THIS week we have a story from the pen of the Navy’s own Allan R. Bosworth. Bosworth wrote a couple dozen stories with Humpy & Tex over the course of ten years from 1930 through 1939, mostly in the pages of War Aces and War Birds. The stories are centered around the naval air base at Ile Tudy, France. “Humpy” Campbell, a short thickset boatswain’s mate, first class who was prone to be spitting great sopping globs of tabacco juice, was a veteran seaplane pilot who would soon rate two hashmarks—his observer, Tex Malone, boatswain’s mate, second class, was a D.O.W. man fresh from the Texas Panhandle. Everybody marveled at the fact that the latter had made one of the navy’s most difficult ratings almost overnight—but the answer lay in his ability with the omnipresent rope he constantly carried.

Humpy & Tex find themselves down in the ocean after deflecting a torpedo with a bomb. Unfortunately, the devious Krauts find them and seize on this as an opportunity to use the I-30 as a means of destroying any destroyer that may come looking for the duo! “Seagull’s Luck” by the Navy’s own Allan R. Bosworth is from the pages of the March 1931 War Aces.

Humpy and Tex couldn’t decide about an insignia for their crate until a U-Boat commander showed them the hot spot—and how to fill it. Then paint and Heinies got spattered all over the Channel.

• Download “Seagull’s Luck” (March 1931, War Aces)