The Abbeville Boys

Chapter 16: The Battle of Britian

      In Abbeville Kurt could relax. He called his parents, and they said everything was fine. They hadn’t heard from Joseph or his parents. They figured the family left the country. Things were getting bad for the Jews. He then called Gretchen. It was good to hear her voice. She answered the phone, “Hello Kurt. You should see what they’re writing about you in the newspapers. You’re a hero.”

      Kurt downplayed it, “It’s not that big of a deal. I’m with a lot of great guys and we all go up and fight the enemies of the Riech.”

      She didn’t care, “I want you to come back. I’m planning our wedding. I want to be with you always.”

      “We will be together always. This war won’t last long. We are beating them on every front. I’ll come home soon, and we’ll be together. I love you Gretchen.”

      “I love you Kurt. Call me when you can.”

      They hung up and Kurt felt a lot better except he couldn’t get any answer at Joseph’s house. He was starting to hear rumors of Jews being taken to concentration camps. He was worried about Joseph but figured his family left the country like his parents said.

       In the evening the Jagdgeshwader had a meeting. Commander Galland came in and told the group, “We’re going to start escorting level bombers and Stukas to England. We’re preparing to invade.”

       The room erupted to applause. Everyone stood including Kurt and gave the Nazi salute. Galland continued, “Tomorrow we’ll connect with the JU-88’s and follow them to air bases in England. There will be Spitfires coming to meet you. We’ll take care of them like we did at Dunkirk.”

       Again, there was applause. Morale was high. Kurt was confident and felt good about what was going to happen.

       Early the next morning in July of 1940 the Battle of Britian began. It was a massive operation designed to bring Britian to her knees. The squad took off from Abbeville and connected with the level bombers flying from Le Harve. They crossed the channel and headed towards the air base at Gatwick. Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes came up to meet them when they were at the cliffs of Dover. The Spitfires were outnumbered but fought gallantly. The Hurricanes were modern fighters, but inferior to the 109’s and were taken care of quickly. The Spitfires flew in groups of three, which meant one of them would eventually get separated from the other two, unlike the Schwarm. 

      As the Spitfires approached Eberhart said break over the radio, and they broke into two groups. Kurt followed Eberhart as they pursued a single Spitfire. Kurt was concentrating on staying with Eberhart and looking behind them. Eberhart shot a burst into the Spitfire, and it went down. The pilot didn’t bail out and the plane exploded when it hit the ground.  

      Kurt suddenly noticed two Spitfires on his tail. He said over the radio, “Boss we got two behind us.”

      Eberhart came back, “Split and get the tail. We’ll meet up after.”

      Kurt acknowledged and pulled up. He felt easy as he pulled the stick back and his 109 went straight up. He began spinning, applying power. One Englander pulled up after him, but Kurt took the throttle back and began to fall over to the left. It took the Spitfire by surprise. Kurt accelerated and ended up on the tail of the pilot. He was shocked as Kurt closed in. He got close as usual and sent a blast into the plane. Kurt could see the puffs of smoke when the bullets hit the plane. Fire came out of the plane as he went towards the ground. The pilot bailed out and Kurt circled as he went down. Kurt now looked for Eberhart. He called on the radio, “Boss, you there?”

      Eberhart came back, “Wolf, form up at the Dover cliffs. We’re heading to Abbeville.”

      Kurt acknowledged and met up with Eberhart who had shot down the plane on him. They headed back to Abbeville and had a grand time that night. They ate and drank, telling stories of their victories. The Spitfires were formidable but were defeated by the 109’s. Kurt was feeling good but thought about Gretchen. He loved flying and hunting the enemy, but he wanted to settle down with her on his estate forever.

      The next morning the Jagdgeshwader was awakened before the sun was up. There was a report that Spitfires were coming their way. The group scrambled to their planes. Kurt’s Schwarm was ready to take off. He was still trying to wake up from a night of partying. The Schwarm lifted up and headed west towards the channel. As soon as they got to the coast the Spitfires were on them. They had the advantage of height and came out of the sun. They dove on the 109’s. Eberhart yelled, “Split!” over the radio. He and Kurt broke off and immediately saw three Spitfires in front of them. Eberhart went in behind and blasted one of them. He went down and the other two broke off with Eberhart and Kurt in pursuit. Eberhart fired at the trailer but didn’t hit the mark. The trailer broke off and Eberhart went after the leader. Kurt went after the trailer. He got close on his tail fast and shot him. The bullets devastated the fuselage, and he went down. Kurt watched as the pilot bailed out.

      Kurt pushed the power forward and climbed doing barrel rolls the whole way up to altitude. He was in his element. He loved it. Suddenly Eberhart came on the radio, “Wolf! Where are you. I’m at the beach towards Abbeville and I’ve got two Spitfires on my tail.”

       Kurt knew where he was and whipped his plane in the direction pushing the throttle to full power. He arrived and saw two Spitfires on Eberhart as he was dodging back and forth with a barrel roll every few seconds. Kurt had altitude and was above the chaos. He swooped down before anyone knew what was happening. He pulled in behind the trailer and immediately fired a blast, hitting the Spitfire causing an explosion. Kurt dodged the debris. The next Spitfire realized what happened. He headed out for home. Kurt rolled over upside down as he pulled up behind and sent a burst of fire into him. His hands were sweating when he grabbed the black handle of the stick and pulled it over. He pulled up pushing the throttle forward for an escape as the Spitfire went down. He pulled straight up as Eberhart followed him. Both enemies were down. They flew back to Abbeville. They landed and Eberhart immediately got out of his 109 walking towards him. He grabbed Kurt and hugged him. He looked at him, “Thanks, you saved my life. They had me.”

      Kurt looked at him, “That’s what we do. I got you buddy.”

      Eberhart said, “Come on. I’ll buy you a drink.”

       They talked with the other pilots. Kurt’s three victories in two days were the most in the squadron. He was a respected pilot. The Jagdgeschwader had shot down more Spitfires than any other. Galland had shot down two himself.

      A Luftwaffe Oberst pulled up at the command center and everyone noticed. He went in and talked to the commander. The Oberst left and a meeting was called.

      Galland told the men, “Tomorrow the bombers are going into England again. Other Jagdgeschwaders are escorting them in. We will cover their return. The Spitfires will chase them. We’ll make sure they get back alright. The Oberst also told me they captured a downed Spitfire pilot. He talked and said the Englanders fear JG 26. They call us the Abbeville Boys. I guess we’re getting a deadly reputation. Also, we’ll soon be getting the new ME-109 F model. It’s faster and has more guns. That’s it. Get ready for tomorrow and cover the retreat of the bombers. Dismissed.”