propeller, the Merlin coughed, spluttered and then settled to its well-known roar. With a quick run to the cable plug, grasping it and giving it a twist and pull, I ducked backwards and down as the Hurricane started to move. As the wing passed over me, I picked myself up, coiled the cable round the trolley, then pulling it after me, made for the bunker entry and toward the armoured car now waiting beyond it. After a fumble, that seemed at the time to last an age, contact with the ‘eye’ of the trailer over hook of the car was made, and the trolley was secured to the vehicle. Helping hands from the car pulled me inside and, with shouts of “go”, the vehicle was making for the bridge over the wadi. Crunches of the mortar bombs could be heard over the noise of the Hurricane which, by the time the car reached the bridge, to the cheers of the driver and Leading Aircraftsman Webb, who were the only ones to have a clear view, had become airborne and, still climbing, was making a long turn toward the east.
At the bridge over the wadi, the car stopped. Sergeant Evans leapt from the car and made for the switch box taped to the marker post. He made a rapid turn of the charger, then a turn of the switch. The resultant noise was not as loud as expected, possibly muffled by the walls of the bunker, but the flame and smoke of the dual explosion at the site of the hidden aircraft was unmistakable. A few seconds later, with Sergeant Evans scrambling back in the car, the frightening noise of exploding shells was heard. As the car pulled away and accelerated over the bridge, the trolley acc contacted a large rock, resulting in it being up-ended and dragged along on its side. With shouts of “Keep Going” by the still-trembling airmen passengers to the driver, it remained so until the Infantry Command Post was reached.
According to the Infantrymen at the post, the shells were seen to be exploding around the burning bunker in which the aircraft had been hidden, which was a help to the departing troops, rather than a hindrance. By mid-day, after hand-shakes all round, a nerve-settling cup of hot tea, and after a relatively comfortable sit-down meal with the South African Cavalry Unit, the Airmen were in the Workshops truck and, with the battered trolley acc now once more upright and in tow, heading east back to Sidi Azeiz, where they arrived, in plenty of time for the evening meal, to learn that the Hurricane had landed there safely, just 22 minutes after leaving them at Tmimi.
The de-brief of the operation took place late in the afternoon. All those from the Squadron involved took part, with written reports from the South African Cavalry Unit and the Infantry Brigade being read out. The flight from Tmimi, according to the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Grant, had been without problems. The Engineering Officer, who was also present and looking very proud, reported that the condition of the rescued Hurricane was, considering the conditions under which the operation had been attempted, very good. Work to inspect the aircraft would commence the following day, with every hope for it to be completed ready for air test by mid-day. And so it was. The Hurricane, looking as fresh as paint, was test flown by the Flight Commander of ‘B’ Flight. Some 40 minutes later it returned with no other work to be done except refuelling and, as the guns had also been tested, re-arming.
