Category: Jeremy’s War

Ch.20 CRACKS IN THE GABLE   Part of the problem was that they talked and thought too much. He would listen to the conversation at mealtimes sometimes, and pretend to be lost in his own thoughts. His mind was razor sharp however, and he excelled in the quiet comment from the top of the table,…

Ch.19 STRANGE AWARENESS   First came the slow awareness that something was going on. Something… was most definitely occurring. Something which warranted his attention, only… At times it was like a dream tossed sleep. A knowledge that had not yet achieved the awareness of self. A consciousness that tried to grapple with that which seemed…

Ch.18 STRAWBERRY JAM   Mr Armstrong Senior (‘Thomas’ only to one or two old friends) was annoyed. Very annoyed. Lunch at the club was not the same. He cut at his steak with wanton ferocity, as if it personified the very devil he loathed so much. He would have to have a word with the…

Ch.17 UNREALITY   The day it happened, it couldn’t have occurred at a more unreal time. He was returning home alone from a late evening patrol which had been more or less uneventful. He had checked his guns, which had promptly jammed. Pointing in some disgust at the stupid things, he had waved at Owen,…

Ch.16 FACADE   Sainte-Breuve-sur-Pont Feb. 25th, 1917 Dear Pater and Mater, Just a quick note to say I am still alive. And kicking. Got my second hun! Shot the little basket down in flames, and watched him jump out. Serves him right. Frizzled all the way down. I’m fine. The only bad news is that…

Ch.15 MUTINY   The muffled ‘kerrump’ as the fuel tank exploded reached Jeremy’s ears. It should have registered in his brain immediately, but there was a time lag. During which he was picked up by an invisible, red hot hand, carried bodily through the air, and smacked hard and painfully onto the ground. This winded…

Ch.14 THE HUNTER   Evening time at last. It had been a good supper. Now he enjoyed a cigarette, watching the smoke curl lazily up to the ceiling. Bright blue smoke escaped mischievously from the tip as it lay, waiting dutifully, in an ashtray. He picked up the patient servant, inhaled gloriously, and then fired…

Ch.13 ‘THE NEWLY DEAD ABOUT TO FALL’   By the time Jeremy returned to flying duty, Digsby had been killed in a dogfight, flying wingman to Greenhall on only his second patrol. He had been at the squadron so briefly, that nobody had got to know him. He was replaced within twenty four hours by…

Ch.12 MIRROR OF THE SOUL Sainte-Breuve-sur-Pont 24th February 1917 Dear Pater and Mater, Not a very good few days. Feeling a bit better now, but I must admit I’ve spent four days grounded, trying to get my brain sorted out. War! It certainly gets some people going. Life’s different for me now, and the enormity…

Ch.11 HATE THY NEIGHBOR Jeremy realized he was almost in a trance, circling the burning wreck, his gaze fixed in horrible fascination on the results of his action. Dismay and guilt was giving way partly to another emotion that shocked him in its growing intensity. A savage satisfaction. It was as if two voices were…