Five victory Sortie
The mission was straightforward enough; escort a pair of Breguet 14s over enemy lines and see them safely home. The escort consisted of two Spad XIIIs and four Spad VIIs. I was assigned command of A-Flight with two Spad VIIs; we were escorting one of the Breguets. Pomeroy was in command of B-Flight; also two Spad VIIs escorting the other Breguet. Flitton commanded B-Flight consisting of the two Spad XIIIs.
Approaching the front went without incident. However, my hopes for a quick in and out without incident were dashed as a flight of enemy aircraft pounced on us from out of the sun. The enemy, two Albatros D.Vs and a Fokker tri-plane, opened fire taking out my wingman. Returning fire I took out an Albatros – my first victory of the engagement –then turned to give chase to the enemy as they sped past.
I next lined up on the Tri-plane as he buzzed the two-seater. He juked left and then right, but I stayed on him. In the distance I spied additional enemy aircraft approaching. I had to finish him before his friends arrived.
Suddenly the skies got very crowded and I was quite alone with the enemy. The Tri-plane I was chasing started to smoke and spiraled earthward out of control; victory number two. Two Albatros D.IIs and another Tri-plane flew past as the surviving D.V came into my sights. I flamed the D.V – victory number three – as the cavalry arrived bring yet more enemy aircraft with them.
I turned my attention to yet another tri-plane who was in hot pursuit of one of the Spad VIIs coming to help. The tri-plane’s pilot slumped forward and his plane flew straight down giving me my fourth victory of the engagement.
Next came another Spad VII being chased by two Fokker D.Vs. I was too late to save the Spad, but I gave one of the Huns a good shot and then pulled a loop to come in behind him and finish him off to earn my fifth victory. At that point I was joined by the two Spad XIIIs – Flitton and his wingman – who took out the remaining D.V.
I scanned the horizon for enemy aircraft; the pair of D.IIs had been taken down and the lone surviving Hun aircraft, a Fokker Dr.I, was beating a hasty retreat. It was over.
With the enemy vanquished we continued the mission and returned home to base. Our combined total was eight enemy aircraft shot down; Flitton, Jarvis and Pomeroy each getting one while I scored five! Amazingly enough all the victories were solo kills; none were shared. I was very pleased with my victories; two Fokker Dr.Is, two Albatros D.Vs, and a Fokker D.V.
We had lost two aircraft in the engagement, but both came down on our side of the lines.
Of those shot down, on both sides, only lt. Bales of B-Flight survived.
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Well done Chuck.
Simply brutal.
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