Late last evening the wireless had carried news of a Zeppelin raid on Ashford in Kent. Some damage had been caused to the rail yard, and two night watchmen had been killed - but the enemy machine had suffered damage from the town's anti-Zeppelin battery, and a Home Defence Gunbus was reported to have engaged it as it crossed the coast at Folkestone in the early hours of this morning.
52 Squadron had been tasked with intercepting the behemoth once it made landfall in France. So as dawn broke 2nd Lt. Mark Thyme and Sgt. Norman Knight were patrolling in their FE2b, armed with the new incendiary ammunition, and Lt. Frank Palmer was in his DH2 flying escort.
As the Zeppelin came into view it was obvious that Ashford's defenders had done serious damage to the beast.
In the distance a yellow Eindecker was moving to intercept - so whilst Mark piloted the FE2 towards the Zeppelin Frank turned his DH2 towards the enemy scout. As he closed on his adversary he saw a burst of smoke and flame as the nearby town's defences opened fire - but as far as he could tell, to no effect.
As the FE2 closed on the Zeppelin Mark and Norman noticed that it was slowly levelling up - clearly the crew were busy adjusting the buoyancy of their machine by transferring gas between the various cells.
Distracted by this sight, Mark misjudged his approach and crossed in front of the Zeppelin - one of it's gunners opened fire, but the burst went wide.
As Frank closed on the yellow machine he realised it was Albert Hahn. The anti-aircraft battery fired again, and another huge explosion rocked the Eindecker - this time tearing great holes in the 'plane's fabric and causing the pilot to jerk as a shell fragment tore into his shoulder - they had scored a palpable hit!
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Meanwhile the Zeppelin gunners continued to fire at the FE2b as it struggled to gain a firing position. The burst stitched holes into the plane, but stopped suddenly as the German machine gun jammed!
Note: a +1 shot - added the marker after the photo was taken
The Eindecker turned back towards the lines - clearly Hahn's wound was serious enough for him to break off. As he dove towards safety Frank managed to get into a position to shoot, but whatever damage he may have caused was moot as the artillery battery fired again and this time scored a direct hit on the German, causing the Fokker to fall from the sky in flames.
Mark finally managed to wrestle the FE into a position where Norman could fire on the Zeppelin, and was immediately rewarded as his first burst set the forward gas cell ablaze - the return fire caused a little more damage, but not enough to worry them.
Both the Zeppelin gunner and Norman continued to fire, and refine their aim. Norman's incendiaries destroyed a second gas-bag, and setting a third on fire. The return fire stitched yet more holes in the FE2's wing - things were starting to get hot!
As the Zeppelin's engineer made a vain attempt to put out the fire in the forward gas bag, Frank spotted a red Eindecker about to enter the fray - Hubner had arrived!
Palmer immediately intercepted the newcomer, and saw his burst of fire tear ragged holes in the Fokker's tail - he thought he saw one of the control cables trail behind it. However, that last burst had emptied his Lewis gun's drum and he began the process of changing it as Hubner circled.
Norman also emptied his drum into the Zeppelin, and destroyed another of it's gas cells - but one of the gunners found the range and pounded the FE2's tail surface. Mark felt the rudder twitch, and realised that it was resisting his attempts to turn to port.
so he turned across the Zeppelin's stern to try and escape, but the tail gunner immediately found the range and set the FE2 ablaze - Mark began to have real trouble keeping his plane in the air.
As he struggled with the controls the FE2 drifted around and one of the starboard gunners finished the destruction of the British machine with a long accurate burst of fire
Meanwhile the engineer aboard the behemoth managed to put out one of the fires in the gas cells, and the ongoing fire caused little damage.
As the Zeppelin, free from attack, continued towards safety Hubner and Palmer manoeuvred for position. Hubner gained first advantage, firing an accurate burst into Frank's DH2 - but was shaken by a near miss from anti-aircraft fire which burst very close by
Undeterred, Hubner managed to keep Frank in his sights and fired an even more accurate burst - but somehow Frank managed to hunch down in the cockpit at the last moment, and avoid several rounds that would otherwise have certainly hit him!
Just as well Frank chose Luck Git as his ace skill!
The tables finally turned, and Frank got Hubner in his sights. A short burst from his Lewis shredded the Eindecker's tail for a second time, and he was sure that he could see cables trailing the red machine.
Two of the town's AA batteries opened fire - one on Hubner's Fokker, which missed entirely, and the other on the Zeppelin - but although the shell burst close by there was no apparent damage done.
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Frank again managed to get the upper hand over Hubner, and fired two consecutive bursts. The first caused a few holes in the target, but the second was much more accurate - and Frank saw Hubner jerk in the cockpit, and the Fokker weave erratically in the air as his bullets found their mark!
Unfortunately, that last burst had run Frank's second drum dry, so Hubner was able to disengage and make for the safety of his aerodrome without interference from the British pilot. One AA battery made a final attempt to bring the Hun machine down, but was unable to do so.
Meanwhile, while Frank was concentrating on changing his Lewis's drum he momentarily lost concentration and flew too close to the oncoming Zeppelin. A gunner fired a couple of bursts at his DH2 - and whilst the first one narrowly missed his machine the gunner adjusted his aim and peppered the DH2's tail. The giant didn't escape unscathed however - one of the anti-aircraft batteries managed an accurate and telling shot, bursting a shell in the second gas cell zone, destroying the entire area.
Having changed drums Frank joined the fray - his first burst stitched a few holes in the Zeppelin, and return fire was thankfully inaccurate.
Encouraged by this Frank moved in to close range and poured a punishing burst into the enemy, whilst it's return fire - whilst accurate - caused little damage. Frank noticed that the Zeppelin was beginning to sink towards the ground - clearly it was severely damaged, and he re-doubled his efforts.
He fired another long burst into the Zeppelin, emptying the third Lewis drum in the process - and was rewarded by the sight of the machine falling rapidly towards the ground as it's last gas cells emptied due to the damage caused. A lone gunner on the upper deck fired a defiant final burst in return, and the DH2 shook as bullets riddled the wings!
Later that morning Frank and a couple of his fellow pilots visited the crash site and claimed a trophy for the Mess - the townsfolk and the crews of the AA batteries had already been and taken their own trophies. The local Ashford newspapers all lauded Frank's victory, and campaigned for him to be given the Freedom of the town.
BUTCHERS BILL
Ltn. Albert Hahn SD FLM ET / 1 WND / 0 Kill. Roll 10 -2 FLM -1 WND = 7 (Bruised, Skip 1 scenario)
E&E Roll 7 -1 WND -1 FLM -1 BEL = 4 (Captured & Escaped, Skip 1 scenario)
Ob. Ltn. Hans Hubner RTB / 1 WND / 0 Kill. Roll 8 -1 WND +3 Land Aerodrome = 10 (All's Well)
Zeppelin SD / - / 1 Kill
FE2b
2nd. Lt. Mark Thyme SD FLM / - / 0 Kill Roll 5 -2 FLM = 3 (Severely Injured, Skip 6 scenarios)
Sgt. Norman Knight SD FLM / - / 0 Kill Roll 8 -2 FLM = 6 (Injured, Skip 1 scenario)
Lt. Frank Palmer RTB / - / 1 (really big) Kill
Saved a wound with Lucky Git
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