"Early One Morning"

Bates relates a predawn fishing adventure inspired by the author John Buchan, in which he forgets to bring worms, eventually catches some small roach, but returns home with little to show for his efforts except a broken fishing rod.

In the telling, he writes with appreciation of the fields and foliage on his walk to the lake, with occasional references to the presence of soldiers and sirens in the countryside. The essay is unrelated to a short story by Bates with an identical title.

In Journal of the Air Forces - India & Far East edition (September 1945, p. 37-38, attached).