Just Ordinary Men

Chapter 17

Hearing his voice the grizzled features of Oberfeldwebel Franz Leitner turned to him 'Guten morgen Herr Major!  I was just wondering if you could answer a puzzling question for me..'

Eying him suspiciously Alfelt nodded warily 'Was?'

Growling the burly mechanic stepped toward him and replied 'Was zum Teufelhast du getan, um es diesmal?'

Alfelt snorted 'You know Franz.. if we weren't such old friends I could easily have you shot for speaking to me like that..'

The older mechanic grinned, wiping his oily hands on a rag 'Yes.. yes you could Herr Major.. but then who would you get that would put up with you breaking this wonderful aeroplane all the time?'  He threw the rag down and repeated his earlier inquiry 'So.. what in hell did you do to it this time?'

A shrug was the response, which he mimicked in reply 'What does.. mean?'

Alfelt yawned and regarded him 'Well you see Franz.. until I know exactly what I am supposed to have broken I cannot answer you now can I?'

Leitner chuckled 'You mean you don't know what excuse to make up yet..'

Laughing Alfelt nodded 'You know me too well Franz!  Seriously, what is the problem?'  He threw a glance up at the overcast sky 'We're unlikely to be doing any flying today so I've told all pilots to come down here and check in with their ground crews to make sure any problems are being addressed.'  Leitner nodded as the comment filled a gap in his knowledge 'Ach.. so that is why the young Leutnant was down here earlier.. he seems a promising one Herr Major.. hopefully he will stay alive long enough to be fulfil that promise..'

Alfelt raised an eyebrow 'Which young Leutnant, and what time?'

Leitner paused in thought 'Holbein.. he was down here about 0630 this morning chatting to his ground crew and asking them if there were any problems and if so how long they would take to fix..'

A broad smile spread across Alfelt's face '0630?  You're right Franz, that young man will do very well for himself if we can keep him alive long enough.  I only gave orders for everyone to check their aircraft fifteen minutes ago, it seems he instinctively knew what was the right thing to do..'

He nodded approvingly, but a cough from Leitner drew his attention as the older man pointed at his aircraft 'Fuel injectors.. need replacing..'

The Daimler Benz 609N was fitted with a fuel injection system which gave it its single advantage over the British Hurricane and Spitfire; fuel would feed even if the engine was in a negative G state, such as with the nose pushed forward.  The bf109 could therefore dive straight down to get out of trouble whereas the British aircraft with normally aspirated carburettors had to roll on their backs to dive.  This was the system Leitner refered to, and it appeared Alfelt had somehow broken his.

It took a moment for Alfelt but then light dawned 'Ach ja.. I had to pull her quite hard in a bank, perhaps something became overstressed?'

Grumbling Leitner muttered 'It's not the only thing overstressed around here..'

Alfelt clapped him on the shoulder 'Franz.. Franz.. we have been together you and I over twenty years.. you remember that fresh faced eager young teenager to whom you very tactfully indicated where to put his feet so he didn't break his Pfalz the very first time he climbed in it?'

Leitner chuckled and nodded 'Ja.. Oberst Prim would have had your guts for garters if you'd broken one of his aircraft the very first time you touched it.. but what's your point?'

Grinning Alfelt replied 'Well now old friend this is not the Western Front, and I am no fresh-faced teenager.. and for that matter you are not as young as you once were.  So tell me.. what is it?'