OTT ED Mission 16 - Prelude to Arras - April 8th 1917
(I only had one Pup available and used Nieuport 17s with Pup stats as Pups)
Heinz Wolf (white tail) was first back to the aerodrome though he did not know it. He had been trying to stay with his flight leader Hermann Beck( Red Brumowski) during the air battle but out of nowhere he was attacked from behind and set on fire. Being only his 2nd combat mission, there was no instinct to kick in, just white knuckled panic. First the smoke blinded, then choked him. He then felt the intense heat as the flames engulfed his engine and stretched its hot orange fingers reaching towards him in the cockpit.
Luckily for Heinz his panic saved him as he dove as fast as he could hoping to land before being burned alive. The extreme speed of the dive put out the flames, but not before extensive damage had been done to his Albatros.
When he leveled off at the tree tops he looked up but could not see his squadron. The battle had moved westward while he had dived towards home to the east. His plane was so badly damaged by the fire, he decided his best course of action would be to return home. He gingerly flew back towards base trying his best not to put any undue stress on his singed Albatros.
Rolf Schäfer (Black rear fuselage) kept looking over his right shoulder. So much so that Franz Köhler (Red zig Zag) noticed and worried that he was doing something wrong. Rolf was wing leader with Franz to his right and Theodore Schwarz (Red camo) to his left. This was Köhler’s first patrol with the squadron and Rolf didn’t want the rookie to get into trouble.
Slightly ahead to his right, Rolf also kept an eye on Hermann Beck, the patrol flight leader. Beck wagged his wings to get Schäfer’s attention. Pointing down to the left at a flight of three British scouts. Beck motioned Schäfer to lead the attack.
2Lt Roy Morrow (Pup #4)was leading the two least experienced Bulldogs out on patrol. Both Percy Edwards (red stripe) and Charles Daly each had only one mission under their belts. Each had been shot down their first time up. Now that they have recovered from their wounds they were getting thrown back into the fray. No time for any more training. Times were desperate as losses were mounting but they had to keep flying and keep the Bosch on their heels. All squadrons in the sector were being pushed to the limit regardless of the experience level of any new pilots.
As this was just a contact mission to see where the Bosch were, Edwards and Daley were instructed to head home if they were attacked. They all flew some new Sopwith Pups, maybe not as fast as the German Albatros but much more maneuverable. They should be able to keep out of the German gun sights if they keep their heads.
Morrow was too preoccupied watching the fledglings and didn’t see the Eagles diving in on them.
With a plane on either side Schäfer dived straight in at the British flight. He knew they had not been seen as there was no reaction until his Spandaus let rip. Seeing some tracers zipping past Morrow knew they were in trouble and turned to the right. Both Edwards and Daley, wide eyed, followed.
With the unopposed attack Schäfer had no trouble placing a lot of lead into the Pup’s engine area. The effect was immediate and the Pup’s engine almost tore itself from the chassis, pointing in one direction while the rest of the Pup pointed in another.
Seeing their flight leader flailing helplessly towards the ground Edwards and Daley turned as fast as they could towards their own lines. The Eagles pounced on the panicking pair.
Edwards was attacked by both Schäfer and Schwarz.
Schäfer then turned off to help Köhler attack Daley and let Schwarz have Edwards. Edwards avoided Schwarz’ attack, helped by Schwarz’ guns jamming.
Neither Schäfer nor Köhler could strike the erratic flying Pup of Daley.
Schäfer flew wide right getting out of Köhler’s way as Köhler kept straight on Daley.
Schäfer was so focused on Köhler and Daley he forgot about Beck and his incoming wing. Beck flew past to his left and at the last second Schäfer barely avoided the incoming Wolf.
Köhler kept on Daley but could not hit. Beck on the other hand added to Daley’s troubles and damaged his controls.
It would now be a bit tougher for Daley to outmaneuver the Huns on his tail.
Köhler showed no first combat jitters and didn’t flinch when Beck flew close. Daley’s Pup was perforated a bit more.
Trailing and closing in on the action, a Triplane comes in unnoticed.
Beck joins in with Köhler but Daley and his agile Pup frustrate their aim.
The Triplane with a red Welsh Dragon on it’s upper wing stalks the unsuspecting Germans.
Schwarz, with guns cleared, reminds Edwards that he is still on his tail.
Köhler’s aim is true while Beck misses, jostled by Köhler’s slipstream.
Daley feels a hammer hit his shoulder as his Pup splinters around him.
As he begins to spin out of control he catches a glimpse of Edwards plane, “God save us”, he mutters through clenched teeth.
Schwarz briefly closes his eyes as he sees his quarry start to burn.
Schäfer had thought he now was the trailing plane in the attack but what is this? A plane with three wings comes from behind flying just over him with guns blazing. A curious Wolf wonders what the pinging is coming from his engine and gasps as first spurts of oil, then smoke pours from it.
Schwarz keeps on his prey like stink on s….. ome of that French cheese he can’t pronounce.
Edwards knows he is in too deep and drops down to land before the fire or the Hun ends him. He attempts to land in a field but catches his undercarriage on a stump and flips over, breaking the plane apart. 40 minutes later his burned body was separated from the wreckage. He was later buried by some German infantry after all his surviving papers were taken from the site of the crash and delivered to the aerodrome.
“Scheiße”! Wolf yelled as he looked behind and saw his attacker. The Welsh Dragon’s breath set Wolf’s Albatros on fire. Beck and Schmitt now notice the newcomer to their party.
Beck reacts to the new enemy and turns back sharply. He and the unsuspecting Köhler nearly collide.
The Dragon took another shot at Wolf but obscured by his smoking DIII he dives away out of sight and out of reach.
Beck and Schmitt tried to get after the Dragon but it was past them before they could line up a true shot.
Seeing that there were no Bulldogs left in the air, and even though one Hun went down in flames, the Dragon didn’t like the 5:1 odds and left the Huns on their own.
Beck gathered up his patrol but couldn’t find Wolf. After a quick aerial observation of the three downed enemy planes he leads the squadron back to the aerodrome. They were all greatly relieved to see Wolf when they touched down.
There was a lot of buzz about this Dragon Triplane. Only Beck and Schäfer got a good look at it.
“A new Brit squadron in the area”? Beck asked Büttner.
“Not that I know of. HQ hasn’t said anything. You are lucky there was only one”. Büttner replied. “We all better keep a better watch when flying from now on. If those Bulldogs have another squadron with them we will have a much harder time of it. I’ll see what I can find out from HQ”.
Butcher’s Bill
The Bulldogs
2Lt Charles Daley SD ET WIA 0 kills
10 -1sd -1wia = 8 bruised miss 1 mission
10 -1wia -1wia -1bel= 7 skip 1 mission Total miss 2 missions
2Lt Roy Morrow SD EXP ET 0 kills
8 - 3exp = 5 injured, 1 = miss 1 mission
7 -1wia -1bel = 5 in hiding, 1 = miss 1 mission total miss 2 missions
2Lt Edward Percey SD FLM ET 0 kills
roll for landing in enemy territory 3 = KIA
Welsh Dragon RTB 0 kills
The Kaiser’s Eagles
Ltn Hermann Beck RTB 0 kills
Ltn Thedore Schwarz RTB 1 kill
Ltn Franz Köhler RTB 1 kill
Ltn Rudolf Schmitt RTB 0 kills
Ltn Heinz Wolf RTB 0 kills
6 +3 = 9 All is well on landing
Ltn Rolf Schäfer RTB 1 kill
I had hoped using 3 Sopwith Pups that their agility would make this an interesting running battle but when the leader went down on the first shot it was all down hill for the Bulldogs from there. I coaxed my wife to join in but it was too little too late.
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Originally Posted by Teaticket
Your lads were lucky to survive that onslaught Peter.
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