Death of an airman
I crawled frantically underneath the deck, desperately hunting for that last fuel tank, that might keep us airborne for a few more hours.
“Its too late!” screamed one of the pilots, “we’ll have to make an emergency landing”
“NO” I cried, “there must be some more fuel”. More trying to repress my own fears than anything else; only the reassuring sound of the engine kept me straining to find some way to save us. The sound of silence swept the plane, my heart skipped a beat as I heard the engine expire.
All thought left me as I sat underneath the deck, hardly daring to believe what was happening. Overhead I could hear the desperate, panic-stricken horror of my co-pilots and friends as they struggled to keep the plane under control, but all was lost, and our flight was cut down as we plummeted into foreign lands. And to death.
I was brought back into consciousness by the severe pain that wracked my body, I attempted to move and let out a cry as I felt metal sear through my flesh. My body was all but encased, and every movement I made would make the already intrusive metal pierce my wounds deeper, the only light I could see was from the crevice that had split open above my head. I don’t know how long I laid there. Slowly going in and out of consciousness until the harsh coldness of winter rain pelted my face. It was only then that I managed to regain sense, and finally realise what was happening. I called out to my comrades, but no reply came. I knew they were dead but refused to believe it, although the distinctive smell of blood, and decaying corpses was already making me retch and vomit. All around me I could see the remnants of the once mighty Messerschnitt, the plane had split in two, I was entombed in the rear half but could still see the desecrated remains of the front of the plane, its windows were shattered and I saw, thrown against the outer shell the broken body of one of my comrades. His face was contorted into a look of both pain and horror, his eyes glazed over, I wretched emptily as I saw the slash running vertically across his stomach that had left his guts on show.
