Jack clenched hold of the manaul to his chest, and took some time for his mind to adjust to what had happened in the past thirty minutes. The tension caused by the adrenaline pumping through his veins became more intense and finally he sat bolt upright to conduct an ‘equipment and supplies check’. He quickly emptied the contents of his pockets and rucksack onto the gleaming silver parachute which he had gathered together. The items he discovered in his possession were, one turtle shell comb given to him by his fiancee on his departure from the RAF base in England, one small tube of Bryl cream, a necessity for any young pilot in the RAF, an RAF issued long handled Bowie knife with a compass on the end of the handle.
He climbed out of his flying suit leaving him in his civilian clothes. He gathered the items from the parachute, put them into the small rucksack and began to dig a hole using his hands and his knife, to bury his kit.
Once the hole was about a foot deep, Jack hid both the parachute and his flying suit into the hole and started to cover it using the loose soil already available. As Jack put the finishing touches to his master piece he heard a noise behind him. He turned sharply suspecting it was a German solider, but it was in fact it was a middle aged man pointing the barrel of a shot gun into his upper torso. Standing behind the man were three women who looked very nervous and shaky. The man mumbled something in French and the four ladies laughed smugly. A shudder went down Jack’s spine as he could not imagine what the Frenchman had just said, but somehow he just knew it was bad. The man said something again, this time a little louder. There was a short silence before the man pocked jack with the gun waiting for a reply. Jack replied to what the man had just said in a sarcastic voice “ Parlez vous, er , Anglais chaps ?”
“Are you English ?” said the man in a husky French accent .
“Er, yes “ Jack replied.
“Come with me” said the French man, “this way”. The man turned and began walking towards an old pick up truck. The three women followed the man without saying a word and it was very clear to Jack who was the superior. Jack also followed without question and it wasn’t until he reached the passenger’s seat door that he built up the courage to ask the man of his fate.
“Where are you taking me?” asked Jack once he was sitting as comfortably as possible on the old leather seat.
The French man did not reply : instead he started the engine and pulled away.
As the old truck bounced along the countryside track in the darkness Jack wondered what was going to happen to him. The thought crossed his mind that the French man was in fact going to turn him in to the Nazis and he’d be led away to a concentration camp. Jack realised that this was not to be the case, as the truck pulled up at an old farm house which was in a clearing through the small forest. The French man got out of the vehicle and proceeded to walk to the door of the farm house and entered without looking back. The three women all took one quick look at Jack and then walked through into the house themselves. Jack scanned the surrounding scenery but found it hard to focus on anything until he heard the Frenchman’s voice call out to him and welcoming him into the house. As Jack entered the house he smelt the distinct aroma of coffee. This smell was familiar to Jack but gave him little comfort. The Frenchman asked Jack to take a seat and introduced himself as Luc. Throughout their conversation Luc told Jack of how hard life had become since the German occupation and of how his farther’s brutal killing by the Germans had not only left him with the responsibility of looking after his mother and his sisters, but had also prompted him into joining the French Resistance. Luc offered to help Jack in any way possible. During the course of the night the two men discussed what they could do to assure Jacks safety. The solution that came as a result of that evening was that Jack would stay at the farm house with Luc, would work on the farm, to pay his way helping look after Luc’s two sisters and would assume the identity of their cousin, until the end of the war when England would hopefully be victorious.
Over the following months, Jack’s days at the isolated farm, were spent attending to the many chores that farming requires. His evenings were taken up by becoming proficient in the French language. As his command and use of French improved, he and Luc would venture further into the countryside on bike rides during their spare time. It was during such a bike ride that they came across something that would alter Jacks current way of life. One evening at the farm after they had eaten dinner Luc’s sister Elise was asking Jack how you navigated an Aircraft. Jack explained as best he could about the various methods used and also how it was becoming easier due to a thing called a Radar. “What is a Radar”? asked Luc. Jack unable to properly explain in French drew a series of diagrams, one of which was of a Radar ground station, together with its complicated transmission Aerial. When Luc saw this picture, he asked “Do the Germans have Radar”?
We don’t think so said Jack “Why”.
“Because there are some small installations that look something like your drawing being built not far from here”.
“We must go and have a look at them” said Jack, becoming very concerned “And as soon as possible . If they have Radar or something similar we must let London know, Does Marcel still act as the Radio operator”?
“Yes he has managed to keep it operating extremely well, but it won’t be easy to view these stations, if that’s what they are. They’re partly hidden by trees” replies Luc.
The following day Jack and Luc set out to try and take a look at the stations. The area which surrounded the sites was highly guarded with German troops. This made Jack even more suspicious and after taking a short look at the constructions confirmed that, they were ground stations for one type or another of Radar equipment. That evening Jack sent a coded message informing London of the discovery and requested to be picked up to give precise detail of the construction sites. The message was answered and the Government agreed to Jacks plan, he was told he must leave that night .
A plane came and meeting him at the rendevous point. Before boarding, Jack said his farewells and thanked Luc for all he had done.
On arriving in London England Jack went to work straight away, he was also very glad to be back, even though farm life hadn’t been that bad.
Finally a bombing raid was planned for that night and Jack gave clear details, using his aviation skills to give precise instructions to the young pilots.
The morning after it was found out that the bombing raid had been a success and Jack was quite rightly, put forward for a medal.
Jack was back in England and the bombing raid had destroyed the German Radar stations although this didn’t mean that, that was the last Jack and Luc would see each other after the war Jack made several trips to see Luc and the two became great friends and allies!
