Mission 14: Traitor In Our Midst
Early January 1918:
The scene is a small briefing room located at an Allied forward aerodrome near Verdun. Inside are only three men, two of whom are fighter pilots. They sit in chairs facing a dimly-lit map on the wall. One of the pilots is none other than the flying legend Cover El Lavan.
The darling child of the French press, Cover became famous due to both his exceptional flying skill and his seemingly charmed life. He has been wounded numerous times in combat, but always somehow manages to return to fight once more. Hailed as “une indomitable” – “the indomitable one” – by the adoring French, Cover has nonetheless earned a different name amongst his foes: “Phantom von Verdun” – “Phantom of Verdun”. Legends among Central pilots maintain that Cover El Lavan personally returns to hunt any pilot who successfully shoots him down. Whether this is true or not, Cover El Lavan’s bright blue Hanriot is universally feared and respected by his Central adversaries.
The third man stands before the two Hanriot pilots, in front of the map. His pressed SD uniform and shoulder board insignias identify him to be nothing less than a British general. He begins the briefing:
“Gentlemen, today’s operation will prove a crucial turning point in the war.” He pauses.
“I’m sure you are both familiar with the new Fokker aeroplanes the enemy has been employing?” Cover nods grimly.
“These new planes have been outperforming our standard frontline aircraft regularly now, threatening our control of the skies. Today’s mission, if successful, will change all that instantly. What I’m about to tell you must not, under any circumstances, leave this building. Do you understand?”
The pilots eye each other, surprised, and then nod in agreement.
“Excellent. We have a spy planted in one of Germany’s Jastas who are operating the new aeroplanes. He entered their Jasta using an alias and a fictitious background 2 months ago. He went through their basic training and was certified as a Hun pilot last week. Up till then, for security reasons, we have had no contact from him. But ten hours ago last night, he radioed in a message saying that he was being assigned to fly his first combat patrol with the Jasta. He gave us all the information. They will be taking four aircraft on a front patrol just inside enemy lines, over St Mihiel at 1900 hours. They are to hold an altitude of 2000 meters for the duration of the patrol. Our man will be flying one of the new Fokkers. Gentlemen, your mission is to locate the patrol. Once our man sees you, he will fire a green flare to let you know which plane he’s in. Engage the enemy aircraft to provide cover for the spy to slip away towards our own lines. I’ve notified all our AA batteries on his route; they’ll let him through. He will then land at this aerodrome where we’ll have a group of our finest technical minds take apart the Fokker and uncover its secrets.
We’ve been working on this one quite a while – we can’t afford for it to go wrong! It is imperative that you make sure that the captured fighter gets through to us. That is all gentlemen. Takeoff is at 1830 hours. You're dismissed.”
Mission Briefing:
Central units involved:
3 Fokker DVIIs (pilots Georg Steinbecker, Max Kreiger, Oliver Holmes (aka Jurgen Krupke) )
1 Siemens Shuckert D.III (pilot Noel Kappel)
Allied units involved:
2 Hanriot HD.1s (pilots Cover El Lavan, Paul Foncke)
This is a mission we played while we were on vacation in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee about 2 weeks ago. Joining us today were brothers Shaw and Beau, which was really fun since all 4 of us brothers got to fly together in this mission.Beau piloted Max Kreiger’s yellow DVII and Shaw piloted Georg Steinbecker’s purple DVII.
This was also an interesting mission for Greyson, since he got to pilot the DVII controlled by the spy in addition to his usual Allied crates.
This mission took place in an area where only a narrow strip of no man’s land divided the lines, so we designated an area in the middle of the table as no man’s land. The area to the far left of no man’s land was Central territory and the area to the far right was Allied. A pilot’s fate would depend on where he was shot down. (If brought down in no man’s land, we followed the custom dice rule we established during the previous mission to determine if a pilot was captured.)
The mission began with the four Central planes patrolling on their side of the lines. The DVII piloted by the British infiltrator would have to stay in formation with them until the Hanriots arrived. Once they were within visual range, he would fire his flare, thus identifying himself to them. However, his firing a flare would confuse the rest of the German pilots surrounding him and possibly expose him. So, when he fires the flare, we would roll a dice. If a one is rolled, then the spy is exposed and the Central planes can fire on him. If any other number is rolled though, his firing the flare merely puzzles the Central pilots but nothing beyond that.
The Central patrol. The lozenge DVII is the one piloted by the spy.
The Hanriots find the patrol…
All but one of the Germans break and head towards the Hanriots. Group leader Steinbecker is puzzled but has no time to dwell on it as the Hanriots draw nearer.
Just before the Hanriots merge, Jurgen (our spy) fires his flare. The Hanriots take note of it. But the German pilots are too preoccupied to notice.
The Hanriots immediately dive in on the other Central aircraft, damaging them. Noel Kappel’s craft catches fire soon after this photo. Out of the corner of his eye Steinbecker sees Jurgen fly Noel’s direction…
…and shoot at Noel! Noel’s Siemens was already on fire, but now bullets from his squadron mate add to the inferno. It was the last thing he had expected.
His head reeling, Steinbecker quickly dispatches of his opponent and flies over to help Noel. But just then his guns jam. There is little he can do.
By that time, Cover forms up on Jurgen’s wing and they both dive for the deck, heading for the Allied lines. There is absolutely no way the Germans can catch them. But then Jurgen does the strangest thing. He turns around and heads back towards the German pursuers!
Cover slaps the dashboard of his Hanriot angrily. What was the fool trying to prove? Yet Cover’s orders remain: protect the stolen DVII at all costs. Fuming, he turns back into the fight as well.
Cover fights valiantly, but is in the end outnumbered and brought down just barely inside Allied lines.
Enraged by their squadron mate’s betrayal, the 3 Central pilots turn on Jurgen, hammering him with round after round until he hits the ground.
A somber picture of the mission’s end.
Debriefing:
Central pilot Georg Steinbecker shoots down 2 Hanriot HD.1s piloted by Paul Foncke and Cover El Lavan; 2 kill confirmations requested; RTB.
Central pilot Max Kreiger shoots down Fokker DVII attempting to defect to Allied lines piloted by Allied spy Oliver Holmes (aka Jurgen Krupke); 1 kill confirmation requested; WIA.
Central pilot Noel Kappel survives a sudden attack by Fokker DVII piloted by Allied spy Oliver Holmes (aka Jurgen Krupke); RTB.
Allied spy Oliver Holmes is shot down by Fokker DVII piloted by Max Kreiger while trying to escape to Allied lines; KIA.
Allied pilot Cover El Lavan is shot down by Fokker DVII piloted by Georg Steinbecker while trying to save Allied spy Oliver Holmes; WIA.
Allied pilot Paul Foncke is shot down by Fokker DVII piloted by Georg Steinbecker while trying to save Allied spy Oliver Holmes; WIA.
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I used to write my AARs from my iPhone, but ever since the latest software update, typing and cutting/pasting has become a nightmare!
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