Canidy was preceded at Horsham St. Faith by a telephone call from Brigadier General Kenneth Lorimer of Eighth Air Force Headquarters.
Mission 43-Special-124 was a photographic reconnaissance of the German submarine pens at Saint-Lazare, General Lorimer said. And it was being flown at Major Canidy’s request. Special-124 was a high-priority mission, he emphasized. Which meant that there was to be no delaying it or canceling it or getting around it except maybe for some overwhelming catastrophe (such as, say, the end of the world).
Which meant that if Major Emmons had problems mounting it, equipment problems, say, it would be necessary to take an aircraft from another scheduled mission so that Special-124 could go.
Major Canidy himself would come to Horsham St. Faith to personally brief the flight crew (Major Emmons was always pissed when some chair warmer showed up to tell his people how to do what they were ordered to do) and would remain at Horsham St. Faith while the mission was flown.
After the mission the film magazines would be turned over to Major Canidy, who would arrange for the necessary processing.
“Under no circumstances, Bill, is Major Canidy to be permitted to go along on the mission,” General Lorimer said finally. “You understand me?”
“Yes, sir.” Later Major Emmons as much as said it straight out to his friend Captain Ross that Canidy was one more of the glory-hunting headquarters sonsofbitches who liked to pick up missions twenty-five missions and you got an Air Medal and went home) by inviting themselves along as’ observers.
“They got in the way, and they added two hundred pounds to the gross weight, and they picked and chose the missions to observe, generally short, safe ones.
Emmons was a little sorry that General Lorimer had this Canidy’s number. Special-124 was going to be short, but it wasn’t going to be safe. A P-38 group attempting to skip-bomb the Saint-Lazare pens had lost sixteen of twenty-nine attacking aircraft. Major Emmons would be happy to send some chair-warming sonofabitch trying to pick up a mission out on one like this.
Major Canidy arrived at Horsham St. Faith at three o’clock in the morning, sleeping in the back seat of a Packard driven by an English woman sergeant. Major Emmons was surprised to see that the sonofabitch did have wings pinned to his tunic. But that was all. Just wings. No ribbons. The sonofabitch apparently hadn’t even been here thirty days.
If he had been, he would have had the ETO (European Theater of Operations) ribbon.
First Canidy asked for coffee and then something to eat, then promptly began to tell the crew how to fly this mission. And right in front of the WRAC sergeant, too. That pushed Emmons over the edge.
“Excuse me, Major,” he said. “This mission is classified.”
“I know, ” Canidy said. “I classified it.” And then he understood.
“Does Agnes look like a German spy to you, Major?”
“How much B-26 time do you have Major?” Emmons flared. “If you don’t mind my asking? To tell my men how to fly this mission?”
“Actually no O26 time,” Canidy said.
“But he does have several thousand hours of pilot time,” the WRAC sergeant said sweetly. “And both the American and the English DFC.”
“Shut up, Agnes,” Canidy said. uand before we came here, we were with Major Douglass, who led the P-38 strike on the pens. He and Major Canidy were Flying Tigers in China.”
“I told you to shut up,” Canidy repeated.
“Richard,” the WRAC sergeant said, undaunted, “the major obviously believes–and, worse, is communicating his belief to these gentlemen–that you’re a… How does Jimmy put it? A candy ass.”
“Cahn-dy Ah-ss” in the WRAC sergeant’s dignified, precise English was comical. That broke the ice a little, and both Emmons and Canidy chuckled.
The B-26 pilot, a lieutenant who looked as if he belonged in high school, laughed out loud, like a boy.
“I guess I owe you an apology, Major Canidy–” Emmons began.
“Don’t be silly,” Canidy interrupted.
“–but when General Lorimer said that you were not under any circumstances to go on this mission, I got the idea you were one of those guys who like to collect missions by going on the easy ones.” “Lorimer said what?” Canidy asked.