THIS November we’re celebrating William E. Barrett’s Birthday on the 16th with four of his pulp stories—one each Friday.

Before he became renown for such classics as The Left Hand of God and Lilies of The Field, Barrett honed his craft across the pages of the pulp magazines—and nowhere more so than in War Birds and it’s companion magazine War Aces where he contributed smashing novels and novelettes, True tales of the Aces of the Great War, encyclopedic articles on the great war planes as well as other factual features. Here at Age of Aces Books he’s best known for his nine Iron Ace stories which ran in Sky Birds in the mid ’30s!

This week we have the third of our four stories celebrating William E. Barrett’s birthday this month. It’s “Handicap Flight” from the pages of the December 1932 Flying Aces.

Word had come through that the yards and factories of Mouzon must be bombed. The De Havillands had been beaten back twice when within sight of the city as had a flight of fourteen ships. Wing had come to the decision that one lone plane may have a better chance than a large group and it all came down to a cut of the cards to decide who would go on the suicide mission!

Death was writing on the black wings of that Yank bomber as it hurtled on toward Mouzon. It was a mad gamble—to send one lone pilot on a mission where eight ships and sixteen men had failed!

• Download “Handicap Flight” (December 1932, Flying Aces)