Taking time off in 1940

As a woman...and a novelist, i focus on the human element more than the details of who was shooting with what firearm or what tank could outrun any other tank of its day. That being said, I still find the details fascinating and worthwhile of learning even if only for a peice of romance fiction.

My question for today: Is it unlikely that a soldier/pilot would take time off during the late summer of 1940 [pre-september 7th] in London? if it is possible, what length of time are we talking? a day? 3? a week?

I'd love to hear any thoughts or direction to personal accounts of that time and place. thanks.

 

I've actually spent some time thinking about this and its not easy to point to a single source of information.

I've read many pilot memoirs of the Battle of Britain period and of course, in the context of all the action, 'leave' is usually mentioned only incidentally.

One thing for sure : on the operational, front-line squadrons, there was no long-term leave. 48-hour passes or less were more usual and even then, frequently cancelled at zero notice.

However, again for the pilots, such passes meant one thing : A PARTY ! Heavy drinking and 'wild' behaviour were the norm. I recall one memoir of the North Weald squadrons ( this may have been Tom Neil's book, but I can't recall for sure ) where, at the height of the fighting, the CO felt that his men were in danger of becoming over-exhausted. He announced a 24-hour stand-down so that the pilots could rest and have some quiet time.

North Weald is only an hour from Oxford Circus by train - as soon as the stand-down was announced, one of the flight commanders burst into the officers' mess : 'Right chaps ! Let's get down to London for a PARTY !'

Most memoirs tell of pilots returning their airfields gripped by the most appalling 'hangovers' ; a sure-fire cure was to wait at readiness in the aircraft with the oxygen switched on......

I hope this helps. It's important to remember that these were very young men who were quite literally often only just out of school and were literally facing death every day ; the height of amusement for them was a boozy party in the mess or a trip to London for a party with their squadron comrades.

If you want to do some in-depth reading, I'd recommend the various memoirs by Paddy Barthropp, Brian Kingcombe, Tom Neil or Tony Bartley. All were noted RAF Battle of Britain characters to whom the social side of war was almost as important as the fighting......

 

*snort* Oh, that's good.

Thank you so much for the book recommendations. Hopefully I can find them on amazon...otherwise, it's off to one bookstore or another. I think you have helped me find a missing aspect in my story. YOUTH! LOL. *sigh*

 

I would imagine that's true, JW. My character has a home base in Primrose Hill. Shouldn't be to unlikely to get that pass Martin was talking about.

 

There is a specialist UK publisher which is reprinting some books set in the 'home front' of about that period, mainly from a civilian or women's perspective. Such a book which may give you some useful background material is 'Few Eggs And No Oranges' by Vere Hodgson, and there are others.

The publisher is Persephone, and their website is at ; -

Persephone Books, rediscovered twentieth century novels, neglected women writers, twentieth century female authors, out of print books, inter-war novels

 

I'd expect that during the Blitz most leaves would have been cancelled , especially those for personnal reasons. I can't imagine the RAF spending fortunes and energy, desperately trying to save every single downed pilot who might be floating in a dinghy in the Channel and basically send them back to the breach in a new plane with a still wet uniform and at the same time let other pilots playing the Romeos whereas every single man was needed.

 

Oh, undoubtedly, Skipper. That's one of the reasons my story falls short of the Blitz...also a reason for the difficulty in even writing a story based in this era. you don't see them often, that I know. I'm not breaking ground here by a long shot, but I'm treading lightly.

 

There might have been a few leaves for exceptionnal reasons (a burial maybe). I can imagine a few hour leave for that, maybe 24h. Also I imagine that slighty wounded soldiers could get home after they left hospital before they joined their unit again. Maybe you could focuss on that.

 

One of the Norwegian pilots to survive noted in a book that without the women in London and the stills in Scotland, they'd never come through the campaign.

He recorded that the blitz set a 'special' mood when they were off duty.

 

Oh, that made me smile, Jaeger...and chuckle. As it is, my story is as far from romance as I've ever written. It doesn't follow the 'formula', boy meets girl, girl hates boy, they fight, they love, they live happily ever after.

Thank God! LOL. It'll be a real treat trying to sell it to an editor.

Question, what is the best way to sabatoge a Hurricane Hawker? Fuel lines? fuel tanks? Any suggestions? ...oh, not for me. I don't have access to a Hawker. I mean for the villain.

 

Without wishing to be a devil's advocate, partial cutting-through of the cables which controlled the tail surfaces would, I think, be possible if access to the cockpit could be gained ( not too difficult on a Hawker Hurricane ). The cable would then break under violent manouevering, causing loss of control.

Disconnecting fuel or coolant lines would have been too apparent to ground-crew or to the pilot himself.

 

You could put grass clippings in the fuel tank. Sand or sugar would work. Perhaps some water in the fuel tank.
Cut one tire enough for the aircraft to take off but blow out on landing.
A slow leak in the coolant lines.