The carnage at Verdun had been on for over two weeks. Two major attacks gained considerable ground but the French had held on. A 3rd major offensive was planned for the 9th of April and good reconnaissance was extremely valuable.
The squadron had just been brought down to bolster the air effort as the French and British had already done so and were getting the upper hand.
The recon work was ordered to the squadron. Enemy artillery positions must be located before the new ground attack started. A bonus would be to find the rumored enemy HQ just behind the front. As soon as this information could be gathered the artillery would destroy, or at least paralyze these positions to make it easier for the infantry that would attack as soon as the barrage ended.
It was a raw morning. The fog was cold and thick, but if like yesterday, it will burn off with the rising sun. Obltn Hartwig Alder’s plan was to send out an early scout to take advantage of the fog and scare down the balloons in the area. Then 20 minutes later in the middle of the confusion the recon team would come in and do their work.
Reinhardt Richter would pilot the Rumpler with Otto Weber as gunner/observer. Otto had been studying photography in Leipzig before the war and was a gift to the unit. His father knows the Prince, and with connections like that he had his son placed where he could use his skills instead of being wasted in the infantry.
Escorting the Rumpler would be Peter Büttner and Egon Becker in EIIIs. Entente planes were getting better but luckily their pilots were not yet masters of their new craft. It was getting more difficult to have successful missions against these superior airplanes but until new German designs appeared at the front the old mounts would have to suffice.
The recon team lifted off carefully before dawn, 20 minutes after Hartwig had left.
Getting closer to the front the tops of some balloons could be seen through the fog.
One balloon was seen to be burning. Hartwig must be enjoying himself!
Through the mist the flames from Hartwig’s machine gun could be seen attacking the burning balloon. Peter also caught a glimpse of some EA between the balloons.
Peter cut behind Reinhardt to get in position for the intercept as Egon flew straight at them.
Hartwig made his way south to attack the second balloon. He had heavily damaged three of them on his previous passes but was getting low on ammo and now had to shoot sparingly. His great aim wounded two observers before they could jump to safety.
As Reinhardt turned away Egon and Peter engaged the defenders. It was hard to see clearly through the fog and shots were scattered with little effect. Egon jammed his gun
on the second burst, “Bad way to start the morning”’ he thought.
As the fog slowly cleared the dogfight began in earnest.
Hartwig kept on a true heading punishing the balloon with short accurate fire.
Otto shot up the Vicker’s engine and sparks flew. Agustus felt his DH2 buck with the hit.
Peter got off a quick shot at the balloon before Immelmanning, trying to get on the Vicker’s tail to help Reinhardt and Otto.
Egon and Victor paired off with the advantage to Victor as Egon had to unjam his gun.
Reinhardt went for a gap between the balloons and got out of the Vicker’s sights giving Otto another chance. Otto’s aim was true as he saw Agustus slump over as a result of his well aimed burst.
Peter had guessed wrong and was facing only fog as Hartwig kept on placing bullets into the gasbag.
The gasbag was loudly hissing and quickly deflating as the Rumpler skirted behind it. Otto added more holes as it quickly sank.
Victor was concentrating on Egon but took an opportunity to put a few holes into Peter’s Tiger. Peter was hoping Egon would quickly get back into the action and occupy Victor. Peter’s ill timed Immelmann put him in a bad way if Victor was free to attack.
Otto kept on the tear he started and watched it open up large enough to jump a horse through. Down the balloon went with a big whoosh and flapping sound. The poor wounded blighters still in the basket didn’t stand a chance.
Reinhardt spotted the HQ and lined up a photo run. “Get your toy ready” he shouted to Otto.
Egon was now ready and had Victor’s attention as Peter turned to give chase to the Vickers. Victor and Egon danced a graceful ballet over the trenches.
Hartwig ran out of bullets on the southern balloon, time to head home.
With the fog lifted the full crazy scene could be seen. Infantrymen on the ground now were keen on the action above.
Peter seeing he would not catch the Vickers chasing it made a snap decision to cut in front of the burning balloon, get in a few shots, and catch the Vickers on the other side.
Agustus knew he would have a hard time catching the Rumpler with his limping DH. He decided to cut the corner and pass just under the balloon. That should get him in place for a run at the Hun.
Victor had toyed with Egon and lured him closer to the ground.
As Egon and Peter concentrated on the balloon in front of each of them the ground erupted with hundreds of rifles aimed skywards.
Victor left Egon to join Agustus and go after the Rumpler.
Peter let loose on the balloon and in an orange and black plume it exploded! The blast made the Tiger bounce but did no damage. Unfortunately Agustus’ shortcut backfired in a bad way. The blast rocked his DH2 and turned it into a tangle of wood, canvas and metal. He did everything he could on the way down to try to soften the crash.
The infantry did not like Peter taking out their balloon and aircover and let loose with a vengeance. Peter felt another jolt as his engine was hit from below.
Otto had great concentration. He didn’t see what just happened right behind him as he kept focused on his next photograph.
Victor gasped at what he just witnessed. The Rumpler was now in his sights, it would not get away. Victor didn’t notice the Tiger with the background of the exploding balloon.
More harassing ground fire keeping Egon from finding where Victor had gone.
Egon could not get away from the trenches fast enough and a hail of bullets damaged his engine.
As Victor lined up the Rumpler he felt his Bebe shudder as Peter came in from behind. He turned to see Peter and Reinhardt let loos a burst that tore into the fuel tank immediately blowing the engine out of the plane. Down the Bebe went, falling apart on the way down.
As the air was filled with Archie nearly missing Reinhardt, Peter signaled for him to head home with his precious treasure. Time to go.
Unnoticed to the Eagles were a pair of British planes returning from a mission of their own. A 2 seater with an escort scout. Noel Lewis and Ronald Wortley had been taking photos of their own under the watchful eye of William ‘Tuffy’ Tuffield. Tuffy had been wounded a couple of weeks ago and escaped the hospital to get back with the boys and fly again. As a reward he was let fly an old Scout, with a Lewis angled off to the right. He really wanted to pilot one of the new DH2s but wouldn’t complain as he could in big trouble for going AWOL from the hospital.
Egon and Peter both pointed at the newcomers, but with their wounded planes could not do much quickly. Peter pointed for Egon to go for the scout while he would hit the 2 seater.
The scout was quicker than Egons sputtering EIII. They nearly missed each other in a close pass.
As Peter carefully lined up his target and quickly squeezed the trigger the Tiger was jolted from more AA fire. If it helped or hindered his aim he didn’t have time to ponder. The AA jolt pushed the Tiger off line and right at the incoming Britisher!
Both turned hard to avoid the other, wing tips grazing as they narrowly missed catastrophe.
Egon decided to head back, nursing his bumpy ride. As soon as he cleared the downed balloon the trenches opened fire and tore his plane to shreds. Heading down so close to the lines he feared the worst.
With the close call seconds past, Büttner gets his wits about him and makes a pass at the last balloon. As he does so he wanders a little too close to the front and the British marksmen open up with deadly accuracy! Wounded and on fire! To add insult to injury his gun jams as a bonus.
Passing over the balloon his controls are hit so he can’t turn east and make a quick exit over the lines.
Where is that scout?
Reinhardt has past the lines unharmed and will get the plates back to HQ with plenty of time. Otto breaks out some Schnaps to celebrate the mission’s success.
As he passes the balloon and looks for a way home another AA blast fills the sky but isn’t close enough to do any damage. The fire is eating away the Tiger a bit.
Tuffy seeing off his mates to safety sees the Hun in trouble so decides to give him a go.
The fire finally goes out but with severe damage to the limping Tiger. Avoiding the lines is allowing the scout to slowly close...sooner than later Peter must make the pass. With the damaged engine he can’t gain enough altitude to get out of range ot the infantry so he must run the gauntlet.
Passing over the balloon he shot down and the wreck of the Vickers Peter thought, “That one bullet took out a balloon and a plane, almost makes up for all the jams I keep getting”.
Tuffy realizes he won’t catch the Hun so turns for home.
As he heads over the trenches the line is speckled with sparkles of rifle muzzles firing at him. A searing pain goes through his thigh, another wound. He wonders if he will stay conscious to land under control?
His plane weaves lazily as Peter is having difficulty controlling it. As he just gets past the trenches another hit starts his engine smoking. The foul fumes help keep him alert and he finally makes a hard landing at his aerodrome.
Butcher’s Bill
Southern Balloon highly damaged but still aloft, started with 15 damage points
Center Balloon Downed by damage, no fire, started with 16 damage points
Northern Balloon Downed and on fire, started with 15 damage points
Lt Agustus Owen SD EXP FT 6 -3 = 3 severely injured skip 4 missions
2Lt Victor Wilton SD EXP FT 3 - 3 = 0 KIA
2Lt Noel Lewis RTB
Sgt Ronald Wortley RTB
2Lt William Tuffield RTB
Obltn Hartwig Alder RTB
Vzfw Reinhardt Richter RTB 1 kill
Ltn Otto Weber RTB 1 kill photo mission completed
Ltn Egon Becker SD EXP 6 - 3 = 3 severely injured 5 missions missed
ET 12 - 2 = 10 They didn’t notice him in the falling debris!
Ltn Peter Büttner RTB WIA 2 kills - 1 balloon, 1 plane, 8 - 2 + 3 = 9 Lands well and all ok!
Whew, what a ride. The Rumpler made it across the lines on turn 9. I continued because I had to see if Herr Büttner could get home safely.
Not sure if the Butcher's Bill roll for Büttner gets the -2 for wounds and +3 for landing at home? If he gets the +3 then his wound are not so serious.
I'm sure you all loved James' dry ice photos. How to do that in a scenario? I went with some triple exposure shots for the morning fog, moving the clouds for each take. Think it came out nicely. Somewhere in there my camera battery died and I lost some settings. One or two shots are a bit different color until I regained my settings.
To show the damage cards I had to clear the clouds as they didn't show up through the mist. Sorry for all the extra photos!
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