The Shepherd ~ Frederick Forsyth (16 of 24)

 

The Shepherd ~ Frederick Forsyth (Author), Illustrated By Lou Feck (Author)

Forsyth is a master story teller and this one was especially good. The story is beautifully told and one is immediately attached to the main characters. 

It is Christmas Eve, 1957, and there are cozier places to be than the cockpit of a de Havilland Vampire fighter plane. But for the Royal Air Force pilot who has just taken off from West Germany, this single-seat jet is the only way to make it back to England for Christmas morning. His flight plan is simple; the fuel tank is full. In sixty-six minutes, he will be back in Blighty. But then the plane begins to fail. First the compass goes haywire, then the radio dies. Lost and alone above the English coast, the pilot is searching for a landing strip when the fog closes in, signaling certain death. He has given up hope when a second shadow appears—a Mosquito fighter-bomber of World War II vintage. The plane is a “shepherd,” guiding the Vampire to a safe landing, and its appearance is a gift from fate, a miracle out of time—but for one lonely pilot, the mystery has just begun.

What great writing . Puts you in the plane as it try’s to kill him . If you like planes or flight this short story is a home run.

Frederick Forsyth is the author of a number of bestselling novels including The Day of the Jackel, The Odessa File, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative and The Fourth Protocol. He lives in Hertfordshire, England. www.frederickforsyth.co.uk

By chance saw the movie in Disney today:

Taking off in his Vampire, Freddie is ordered onto course heading 265° at flight level 280 over the North Sea, whereupon Celle's ATC shuts down for the night. Momentarily after exiting landfall, the Vampire suffers multiple-instrument failure, leaving Freddie stranded without navigational guidance. After several attempts to contact Lakenheath for a radio-guided approach fail, he plans a detour to RAF Miriam St. George, located near the coast. With fog having set in, Freddie attempts a last resort by flying a triangular pattern in the hopes of being located on radar.

Flying low on fuel, and believing a sea ditch is inevitable, Freddie reminisces past memories with his girlfriend, Lizzie, before writing a final note to her. After flying through an aurora, he notices a nearby plane flying just below him and attempts to contact it. Inching closer to the plane, he identifies it as a Mosquito, but is unable to make radio contact with it. The Mosquito pilot, who is able to contact Freddie, asks if he requires assistance, to which he responds using hand signals. Acknowledging him, the pilot guides him with a steady descent through the fog to a nearby base, before breaking off. After touching down safely, he shares a salute with the pilot, who disappears into the fog.

On the ground, Freddie encounters Sergeant Joe Marks, the base's lone officer, who informs him that he had landed at RAF Minton, an abandoned base just ten miles short of Miriam St. George. Taking sanctuary in the officer's mess, Marks informs him that the base used to an epicenter for fighter missions during the Second World War. There, Freddie notices a picture of the Mosquito pilot, whom Marks identifies as John Kavanagh, a Canadian Pathfinder pilot who flew solo patrols to assist stranded pilots after target-marking flights. When Freddie notes to Marks that Kavanagh had guided him into Minton, Marks replies that Kavanagh went missing in action during a patrol on Christmas Eve, 1943.

A bewildered Freddie is approached by two airmen from Miriam St. George, who had driven down to Minton after noticing his Vampire on radar. When he highlights Marks' help, they inform him that no one has occupied Minton for years. Astounded, he looks up the clear sky before leaving the base.

The scene shifts to a rising horizon, where Kavanagh is seen contacting another stranded pilot. An ending note highlights the role of guide-pilots in saving the lives of countless fighter pilots returning from missions during the war.