Piece of Cake (novel) - Plot Summary

Plot Summary

Piece of Cake begins in Sept 1939 when World War Two is about to begin. The young, brash and inexperienced pilots of Hornet Squadron, a fighter unit of the British Royal Air Force's Fighter Command and equipped with Hawker Hurricane Mk. 1s, are not inclined to take the impending war very seriously. Squadron Leader Ramsey, who has been drilling his men hard, is eager to get into action. Returning from a practise flight, he inadvertently taxis his Hurricane into a slit-trench, upending the aircraft and, too impatient to wait for a ladder, falls from the cockpit and fatally breaks his neck.

His temporary replacement is New Zealander 'Fanny' Barton whose authority is rejected by most of the pilots. Ordered to intercept an incoming group of aircraft, Barton attacks what he believes is a German bomber and shoots it down, only to later realise it was a British Blenheim. He is sent away to face a court of enquiry whilst Squadron Leader Rex, an upper-crust and calmly confident pilot, arrives to take command.

The squadron is despatched to a new airfield in France to await the expected German attack. Billeted in a luxury chateau, the pilots enjoy a comfortable lifestyle. In return, Rex expects strict discipline amongst his pilots and adherence to the textbook tactics of the RAF including close-formation flying and the cumbersome 'fighting area' attacks. The Phoney-War begins as winter sets in. Pilot Officer 'Moggy' Cattermole bullies several of the other pilots, in particularly young Dickie Starr and mentally-fragile 'Sticky' Stickwell. Cattermole flies his Hurricane under a low bridge, goading Starr and 'Pip' Patterson to do the same. Starr attempts the stunt and is killed. Cattermole shows no remorse.

A new replacement arrives, an American named Christopher Hart the Third, soon nicknamed 'CH3'. A veteran of the Spanish Civil War, he is unimpressed with the rigid, by-the-book tactics of the RAF and this leads to disagreements and hostility with some of the other pilots. Barton also returns to the squadron. Hornet achieves its first aerial victory when they destroy a German Dornier 17 bomber. Hart is unimpressed that it takes six pilots to down a single, already crippled bomber, partly due to the poor gunnery skills of many of the pilots. Journalist Jackie Bellamy is keen to portray the war as a glorious adventure against an evil foe and cannot understand Hart's cynicism. Two of the pilots, 'Flash' Gordon and 'Fitz' Fitzgerald, begin respective romances with two local schoolteachers, French woman Nicole and expat Englishwoman Mary. Both pairs eventually marry, although Fitzgerald experiences problems with sexual impotency.

Fed up with Cattermole's bullying, Stickwell flies an unauthorised sortie, strafing a Luftwaffe airfield, but his aircraft is damaged and he crash-lands in Belgium. The squadron rescue him but Rex cannot forgive the incident and Stickwell is transferred to another unit. Hart is increasingly at odds with the other pilots over his refusal to adhere to RAF tactics.

The German Invasion of France and Belgium (Blitzkrieg) begins on May 10th 1940. Hornet Squadron's tactics are soon proved dangerously inadequate, especially to the pilots flying at the rear. In the first days, three inexperienced pilots are killed without the rest of the squadron even seeing the German Me-109 fighters that shoot them down. Whilst escorting a bomber attack against German ground forces, 'Moke' Miller is badly wounded and later dies in hospital. The remaining pilots at first doubt and then despise the outmoded tactics but Rex refuses to alter them. A bombing raid leaves Rex badly injured by shrapnel but he conceals his wounds from the other pilots and strong painkillers leave him euphoric and overconfident. Recklessly ordering Hornet Squadron to attack a much larger German formation, Rex dives down to his death but another pilot orders the others not to follow, several of the pilots deliberately crowding Barton's plane, preventing him from following Rex.

Now acting Squadron Leader, Barton tries to rally his demoralised men, including a terrified Patterson and a cynical Hart. But the German advance is sweeping across France and Hornet Squadron has been reduced to a mere handful of Hurricanes still intact. Fleeing as a refugee, Nicole gets a lift with a motorcyclist but is killed in an accidental crash. Mary manages to reach England as do the survivors of Hornet Squadron.

In August, Hornet Squadron is reformed and made operational again just as the Battle of Britain enters its most intense phase. Of the original pilots, only eight remain: Barton, Hart, Cattermole, Patterson, Fitzgerald, Gordon, 'Mother' Cox and Irishman 'Flip' Moran. Amongst the replacements are Czech pilot 'Haddy' Haducek, Pole 'Zab' Zabarnowski, mild-mannered Englishman Steele-Stebbing, cocky 'Bing' MacFarlane and young 'Nim' Renouf. They are soon seeing heavy action as the German Luftwaffe switches from attacking Channel convoys and begins an offensive against RAF airfields in southeast England. Hornet Squadron is using better tactics: shooting at closer range, flying in pairs, constantly checking the sky above and behind whilst in the air. Gordon has become eccentric and reckless after his wife's death. Cattermole finds a new victim for his bullying in Steele-Stebbing. Cattermole orders a reluctant Renouf to destroy an unarmed German Heinkel-59 rescue plane over the Channel. Moran, now a flight commander, is reluctant to accept Barton's authority.

Intelligence Officer 'Skull' Skelton is sceptical about the numbers of German aircraft that Fighter Command is claiming to shoot down, as is Jackie Bellamy who has become cynical about the conduct of the war. The inadequate training of new pilots and the poor gunnery skills are soon painfully obvious. Skelton becomes very unpopular when he refuses to confirm all of the pilot's victory claims.

The battle continues to intensify and all of the pilots begin to suffer exhaustion and nervous strain. Moran is horribly burnt to death when he is shot down. 'Bing' MacFarlane destroys two German planes and performs a forbidden 'Victory Roll' which causes him to fatally crash. Cattermole meets up with Stickwell, finding out the latter is now a pilot in a two-seater Defiant squadron. Stickwell flies into action as a gunner and is killed. On the same day, Fitzgerald, his aircraft damaged, gets lost in dense fog and vanishes at sea. His wife Mary, now pregnant, refuses to accept that her husband is dead and is soon seen hanging around the aerodrome perimeter, which the other pilots find disturbing. Gordon's eccentricity grows more acute and infuriates the more seriously-minded Hart. Zabarnowski is killed in action and several new pilots are also lost, sometimes not even lasting a single day. Cattermole bales out from a defective Hurricane and his unmanned aircraft crashes into a village and kills four civilians. Skelton is appalled at Cattermole's refusal to show any remorse. Steele-Stebbing retaliates against Cattermole with a practical joke and the two appear to declare an unofficial truce. Cattermole angrily forces Mary to cease her vigil and leave the aerodrome.

It is now September 1940 and the Battle of Britain is reaching its height. The survivors of Hornet squadron are exhausted and at breaking point. Haducek is killed and Renouf is badly burned. Gordon is badly wounded and later dies, news of his death hitting a battle-fatigued Hart particularly hard. Jackie Bellamy discusses with the pilots the possibility of a German Invasion of Britain and she concludes that the Germans lack the naval capacity to do so. On 7th September, the Luftwaffe launches a massed attack against London and every available RAF fighter unit is flung into action, including Hornet Squadron. Steele-Stebbing and Cattermole are both killed. Cox bales out and Patterson force-lands but both remain alive. The story ends with Barton and Hart diving yet again to attack the massed ranks of German bombers.