The air was tense as a lone pilot stood at the back of B Flight shed, slowly (almost thoughtfully) divesting himself of his flying kit. He had killed a man not more than 30 minutes ago and the thought of it sickened him.
A coarse voice hailed him from the entrance to the makeshift hangar "Made that report yet Talbot?!". He recognized it as the voice belonging to the RO, Jenkins. He was always breathing down people's necks when they had forgotten something.
He had only been at the squadron for a week and had just entered his second dogfight in the illustrious SE5a. There was nothing new. It had been horrible: the tangible fear of sudden death; the chilling sound of bullets tearing through his machine; the indescribable sound of 2 machines colliding in midair. Then there was the strange feeling of being detached, as though he was watching the dogfight from over his own shoulder, watching the events unfold with the composed calmness of the spectator.
Slowly, he dragged himself from his musings and trudged his way past 2 or 3 mechanics anxiously pretending to work on his war-scarred plane. They were waiting for the rest of the patrol to return for Talbot had had to return to the aerodrome due to his engine making decidedly ominous noises. Making his past them, he carried on to the squadron office just as the sound of a faltering aero engine reached his ears. He entered and upon seeing that the room was vacant he made his way to the desk to scribble out some brief details of the combat he had found himself in.
His report now finished, he turned on his heel and departed just as he heard the sound of a motor ambulance clattering and protesting as it misfired. There were frantic shouts of men and the sound of flying hobnails on concrete. Only something major would induce such activity. As stepped off the verandah, a whole new scene met his eyes, it was one of organized chaos, men running, fetching equipment for a man, lying, unmoving on the tarmac, a small pool of blood rapidly spreading from beneath him. He had often wondered what the dark stains that marked the surface of the tarmac were.
RO- Recording Officer- Basically an adjutant that assists the Commanding Officer
SE5a- Sopwith Experimental aircraft- A biplane introduced 1917, it was instrumental in regaining allied air control in mid-1917