The Parachute. A short story by Charles Roberts

          “Excuse me sir,” he asked, “but what’s that you’re carrying.”

          “This,” he replied waving a pack, “is my parachute.  An essential piece of equipment.”

          “We had those in the last war, but they wouldn’t issue them.  They said that it would tempt us to jump out at the first sign of the enemy.  Well there wasn’t really room for them on the cockpit so if we had been given them we’d have had nowhere to put them in the aeroplane. The observers in the balloons used them, well it was either jump when you were being attacked or be burnt alive when the hydrogen balloon was hit.  No with us it was get the aeroplane back to our side so that the hun didn’t get a good look at it.”

          “You were in the last war?”

          “Yes sir.  Royal Flying Corps, I was a Lieutenant flying Sopwith triplanes at first, then moved on to the SE5.  Lovely aeroplane to fly that was.”

          “You were a pilot?”

          “Yes sir!  I have my wings here, look.”

          “Did you shoot any down?”

          “Seventeen sir.”

          “What the hell are you doing as ground grew the Air Force should have put you through flight school.”

          “They have my record sir, but after the war I was let go, like a lot of my fellow pilots.  They accepted me back into the Air Force this year, but as ground crew.”

          “But you were an ace; they should have sent you to flight school, at least given you a chance to show them that you could fly, or were you injured during the war which would stop you flying?”

          “I was lucky sir, came through without a scratch thank goodness, but, well the rest is history.”

          “I’ll have a word with the C.O. when I get back.  A man of your experience should be flying, not ground crew.”

          “If you don’t mind my asking sir, but where do you put the parachute in the cockpit?”

          “That’s easy.  You sit on it.  The seat is like a tray and the parachute goes into the tray and you sit on it, two straps go over your shoulders, and two come up between your legs and the clips all go into this boss that sits over your belly button.  When you want to take it off you press the boss and turn it half a turn to the left.”

          “Things have changed a lot since I was in the cockpit.”

          “Wouldn’t you like to fly again?”

          “I would give my right arm to be able to fly in battle again sir.  I miss it more than I can say.  I envy you every time I watch you get into that aeroplane.”

          “I will see the CO when I get back, that I promise.  I’m only doing an instrument check so shouldn’t be long.”

          “Thank you sir.  And be careful out there.”