AAR (Chuck) Wings of Glory: Dawn of the fighters (Scenario III)
It was October 9th and the Battle of Loos looked to be winding down. I was sitting at the table reading a book when the call came out, "Balloons going up!"
That could only mean one thing; the Hun were preparing an artillery barrage. That could possibly indicate they were readying a counter-attack. That meant someone would have to take the balloon down. And the CO was looking at me.
It was partly cloudy as we flew towards Loos. We used the cover to get close so we could catch the Hun unaware.
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I dropped down out of the clouds to rake the balloon with machine gun fire, but my gun jammed! Ground fire against was ineffective. Meanwhile Smithy went into a circular flight around the balloon watching for incoming fighters who might try to interfere with our party.
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It took awhile, but I cleared the jam and was soon into a rhythm flying back and forth raking the balloon. Still no sign of the Hun. This was going to be an easy kill!
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The only fear I had was that I would run out of ammunition. This was a big beast!
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But, finally the big beast died. The explosion was spectacular to say the least! I cursed myself a bit for straying too close, but no harm was done to my aeroplane.
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Smithy joined me as the leviathan died and we started for home.
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We were over No Man's Land when Smithy caught my attention pointing frantically back towards enemy lines. I looked back to see two Aviatiks arriving over the smoking ruin of the balloon. It was obvious Smithy wanted to go back and take on the new arrivals. Against my better judgement I nodded and we headed back.
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We made our pass and then turned to reengage the Huns. They made a slow turn to face us.
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Smithy must have gotten himself into trouble because after the second pass he booked it towards our lines. Meanwhile, the bloke I was entangled with found himself in trouble with me.
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I closed and made short work of the blighter.
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I turned my focus on the remaining Hun managing to score significant damage. But, my guns jammed and he was able to escape.
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