(FarEast - Central Powers) Early Doors Mission 3 - Pricking the Sausage
OTT Early Doors Mission 3 - Pricking the Sausage – 22nd March 1916
Stepping back from the Fokker Eindecker III, Emmerich was pleased with his work, Olbt. Jacob Von Machin’s EIII had been a mess; the Jasta had flown so many sorties that all the planes were a patchwork of colours and there had been no time at all to do anything but make them airworthy, especially Ltn. Werner Taube’s machine that seemed to attract more enemy fire than anyone else.
It had got to the point where pilots were requesting to fly with him in the hope of raising their chances of coming home in one piece. Fortunately this had stopped as he had been sent home by Von Machin on leave, as his wife and just given birth to a handsome little boy which had been the toast of the Jasta for past two weeks.
Recently though the bad weather had seriously reduced the number of raids and scouting runs flown and the Jasta had been on ‘make and mend’ duties for the past week. That had given him enough time to not only get the aircraft up to scratch for the pilots, making small tweaks here and there but more importantly give them a lick of paint and it was painting that Emmerich loved.
Before the outbreak of war Emmerich had fallen in love with the new wave of artists especially Pablo Picasso and there was a lot of talk about his work in the bar, most were scornful of the Spaniard but he’d found out that Von Machin also enjoyed his work, especially Synthetic Cubism which he said he could enjoy every time he took to the skies and looked down on the farmers fields or the scared face of no-mans-land.
“Yes, he’ll love this” Emmerich whispered to himself as he ran his hand down the left wing. He hated the war but he saw the beauty in these killing machines.
“You’re going to get him killed you blood fool!” Vzfw. Andre Krähe whispered in his ear, making him physically jump. “But you’re right, he’ll love it. Now stop playing with the thing and get them ready to fly we have a job to do!” At that Andre walked out of the hangar leaving Emmerich alone again with the E.III.
He hadn’t thought that the paint scheme might attract unwanted attention from the enemy, but it was too late to change it now and he went about his duties with a heavy feeling in his gut.
Olbt. Jacob Von Machin put down the phone with a pained expression on his face, he was glad to be able to use the phone again after two weeks of it being down. The enemy had cut the lines in a series of artillery strikes and he felt that his Jasta had spent more time on the bicycles running messages than in the Fokkers flying sorties.
Command had just informed him of another precise artillery strike in one of his patrol sectors and it was being directed in by an observation balloon and this was the cause of his concern written across his face, only a week ago his good friend Obltn. Fabian Moeller had been shot down and severely injured trying to take down one of these infernal things. They had destroyed it, but it had cost his Jasta dearly. He’d visited his friend in the infirmary and although he was in good spirits he gave a harrowing account of the events that had unfolded that day and the advice of clearing the scouts before attempting to take out the balloon still rang in his ears. The last words Moeller had whispered before he left was to stay clear of the damn thing when they go.
A fiery death was something Von Machin feared and he made sure he had his service revolver with him on every flight; he’d rather shoot himself than be roasted alive.
Then only yesterday he had spoken to Oberleutnant Ludwig von Biettrutoffen who they often coordinated sorties with, he also echoed the advice and even suggested using his Rumpler as “Tommy” had a nasty habit of using the balloon as cover and then coming in on your 6.
This was the part he hated, he had to choose whose life to put on the line this morning but he knew each and every man would step forward and volunteer for this mission, like every one they had flown before but it didn’t make the job any easier.
The furrows on his brow deepened as he picked up his pen to fill out the days roster sheet.
One Hour later
“What on earth is going on here and why are you all stood around the hangar with smug grins on your faces?” Von Machin exclaimed as he strode purposely towards the group of men standing outside hangar number one.
“We have a surprise for you Olblt.” Andre said as the men cleared a way for him. “The English have surrendered and the delegation is waiting for me in the hangar I hope” retorted Von Machin.
As they pulled back the tent flaps the furrows on Von Machin brow turned upwards and he stood there taking in the lines and colours of his personal Fokker E.III.
“I guess I have Emmerich to thank for this?” he asked to the group of men who knew him well enough to note that it was high praise indeed. “I hope it’s fueled and armed and ready to go and the wings better not fall off!” he said as he vaulted up and over the fuselage and into the cockpit with a huge grin on his face.
Emmerich stood there embarrassed not knowing what to say, until Andre slapped him on the back and at the top of his voice shouted “Come on lads, let’s give him a push!” The men crowded round the Eindecker pushing and shoving each other more than they did the delicate monoplane and the machine rolled out in to the glorious sunshine.
30 minutes later
Ltn. Gerhardt Reiher looked down on Von Machin’s Fokker E.III and noted with surprise that the paint scheme actually blended very well with the countryside rolling beneath them. He was no fan of Picasso and preferred Krichner if his hand was forced on the subject but the reality was he didn’t really like any of this new fangled art style, one thing he did agree on was that the paint scheme looked fantastic and he dreamed of one day being allowed his own design rather than the standard issue green or doped linen finishes they were given.
Von Machin squinted in to the distance and double checked the map in his lap again. They were in the right area but they couldn’t see the balloon anywhere. Suddenly out the corner of his eye he saw a sudden flash on the ground, followed by another, then another a few seconds later the tell-tale sound of artillery strikes followed and he knew they were in the right place, but where was that damn balloon?
He decided to circle the sector again in the hope of finding it but he was concerned about fuel, the Eindecker had an estimated flight time of about 3 hours and they had already been aloft for more than an hour.
As they turned on the second leg of the sweep Ltn. Reiher spotted the balloon rising up from the ground, they had obviously had to bring the balloon down for some reason or other and now it was on its way back up. Waggling his wings to get Von Machin’s attention, he pointed down towards the rapidly ascending balloon.
Von Machin knew that the balloon crew would be blind to them on this heading as they rose up and he signaled to his wingman to ascend also, to get some altitude on the damn thing and then swoop in on the unsuspecting escort and balloon.
It took another 15 minutes for that lumbering beast to come to rest and Von Machin was happy he had made the choice of climbing and waiting; for no sooner had it stopped a single Morane-Saulnier arrived. Luckily it was circling away from them to gain altitude with the balloon and was oblivious to the danger that lurked above.
It was now or never and he knew they would not get a better chance than this to take both balloon and escort by surprise, as they dropped on their prey a sudden strong gust of wind turned the balloon side on to them hiding both them and the escort from each other and Von Machin hoped that they could hit the balloon hard and be gone before the scout even knew they were there.
Streaking in for the kill both Von Machin and Ltn. Reiher unleashed a storm of lead on the balloon, the frantic observer tried to fire off a flare to warn both the ground crew and the escort of the danger but as the flare streaked up and away from the balloon the wind caught it and threw it back in to the balloon and straight away a fire took hold.
As the balloon loomed large over them both pilots had time to unleash another volley, Von Machin held his breath as both machines raced under the undulating beast. It looked alive, almost as if it was in its death throes. Suddenly the words of warning from Fabian Moeller came back clear as day and he pulled away from the balloon trying to put as much distance as he could between him and the lurking danger held within the skin of the beast.
By now the escort was fully aware of the danger around him and turned in towards the melee. But the inexperienced pilot gauged his line of approach wrong and Von Machin seized the opportunity to punish the hapless pilot for his mistake.
Ltn. Reiher had seen Von Machin turn in to the enemy scout and joined the fight on his leaders 7 o’clock. Suddenly his view was filled with the sight of the enemy aircraft racing towards him, time slowed as the Morane-Saulnier opened fire, tracer lancing out towards him. He only had time to pull the trigger of his own guns.
Down on the ground the observation unit frantically tried to get their defenses in order, they had been told to move further down the line by command and they had been unmolested all morning, until now. It was already too late as they looked up at the blazing balloon but the Sergeant McBride was adamant on bring down those “Blood Hun Bastards”.
Von Machin had assessed his foe perfectly, making small adjustments to the trim of his plane he was perfectly lined up as the Morane-Saulnier passed across him presenting him with a perfect shot. E watched his rounds leap out unsure if he had struck the enemy plane or not. Pulling hard back on the yoke and slam his foot down on the yaw to slow his Eindecker the enemy plane lazily drifted back in to his sight.
This time he knew he had hit the plane as debris fell away from the enemy machine, as the last of the rounds from his first burst struck home the Morane-Saulnier suddenly jerked up and rolled over. He pulled the trigger for a second burst only to have the gun jam.
“Not another enemy sympathizer I hope?” Von Machin shouted at the gun as he started to clear the stoppage.
2 Lt. William Symons couldn’t shake that damn Hun; he was everywhere and seemed to predict his every move. He was terrified and couldn’t find a way out of this deadly game. He was bleeding heavily from his legs where the bullets had ripped through the flimsy fabric of his plane and flesh oblivious to man or machine. He called out for his mother as another wave of agonizing pain rippled through his body.
He had been jubilant at being given his first solo flight, eager to prove his prowess to his friends and peers and had naively dreamed of becoming an ace, He realized how bloody stupid he had been.
Biting his scarf to stifle a scream he pulled back on the stick and started to dive, desperately trying to distance himself from the fight.
Sergeant McBride was screaming at his men, they had got the AA machine gun up too slowly and the balloon was truly ablaze. He would be for a right bollocking from his superiors and the only thing that could soften the impact would be to bring those two enemy aircraft down.
His two guns tracked the green aircraft as it passed over head offering the perfect shot, they let loose with two long bursts and were rewarded with a possible hit as the Enemy plane suddenly tried to change direction to get out of their firing arc.
Von Machin looked around for the enemy Morane-Saulnier, he had given him the slip while he was trying to clear the stoppage. With no other target he let loose another volley in to the balloon.
Reiher looked down on the enemy position and could see a lot of activity below him; the enemy had suddenly awoken and was swarming beneath him like ants after you poked their nest with a stick. “Yes they were like ants, with a nasty bite” he chuckled to himself and no sooner had the words left his mouth the second AA position opened fire on him.
Von Machin circled away from the balloon methodically scanning around him for the lone Morane-Saulnier. He couldn’t risk removing his focus from that danger and he finally spotted it dropping down over the woodland below him. Putting his bird in to a dive he pursued his prey, losing off a quick volley to gauge the distance.
“To hell with you!” Bellowed Ltn. Reiher as he strafed the enemy AA machine gun position. He laughed as men scuttled and dove for cover running here and there with no real sense of direction.
Sergeant McBride stood his ground as the Fokker raced towards him spitting out death and destruction, he grabbed the idle gun swiveled it up towards the oncoming plane and pulled the trigger.
“You, boy! Stop cowering n that bloody hole and get over to B Unit and tell them we need that bloody artillery piece up and firing! Now Boy, GO!” McBride bellowed at the young private and without a second glance he went to work clearing the jammed gun.
2 Lt. Symons looked behind him and to his horror saw the Fokker with the wild markings back on his tail, he watched dumb struck as the front of the plane lit up and an instant latter he heard the patter of bullets hitting his machine. Time slowed again as he watched as if in a dream state the wing of his plane fold up and over on itself. He felt the plane bank over to its left and the nose drifted first up then down, Azure blue turned to a lush green and then an instant later to an infinite black.
Von Machin watched as the enemy Morane-Saulnier crashed just beyond the forest in to a farmer’s field, he felt sorry for the enemy pilot who was obviously running for home, but this was war and one less enemy pilot in the sky made it a safer place for the young men under his command. He gave one last look at the wreckage hoping to see the figure of the unknown airman climbing out of the wreckage but it wasn’t to be and he turned his attention back to the balloon which was now a raging inferno.
Reiher was surprised that the AA gun he had strafed didn’t fire again as he streaked past the position, his shots had been wild and had been more out of rage and frustration than a real strafing run but he wasn’t going to worry about that, he had to make sure the enemy observation balloon was totally out of commission and lifting the nose of his Eindecker he fired a long burst of machine gun fire in to it.
Staying as far as possible from the enemy balloon but close enough for his fire to be affective Von Machin fired another burst in to the balloon tearing a large hole in its fabric, which immediately caught fire.
“Any minute now” He thought to himself as fire danced across the skin of the balloon the wind fanning the flames in to a frenzy like, whirling dervish. He had enough time for another shot which barely hit the balloon as it twisted and writhed.
As he cleared the balloon there was a loud whoosh as the last of the gasses escaped and the burning skin of the giant beast plummeted to earth.
The young private arrived at B Unit just as they were loading the first shell in to the gun; he had no need to pass on the message as the gunners closed the breach, stepped aside with their fingers in their ears and mouths open. The last man turned aside and yanked the firing cord to the gun and it barked, firing its shell high in to the air.
Ltn. Reiher brought his aircraft in to a tailing position on Von Machin. “Thank god for that” he mouthed in silence, they had gotten away pretty much unscathed while delivering a bloody nose to ‘Tommy’.
He laughed aloud again as the memory of the soldiers diving for cover came back to him.
Suddenly there was a mighty ‘crack’ as if the sky itself had broken asunder, followed by a whistling scream and the Eindecker rocked and bucked as Shrapnel shredded his machine.
“Verdammt, ich hasse Ameisen.” He shouted and opened the throttle fully.
Butchers Tally
Central Powers
• Obltn. Jacob Von Machin: RTB/ 2 Kills and not a single ‘ding’ in his new paint work!
• Ltn. Gerhardt Reiher: RTB/ 0 Kills
Entente
• 2 Lt. William Symons: WIA/SD/ 0 Kills/ Injured - Skip 2 Scenarios
• Balloon: Destroyed
Many thanks to Skafloc (Neil) and Brambo (Trev) for the use of their pilots names in the AAR.
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Haa See you got the photo thing sorted out so please disregard my PM.
Originally Posted by flash
But hey I'm on Holiday! 
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