The Air Battle (Descriptive Narrative)

Performed by Sanford Hertz
Herman Hertz & Vivian Blaine, Commentators
Recorded June 1940
Written by Sanford Hertz

BLAINE: Sanford Hertz will create a sound picture for you, involving a huge bomber and an angry combat plane. Every sound you hear will be produced by his accordion only.

HERTZ: In the distance we hear a giant bomber.

The dull drone of four motors revolving at maximum speed as it wings in to the sky.

The plane soars on, its engines a thunderous roar.

Suddenly the huge bomber is spotted by the enemy, and the radio operator taps out an immediate call for help to the combat planes.

Meanwhile, the bomber circles over its objective and the navigator trips the bomb release.

Two silvery specks plummet downward to deliver their message of destruction.

High up in the blue sky the call for help has been received by a tiny scouting plane, and its pilot noses downward in a long, shrieking power dive.
Listen to the dive...two hundred...three...four hundred miles an hour! The machine guns rattle noisily. A hit! A hit! The combat plane scores a hit and the big bomber weaves unsteadily...wings over, and plunges into a fatal spin.

One spin...two...three...four spins! We take you into the cockpit of the spinning bomber. Listen to the agonized screams of the doomed men. Down! Down!

[lyrics transcribed by listening. Send corrections via the contact link on the main page]