Against the odds the Canadian troops had held the rear lines after the horrendous losses caused by the German Artillery barrages & the Mine explosions.
The situation was still grave & as no reinforcements to the infantry would be forthcoming British High Command commenced a build up of Artillery shells to bombard the new German Trenches. There were a number of Ammunition dumps being supplied & the German recon Aircraft had reported this to the German Command who would now react by sending bombers over to try to destroy this threat to their plans.
Oblt. Harry Von Bukard had been ordered to accompany the Albatross C1 in his Fokker Eindeker to ensure the German Bomber could achieve its mission.
Ltn Wilhelm Schuster would fly the C type which was loaded with 4 bombs & the newly arrived Ltn Karl Siemplkamp would act as gunner & bombardier.
Meanwhile at the British 52 Squadron Aerodrome newly promoted & "gonged" Capt. Boniface "Bon" King was feeling extremely pleased with himself. This afternoon he would depart for Blighty with the successful FE 2 crew for leave & investiture at Buckingham Palace after their successful mission to destroy a Zeppelin. Added to that he was in temporally in charge of C flight until the Flight Commander returned from his own leave.
Word had come down from GHQ for the need of two Aircraft to patrol over the Ammunition Dumps being assembled for the Barrage against the German Trenches at Mt Sorrel. He had requested 2nd Ltn. John "Tiny" Large & 2nd Ltn Harold "Tall" Small to report to C Flights office. There was a knock! "Come" called "Bon". "Right you blokes got a nice choice job for you both."
"Now HQ expect the Hun to try to bomb the **** out of the ammo dumps they are building for the Mt Sorrel effort for my fellow Colonials, the Canucks! "Tiny" you take the Nieuport 16 & "Tall" I am afraid you will have to make do the that old Morane as our DH-2's are off chasing some Fokkers which have been messing with our BE2's again. Take care but do try to stop the jolly old Hun from making a big hole in the Ground!"
As the two British pilots flew towards the co-ordinates they had been given they saw below a large collection of buildings & a huge assembly of Artillery shells.
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They also noticed that the complex was guarded by two machine gun emplacements on the forward side of the dumps.
Flying over the dumps the noticed two specks in the distance. One much larger than the other.
That looks like trouble thought Tiny & waggled his wings & pointed. Tall gave him a Thumbs Up.
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The German Pilots also saw the two British aircraft as they made their way towards their target with the Eindeker pulling slightly ahead so as to shield the bomber.
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As the two groups of aircraft approached within range Tiny traded shots with the grey Fokker but not much damage appeared to have been done to either aircraft while Tall tried a deflection shot on the German bomber to no avail.
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As the Aircraft passed each other the German Bomber turned back towards the dump but none of the planes could get a shot.
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The E.III now came within range of the British machine guns & both scored hits while the German pilot returned fire.
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As the Albatross headed towards the Ammo Dump Tall got on its tail & gave it a telling burst but received accurate return fire from the German Observer.
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The Machine gun emplacements again targeted the Fokker & Small tried to tail the Albatross but its slow speed caught him out & he had to stall to avoid a collision.
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The Aircraft now jockeyed for advantage & Tiny & the Eindeker exchanged shots while Tall came under fire from the German observer in the Albatross,
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Both ground machine guns had jambed after their last shots & as Tall manoeuvred onto the tail of the German bomber disaster struck.
A lucky shot from the German observer caused the engine on the Morane to explode & the aircraft spiralled into the ground near the ground troops.
Tiny looked on aghast as his squadron mate's aircraft hit the ground but he had to concentrate on the Albatross to try to prevent it from destroying the dump. Fortunately the action with the Morane had prevented the German observer from preparing for a bombing run as he could not take the chance of the British aircraft on his tail shooting down the Bomber
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The German gunner was really good & as Tiny closed on the larger plane he caught a very accurate burst which caused bad damage to the little Nieuport but he had to press his attack. But to add insult to injury his gun jambed as the last shots left his Lewis gun.
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As he struggled to change the drum he came under fire again but the shots missed. He thought to himself where is that Eindeker? Hope he is not sneaking up on me. Unbeknown to Tiny, Von Bukard had taken the decision to nurse his badly damaged Fokker (1 DP remaining) back to German Lines as he could not take the chance of the British capturing the Eindeker with its synchronised machine gun. The ground troops had done a great job.
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The German Bomber now commenced a turn back towards the target whilst Tiny tried to anticipate its path.
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He finally got into an advantageous position & was thrilled to see flames burst from the German machine & the severity of the fire made him think he may have hit its petrol tank.
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Despite the state of his Nieuport which was now very "second hand" he continued to press the German machine.
However another accurate burst from the observer damaged his engine & he had to make a hard forced landing.
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The German Bomber continued towards the target but hampered by the flames & smoke the observer missed the dump.
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The brave German crew continued to make another bombing run but finally the fire took hold & the German aircraft crashed in flames behind the ammunition dump.
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The dumps had been saved from this attack but the defenders were sure this would not be the last attempt & they hoped the RFC could again come to their aid & protection.
The Butchers Bill:
Oblt Harry Von Bukard: Fokker E.III, RTB 1 damage point remaining.
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Albatross C I; Ltn Wilhelm Schuster/Ltn. Karl Siemplkamp 2 victories
SD/ET/Flamer.
Schuester: rolled 8 -2 flamer = 6 Injured ET Rolled 4 Captured & Escaped. Rolled 3 = miss 2 scenarios
Siemplkamp: rolled 1 - 2 Flamer = -1 KIA
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Morane Sulnier: 2nd Ltn Harold "Tall" Small.
SD/FT/Explosion.
Rolled 4 -3 Exp = 1 KIA
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Nieuport 16: 2nd Ltn John "Tiny" Large.
SD/FT
1 kill Albatross C I
Rolled 6 -1 SD = 5 Injured Rolled 3 = miss 2 scenarios.
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Well what a dramatic end to the mission. I thought that with both British aircraft gone the Hun might have made it through but the second A card fire damage brought it down. Every aircraft took damage throughout the whole mission & the M/Guns again did a good job, mainly on the Eindeker, before the German bomber passed them.
Due to the change in the position of the Ammo dumps I only gave the Brits 2 ground machine guns which I think was enough.
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