Hello and happy new year! I hope your day is going wonderfully!I am in a little bit of a slump writing this fic of mine, and I was wondering if you would share some of your infinite Whump wisdom My characters were in a ww1 era plane that’s been shot down, and the co-pilot in the front took the heaviest hits. Do you have any ideas regarding dialogue, actions or anything that would really sell that character A is injured and character B is super concerned? Thank you so much for your help!!!
Hi there! Oooh WWI aviation? I love that! Well let’s see if I can offer any help. Survival rates for pilots that were shot down in WW1 were pretty much none existent. If you got shot down you were most likely dying. Landing was nearly impossible, parachutes weren’t in use until 1917/18 so if you chose to bail you were pretty much gonna die on landing. But let’s suspend belief for the sake of the story! I do that a lot lol.
Okay, I would like to first recommend checking out Masters of the Air which is airing now (there’s 4 episodes out right now). This show tells the story of the 100th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force during WWII. While they were flying B-17 bombers during the second world war instead of the Fokker or Sopwith Camels used during WW1, the concepts of what the men would say and act when one of their comrades is injured can easily be applied to WW1. You might find some inspiration there.
Here’s a good link you could check out that discuss what it was like flying, being injured/shot down. They might offer some inspiration as well.
This link in particular is fascinating and I think you might like this quote: “I felt the machine lurch, I turned my head over my shoulder and I saw that my pilot was sunk on the controls. There was a rasping sound and the engine had stopped and there was I, suspended in the air with a dead pilot, Huns, bullets, wings all round me and I looked up to the heavens and I said ‘Oh, God help me’. The next thing I remember was having a sledge hammer blow in my head and I put my hand to my helmet and I found it all jagged and torn, a certain amount of blood. Then I had a blackout, and I fell through the air, I think like a falling leaf or a wounded or injured bird. And I think it was the upward rush of the air that brought me to my senses. I had presence of mind to pull on the joy stick to break the fall and the machine staggered and stalled and fell on some trees.”
Now I’m going to assume that in your story here they were able to land their plane successfully without just going splat like the gentleman in the quote above so if you got two guys who were just shot down and one is hurt, here are some things to think about:
Are they in enemy territory or did they manage to limp/jump out/land in allied ground? If they’re in enemy territory they’re going to want to get away from the plane as fast as possible to avoid being captured by the enemy. With an injure co-pilot that’s going to be incredibly difficult.
Your co-pilot is injured. How badly? Is it survivable? Or is he already bleeding out? Does your other character recognize that his copilot is about to die or does he have a chance to save him? He’ll need to get his friend out of the plane and that won’t be easy. Between the pain of the injuries and the awkward way you have to get in and out of a WW1 era plane I’m sure your injured party will be doing some screaming and writhing there.
Your other character is probably feeling afraid, frantic, torn between trying to save his friend first and making sure they don’t get caught by the enemy at the same time. He’s gotta move quickly to pull his friend from the plane, staunch any bleeding, and get them somewhere relatively safe.
Soldiers were equipped with basic first aid kits that they carried with them so your co-pilot could pull that out, grab a bunch bandages and treat any injury he needed to. Here’s a picture of one used by German pilots for inspiration:
Some classic dialogue prompts for a soldier trying to reassure their friend who is badly injured:
It’s gonna be okay.
It’s no that bad.
We’ll be home in no time.
Just hang in there.
Have your uninjured party talk to the injured pilot as well. You could have him tell stories to distract him from the pain. Anything that comes to his mind. Stories about his home maybe.
This is all probably more than you asked for lol but I love studying aviation history so you hit a hyperfixation of mine. Hopefully something here sparks some inspiration for you!!
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