43 Attachment(s)
Mission 18. Intercept the Gothas. 52 Sq. The Bulldogs.
How are the mighty fallen.
Captain Paul Schnitzler gazed across the airfield at the 12 Gotha Bombers ranged before him, six of which were destined to conduct a raid into the heartland of the enemy.
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To bomb London was the epitome of everything for which he and his crews had been training, and the waiting for a suitable window of opportunity when the weather conditions were right was starting to tell on the nerves of all his crews.
In his mind's eye he could picture the devastation which this powerful Kagol would unleash upon its unsuspecting victims as death and destruction rained down on those perfidious English.
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As he and his Officers posed for a photograph in front of one of the Mighty Gotha Bombers they chatted eagerly about the raid which was finally just an hour away.
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Soon after that each bomber started off down the airfield, struggling to get airborne under its heavy load of 500 lb bombs.
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Soon they were passing over the last town before the lines and picked up an escort of two Rumplers to see them across the Entente terrain as far as the North sea coast.
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By this time one Gotha has failed to get off the ground, and one had turned back with engine problems.
Crossing the lines, another of the aircraft was forced to abort, when a near miss from Allied Archie fire damaged one of its engines.
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So 50% of the Bomber force was Hors de combat before even leaving the coast mused Schnitzler.
Then he spotted two aircraft ahead and slightly above the Gothas. As he watched they started to converge on his position. "Not the act of a friendly force," he remarked wryly to his co pilot.
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Within seconds the enemy aircraft closed up and opened fire.
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As his front gunner returned fire, Schnitzler could make out his attackers as an SE5, and one of the other new two seaters which had recently arrived at the front.
It was then he realized that another of the two seaters had attacked his second machine from the rear. A nasty little trap had been sprung.
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Having jammed his guns on the first pass at Schnitzler's Gotha, Sgt Geoffrey Stones of the Bulldogs, banked away from the looming giant. only to bracket himself in a withering fire from the rear gunner of the Gotha and the approaching Rumpler of Ulrich Seitz.
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Meanwhile the rearmost Gotha was now smoking as Nigel Bouncer-Smythe hosed him from the rear,
This was of no comfort to Stones, however, as he had now managed to get into the firing arcs of all three Gotha's and the Rumpler. Fortuitously most of the bullets missed his writhing machine and one of the rear gunners guns jammed.
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Whilst Stone sorted out his own guns and then Immelmanned, Nigel was treating the rear Gotha with its own jam to a few more rounds of his own, damaging the Gotha's right engine. Carton's SE had now got into the act and pumped in a few rounds of it's own to add to the fun.
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It was at that moment that Nigel hit the Gotha's rear gunner,
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and the return fire also hit Nigel in the hand, taking off the upper tip of his left index finger. Cursing his luck, he inadvertently swung away to his left as he took his hand off the joystick in pain.
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At the same time Geoff Stones opened up on the other rear Gotha which had become exposed, only to have his gun jam owing to the freezing conditions. Accurate return fire from the Gotha's rear gunner not only hit his aircraft but set it on fire.
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The jubilation of the Gotha's crew was, however, short lived as Nigel in veering away with the pain in his hand came right into prime position for a deflection shot.
One short burst, and the tail unit of the Gotha disintegrated causing the Behemoth to spiral down out of control to a rough crash landing.
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A frantic mêlée now ensued and the Light blue Gotha was assailed from all sides, with gun jams from the cold at this high altitude taking toll.
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Stones SE took more fire damage from the nearest Rumpler. Probably the only hot spot in the whole battle.
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Inevitably, with the amount of bullets hitting the Blue Gotha, Nigel managed to hit it, even as his gun jammed, it went down with its tail almost sheared off, to join its companion in the fields of Belgium.
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Schnitzler and his two escorts were suddenly the only German Aircraft remaining in the sky, and despite Stones burning SE now being out of the running by being forced into an overdive to extinguish the fire, they were still under relentless attack from the two battered Bristol Fighters.
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Lucky return fire from the Rumpler did manage to nick Carton across the brow rendering him senseless for a few seconds.....
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Schnitzler, therefore, breathed a sigh of relief as both Biffs broke away from his aircraft in order to try and deal with the threat from the Rumplers.
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Stone in completing his overdive was now well below the fight, but so badly damaged that he headed for home, unable to gain any altitude in his compromised aircraft.
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Nigel and Carton now split up, with Carton pursuing the rapidly escaping Gotha whilst Nigel distracted the Rumplers.
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Return fire was sporadic, and Nigel just shrugged it off as the odd bullet passed through the airframe.
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Carton closes on Schnitzler once more and delivers a series of telling strikes upon his aircraft. Fortuitously for Carton the rear gun of the Gotha jams again.
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Carton now flew alongside Schnitzler's machine and Bowman pumped in a few more telling rounds free from the worry of return fire for a few minutes.
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At that moment another SE5 appeared on the horizon diving towards the conflict. It was piloted by none other than the redoubtable Captain Kyte of the Bulldogs.
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As Kyte close the distance Carton continued to exchange fire with Schnitzler, whose rear gunner had now managed to fix the Jam, and hit the SE in the flying control wires.
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The next burst of fire was catostrophic for Carton's SE. His fuel tank was ripped apart by bullets, and
Carton spiraled into the ground and exploded in a ball of fire.
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As Kyte arrived on the scene, he also took minor damage from the Front gunner.
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All this was of no avail and the now despairing Schnitzler watched in dismay as the two remaining British aircraft were joined by Leeford and Dawkins who had played no part in the action so far.
They all closed in peppering his Gotha from all angles in a welter of bullets.
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The Gotha was now hard hit, and one engine was smoking and emitting a whining noise as its oil starved engine bearings started to run hot.
Within seconds it was all over.
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In a final act of bravado, the Gotha's rear gunner wrecked Leaford's propeller and his SE5 lost all power,
Gliding down to crash land in a field of turnips.
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Schnitzler's co pilot took a round through the head from Nigel, whilst Kyte started a double fire blazing, from which the already stricken Gotha was unable to recover.
With an ever increasingly rapid descent from 30,000 feet it ended up as a mass of tangled wreckage on the fields of Flanders.
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Kyte and Nigel turned for home, their jubilation tinged with sadness at the loss of Leaford, Dawkins, Carton and Bowman.
The Butcher's bill.
52 Sq. The Bulldogs.
Sgt, Geoffrey Stones. RTB. Aircraft badly damaged.
Captain. Frederic .O. Kyte. RTB. Minor damage.
2nd Lt. Nigel Bouncer-Smythe RTB. W. 3 kills. Aircraft seriously damaged.
Observer. Sgt, Noah Claypole RTB. W.
Lt. Sydney Carton SD EXP. FT.
Observer . Sgt Robin Bowman. SD EXP. W. FT.
Lt. Edward Leaford SD. EXP FT.
Observer Sgt. Jack Dawkins. SD. Exp FT.
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The Kaiser's Eagles and friends.
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Three Gotha Bombers shot down.
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Two Rumplers RTB. slight damage.
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Rob.
