war was all but lost for Germany. Problems in the 162 were present in its rushed production and not its design. Its rushed production caused flame outs and crashes, losing thriteen planes and 10 pilots overall. Heinkel's only successful jet fighter contribution was too late to do anything of use.
Robin: I'd feel sorry for the guy... if it weren't for the fact that if he had gotten what he wanted the Allies would have been screwed in the proverbial pooch.
Well Britian was making its own Jet Fighters at the same time as Heinkel, it flew its first successful jet fighter, the Gloster E.28/39 in May of 1941. It could have gotten out more jet fighters even faster if they were given more funding as well. However that history would never be, everyone back then loved propellors too much.
Robin: Still glad that Germany didn't get the jets in the air till late in the war.
We now leave the sad tale of Ernst Heinkel and enter the new quest by Germany's airplane builders to make a jet fighter that could help the Luftwaffe get control of the skies. Taking the design of the 126, the Germans developed the Henschel Hs 132, a jet dive bomber. It was meant to go at 500 mph, making it difficult to track by Allied anti-air positions. The soviet army however overun the facilty before it could be tested, and they were so close too.
(Bad Guys stand in front of the prototype for the 132)
Gizmo: Alright lets take this baby for a spin guys.
(Red Star busts down the door an fires a whole clip of bullets into the prototype and hitting its engine causing it to explode. Gizmo gets back to his feet and rushes over to Red Star.)
Gizmo: The hell was that for!
Red Star: I wanted to see stuff explode... DUH!
Gizmo: This isn't fair! You could have at least let us test it out first.
Red Star: Nah, this was way more enjoyable.
Gizmo: I hate you.
Other airplanes never even got off the design table, the Focke-Wulf Ta 183 was designed to be an oval shaped fuselage airplane with a very long v-tail sticking up and out of it. It was much like the design for the Komet... only not life threating.
Robin: So what stopped Germany from building it?
Very high aspirations, essentially they kept arguing about how to get the design right... that and they were lazy.
Control Freak: Hey guys, we gotta get to work on that new jet fighter.
Billy: Nah, I feel like listening to old time radio.
Fang: I'm too bored to work.
Killer Moth: I'm working on my insect collection.
Atlas: I require more oil, I shall back when I no longer thirst. (Leaves room) No one touch my stuff.
(Billy gets up off of couch)
Billy: I'm gonna go touch his stuff.
Fang: Oh can I join!?
Billy: Sure!
(Both leave and Control Freak is pissed)
Control Freak: Great now we'll never get anything done... I'm gonna go have an ice cream, this place sucks.
Killer Moth: What about the plane?
Control Freak: Oh go to hell.
So the Focke-Wulf jet plane was never built, others however managed to get closer to development.The Messerschmitt Me P.1101 was an aircraft was one of those, a swing aircraft that would go at 612 mph. It was to be the second generation of jet fighters for Germany, but only got as far as the prototype stage before war's end. It was also developed too late to join the Luftwaffe.
Robin: I'm sensing a pattern here.
Many of Germany's secret weapons projects were developed late in the war in acts of desperation and attempts to create some new weapon that would turn the tide of war. It helped the Allies greatly, Hitler was so focused on producing new jet aircraft he left his already proven prop airplanes in the dust. The 262 was a good aircraft, but by using them for vengeance tactics that would produce no military gains and only civilian casualties, Hitler was wasting precious resources. If V2 rockets and Jet fighters were used primarily against the Soviet and Allied military he could have kept the war going on longer. The 262 was a better at taking on Allied bombers then it was at the purpose Hitler wanted it for, to pay the Allies back for everything they had done to him. And still, if the Germans had just kept producing prop planes that were easy to replace and easily fueled they could have accomplished the task of keeping out Allied bombers just as well.
Robin: So the 262 was a waste of resources at the time it was made, we know that. You explained it last time when you cited that there wasn't much fuel available for it or trained pilots to fly it. But geez, are you telling me it was the only jet fighter to actually see some success in the war?
Pretty much.
Robin: God, what a waste. So were there any other jets that even had the remote chance of being put into service along side the 262?
Just one bird brain, the (Smirk) Horten Ho (Smirk) 229, ... pft god that name is priceless!
Robin: Why?
Oh nothing, nothing, just... Horten... Ho! HA HA! God what next? The Focke-wulf Pimp? HA! HA!
Robin: I really don't get it.
Thats because you're gay.
Robin: Oh shut up.
Anyway the Ho (Smirk) 229, was a revolutionary designed aircraft with a very... sultry name if you will. (Smirk)
Robin: You done?
No, its just too easy. The Ho (Smirk) was developed in the 1930's, when prostitution was booming everywhere.
Robin: Rage!
Okay sorry, it was developed by the Horten brothers who were interested in an airplane design called the flying wing as a method for performance gliders. It reduced the drag of the glider because it had smoothed out and removed unneeded surfaces, creating les drag. To better understand the design imagine a bat, that should be easy enough for even bird brain here.
Robin: Hey!
(GIR pops out of cockpit of Horten Ho wearing a Batman costume)
GIR: I'm Batman!
Robin: No you're not, you're just insane moronic robot.
(Long Pause)
GIR: I got a cape!
Robin: Jesus Christ.
Now a bat has two wings and a small tail at the end. Thats a flying wing design, its basically two wings and small tail. No fuselage, no steering tail, nothing but the cockpit and the wings. Without a fuselage there is less drag and with wings only it shorter and sturdier then other aircraft. The design would later be adapted for future stealth bombers used by the US Airforce. Put all that together and you essentially have an idea what the Ho (Smirk) looked like. Its early prototype was constructed of metal and wood and included a primative ejection seat in the cockpit. It feature tricycle landing gear and a brake parachute for landings. Control of the aircraft was achieved by elevons and spoilers. The jet engines themselves were placed on either side of the cockpit and were built into the craft itself instead of looking like the were just added on like previous German Jets. The Horten's tested the aircraft in March of 1944 and it performed well. Orders for the production of more prototypes were issued and the 229 entered pre-production at the Gotha Aircraft production facility. Meaning the Hortens could quit their secret jobs as pimps.
Robin: RAGE!
Sorry. Germany could have very well got the aircraft up and running but the Americans proved too fast for them and Patton's army captured one of the prototypes as they advanced into Germany. When told they had captured a Ho many of Patton's men were excited but were quickly let down when told it was an airplane.
Robin: Enough with the prostitue jokes! Tell the history plain and simple!
You're such a stick. Anyway the plane was a revolutionary marvel for its time. A maximum speed of 607 mph, a combat radius of 1000 kilometers, armed to thew teeth with four 30 mm cannons and R4M rockets, there were even plans to make it a nightfighter aircraft. The only problem they ever encountered was when one of the prototypes crashed and killed its test pilot. The Ho was apparently too fast and too hard for the poor guy to handle.
Robin: Stop it!
Okay, actually the engines flamed out and the plane crashed, so it was the prototype that was early, not the pilot.
Robin: Okay, enough of the stupid sex jokes, they are seriously getting out of hand.
Oh shut up, you try talking about an aircraft that has a questionable name that makes it sound like one of two things, Santa's cheerful laugh or a woman that sells herself for cash.
Robin: Just get to the part where you say how useful the vehicle would have been if put into production.
As long as you weren't that dead test pilot, the Ho would have been a sight to behold. Even if some of the claims that were made about the aircraft weren't entirely true, like its estimated service ceiling of 16000m, it would still have been a capable aircraft. The problems it would have faced were that few pilots could have been found in time to actually fly the planes and, if those engine problems that caused the test pilot's death prove anything, the junkers jumbo turbojets would probably have been prone to mechanical failure. Despite this, it certainly would've given the Allied aircraft it faced off against one bumpy night.
Robin: RAGE!
What? That was a perfect opening!
------------------------------------
Over the battlefields of Europe, Captains Dick Grayson and Wally West were flying over the advancing troops along the German border, tasked with keeping them safe from German attack. They were flying in their new P-80's today as was the rest of the squadron. There a few P-51 fighters in the air with them, acting as their support.
"I don't want to get jumped by 262s Wally," Dick said through the radio "so keep your eyes open. The Krauts could come from any direction."
"Don't know why they bother though." Wally added "Luftwaffe's all but finished, same with the rest of the Nazis. We keep this advance up we'll be home by the start of Summer, maybe sooner."
"I'd like to hope so Wally." Dick replied "I'm sure everyone else is thinking the same thing."
"Think about it man," Wally continued "we go back home for the Summer, head down to Florida, kick back with some beach babes, a well deserved reward for making it through this mess."
"Can't argue with that Wally." Dick simply replied.
The conversation was cut short when Dick spotted something in the distance. Several boogies incoming, too fast for prop-planes.
"Fritz is joining the party Wally." Dick said over the radio "Coming in fast at 2 o'clock."
"Roger," Wally responded "let's show them that they're no longer the fastest thing in the skies."
"Squadron," Dick ordered through the radio "break and engage the enemy on my mark, break."
The P-80s zoomed towards the 262s, head-on. Dick fired on the lead 262, catching it in the left engine and forcing it to break off. The two sets of aircraft turned away from one another as they came within and arms length of one another. Now it was a free for all.
"Wally," Dick called "watch my back while I try and take out some of these guys."
"Gotcha." Wally responded.
A 262 rolled alongside one of the P-80s and then decreased in speed to get into firing position. The American pilot saw it however and quickly divided away as the German opened fire. Dick flew after the two as P-80 desperately tried to avoid the 262's machine guns. Dick opened up on the German jet fighter, catching it in the left wing engine. Black soon poured out of the 262 and the German backed off.
"Oh no, you're not getting away that easy." Dick said as he went after the fleeing Kraut
Zipping up after the Jet, Dick fire another volley of rounds into the fighter's tail. Suddenly the 262 exploded in a hail of fire.
"Must've got the fuel line." Dick said as he rocketed through the debris. "Okay one down, a whole bunch more to go."
A 262 sped across Dick's cockpit window view. A nearby P-51 support plane was too slow and ended up getting cut to ribbons by the German's machien guns. As the plane's engine went on fire Dick saw the cockpit door open and the P-51 pilot jump out, his chute opening.
"I got this one." Wally said over the radio.
Wally went off to avenge the downed P-51. He got behind the 262 and fired sevreral rounds into its tail. The 262 suddenly looped up and began to come back down on Wally's fuselage.
"Hah, nice try Kraut." Wally snicked
The P-80 rolled away from the incoming fire and the 262 quickly pulled back up. Wally turned and met the oncoming German in deadly game of chicken.
"Got you in my sights Jerry." Wally said
Wally and German fire at eachother. Wally spun his plane into a barrel roll while he he fired, avoiding some of the shots by the 262. One of his bullets smashed into the cockpit of the plane and injured the German Pilot. Wally eased off and missed a head on collision with the plane. Then he got behind the 262 and fired several rounds into the backside of the plane. Fire started creeping up on one of jet's engine, amazingly the German pilot managed to open the cockpit door and bail out in the nick of time before he was done for.
"Guy's got some balls I'll give him that." Wally said.
Another P-80 hit a 262 square on in the fuselage and right engine. The plane exploded and smashed straight into the ground. Dick was pleased with their progress so far.
"We keep this up the Luftwaffe is gonna run out of those speed demons." He said
"Guess they didn't expect us to have aircraft that could match them in speed huh?" Wally added
A P-51 zipped to dodge a chasing 262 on its tail, Dick's P-80 came to its rescue and shot the German plane clear out of the sky and straight to the Earth. The pilot bailed out when it started spinning towards the ground.
"The P-51s can't match these 262s." Dick noticed "We need to hold these Germans off and give them a chance to bail."
"Hey don't doubt them yet Dick," Wally said "they handle themselves pretty well, look off at 9 o'clock."
Dick saw as one P-80 pilot led another 262 into a P-51's line of fire. The German jet caught some bullets in the engine pulled away from the fight.
"Hmm, guess it all matters on who can think up a better strategy now a days." Dick thought.
A 262 snuck up on a P-51 and blasted it in the wing. The planes went into a death spiral and exploded. Dick got up behind the 262 and returned the favour with an unexpected rocket attack. The the rocket launched from the P-80 and smashed into the 262's engine, causing it to burst wide open. The plane went soon after.
"We got them on the run now boys." Dick said over the radio "Keep up the pressure."
Suddenly the fight was interupted when something speed right out of the clouds and zipped past Dick's plane.
"The hell was that?" He asked
"Can't tell." Wally said "Too fast for a 262, definetly not shaped like one."
Then Wally looked up and saw even more fast moving object.
"Ah crap, Dick!" Wally shouted "Bad guys above at 6 o'clock high! Evade! Evade!"
Dick looked up and saw two airplanes dive at him firing their guns, he rolled the plane away and narrowly avoided them slamming into him.
"The hell are those things?" Dick demanded to know.
Wally was barely getting a good look at the thing.
"Its faster then us, but not by much." He said "Cross markings, its German. Doesn't have a fuselage, looks just like a pair of wings flying by themselves, design seems like its swept wing. Looks like a bat or something."
"The Germans got a new toy!?" Dick shouted "Damn it all, just when we were winning too."
The bat like craft descended on a P-80 and the plane tried to dodge them. But the swarmed the American jet and fired on it. The P-80 suddenly burst into flames and fell from the sky.
"Damn, they pack a punch too!" Wally shouted
"Keep them off your tails." Dick ordered "We can't outrun them so just try and out manuveur them."
Dick tried to get behind one of the craft but the jet zoomed out of the way and rolled towarss the left. Dick followed him as quickly as the plane would allow. Dick was surprised there were enough trained pilots left in Germany that could actually fly such a craft. The new German jet fighter continued to alluded him through the clouds. Before Dick knew what had happened the dived back down at him from a greater hieght then he could reach. It forced him to roll away before the German hit him.
"Damn it all." Dick said aloud "These jets are tricky little bastards."
Wally was trying to evade one of the new jet fighters on his tail. He nearly got a rocket straight in his wing, but he moved the plane sideways and barely avoided the projectile.
"If these guy hadn't gotten the jump on us we'd be plowing through'em right now." Wally complained "Fritz never fights fair."
"Quit it Wally," Dick ordered "if we don't figure out something soon the whole squadron is gonna be blown out of the sky."
A P-51 was shot straight out of the air as one of the unknown German Jets sped out of mno way and hits it's engine square on. A P-80's wing ripped right off as another one of the bat-like planes fired a missile. The American fighter spun wildly out of control and slammed straight into the European countryside. Yet another P-51 caught fire as its fuel line was ruptured by one of the unknown aircraft. The pilot managed to bail out, but only just.
"We are some deep trouble here Dick." Wally said as he ran from the jet still on his tail.
"I know, I know." Dick responded "I need time to think here."
"Well think fast already!" Wally demanded
Dick noticed one of the fighters was a little shaky, perhaps Germany didn't have enough good pilots left after all. He turned the plane around and fired a few rounds at the fast moving target. One of the hits caught the plane in the engine. Suddenly, the jet sputtered and the engine gave out. As the German inside was forced to bail out of his crashing plane Dick came up with an idea.
"Aim for the engines," Dick said over the radio "they seem delicate or faulty maybe."
"Well its giving them a hell of a lot of thrust so the faulty part is in question." said Wally as one sped by him.
Suddenly one of the bat-like jets appeared right in front of Dick. It came barreling right towards him at full speed. Dick kept his finger on the trigger switch, but before he could fire his own gun, tracer rounds appeared from the left of his view and slammed into the German jet. It suddenly exploded. Dick turned around and saw five large fast moving shapes appear in his view.
"262s?" He thought at first "No too big, something else."
He then saw the British markings on the side of one of the planes as it sped past. Dick realised that these were of course British Gloster Meteors and their timing was impecable.
"Hey, what do you know!" Wally said happily "Looks like the crumpet eaters have joined the party!"
"Good, lets see how these bat jets like it when they get jumped." Dick said relieved
The bat jets were suddenly caught off guard by the new editional support from the British Meteors. The English Jets fired at the Germans Bat planes and sent them reeling back from the main group of allied airplanes. The fighter tailing Wally ended up getting several bullet's through it and crashign to the ground. Dick, Wall and the rest of the American pilots joined up on the Meteors' wing and suddenly had the German jets backa t a disadvantage. A P-80's rocket collided into the backside of a fleeing German bat jet, A Meteor's bullet's strafed along one of the engines of the enemy fighter until the damage became too great and the Kraut plummted out of the sky. One of the German jet's got it in the tail from another P-80 as it tried to reposition itself behind a Meteor. It started a dive towards the ground and crash in the middle of a field below. The Meteor's and P-80's had the German Bat planes on the run now. The 262s that remained suddenly bolted off and the Bat planes followed. Before it got too far away, Dick fired a couple of rounds into the backside of one of the fighters. The plane suddenly turned and sped past Dick, strafing his wing. Dick was still flying, so he turned his plane after the German and jet and managed to force it up into the clouds. He fired at its underbelly and the plane caught on fire. The engines flamed out and the jet began to plummet back to Earth. Dick pulled away from the finished and falling fighter. Wally managed to cut off another escaping bat plane.
"You're good Kraut," He said "real good. But as long as i'm arounf you'll always be second best see, nah."
"Just shoot the Jerry bastard already Wally." Dick moaned
Wally obliged and blasted a volley of bullets that slammed into the engines and destroyed the fighter.
"Alright!" He said in glee "One more of Uncle Adie's Superweapons out of commission!"
Dick and Wally rejoined the Meteors and other American Fighters. They had beaten back the attack, now they had to thank the guys who saved them. Dick patched through to their frequency.
"Thanks for the save back there." He said "We could've ended up as little minature black dots on the landscape if it wasn't for you."
"Yeah," Said Wally as he patched through as well. "say you guys have any idea what those things that jumped us were?"
It was at that point that the two Americans got a surprise.
"If you require that information they are refered to as Horten Ho 229s," A female voice explained "they usually attack bombers so I am not surprised that you have not heard of them."
Wally and Dick were confused as to whatw as going on, why was a woman answering them?
"Uh..." Wally started "excuse me, who are speaking too again?"
"Meteor Squadron Commander Korian Andelson, pleased to meet you." The female voice responded
"Um," Dick began " Okay. I'm Captain Dick Grayson and this is Captain Wally West. American Airforce.
"Hey." Wally greeted
"Forgive the confusion commander but," Dick said "aren't woman not usually pilots?"
"No they aren't," The Commander replied "but I'm not exactly employed by the standard RAF. Only a few people ever get into a Meteor, special trained people."
"So what," Wally began "you with the SOE or something?"
"The Special Operations Executive?" The commander replied "Yes, that is correct. Part of their aviation division of the services."
"So you just happened to be in this area then?" Dick asked "Seems a little strange that they'd send an agent out on a regular patrol mission like ours."
"Actually we have been tracking the movements of that particular squadron of 229s for quite some time." She explained "They've been a bothersome nuisance on Allied Bombing raids. With your help we managed to take down some of their most elite pilots. In fact, it should be me thanking you right now."
"Glad to be of service," Dick said "so I guess we should head back to base to rearm and refuel huh Wally."
"Aww, I wanted to see if Fritz would come back and try for round two." Wally pretended to complain
"Sorry we have to cut the meeting short commander." Dick said
"Don't worry my new American friends," The commander said "I think we shall get quite aquainted actually. We have been getting reports of the Nazis trying to push more and more superweapons out the doors to stop the Allied advance. Because of your actions today I think that you could be of some use to the SOE. I shall contact my superiors and ask them for a trasfer to your airfield."
"Thats not ness-"
The commander didn't let Dick finish
"I shall hopefully see you soon Captain Grayson and West. Good day!"
With that the commander and her Meteors took off... and Wally was none too happy.
"Great, you probably just got out entire base drafted into the SOE." Wally said "Colonel's gonna have a fit and we're gonna be stuck fighting planes like those Hos again."
"Hey give me a break Wally!" Dick pleaded "She was a commander! She outranks me!"
"Oh zip it Dick." Wally said "You jsut can't say no to a girl."
"Let's just get back to base." Dick ordered "I've had enough fighting for one day."
