H.E. Bates Companion

Differing from most of the "Flying Officer X" tales, which feature colorful conversation and portrayals of individual pilots, this tale is more of a prose-poem on the actions of two squadrons of Spitfire planes. Bates praises their cooperative efforts, even in the midst of inter-squadron rivalry over a dispersal hut. In its descriptions of the beauty of the planes and the morning, the piece hearkens back to earlier nature stories such as "The Gleaner." In The Listener (May 14, 1942), Bugle Blast: An Anthology from the Services, First Series (1943), There's Something in the Air (1943).