A Far Corner of the Sky

 Jackie Sorour

(1922–2004) 

ATA Pilot

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In most instances, the aeroplanes flown by ATA ferry pilots were unarmed. As the majority ATA pilots flew on their own, rather than in formation, there was therefore little chance of avoiding danger if one of these lone aeronauts was discovered by enemy fighters. Or if they encountered one of Hitler’s “vengeance weapons”, as happened to ATA pilot Jackie Sorour (Moggridge).

 

As ever, Jackie flew on to complete the delivery of her aircraft, despite the menacing presence of a machine designed by the same rocket engineer who would later help American astronauts to land on the Moon.  

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"In its own way the sky was as alien as the sea, and just as capable of conjuring phantoms and spectres. In the air the only thing she’d ever been scared of was the pilotless plane she’d once encountered in a remote and empty corner of the sky, the rocket powered automaton that she’d been unable to stop. At first she was unsure if the strange aircraft was an apparition, a phantasm conjured by the dreaming sky. But with a growing sense of dread, she realised what it was, equating the intruder with the newsreels she’d seen and the stories she’d heard. She’d looked for the cockpit and any sign of a human occupant but of course there had been neither. Just the immense shell casing (like something fired from the gargantuan cannons of a battleship), the black wings and the giant rocket motor perched at the back, a squat homunculus urging the demon chariot on."

 

From the short story collection, The Painted Sky.  

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