Aircraftman Poke.
By Chris Savery (see what I did there?).
Lutterworth Press, London, 1958 (this printing 1963).
This is one of those titles that just make me stare in disbelief when it turns up on a sale table. What on earth (or in heaven, given the Themes herein) motivated the author to name his protagonist Archibald Poke?
Not that I’m not grateful, mind.
I’ve always assumed that Chris Savery is a relative of Constance Savery (the author of at least two deathless works in this collection), if not actually her alter ego.
Perhaps we will never know. But, if we choose to read about A/c Poke, we may at least discover:
Why should the new W.R.A.F called Icicle be terrified: and who was the stranger inside Padre Silverton’s uniform?
‘Inside’, note, not ‘in’. That’s real word-smithing. So now I’d just be curious just to know how they fit. Perhaps Padre Silverton had lost a lot of weight?
