Various War Stories

Mutiny On The Flying Saucer

My name is William Faust, I'm one of the engineers on the Haunebu II Factory number 15B. I can't remember much and I honestly don't want to but I have a feeling writing this down may help with my situation. Where to start? God...well, it was a less then standard mission, the Americans were pounding our bases with constant bombing raids, the damn problem is that they're using those B-29 Superfortresses and most of our anti air guns can't hit them so that's why we're being sent up, we're some of the only aircrafts that can remotely try and attack them. Speaking of aircraft, I don't know why I'd call the Haunebu that, it resembles more of a saucer plate then those twisty fighters. Now our crew was expecting to just be on the compact little Haunebu I but that changed, you see with these bombers we need firepower which the little boys don't have so We're using the new Haunebu II. With it's 4 turrets we might just be able to take down these "dragons" as Schroeder calls them, Oh! I almost forgot to tell you about our crew.

The Haunebu is like a U-Boat in the sky, Tight corridors with a relatively large crew, Our Flight Lieutenant was Frans Becker, He was a short man, around 5'4 maybe, perfect for these cramped hallways and corridors. He usually had a scruffy beard with sideburns but he shaved that morning, revealing the strong pale chin underneath. His hair on top was thinning but he hid that with his flight cap and had a few patches of grey hairs near his ears. Our Senior Engineer was Kurt Hoch, He was an old war dog, served in World War One servicing and repairing the Albatrosses and Triplanes, He said that he even repaired Manfred Von Richthofen's Albatross Biplane. Though he didn't seem to be the biggest fan of the Nazis, He did re-enlist into the Luftwaffe in 1939. He was stocky with a thick grey walrus mustache and mutton chops, He tended to wear a few of his medals from when he was in action, mainly his Iron Cross which he earned after dragging a downed German pilot out of their mangled plane and carrying them back to base. Our third engineer was Wilhelm Schroeder, Me and Him went to primary school together and sometimes we'd switch seats to mess with the teacher since our names were so similar, William and Wilhelm. Schroeder was a fine young man, about a month my junior so we tended to have birthday celebrations around the same time, even though life was tough. Schroeder was always a bit crazy, he liked to hunt but not for food, just for sport which I wasn't the biggest fan of. Schroeder thankfully stopped this when we both entered The Luftwaffe. Our lead pilot was Peter Muller, He wasn't one who talked much at any time other than work. Peter wore round rim glasses but tended to stick in contact lenses during missions. He was tall and thin and an amazing pilot, especially with the Haunebu, able to dodge even the fastest blazing guns. Thomas Richter was our lead gunner, commanding the three other men that accompanied him while in combat. Thomas was stocky middle aged man who had been a gunner on a Heinekel HE-111 during the bombing campaign over England so he definitely had experience in his field. Our second gunner and a man who technically outranks the man who bosses him around, Oberfeldwebel Herman Kertfield was a bright chipper man around his late 20s. Kertfeld had flown as a gunner in a Junkers Ju 87b Stuka during the Blitzkrieg in France. Herman and Thomas actually tend to get along well, both having been gunners on bombers. The rest of the crew was made up of mainly lower ranking crewmen that made up the pilots and spotters. I have some other engineers that work with me as well though I haven't gotten to know them much, the reason will be revealed soon.

We had taken off from Trier Air Base, crammed into the confines of the Haunebu like sardines. The jet engines were running hot, causing us all to sweat, especially us engineers who were stuffed inside the deep and tight maintenance corridors, surrounded by rumbling fuel pipes. I had gotten out from the corridor to go and grab a cup of coffee, it wasn't best as it was just the instant kind the Luftwaffe supplied with powdered milk for creamer. Thomas was also there, sitting in the cafeteria, sweat covering his brow. It was obvious the heat was already getting to him which wasn't a good sign especially for a man with as short a temper as him. Finishing the bitter black liquid, I washed out the cup and turned back to see that Thomas had left, probably going back to the gunner's quarters. I climbed the ladder back down into the maintenance corridor, the only illumination being the red lights, and all sounds being nearly covered by the thundering sound of the engines and constant flow of fuel through the thin steel pipes. My mind had become numb to this disturbing atmosphere as I worked. Rounding a corner I saw a small paper on the floor, picking it up I found that it was a letter addressed to Thomas, "What is this doing down here? Richter never lets these things out of his sight. Unless he was down here..." I shook the thought out of my head and went to take the note back to Thomas, there was no way he was down here, he's not permitted to. As I walked back down the tunnel I heard what sounded like a struggle above me, rushing up to see what was happening, I climbed the ladder to find Thomas beating Hoch down, as I tried to pull him off, I was punched in the side of the head, blacking out soon after I hit the warm steel floor.