"Morning Victory."

Differing from most of the "Flying Officer X" tales, which feature colorful conversation and portrayals of individual pilots, this tale is more of a prose-poem on the actions of two squadrons of Spitfire planes.

Bates praises their cooperative efforts, even in the midst of inter-squadron rivalry over a dispersal hut. In its descriptions of the beauty of the planes and the morning, the piece hearkens back to earlier nature stories such as "The Gleaner."

Published in:

• The Listener (May 14, 1942)
• Bugle Blast: An Anthology from the Services, First Series (1943)
• There's Something in the Air (1943)
• The Complete Stories of Flying Officer 'X' (Bloomsbury ebook, 2018)