OTT ED Mission 13---Hunter in the Skies---gully_raker

[gully_raker]

In the continued absence of Captain King who was still recovering from his wound in the care of French partisans behind German lines, 2nd Lt John "Tiny" Large had taken command of C Flight of the Bulldogs Squadron.
To replace the Sopwith Pup in which "Bon" King had been shot down a replacement aircraft had arrived a week ago for familiarity trials as it was a unique new design from the Sopwith factory. "Its got 3 wings exclaimed the ground crews as the factory fresh aircraft arrived at their 'drome".



The two most experienced pilots apart from himself, 2nd Lt. Phillip "Mac" MacCaverty & 2nd Lt. Anthony "Quick" March had been flying the new machine constantly to evaluate its performance & acquaint themselves with its characteristics.
It was now time for it to fly its first Offensive Patrol & Tiny called the two pilots to his office.
"Right oh Lads! I know both of you are itching to give this new bird its baptism over enemy lines". "Now to be fair I suggest you toss a coin to see who will have the privilege". Tiny tossed his lucky penny into the air & Mac called Heads. Sure enough the bearded image of King George V appeared when the coin landed.
"O.K. Mac, now no bloody heroics this time as we know there are some top pilots from Jasta 2 in the area so be extra careful!"

Mac disappeared into his hut, climbed into his flying suit after donning his Kilt which he always wore whilst flying & strode out to the Triplane.



Soon he was flying over enemy territory keeping a good watch out for any German aircraft.

As he glanced over his shoulder his blood ran cold. Behind him some distance away was one of the new Albatross D.III scouts with the familiar white tail of Jasta 2.
"Och, me laddie, watch oot for this Hun".

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As the two planes closed Mac threw the Tripe into a tight right turn trying to get in position for a side attack.

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The German pilot showed his ability by also turning towards the Sopwith & Mac recognised his opponent as the German Ace Werner Voss!
"Weel Ive bitten a bad'n noo" thought Mac as the two aircraft exchanged shots at close range.

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The Germans bullets jammed Mac's rudder & to add insult his Vickers also stopped firing!
"@*%$#" swore Mac "Blooody gons! Ah thought the Lewis was bard & noo this!"

Flying off in a circle until he cleared his Vickers he Immleman only to find the German had done the same.

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Again the two aircraft made a frontal attack.

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Mac could see his bullets hit the Albatross to good effect but also received accurate return fire.

The two aircraft passed each other & he saw Voss turn to look at him as they passed.

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Mac now used the turning ability of the nimble Triplane to again attempt to get on the side of Voss's aircraft.

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Again the German Ace seemed to anticipate his move & they again exchanged shots & although he received no damage this time Mac was sure he had hit the cockpit area of the Albatross but Voss showed no sign of injury! (Lucky Git denied the wound card!)

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The two pilots again passed & manoeuvred for advantage & this time Mac got a clear shot but saw little result for his shooting. Voss on this occasion was not able to return fire.

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The two planes closed & exchanged close range shots & Mac felt a hammer like blow to his left shoulder which went numb & he could only continue to side slip the Sopwith until he finally had some feeling return to his arm.

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His manoeuvre took him back towards his own lines & safety but as feeling returned he decided to continue the duel with the German Ace.

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Both pilots tried to gain an advantage but neither were able to succeed.

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Mac now swung towards the Albatross & felt confident he had finally outwitted the German Pilot.

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It was not to be as Werner Voss expertly turned across & peppered the Triplane from an angle that prevented Mac from returning fire!

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That salvo proved too much for the Sopwith & Mac had to spin down to a hard crash landing in German Territory.

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The German Ace had claimed another victim!



A battered Mac was helped from the wrecked triplane & taken prisoner by the German Infantry in the area.



The Butchers Bill

2nd Lt. Phillip "Mac" MacCaverty
SD/Wounded/ET
14 Damage Points
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Rolled 10 -1 SDET -1 WD = 8 = Bruised Skip 1
E & E Rolled 4 -1 WD -1 ET = 2 = Captured---P.O.W.

Ltn. Werner Voss
RTB I Victory
8 damage points---- Lucky Git discarded Wound card
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Comments

Well Mac was holding his own pretty well until that wound but I guess he was at least lucky to survive a meeting with Werner Voss!
Yes I did in fact "toss a coin" to see who flew the mission & I used flash's new D8 AI charts which work a treat!
I enjoyed that as it was something different but a hard job against a real ACE.
I choose Evasive Manoeuvres II as Voss' enhanced abilities.

Flash may I leave you to write the Aftermath please. (you did such a good one last time! )

[flash]

Uncle had become increasingly concerned when MacCaverty failed to return from his patrol on time. An hour later it was abundantly clear he was not going to. Several phone calls to the front over the following hour provided sufficient information for him to piece together the sad turn of events - there had been a combat behind the German lines and an aircraft had been seen to fall. The range was too far to be sure but the description of 'an unusual looking kite' by one of the artillery observers was enough to conclude that it was the Tripe that had gone down.
It was now late afternoon and the sun was going down and the squadron was settling in for the night - suddenly there were shouts and the sound of the alarm bell clanging, as he threw open the office door Uncle heard the roar of an engine as a V Strutter passed over the field flat out, the rays of the setting sun catching the red and white streamers of a packet dropped in its wake.
Minutes later the packet was in Uncles hands brought by the panting airman who had run to retrieve it. He unwrapped the packet to find it was in fact a piece of folded doped linen bearing the serial number cut from Macs Tripe. The beautifully hand-written letter it contained confirmed in a very precise manner that MacCaverty had fallen to Ltn Voss, had been taken as prisoner of war and although wounded was expected to recover soon.
"At least that's something" said Uncle to himself and strode toward the Mess to impart the good news.

[flash]

Great stuff Baz - at least Mac got his licks in before he was downed !
Think you missed a couple of +1's from Werner's deadly aim but that doesn't detract from the result of what was a tough and bruising encounter for one of our Bulldogs. Loving the extra pictures in the story too !
Rep gun's jammed but I'm sure there'll be some coming along soon

[gully_raker]

Thanks for the nice wrap up of the mission Dave!
I did not think I missed any of the +1's. They just were not necessarily in the right order.
I put all the +1's together on the bottom line.

[flash]

"I'm playing all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order ... I'll give you that Sunshine !"


Ach so ! me - I see what you did there !

[gully_raker]

"I'm playing all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order ... I'll give you that Sunshine !"


Ach so ! me - I see what you did there !

[Archidamus]

A thrilling AAR Baz - young MacCaverty acquitted himself well, just a shame he ended up a POW as his efforts deserved a better result

[tikkifriend]

Good one Baz . Hope the POW camp treats old Phil well.

[gully_raker]

Good one Baz . Hope the POW camp treats old Phil well.

Bet they were a bit surprised when they took off his flying suit & saw his Kilt!

[Archidamus]

Bet they were a bit surprised when they took off his flying suit & saw his Kilt!

I thought he was captured Baz - not kilt in action

[tikkifriend]

I thought he was captured Baz - not kilt in action

[gully_raker]

I thought he was captured Baz - not kilt in action

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Bad puns aside, that was a very entertaining little action Baz. A story well told and a super set of pictures to back it up.
Very enjoyable thanks.
Rob.

[Teaticket]

He did well but Mac should have not second guessed himself and turned back. Oh well, free room and board for the rest of the war for him!
Nice action!