Where Eagles Never Flew: A Battle of Britain Novel

“Do not believe everything you hear,” the letter started. “Wild rumours have been circulating that I am blind in one eye. This is a gross exaggeration. The only thing wrong with my right eye is that it cannot focus properly. I’m perfectly capable of seeing light and dark. Besides, the doctors are not certain that the condition is permanent, and even if it were, I would still be in an enviable position, since in the realm of the blind, the one- eyed man is King.”

Ernst sat bolt upright in bed in agitation. How could he dare to write something like that?! Was he out of his mind? Ernst grabbed the envelope again to try to see if it had been tampered with. After all, the Gestapo might assume that the recipient, not just the sender, of such a statement was disloyal. Turning the envelope over, however, he noticed the stamp. It had been posted direct from OKH – the Oberkommando des Heeres – or the very highest Army command. Christian’s elder brother was a General Staff officer currently serving at OKH, Ernst remem- bered. The Army was different from the Luftwaffe. They didn’t allow any Gestapo interference with their officers – or their mail. But still, Christian was taking such a terrible chance. What if it had been opened at this end?

“Herr Meyer is very popular here at the moment – despite what happened the other night.” Ernst frowned. Meyer? Who the hell was Herr Meyer? “You see his picture everywhere, usually against a panorama of our bomber streams leaving the coast at Calais in the background. That, or him with a shotgun over his arm in the company of Galland, Mölders and Wick.”

Now Ernst got the joke; Goering had reputedly said that if the RAF ever bombed Berlin “his name was Meyer.” The RAF had hit Berlin on the night of Aug. 28/29. Fortunately, they had done very little damage – nothing compared to what the Luftwaffe was doing to English cities.

“They keep playing ‘Bomben auf Engeland’ on the radio, too,” Christian’s letter continued. “It really gets on your nerves after a while. Especially when trying to have a relaxing evening on the Kurfuerstendamm with an attractive young lady.

“No, I am not confined to hospital, and even if I were, I would still find a way to have dinner on the Ku’damm with an attractive young lady. (Gabrielle is, according to Dieter, dating three – please count: one, two, three – other men, so no lectures, if you please.)

“The Ku’damm, for your information, looks better than ever. The shops are filled to the gills with products from Norway, Holland, the Netherlands, France, and Italy. Speaking of Italy, there’s a new Italian restaurant, Don Giovanni, that is all the rage, with Italian waiters who make love to the women while taking their orders – well, verbally – and then serve such marvellous food that you actually forgive them their impudence.

“With the weather so fair, the Kneipe have put their tables outside on the pavements, and Berlin never seems to sleep. Blackout? Never heard of it. Are we at war? Not really. Apparently the Air Force is tossing bombs at England (please sing: Bom-ben auf Eng-eland!) and teaching the pig-headed English to show more respect for the Master Race, but this is considerably less important than the latest film released by UFA and starring our heroic national floating corpse, Christina Sönderbaum. (Same song, second verse, doesn’t get better, it just gets worse.) This time she was seduced by a Czech rather than raped by a Jew, but it all ends the same way – with her (admittedly lovely) corpse floating on some body of water.

“If it weren’t for the hope they’d show her naked somewhere in the prelude to the suicide (at least in the reflection of a glass or water or some such thing like they did that once), I wouldn’t bother going to her films at all – especially not since now-a-days they have to start off with a Wochenschau full of steely-eyed Stuka crews and laughing fighter pilots. (We have been reduced to the role of Jesters!)

“At least our beloved leader has been defending our virility. The Army High Command (prudes that they are) wanted to ban a film because it depicts a Luftwaffe officer accepting the invitation of a famous and stunningly beautiful singer to share her bed before going off to throw bombs (presumably at En-ge-land), but Fatty went on record saying: ‘The man would not be an officer if he did not take advantage of such an opportunity.’ I hope he’ll remember that line when I come up for court-martial because of Gabrielle – or her successor.

“Speaking of successors, there are really some very attractive young ladies here in Berlin. I was at the Esplanade the other night and ran into a friend who was escorting a couple of BDM leaders. Classic beauties, both of them. I’m sure you would have liked them. Just a reminder: there are other fish in the sea.” Ernst frowned at that. What did Christian have against Klaudia? Why did he dislike her so much? Besides, Ernst didn’t like ambitious women. He knew all about BDM leaders! They were more masculine than many men, healthy in the extreme, disciplined as drill sergeants and fanatical on top of that. Who wanted a girl friend like that? Christian certainly didn’t! And nor did Ernst.

Christian’s letter continued, “Dieter says the Staffel is full of eager young boys now. He says they all look the same and they’re all very ‘correct.’ No fun at all. The Bomber Boys are accusing us of breaking off the minute we see Spitfires (weren’t they all shot down long ago? Must be the Supermarine Phoenix we are encountering now). Dieter says that can’t be true, since the new boys never see the Spitfires until they are already being shot at – and even then they react in bewilderment. ‘Herr Oberleutnant, my wing has just fallen off. How did that happen?’ I kid you not! That is exactly what Dieter reported in his last letter!”

Now Ernst squirmed unhappily in his hospital bed with a sense of intense guilt. He ought to be out there with them. He wasn’t really injured. What were a few holes in his flesh? A few smashed muscles? Everything was healing well. Just stiff and painful. It wasn’t right to send kids out there while he lay around on his back. He had to convince the doctor to pass him fit for service. He had to get back to the Staffel.