"Well. well! Hello my soon to be Oberleutnant friend!" "Hello Andrzej, my also soon to be Oberleutnant friend!! waiting for me?" "Indeed Joachim... Were you talking with Hauptmann Gabriel?" "Yes. You've been there also, I see..." "Oh it was nothing, I just took him some bottles of a very good Schnapps from my home-town..." "I know! Hauptmann Gabriel served me a very generous cup of it. Congratulations! It is indeed a very good Schnapps..." "He did?!" "Yes. To celebrate my next assignment..." "Your next assignment... But I took him the schnapps bottles! Six of them!!" "Indeed my friend, and a very good beverage is!!" "And he chose you?! You are reckless, insubordinate, he told me that himself..." "Ah yes... For a while there you almost got the mission..." "So it's you who will fly the prototype?..." "Indeed. It's a Fokker D.VII. They say it turns and ascends like an angel..." "What have you told him to make him decide to give you the mission?" "Told him?! I told him nothing. I offered a beautiful pair of earrings to his beautiful daughter..." "Why you... That was a very cheap trick!" "That you now repent not having thought of it first..." "Indeed... Great idea..." "Will you be there to see me taking off tomorrow morning?" "It I manage to wake up after stealing and drinking a bottle of schnapps from our dear Hauptmann..."



"So you've landed, my friend... Try to forget the envy in my voice..." "No problem, Andrzej... I'd feel the same way..." "You burned the bird a little, haven't you?" "Ah yes... It started to burn on his own..." "So is it a disaster, this Fokker?" "By all means, no! I'd say that this is the plane we need. It makes my Albatros look like an old lady with walking problems." "Really?!" "Yes. We'll talk later. I must now report to Hauptmann Gabriel!" "Wait! We were all here waiting for you! Report first to us, my friend!" "You're right! But get me a chair and a drink!" "Consider it done!"



"Mmmm... I was making some maneuvers near the trenches, on our side, of cours,e when I spotted a scout coming my way..." "Weren't you supposed to stay way from trouble?" "Yes, Muller... And how would I test the plane if I was just touring around the French fields?" "Shut up, Muller! Let him talk!" "Thanks, Andrzej! Well, as he was coming in my direction at a good speed, I decided to see if my plane was really that agile..."



"What trick did you use?" "As the enemy scout was a Camel, I turned right, denying him his superior right turns..." "Wonderful!" "I'll tell you! This Fokker is faster than the Dr.1 and as agile..." "Really?! Gott! That is amazing!"



"He kept coming, and I was really surprised... I had the speed, the agility and the roughness of the Camel, but I also could turn well left and right..."



"I kept turning left and I saw that he was surprised..." "He should have been..." "I was only worried because by then I start smelling hot lubricant from the engine..." "It wasn't working properly?" "It was..."



"I've closed the turn and I fired against him... Beautiful sound of those machine-guns! I've hit him all over!"



"I kept turning and I saw his head bouncing back and then hang free." "You killed him..." "I suppose... The plane went down..."



"And crashed violently in the ground..." "Uau! You took reference where?" "Yes... It was on our side of the trenches..." "Ten kills, Joachim! Congratulations!!" "Thanks... I was preparing myself to return..." "Another one?!"



"Yes. Another Camel. I was divided..." "No you weren't!!" "I didn't want to cross to the other side of the trenches so I've let him come to me..."



"When I saw that he was committed I went for an Immelmann. Gott! The way this plane ascends!!"



"And did he fall to the bait?" "I think that he sensed something as he turned left, staying over No-man's land..." "And you?" "I was worried. The smell of hot lubricant had intensified... I was half determined to return home."



"So we made a first pass. He hit me in the tail and I hit him squarely in his engine..."



And when I felt that I was being lucky it happened..."



"The engine made a strange noise..."



"And a dark and unbreathable smoke start pouring out of the engine... Amazingly, the engine didn't lost power!"



"I pressed on... and I fired again against the Camel. He must have decided that, even with engine problems, my smoke gave him an advantage..."



"I made another Immelmann and I saw that this was a brave one, as he pushed his hurt engine to make an Immelmann also..."



"He was able to fire at me, but without damaging my plane..." "And the smoke?" "It kept pouring out of the engine. And then..."



"As I prepared a violent maneuver to get away from the Camel's crossfire..."



"The smoke burst into fire!" "I knew! It was too good to be true..." "Oh, I guess that this is something that can be fixed..." "What then?! You retreated?!" "I wasn't able... And the fire wasn't really hurting the plane..."



"Like a flying matchstick I made another Immelmann and returned fire against the Camel..."



"He took a chance as I was burning and moved away from me."



"Then the fire burned itself out... I fired once again more confidently..."



"And as we cross alongside each other I knew that he was surprised with my new mount..." "I thought that I could retreat because he would also move away from combat..." "Did he?" "No..."



"His plane was having serious engine problems but he soldiered on..."



"He was now making use of his superior right turn... I didn't want to make a frontal passage... What was in stake was very important and I should have returned home... But I had to accept the challenge of such a pilot..."



"We faced each other..."



"He made a perfect shot, raking my plane brutally..."



"I fired back... with much less success..."



"Now that I had honoured him I could retreat..."



"But the hunter in me was stronger..."



"I moved against him. He tried to make an Immelmann to face me, but his engine was too tired..."



"I gained terrain..."



"He turned right trying to go back to his lines... Too late... I opened up on him..."



"He went down in a controlled crash."



"I saluted him. I hope he got off the wreck well enough..." "Amazing Joachim! What an amazing mission..." "Thanks Andrzej." "Now... I would advise you to leave out the hunter's appetite and the honour part when you report the mission!" "I'll try! Now I must go talk to our good commander. The drinks are on me, gentlemen!" "You bet!"

Post Battle Information:

The mission was a big success. The Fokker caught fire but the fire done nothing to this new amazing prototype. Leutnent Joachim Marseille is toying with the idea of keeping the plane...

The situation after the end of the mission:

Two Camels Destroyed.

FO Dwight E. Montgomery



Badly hurt... Can someone roll for this good chap?


FO Robert Picton



"Picton crashed in No-man's land... Can someone also roll for this pilot? Thanks.

The Prototype



Combat Rooster:
Ltn. Joachim Marseille - 2 Kills (Has now 11 kills. 10 planes and 1 balloon.)