Roland sat on an upturned wooden buckets carefully inspecting each bullet. A pile of rejected cartridges lay beside him. It was probably pointless, but it gave him something to do. At this point, he felt like one of the rejected cartridges that plinked on the ground. None of the other pilots wanted to talk to “the new guy.” It had only been made worse when the first two sorties he had been scheduled for had been aborted. The first by weather, and the second left without him, a bad magneto keeping his plane grounded. Now he was not only “the new guy,” but he had bad luck as well. That certainly wouldn't endear him to the guys in the squadron.
Deep in his own thoughts, Roland didn’t notice a figure walk by the hanger door. The figure stopped, observed him for a moment, then approached.
“You aren't schedule to fly today you know.” Roland snapped his head up. Standing before him was Joe Davis. Joe had a reputation in the squadron. Rumor was the he had shot down four Germans once. Level headed and just plain good as a pilot Roland was puzzled why he was talking to him.
“No sir. Not today.” Roland replied. Roland hadn’t been aware that Joe even knew his name, let alone when he was scheduled to fly. Joe stepped over to the Nieuport’s wing and ran his hand over it.
“So why are you bothering to check your bullets if you aren’t going to fly? Most guys don’t even bother to check them, even if they are on deck for a sortie.” Joe’s eyes watched Roland carefully.
“Well sir, you never know. It can’t hurt to be ready. I just want to do my bit.” Roland looked down. “If I ever get a chance.”
“I’ve seen you out on the gunnery range too. Practicing for your first chance in the air?”
“Well, I seem to have some time on my hands.” Roland nervously toyed with a bullet. Why was Joe talking to him? The other pilots thought it bad luck. And Joe was one of the top aces in the squadron. Joe seemed to reach a conclusion.
“Then let’s get you your first victory. Suit up and meet me in half an hour.”
As Roland dressed, he marveled at the chance he was getting. Joe Davis was taking him over the lines! Why had Joe taken an interest in him? Joe was only listed on the leaderboard as Joe Davis – Ace, rather than the line of crosses the other pilots had. From what Roland had overheard, Joe didn’t even count kills anymore. Finishing up, Roland double checked his gear. He didn’t want to mess up his chance because he forgot his boots or something dumb that a moment of foresight could prevent. Roland walked out to the field. Immediately he groaned. Already his chances of flying were disappearing. His bad luck was rearing its head again. He saw Joe’s Nieuport on the grass, mechanics swarming over it in final preparations. The white Vs on the top wing gleamed. V for victory perhaps? Roland wasn’t sure. Next to Joe’s Nieuport was a brand new Spad. Roland’s assigned Nieuport was nowhere to be seen. Surely Joe would take the Spad, as was an aces prerogative. Or had Joe changed his mind and asked another veteran to accompany him? Joe walked up with his bulky “teddy bear” flight suit over his arm.
“We got this new Spad last week. She’s a real treat to fly.” Joe said. “How would you like to take her up today Roland?”
“Really? Sure, I’ve been hearing about them. I’d love to put it through its paces!” Roland couldn’t believe his ears. Joe was trusting him with a brand new Spad, not the well-worn Nieuport that “the new guy” was relegated to.
"If you can keep it in one piece, I’ll talk to the Captain about letting you keep it. Of course a confirmed kill might help your chances.” Joe smiled at him.
“Contact!” The engine roared to live. The plane vibrated as the engine spun up, then smoothed out as it warmed up. The motor purred and Roland could feel the plane pulling against the chocks. He saw Joe’s Nieuport pull forward as the chocks were removed and he began his takeoff. Roland motioned for his chocks to be cleared, and as he throttled forward the plane bumped forward, lurching as Roland gave it more throttle. At 1400 RPMs the motor pulled the plane with such power that Roland marveled. The plane fairly leapt into the sky as the propeller took huge greedy bites of air.
Roland kept close on Joe’s wing. Joe seemed to know precisely where he was going. Straight over the lines they soared, with puffs of black archie smoke tracing their path. At six thousand feet, they flew into German territory. In the distance Roland saw a two seater. It was a type that he wasn’t familiar with, but he relaxed when he saw roundels on the wings instead of the German crosses. Joe caught his eye with a waggle of his wings. Pointing to his eyes, then the two seater, Joe communicated that he should watch that plane. Then he pointed at another tiny spec in the sky. Roland watched as that plane got closer. It looked like a Halberstadt D.II, but the tail wasn’t right. Was it the new model? The D.III? It had to be. Joe had already started diving toward the German plane. It was clear, they were to protect this two seater.
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As they dove, the German turned to face them. The wind whipped Roland’s scarf as they bore down on the German plane. As Roland tried to center the sights on the German plane his alarm grew and the plane quickly filled his sights and he had to abandon his guns in order to avoid a crashing into speeding German.
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As he mashed the rudder and yanked hard on the stick, he saw the Nieuport pull up in a steep turn, putting Joe right on top of the Halberstadt. The two plane jockeyed as Roland banked, trying to keep close.
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Joe fired no shots, but kept on the German’s tail beautifully.
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Roland swore that the propeller of the Nieuport would chew into the tail of the Halberstadt any moment, but the masterful pilot kept from colliding as the two planes jinked and dodged.
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The German weaved and dipped desperately with the ace so close behind him.
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The one hundred and eighty horsepower motor of his Spad slowly pulled him closer to the German, and at about a hundred yards, Joe blipped his engine and pulled away from his quarry. In a desperate bid to escape, the German banked. He banked right into Roland’s sights, and Roland pulled the trigger. Bullets tore into the German craft from both British planes.
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Smoking, the plane banked, but Roland easily kept his crosshairs on the plane and peppered him with bullets. Joe had stopped firing, but kept the German plane bracketed.
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“He’s letting me shoot this plane down.” Roland mumbled, amazed that a pilot would do that. He focused on the German plane, and with a final burst, the German plan winged over, spinning to the ground.
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Roland considered following it down, but a glance at Joe told him to let it go. Joe was looking towards the two seater, and already banking his plane toward it. Roland had forgotten about it in his focus on the plane now hurtling earthward. Banking as well, Roland did his best to follow Joe.
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As he watched the two seater, he was amazed when he saw explosions on the ground. The two seater was bombing. From six thousand feet!
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Unsure of what was going on, Roland urged his plane faster and he saw the big plane exchanging fire with a Halberstad D.II. Another one was turning a steep sharp turn in the distance. The closer Halberstad D. II suddenly belched fire and smoke as something in its motor was struck by the stream of bullets coming from the rear of the two seater.
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The gunner ducked down for a few moments, and Roland saw more bombs dropping. At first Roland thought he was dropping the bombs to lighten the plane and make it more maneuverable. However, the bombs falling bombs exploded on a bridge, sending timbers splintering and water spraying. The gunner however didn’t see this, he was too busy manning the machine guns and spraying the Halberstadt again.
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The model of efficiency, the rear crewman sprayed bullets, keeping the German fighter at bay. Then he would drop down and bombs would release.
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Another bridge disappeared in a blast of smoke and spraying water. The two seater peeled away, apparently with bombs spent. However, Roland could tell by the lurch of the plane that something was wrong. The huge plane seemed to be underpowered now, and fighting to stay in the sky.
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As Roland and Joe dove down, straining to gain any speed they could, the Halberstadts boxed in the two seater. The rear Halberstadt, still streaming fire doggedly stuck on the lumbering plane’s tail. The other Halberstadt moved to cut the big plane off.
The big plane started trailing smoke, and Roland could see fire licking the engine cowling. Could they make it in time to drive off the attacking Halberstads?
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Roland hoped so, as he saw the rear Halberstadt abandoning his attack, the flames threatening to engulf his craft were clearly a more pressing matter.
The leading Halberstadt cut across the nose of the two seater.
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However, and he banked high in him Immelmann turn, he presented a fine target, and the tail gunner stitched his canvas wings with gunfire.
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Guns roared and every Vickers and Spandau in the air fired as the planes converged. Roland saw his tracers miss, and just when he thought the German would escape unscathed, he saw Joe bear down on the plane, every tracer sinking into the canvas of the German. Wood snapped, wings bent and canvas whipped free. The German spun, clearly out of control. However, as Roland looked around, the big two seater was plunging earthward trailing smoke. A silentness suddenly stifled the area.
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Off in the distance, a streaking line of fire arced to the ground as the remaining Halberstadt burned.
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FIN
Joe Davis /RTB / 1 Kill
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Roland Walker / RTB / 1 Kill
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Miles Dawes -Pilot/ SD ET / Injured, out for 2 missions. Escaped, skip 2 scenarios./ 0 Kills
August Tayler -Observer / SD ET / Injured for 3 missions, escaped unseen. / 1 Kills, 3 targets hit.
IMG_2687 by btbted, on Flickr
Germans
Josef Klingenschmidt / SD FT / Bruised, skip 1 scenario.
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Heinrich Mallincrodt / SD FT/ Severely injured. Skips 6 scenarios.
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Alfred von Osterhot / SD FT / injured for 2 scenarios.
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Postscript:
I can’t believe I flew the Nieuport (Joe) for 5 cards, overlapping the base of the Albatros each time! 5 cards, without a shot fired, but so close! This was the genesis of the idea that perhaps Joe was taking the new guy up for a kill, and just “winging” his quarry to let the inexperienced pilot get some invaluable practice. It was a fun angle to write.
In hindsight, perhaps I practiced the high altitude rules a bit much. I was worried I wouldn't hit the broad side of the bridge, so I flew a bunch of practice bomber runs before the game. Three direct hits in a row didn’t leave much suspense to the game, until the very end, boy that was tense!
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