Mission 16: Priceless Freedom
Mission briefing
Central units involved:
1 Fokker DVII (pilot Georg Steinbecker)
1 Pfalz D.IIIa (pilot Max Krieger)
1 UFAG C.1 (pilot Luke Hartmann, gunner Godfrey Klempferer)
Allied units involved:
2 Sopwith Snipes (pilots Conner MacHayes, Charles Richmond)
1 AA emplacement
1 target card
For this mission, a group of German spies have kidnapped a key Allied general and intend to hold him for ransom. Only one thing stands in their way: a small telegraph and guard station near the front lines. The goal for the Central pilots is to locate this outpost and destroy it, so it can cause no trouble when the spies pass through with their valuable prisoner.
This mission I convinced younger cousin Emmett to join in our little campaign. At only 7 years old, he is the youngest pilot to join our ranks yet. Pictured here from left to right are Beau and Emmett – our two young guns. It is always a pleasure to have them aboard.
We had homemade popcorn courtesy of Shaw and I got out my WWI hats for those who wanted them. Christmas music on the stereo and family at the table, that night was a special one.But I’d better get back to the report…
For my Jasta, Shaw flew Steinbecker’s DVII, Beau flew Kreiger’s D.IIIa and I flew Hartmann’s UFAG.
On the Allied side, Greyson flew MacHayes’ striped Snipe and Emmett flew Richmond’s number 2 Snipe. (He even picked out the name for his pilot!)
The table was divided into four quarters. Greyson decided in which quarters he would hide the AA card and the target card. When my UFAG entered a new quarter any cards hidden there would become revealed in the middle of said quarter.
The planning begins…
Greyson helped Emmett with the parts he wasn’t sure about.
My lads, Beau and Shaw. Ready for any scrap that comes their way.
To start things off, Hartmann’s UFAG turned its heading north to search one of the quarters while Steinbecker and Kreiger flew to engage the opposition.
Hartmann found no targets in the Northwestern sector and started for the Northeastern. But then, MacHayes broke loose from the persistent escorts and latched onto Hartmann. Bullets streaked both ways as MacHayes engaged the two –seater.
MacHayes had already been damaged from the initial encounter with the escorts, yet his quick demise was surprising to all involved. Tail gunner Godfrey Klempferer wasted no shots and brought him down abruptly. (Steinbecker also fired at MacHayes at that time, but gave him a zero. Thus you will see that Klempferer gets official credit for the kill while Steinbecker is credited with an assist.)
Even though he was shocked at the very sudden loss of his leader, Richmond kept his head and continued pursuing his current target, finishing Max Krieger off neatly. Now the odds were somewhat evened.
At last, Hartmann found his target! Both the AA and target cards that were hidden in the Northeast sector became revealed. The AA immediately opened fire, delivering a crushing 5 points of damage to the inquisitive UFAG!
The UFAG steadied its course for a bomb run, but while both targets were within the blast radius, it was not a direct hit. Nonetheless, 4 points of damage were dealt to each.
Hartmann dove to strafing level, turned about and made a 2nd pass – this time from behind the AA gun’s arc of fire. It only took a little gunfire to destroy what was left of the telegraph station. The AA emplacement was destroyed not long after.
All this time, Richmond and Steinbecker had been grappling in the skies for supremacy. Ultimately, though he fought valiantly, Richmond was brought down by Steinbecker.
Debriefing:
Central pilot Georg Steinbecker shoots down Sopwith Snipe piloted by Charles Richmond and is also credited with an assist; 1 kill confirmation and 1 assist confirmation requested; RTB.
Central pilot Max Krieger is shot down by Sopwith Snipe piloted by Charles Richmond; POW.
Central recon pilot Luke Hartmann destroys 2 ground targets; 2 kill confirmations requested; WIA.
Central tail gunner Godfrey Klempferer shoots down Sopwith Snipe piloted by Conner MacHayes; 1 kill confirmation requested; RTB.
Allied pilot Conner MacHayes is shot down by return fire from UFAG C.1 tail gunner Godfrey Klemperer; WIA.
Allied pilot Charles Richmond shoots down Pfalz D.IIIa piloted by Max Krieger but is himself shot down by Fokker D.VII piloted by Georg Steinbecker; 1 kill confirmation requested; WIA.
The German spies successfully brought their prisoner to the German lines. Once they had him there, they offered to return him on terms of a prisoner exchange: the Allied general for all the pilots of one specific Jasta that were currently POWs. The Allied command considered this and wired back that they would accept the offer if the Germans would also return all Allied POWs from a certain Squadron. The Central commanders considered this a fair trade and agreed forthwith.
All POWs are returned to active duty!!!
There were several things worth noting this mission. One would be that Emmett scored his first aerial victory in our campaign. Even though he was not an experienced WOG player, he dove right in and stuck it out with us – special damages, altitude rules and all! So hip hip hurrah for him!
The second thing that struck me was how Greyson and Beau handled themselves after they were shot down early in the game. Rather than sulking or leaving to do something else, they remained to cheer for their side until the mission had ended. As I told them later, it takes character to be unselfish and think like that, especially when you are little. So bravo for them and their good sportsmanship!
As soon as Max crashed landed his battered Pfalz D.IIIa, they had found him. He had the poor luck to have wrecked just outside a small camp of British infantry, who had all turned out to watch the aerial battle above them. Naturally then, when a defeated Hun plane glided right towards them and crashed, they were going to notice. When they came running up to him, rifles pointed, Max made no show of resistance. He and his one little Mauser against a whole camp of British soldiers…the idea just didn’t seem to have merit to him. So, resignedly, Max Krieger was forced to accept capture.
After an officer who half-knew some German tried questioning him, they took him under guard to a truck. They didn’t tell him where he’d be going, but Max was pretty sure he knew: a POW camp, where he’d have to sit out the rest of the war. He sighed, eyeing his guards. At least it was better than dying.
They traveled for an hour, stopped at a military base, transferred him like so much baggage to another truck with different guards and set out again. This truck went on for longer. Max’s heart sank with every mile. Apparently the camp where he was headed was far, far away from the front lines.
Finally they arrived at the POW camp. It looked as if it had been hastily set up. Rather than walls, sandbags and barbed wire marked the perimeter. Probably it was just another holding camp until they could ship him off to somewhere even farther away. It was hardly a cheerful thought.
The truck creaked to a halt inside the camp and his guards motioned for him to get out. Max blinked as he stepped into the early morning sunlight and looked around. The first thing that caught his eye was a convoy of trucks, all being loaded with prisoners. An officer supervising the loading caught sight of Max and his guards and walked over to them. The guards saluted deftly as he approached. The officer looked at Max and said some words to the guards, motioning to the truck. They nodded and prodded Max to get in line with the other prisoners waiting to be put in the trucks. He complied without resisting. By now, he was exhausted and really didn’t care what happened to him. He just felt ready to drop.
After a few minutes delay, he and six other men were loaded into the back of one of the transports and the trucks started to move. We must have been the last group to go on. Max thought wearily. The truck bed swayed and bounced but that didn’t matter anymore as Max sank into an uneasy sleep.
Scant hours later, he was jolted awake by an especially large bump in the primitive road. Max sat up and rubbed his still-tired eyes. Most of the prisoners were asleep or trying to sleep. Even the guards looked bored. Max inwardly groaned. It was going to be a long journey. Looking around once more, Max noticed that one of the prisoners was awake though. He sat in the corner of the truck nearest the driver’s seat and quietly read from a small book. Once he saw that Max was awake, he folded his page over, put the book in his chest pocket and nodded to Max, smiling a little. It was then that Max could see that the man’s face was terribly scarred.
“I haven’t seen you before, friend,” the man said. “You must be new here, ja?”
“Ja,” Max acknowledged slowly. Silence passed between them for a while. “Do you know where they’re taking us?” Max finally asked. The man shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
“No, I don’t. This is unusual though, for them to move so many at one time.” After that he fell silent again. Max waited for a bit. The silence was beginning to be awkward and he felt he should say something.
“Your face…” he ventured, “what happened?” Max inwardly slapped himself, knowing that was probably not the best question to have asked, but it was done now. The man did not seem offended though.
“I was a fighter pilot. On my second flight we flew over enemy lines on scout. I was hit by AA and caught fire. I tried to land to get away from the flames, but I couldn’t do it soon enough.” Max shuddered, having had close encounters with flame himself. He knew firsthand how unmerciful a cockpit fire could be.
The man touched his scarred face, as if remembering that day and then continued. “I was brought down behind enemy lines much like you were and captured. For a month, I couldn’t leave the stretcher they put me on.” He laughed, “For being my captors, they took excellent care of me! Thanks to their doctors, I soon recovered enough to move about again…though not without pain and these scars.” He touched his face once more and became silent again. Max felt that he shouldn’t press further and let the man be. The man returned to his reading and Max fell into another fitful slumber.
The next time he awoke, it was to the sound of voices. German voices! He sat up and looked out the driver’s window. The truck had stopped. The brown landscape was shattered, pockmarked with craters and stuck here and there with dead trees like toothpicks. He leaned forward and looked in the direction of the voices. A small knot of men stood conversing in front of the lead truck in the convoy. He thought he could make out a white flag. At least some of the men were Germans. The others looked to be British. Why on earth would they be talking together? The men appeared to reach an understanding and split up, some heading towards the British trucks, and the others heading to a convoy of German trucks that Max had failed to notice before. Officers barked orders and the guards opened the back hatches of the trucks and started motioning for the prisoners to get out. Before long, all the German prisoners were unloaded and formed in a line outside the trucks. Max could see the same thing happening with the German trucks a hundred yards away. Only the prisoners there looked British. Then, a German officer approached and addressed them directly:
“Fellow pilots! Today is your lucky day! You are part of a prisoner exchange that our commanders have negotiated with the Allies. Our trucks you see over there will take you back to your lines. You are no longer prisoners of war!” He beamed at them. His declaration took a moment to sink in for the weary men, but once it did, their joy could not be contained. A loud and raucous cheer split the air. The men pumped their fists in the air and threw their hats above their heads if they had them. Some even danced a jig. They were going home! Even the Allied officers seemed to enjoy the sight of such jubilation. Looking over to the German convoy, Max could tell that a similar declaration had been made to the Allied prisoners. Cheers and shouts now rang out from both convoys as the men rejoiced in their regained freedom. Max doubted that they would ever take that blessing for granted again.
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