Like USAF Captain J.B. Baronowsky, Kit flew bombers during the war. Unlike J.B., he was severely injured and peace finds him with one foot less than he started the war. Kit Moran contributes to the themes of coping with disabilities and the scars of war, and it is largely because of them that he actively seeks participation on the Airlift.
Readers of "Lack of Moral Fibre" and/or "Moral Fibre" will be familiar with Kit Moran. The son of a Colonial Official and a missionary's daughter, he grows up in Africa. He leaves home at 16 to take an apprenticeship in the UK. When the war breaks out, he volunteers for the RAF. Initially he is trained as serves as an engine mechanic or fitter. This leads him to volunteer as a flight engineer, and in this capacity he flies 36 operations against Germany. On the 36th op, his skipper is mortally wounded and three other crewmen severely injured. When ordered to fly the next day with a crew he doesn't know, Kit refuses and is promptly expelled from his squadron for "lacking moral fibre."
The story of what happens to him next is the subject of "Lack of Moral Fibre" and Kit's subsequent wartime career as a Lancaster skipper is the subject of "Moral Fibre."
At the start of the Bridge to Tomorrow series, Kit is studying aeronautical engineering at Leeds University -- and getting one rejection letter after another from prospective employers. When graduation comes, he still has no job, so he, his wife and their four-month-old daughter move in with Georgina's parents. Georgina's father is an Anglican priest who has a living in rural Yorkshire.
An excerpt featuring Kit Moran:
“The car’s making a strange squeaking noise in the back,” the Reverend Edwin Reddings told his son-in-law as he came through the back door. He was scratching his head as if puzzled.
“The brakes?” Kit asked back.
“I don’t think so. The noise seemed to start when I stopped braking.”
“I’d better take a look at it,” Kit declared, getting to his feet.
“I can take it to the garage if you prefer,” Reddings offered.
“No, it might be dangerous for you to drive,” Kit told him, grabbing overalls from a hook by the back door. “We’ve got time before dinner. I’ll see if I can find out what’s wrong.” He stepped into the legs of the overalls and continued outside as he pulled the arms over his shirt and fastened the buttons. For the first half of the war, Kit had been a fitter, and he retained his old work clothes for tasks like this — or mucking out the stalls of the two horses his in-laws kept in a stable at the back.
Kit welcomed the distraction because he could use something practical to do just now.Kit had spent the afternoon filling out an elaborate and lengthy application form for a job with Ethiopian Airlines. After being turned down for scores of engineering jobs over the last six months, his wife Georgina had talked him into responding to an advertisement from Ethiopian Airlines soliciting applications from pilots, flight engineers and ground crew. It was as much Georgina’s enthusiasm as his own frustration that had induced him to respond. Georgina believed that she would find opportunities to teach in Ethiopia. Kit, however, had discovered that the Ethiopians, with their 2,000-year history, maintained an arcane bureaucracy. He had never encountered anything quite like this application form before — not even in the RAF. It was 20 pages long and included lengthy questions about his family, his religion, his education and, of course, his experience.
Kit took the tool kit out of the boot of his father-in-law’s car and put it down on the ground. Then he lay down on his back and squirmed his way under the tailgate with a torch which he directed towards the brakes. As he conducted the inspection, he was asking himself how he was supposed to answer the question “When was the last time you flew an aircraft?”
Did he admit to flying without a license with Leonard Cheshire in a Mossie that the Group Captain might — or might not — still have owned? Or did he omit that flight (which he had not dared record in his logbook) and say that the last time he’d flown he’d crash-landed, breaking the aircraft into three pieces and leaving his flight engineer crippled for life while crushing his left foot under the instrument panel so completely that they had to cut it off to extract him before the fuel tanks exploded?
Which brought him to the question of the medical exam. In addition to the application form, Ethiopian Airlines had sent a five-page “Medical Questionnaire” to be completed “by the applicant’s attending physician.” Aside from the fact that he didn’t have a particular physician, what were the Ethiopians likely to do with the item: “Missing left foot and half of lower left leg.” He knew he could fly with his artificial limb, but why should Ethiopian Airlines believe him? And why would any doctor pass him fit to fly —
“Kit! Kit!” It was the urgent voice of his father-in-law.
The reverend’s tone was so alarmed, that Kit pushed himself back out from under the car fearing some sort of calamity. Had his daughter Donna had an accident? Or Georgina? Reddings was gesturing to him from the back door, signalling him to come. “It’s a telephone call for you!”
Kit pushed himself off the ground, using his flesh-and-bones foot, and wiped the dirt off his palms on the already dirty thighs of the overalls as he hastened to the house. “Who is it?” he asked his father-in-law, who stood holding the door open for him.
“A Mr Goldman calling from London about a job interview!” Reddings exclaimed flustered. He knew how hard Kit had been looking for work these past six months.
Puzzled, Kit frowned slightly. He couldn’t remember the name Goldman, but there might well have been a Goldman among the scores of personnel chiefs to whom he’d sent his many letters of inquiry. He took up the telephone receiver and spoke into the handset, “Good afternoon. This is Christopher Moran.”
“David Goldman,” came the crisp answer. “I’m the Managing Director of Air Ambulance International based in Berlin, Germany. His Majesty’s Government has decided to contract civilian airliners on the Berlin Airlift. My company is looking into options for adding air freight to our ongoing ambulance operations. If we go ahead, we will need to employ pilots with four-engine ratings and experience. You were recommended to us by Assistant Section Officer Hart as a possible captain.” Kathleen! Kit thought, noting that she had been promoted. On the other end of the line, the unfamiliar voice continued. “I’m calling to see, first, if you would be interested in what, due to the nature of the work, must be a temporary position only, and if so, if you could come to an interview at the Savoy Hotel in London tomorrow or Friday.” At last, the clipped voice paused long enough to allow Kit to answer.
Kit’s pulse was racing. He was being offered a chance to fly the Airlift! The day the British government had announced their intention to supply the city by air, he had told his father-in-law that he wished he could be part of it. Reddings, ever the optimist, had told him he thought he would. Kit had not believed him. He’d been invalided out of the RAF and had seen no possible way to become part of this military operation. Now, out of the blue, things had changed. Civilians were being given a chance to fly. He could hardly breathe for fear he might say something to spoil his chances. He tried to keep his voice neutral as he replied: “The answer to both questions, sir, is yes. However, I’m currently in Yorkshire. I’m not sure about train connections, so Friday afternoon would be better.”
“Excellent. The interview will be with our Director of Personnel, Mrs Emily Priestman, who will be able to provide you with additional details. She says…” Goldman covered the phone with his hand and his voice became muffled and unclear. Then his voice came clear and loud again as he announced, “Mrs Priestman would have time for you at 4 pm. In the tearoom. Is that all right?”
“Yes, sir. That’s fine. How will I recognise her?”
“Mrs Priestman will be wearing our black and red uniform. You should have no difficulty finding and identifying her. Please bring your logbook and licences to the interview.”
“Yes, of course.”
“Do you have any other questions?”
“No, I’ll save them up for the interview.”
“Excellent. Good evening, then.”
“Good evening.”
The telephone connection went dead, replaced by the dialling tone.
Dazed, Kit replaced the receiver and turned to find his father-in-law anxiously watching from the back door and his wife peering at him from the stairs. “Kit?” She asked.
“I’ve got a job interview in London on Friday at 4 pm. I’ll have to—”
“Congratulations!” Georgina and her father exclaimed simultaneously, Georgina jumping off the stairs to run into his arms while her father came forward to shake his hand.
“Ethiopian Airlines?” Georgina asked eagerly.
“No. It’s an outfit called ‘Air Ambulance International’ based in Berlin and interested in flying cargo on the Airlift.” He admitted the latter with a sheepish grin in the direction of his father-in-law.
“Didn’t I tell you this would happen? It is your destiny!” Reddings declared triumphantly, his whole face beaming with delight.
Kit is a character in all three volumes of the Bridge to Tomorrow Trilogy
The first battle of the Cold War is about to begin....
Berlin 1948. In the ruins of
Hitler’s capital, former RAF officers, a woman pilot, and the victim of Russian
brutality form an air ambulance company. But the West is on a collision course
with Stalin’s aggression and Berlin is about to become a flashpoint. World War
Three is only a misstep away. Buy Now
Berlin is under siege. More than two million civilians must be supplied by air -- or surrender to Stalin's oppression.
USAF Captain J.B. Baronowsky and RAF Flight
Lieutenant Kit Moran once risked their lives to drop high explosives on Berlin.
They are about to deliver milk, flour and children’s shoes instead. Meanwhile,
two women pilots are flying an air ambulance that carries malnourished and
abandoned children to freedom in the West. Until General Winter deploys on the
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Based on historical events, award-winning and best-selling novelist Helena P. Schrader delivers an insightful, exciting and moving tale about how former enemies became friends in the face of Russian aggression — and how close the Berlin Airlift came to failing.
Winning a war with milk, coal and candy!
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