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Thread: Misson 5: Action Over Peronne

  1. #1

    Default Misson 5: Action Over Peronne

    France, 1917

    Dear Mother and Father,

    By now word may have reached you that I have achieved my third victory in a sortie over the city of Peronne! I shall tell you of the details as it was a great success for our squadron.

    The past two weeks have seen a major Allied drive to contest air superiority in our region. Offensive patrols have been stepped up significantly and one of our observer balloons was attacked and destroyed just a few days ago, not far from our aerodrome.

    Naturally, we of Jasta 11 did not wish to take this impertinence lying down, and when we received word yesterday of a large flight of Allied observer aircraft crossing the front lines we were ordered aloft to teach them the error of their ways. My element consisted of myself, Ziegert and a new transfer from one of the Saxon squadrons, Von Klepperman. My friend Wittlow was supposed to go up with us, but at the last minute he was replaced by M. (redacted)* which surprised us but we were hardly in a position to question the unexpected change. Hardly anyone would complain, given M. (redacted)'s reputation, after all!

    Above Peronne, we had the good fortune to catch a pair of British R.E. 8s that had strayed from the main attack group. Now, the R.E. 8 is a target welcomed by our German fighter pilots--it is slow, fails to turn easily and has little stamina for a protracted fight. Most importantly, with so many enemy single-seater fighters devoted to offensive operations over the past few weeks, the R.E. 8s lacked escort, trusting to their own guns to protect them. We immediately moved in for the attack.

    Having the fastest aircraft among the four of us, I led the attack on the first R.E. 8, with Von Klepperman in his Pfalz D.III and Ziegert in his Dr.I close behind. Using my preferred head-on approach at high speed, I angled myself to give as narrow a target as possible to the approaching English pilot and fired on him at close range, scoring a few hits. His return fire, I am pleased to say, was rather lackluster. Knowing that his observer would attempt to draw a bead on me as I flew past, I immediately leveled myself, climbed sharply and performed a half-roll in order to position myself directly behind the slower aircraft. By staying close on his tail, I hoped to keep in the "blind zone" where the observer risked damage to the tail of his aircraft by firing on me.

    This did not seem to deter the observer much! He opened fire, scoring a few additional hits on "Lotti." But as I've mentioned in my past letters, my Albatros is a tough bird, and I returned the favor with my own guns. I'm pleased to inform you that I inflicted far more damage on the R.E. 8 than its rear gunner was causing me.

    In the meantime, Kleppi and Ziegert had engaged the front of the aircraft, but unfortunately, their luck was not good. Ziegert had set himself up for a pass along the right side of the aircraft when a bent shell jammed his guns, forcing him to abort his attack. What's worse, the enemy pilot's fire severed one of Kleppi's fuel lines, resulting in a sudden fire in the Pfalz's engine! Kleppi had to veer right and hold off his attack as he desperately sought to extinguish the blaze. We greatly feared for him, but luckily he was able to choke the flames after a risky shutdown and restart of his engine mid-air. Then, to make matters worse, a random bullet struck Ziegert's engine and sent a metal shard flying through his fuselage, seriously damaging the mechanisms and forcing Ziegert to devote his full attention to keeping his aircraft aloft.

    Things were not looking promising for us. For a moment, I am sorry to say our resolved faltered, and I almost signaled Ziegert and Kleppi to withdraw. But then, a few hundred meters north of our position, we saw M. (redacted) coming around to engage the second R.E. 8. The English aircraft tried to attack, but appeared shaken when it failed to do any significant damage. M. (redacted) made what seemed like an almost leisurely turn directly behind the R.E. 8 and opened fire with a furious spray of bullets. I saw the observer killed immediately and moments later M. (redacted) followed up with a second volley that shredded the tail and sent the R.E. 8 into a fatal spin. The marksmanship displayed was simply astonishing!

    Emboldened by this victory, Kleppi and I turned our attention back to the first English machine, whose pilot, apparently shaken by the loss of his comrade, attempted to break off and escape. This, however was a fatal error. In an aircraft as slow as the R.E. 8, when engaged with foes at close range the only chance is to trust your guns and try to deal enough damage to drive off your foes. To attempt to flee put every advantage in our hands, for we not only could outdistance him, we could choose the angle of our attacks at leisure. I pulled behind and hit him again, drawing the fire of his observer, and a few moments later Von Klepperman brought his scout around from the south and opened fire as I passed out of range. With a terrible cracking sound the fuselage of the R.E. 8 came apart in mid-air.

    Though Kleppi and Ziegert's aircraft were fearfully mauled, we were all able to return to base without further incident. Our squadron mates greeted us enthusiastically, for not only had M. (redacted) scored a spectacular kill singlehandedly, Headquarters had decided to award a joint kill to both Kleppi and myself for the other R.E. 8.

    Despite some close calls, it was a complete victory and a clear message to the Allies that they cannot cross our lines with impunity! (And perhaps, most importantly, I was able to avoid a forced landing this time, much to my relief!)

    Your son,
    Wolfram Von Thun-Hohenstein, Leutnant, Jasta 11

    *Historian's Note: A curious element of this letter is the censoring of the identity of the mysterious fourth pilot ("M") accompanying Von Thun-Hohenstein. While it almost certainly refers to "Manfred Von Richtofen" (Who commanded JG 1 at that time), it seems highly unlikely that the Luftstreitkrafte would go through such pains to conceal his participation in a battle. One theory is that due to rumors in Germany of an "Anti-Richtofen" squadron being formed by the Allies and Von Ricthofen's recent head injury in battle, the German command was attempting to spread disinformation about Von Richtofen's location to help ensure the safety of their "Ace of Aces" during his recuperation. It is even possible "M" was another Jasta 11 ace such as Lothar Von Richtofen or Kurt Allmenroder, and the alias "M" was a ruse designed to feed false information to Allied agents who might intercept German correspondence.--Wolfbiter, editor.

    (Game Notes: For this game, we tried Charlie3's "Turkey Shoot" scenario with DaveZee, myself and my wife Minette (the mysterious "M!") playing on the same side as the Germans. Charlie3's "Robot Bomber" rules worked very well, so thanks! I recommend checking out his scenario rules, they can be found here: http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sho...592)-Wolfbiter
    Last edited by Wolfbiter; 10-02-2010 at 15:09. Reason: correcting typo

  2. #2

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    Sounds as though a jolly good time was had by all as long as you were a German pilot. Great comentary David. Keep them coming.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  3. #3

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    I certainly have a new found respect for the Pfalz. It takes a bunch of damage and keeps in the air. For scenario play, it really filled a gap between the much quicker D.V and the fragile DRI's.

  4. #4

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    I also have a new found respect for the Pfalz DIII. Great write up!
    Albatross DVa all the way!!

  5. #5

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    Another fun and exciting write-up, David. As usual, you've done a stellar job!! Can't wait for the next one!!

    Scott

  6. #6

    Default

    Another great and entertaining tale.

  7. #7

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    Never flown a Pfalz, but am looking forward to it.

    Hunter

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aero825 View Post
    Never flown a Pfalz, but am looking forward to it.

    Hunter
    Dave Zee flew one...it took a heavy pounding over two missions, and kept on going!

  9. #9

    Default

    I enjoyed the AAR David! Thanks for the Game notes and the nod towards Charlie3's "Turkey Shoot" scenario, I will have to give it a go.

  10. #10

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    Sorry I haven't posted about your mission reports before. They truly are amazing. Be expecting more replies . . . soon .

    Hunter
    Last edited by Aero825; 10-22-2010 at 16:44.

  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aero825 View Post
    Sorry I haven't posted about your mission reports before. They truly are amazing. Be expecting more replies . . . soon .

    Hunter
    This will be one. 100th Post!!

  12. #12

    Lotsokids
    Guest


    Default

    Great Write up!



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