A Che ning Ad nture
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Reflections of Hope and Courage
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Chapter 3 continued...
The bus made its way along the A25 towards Dryhill, one of the quarries that had been used to fill hundreds of sand bags in the war; while the Colonel explained.
“There had been searchlights and barrage balloons on Chipstead Common and other local areas around here to thwart the Nazi bombing raids. Along with support from #79 Hurricane squadron of Biggin Hill, they protected the area.
V2s launched from Holland travelled faster than the speed of sound and were hard to stop; but one broke up over Chevening Park. The warhead landed in Cudham. But the planes were easier to down.
One evening a pilot bailed out of his damaged aircraft and landed in a haystack just as the local bus made its stop on this very road. The conductor jumped out and ran to where the parachute landed, armed only with a spanner that he grabbed from his tool box. Naturally, the pilot surrendered and the conductor received an honour for his bravery. That is the spanner he used. Mr E mounted it specially.”
His curiosity roused, James asked to see the contents. Always keen to encourage an interest in history, the Colonel obliged.
The Whitworth spanner had seen a lot of wear but of more interest to James was the message written on the back of the photograph.
‘Our country relies on the bravery of common folk such as you. With examples of the type of courage that you have ably demonstrated, we shall win this war. In recognition of your fearless action, and in case you are ever in need of our services, please keep this number secure.’
But there was no number.
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“Where’s the number?” asked James as he handed the photo to Sarah.
“I don’t know,” replied Sarah “but that’s an odd pattern for a border.”
An empty Country-line bus passed the vacant stop on the other side of the road. In these strange times, the queues of uniformed children at bus stops had been replaced with queues of bored adults waiting outside shops. Perhaps this was an insight into what rationing was like. Bertie Bus continued past windows peppered with a mixture of bunting, rainbows and yellow hearts.
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“The 410 from Biggin Hill had an armed conductor later you know – not just someone with a rusty spanner,” said the Colonel as the bus turned right into Chevening Road. “Just back there used to be Sundridge Aerodrome Repairs and Coombe Bank was an auxiliary hospital. Shall we drop you off Florence?”
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On hearing this, Sarah’s mind turned to the new NHS Nightingale Hospital. By taking over the ExCel conference centre, it had become an enormous auxiliary hospital itself. She remembered how Florence had used diagrams concisely to convey information in her studies. That stirred something in her mind.
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Turning the photograph over in her hand again, she exclaimed it again. “Quick James! Copy this down!”
Solve the code, click on the solution page and then enter the first 4 letters into the password box. Good luck!