OTT BE Mission 3 - Mike's Counter Attack at Cambrai
OTT Bitter End Mission 3 - “Counter-Attack at Cambrai 3 December 1917”
Entente – Advanced Landing ground, Bapaume
“Bloody snow! As if it isn't cold enough, flying at God knows what altitudes, now we have to have bloody snow!”
Arthur downed the last drop of his third whiskey of the day, his breakfast, and moodily reflected on the past ten days or more. It had all begun with Special Order No.370 - “3rd Brigade RFC will co-operate as under …......” There had followed a complete list of instructions covering all the objectives to be achieved by 2nd Lt Arthur Hammond and co right across the Bapaume sector. “Reconnaisance – machines Bristol Fighters. Cover the line Gouy – Serais …...... Bourlon. If the weather is too bad for formation flying the reconnaisance will be done by machines flying singly or in pairs”. “Machines note! Not the bloody pilots that have to fly them! - Oh stop your winging old man” Arthur admonished himself. “What's the point?” He ordered another whiskey. “Not likely to be any action today. The Hun are all washed up. We are all washed up. Everyone has had enough for the time being. Besides, we gave the poor bastards one hell of a time and pushed 'em right back beyond their damned Hindeburg line, or whatever else they called it!”
“Bombing – photographs had been issued. Aerodromes at Avesnes le Sec; Awoingt; Caudry; Estourmal etc etc. Machines – Sopwith “Camels”. Objectives will be bombed from a low altitude; any favourable target at these aerodromes will be attacked by machine-gun fire”. “Did “they” have any idea at all just how dangerous low flying missions were? Of course they did (they being R.H.Jerman Captain, Brigade Major, III Brigade, Royal Flying Corps, he who had signed the Order), but that's what we signed up for isn't it?” And so the Special Order went on, covering all aspects of that first, wonderfully successful, 20th day of November 1917! “Who said it was only a “limited push to take Cambrai” I wonder?” “One look at the “Scheme of Employment” would have told you otherwise”
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So now, here he was, at the advanced landing ground near Bapaume, downing whiskey galore “to counter the effects of the castor oil he'd been soaking up whilst flying” of course; waiting for orders. There had been rumours that the hun were planning something in the area of Bourlon, but was anyone taking them seriously? Reconnaissance crews had spent the last two days reporting movements of hun troops southwards towards Cambrai from the northern towns of Lille, Douai and Denain. Their artillery had been rather active too and to cap it all, not many miles south, at Vendhuile, Richtofen's “Circus” was rumoured to be operating. “Well let's hope they stay out of our way” thought Arthur to himself.
Central Powers - Aerodrome at Proville
Meanwhile, Ltn Gerhard Anders, Schutzstaffeln (protection flight) leader, was briefing a small group of pilots and observers, all of whom were currently stationed at Proville, south west of Cambrai. “So what, if we have had a setback this last ten days!” he announced. “So they think it's all over now, do they? Well they can think again!”
He pointed to the wall of the hanger in which they stood or sat, lounging in most unmilitary fashion – because that's what they did. Who was going to argue with these heroes of the Fatherland? They concentrated though, through the haze of tobacco smoke, with every nerve and fibre of their very beings. For their lives depended on it. On the wall was a map:
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“As you can see gentlemen, we have been pushed back many kilometers! But now has come the time for a counter attack. One which the British will not be prepared for! They believe they have won this battle, yes? But for some extraordinary reason, known only to themselves, they have failed gentlemen! Yes, I said “failed”. Had they followed up their push, with more of those infernal metal machines and more troops, they might have been celebrating in Berlin right at this very moment! But they didn't and so they are not! Head-quarters, at Escadoeuvres, have therefore announced today, that tomorrow morning, elements of the German Second Army will counter-attack, primarily in the area of Bourlon and Bourlon wood. Our role will be to fly ahead of a new formation of attack which will employ the use of “Stosstruppen”; men trained to ignore strongpoints and hit only at weak points in the enemy line. We shall create that weakness gentlemen. A combination of low level bombing and machine-gun attacks will confuse the British and make them keep their heads down. Our lads will then be able to attack them and defeat them while they are off balance.”
“And what if the RFC decide not to co-operate with this brilliantly conceived master plan?” asked Ltn Kurt Parschau, fondly renowned within the group for his cynical skeptisism.
“Then we shall fail” replied Anders, coldly. He was in no mood for this. “What the bloody hell do you think Kurt? You will shoot the bastards down and then get on with the job in hand. Look at the map, all of you, now! In the next few days we shall attempt to push the British right back to where they started and further if possible!”
“And of course” added Kurt, “our wonderful General Staff have provided us with the resources to exploit any success we might have, just as the British have not done so. Is that not correct Gerhard?”
As it happened, on the day of the actual counter attack, eyewitness accounts reported seeing as many as fifty or more RFC aircraft and fifty enemy aircraft, in the skies over Bourlon at the same time! Bristol Fighters, Sopwith Camels, D.H.5's, S.E.5's and R.E.8's and as many different kinds of enemy aircraft. As one pilot reported “An absolute melée of aircraft around Bourlon Wood”. The attack began between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., mainly between Masnières and Vendhuile. At Bourlon though, infantry attacked around 9.00 a.m., preceeded by Aircraft attacks. But the attack at Bourlon, unlike the attack further south, was anticipated, so the attackers ran into some heavily defended territory.
The following is an account of the small part played by 2nd Lt Arthur Hammond and his band of brothers. 2Nd Lt William Rhodes-Moorhouse flew a Sopwith Camel, operating as a pair with Arthur. Their job was to keep enemy scouts occupied, but where possible, bomb and strafe any ground targets. Lt Alexander Clarke would pilot a Bristol F2B Fighter accompanied by his long suffering observer, Sgt Alan Davis. 2Nd Lt Ralph Leather, with his observer, Cpl Sholto Douglas, would complete a pair of F2Bs whose main job would be low level strafing and bombing of infantry targets.
“Here we go again”, shouted Ralph Leather, although he was not likely to be heard above the din all around him. “Watch out for our own boys down there amongst the tanks, and for the love of God watch our backs” He had no need to say any of this, of course. Not only could Sgt Douglas not hear him, he was a very experienced observer. Ralph was simply giving vent to his nerves, that were taught as a bow string at Agincourt! Straight ahead now, flying at a mere few hundred feet, he could see hun aircraft approaching.
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They flew in, low, over Bourlon wood. Two scouts, Albatros Dva's if he wasn't mistaken, and two two seaters that he didn't recognise (they were in fact Halberstadt CLII's). He just had a split second to see, too, the dark shapes of infantry, in unusually small groups, forcing their way determinedly towards him, through the snow. There were also, directly below him, a few of the new fangled contraptions, referred to as “tanks”, belching and spluttering their noisy way across the German trench line that had been taken earlier, towards those enemy infantry! What an astounding effect they had had, when they appeared for the first time just a short while ago. But no time for such thoughts now. A split second later, the hun were on and through them! “My God, what is Clarke playing at? He'll get himself killed for sure!” This, as his fellow pilot and close friend did a sharp about turn, right in the face of an oncoming hun. What was he thinking?
In fact, Clarke was trying to think ahead. He saw the hun approaching! Knew he would pass in an instant and thought he'd be clever and catch him up the rear with his own guns. Only he miscalculated badly, with near fatal results. For the unfortunate hun, in his bright yellow Halberstadt, it was curtains! The pilot of the latter, too busy firing his machine-gun, failed to see the Britisher turning, probably also in consequence of being already hit by AA fire and having his rudder damaged (AA damage to Halberstadt “2” + right rudder hit plus damage from F2B “1”: Damage to F2B (Leather) “1”) and flew straight into him! There was an almighty, gut wrenching, crash, which sent everyone's hearts, observers as well, into their mouths and brains into overdrive; thoughts of childhood and mother etc etc, before Clarke realised that his aircraft was still in the air. He did not know how, nor did he care; they were still up there! But he caught a glimpse of something bright and yellow, hurtling to the ground where it showered a fountain of snow and mud and what else, he didn't want to know, into the air. For Vzfwbl Arno Brendler and his observer, Ltn Adolf Weiner, the day's fighting was definitely over. What became of them, we shall have to wait until later to discover! (Collision damage – F2B (Leather) “8” - total now “9” + smoke: Halberstadt (Brendler) “Boom” card - destroyed)
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“Scheisser” thought Fwbl Georg Schulte's observer Ltn Karl Schattener. He saw it all as they flew rather too close to another British two seater. In a state of shock, he tried to exchanged a brief round of fire with his opposite number, but he hadn't settled to the job yet and apart from putting a few holes through the fabric of his enemy's wing covering, no harm was done. The return fire from Sgt Davis in the F2B was rather more accurate, however, and suddenly the left rudder control handled by Fwbl Schulte, went limp. (damage to Halberstadt “2” + Left rudder damaged)(damage to F2B (Clarke) “0”).
Meanwhile the pilots of all scouts involved had not been taken completely by surprise! Narrowly avoiding collisions of their own, they gave one another a burst of machine-gun fire, (Damage : Camel (Rhodes-Moorhouse) “3” + Pilot wounded; Camel (Hammond) “2”; Dva (Parschau) “0”; Dva (Anders) “3”) before they flashed past one another and opened fire on their principal targets of the day.
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Ltn Gerhard Anders Immediately attacked an AA position, releasing his one bomb and spraying the position with machine gun fire, the combination of which was lethal. The AA crew dropped like proverbial flies and with the explosion of the bomb, was totally silenced. But not before it had managed to return fire. Unusual as it may seem, at this low altitude, the result was not good for Anders (Damage to AA unit 3+1+ bomb, knocked out)(Damage to Dva 4 + 4 + smoke; total now “11”). Something was definitely hit, that should not have been and smoke started to fill his cockpit area! “Scheisser, scheisser, scheisser” he exclaimed at the top of his voice, screaming at the Gods who did not appear to favour him this day, so far! Not a good start for the Central Powers, it has to be said – most unfortunate – unless you happen to be British! The “Camel” pilots, meanwhile, had both machine-gunned infantry positions, although not terribly successfully! Hammond blasted away at close range,whilst flying so low that he could have taken their heads off, had they been there. But being sensible men, the members of the Stosstruppen (which is what they were called, as Arthur found out later) had dived as deep into the snow as they could, as soon as they had seen him coming, and remained there until he had passed them with engine roaring defiantly. Not a single casualty! (Damage 0,0 and bomb missed). “If only it could stay that way!” thought one of the hun. But of course, that was up to their air cover, which right now didn't look like it was getting the better of the exchanges taking place up there with the Gods!
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Rhodes-Moorhouse was a better shot, always had been in his own opinion! His bullets found a mark or two and not all of the snow kept its dirty muddy whiteness! (Damage to Stosstruppen element “2” + bomb hit - target destroyed - and Camel's guns jammed). But then disaster, he depressed the trigger again and nothing happened! “****, ****, ****” he yelled in frustration, using what must be recognised, now, as the universal language of pilots under these conditions. Actually reader, you and I both know, that it was a whole lot worse!!!! Finally, in this opening round of scout mayhem, what of our cynical skeptic, Ltn Kurt Parschau? He also off-loaded his explosive present for the Brits, directed at one of their awful, bloody, tank things! But not very accurately as he observed, sadly. The bomb exploded dramatically, very close to the machine as it crawled on its slug like pathway to intended glory. But nothing. When the smoke had cleared, there it was still, unharmed! (Damage to Tank element “0”).
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And so this dog fight continued. Next to go was Ltn Anders of all people. Shot down by Rhodes-Moorhouse who had circled round bashing his jammed gun with anything he could lay his hands on, until they un-jammed. He tested them, only to look up and find an Albatros in his sights, lucky fellow! Down went Anders in a spiral of smoke, from a lucky long distant shot from a Camel. Just as support flew alongside and poured a few rounds into his nemesis. Parschau's guns now jammed.
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Things were beginning to look decidedly bad for the Central Powers forces. Already they had lost 50% of their air cover (genuine ill fortune in the cards drawn) and one of their Stosstruppen elements. The latter had not even come into range of the enemy yet! What would happen when those damn tanks closed to firing range? Well, they were soon to find out. Advancing slowly, now out in the open and without air support, they became targets for a combination of air strafing, AA machine-gun fire and the rather horrible effects of those bloody tanks!!!
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It shall be noted however, that at least one element of Stosstruppen managed to struggle into range of the enemy, where it successfully took out a tank (Boom card – tank destroyed)
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Meanwhile, the Albatros of Ltn Parschau, jammed guns and all, now disappeared off to the east somewhere, where he was totally unable to give any kind of assistance. That left Fwbl Georg Schulte and his observer, Ltn Karl Schattaner, with a full load of unused bombs, playing tag with four members of the RFC, all out for his blood, stuck well behind the enemy who were largely between him and his “barn”; not withstanding the fact that he was soon to be seriously wounded into the bargain!
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But not before we are privileged to witness one of those rare moments when pilot and observer aquit themselves in epic fashion. Heroes, albeit enemies, who give their foe the runaround for long enough to give their ground forces at least some semblance of a chance! Ultimately they failed; they were trapped, unable to break out of the grip of those determined to see an end to them. But they went down fighting! Brave lads! This brief, but important saga, began at a moment when all seemed lost. Flying towards the Hindenburg line that had been over-run just a week or more before, Karl Schattaner shouted a loud and urgent warning into his pilots ear. “We have company! There is a Camel on our tail” With that he opened fire, unsuccessfully as it happens, on this occasion! Nothing came back. “His guns are jammed, mein Gott, his guns are jammed”
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But not for long! 2Nd Lt Arthur Hammond, personally unknown to our hun friends, and not inclined to take this personally in any way; it was his job, that was all; was out for the kill! Daka daka daka daka came the familiar, but terrifying sound of the twin 7.7mm synchronized Vickers machine guns in fixed, forward-firing position. Daka daka daka daka went the inevitable reply. The dance had commenced! Round and round they flew, now joined by one aircraft, now by another. But always Hammond was there – a leech to suck their blood dry! A tic on a favourite hound that is only there to feed! Daka daka daka daka. Daka daka daka daka!
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Old men and old women, all that were left of the population of Bourlon, refusing to leave their war devasted lives in the only place they had ever known in the world, watched from afar, with old worn eyes. They could barely make out this drama, unfolding before them, but their thoughts were black. “Kill them” they muttered as the chase wore on. “Destroy them all” Such was the strength of their feelings. But not so Hammond! He did not hate them. He just wanted to survive and to do that, they had to go! Daka daka daka daka! The dog turned at bay, snarling at the Camel, and bit harder! Hammond felt the hot sting of lead as it tore through his shoulder, but for now, the wound numbed by the shock, he felt nothing. Nothing vital had been touched – he was a very luck boy!
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Next it was the turn of Schulte. Something hit him hard on the leg and he almost fainted with the shock. But Schattaner was relying on him, he had to hold on. A gap appeared in the route through to home and safety. It was time to head for that if he could. Daka daka daka daka! Machine-gun bullets from both aircraft were tearing at the air, snarling their way through holes in the fabric of wing and fuselage like monstrous maggots devouring a corps!
And still Hammond chased them, a monster from a bad dream where, run as fast as you may, you never go anywhere and there he'll be, always, if ever you dare to turn your head and look back! Daka daka daka daka!
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How long could they survive this? The Camel pilot was being hit too! Why didn't he just turn away, so they could both go home? Daka daka daka dak. No, he just became more determined. Not angry, he was too good for that, had survived too long for that! Daka daka daka daka.
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Then before him, a golden opportunity! A tank, wallowing in a snow covered sea of mud, presented itself for slaughter. And he could not resist! Perhaps he might have made it home, had it not been for that tank! Karl Schattaner might have gone home on leave the next day, when he was due to head off for a well deserved rest from all of this bloodshed and terrible tension, that plagued every waking moment of their lives in this stinking hole! But no, that tank was too big a temptation.
The devil himself was its' driver. “Bomb gone you bastard” screamed Karl, “now get us the hell out of here!” But too late! Another British aircraft appeared to slow them down; cut off their retreat!
“He missed us, for God's sake” a cry of relief, another chance, a temporary respite. But then there was Hammond. Bloody Hammond, circling around. A coiled snake in the desert that was all around them, slithering first this way, then side slipping that way. No not a snake, a Goddamned human being with no soul! Blood loss was beginning to affect Schulte's thoughts and his judgement. The end was not far off. Daka daka daka daka. Daka daka daka daka. And still they flew on. Nothing the flying beasts could hurl at them touched them. They were invincible, Gods themselves. Now he felt odd, delerious. Daka daka daka daka. Would Schattaner make it, or would he die because of this? Daka daka daka daka.
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And yet another of “those bastards – get out of my bloody way, let me go home!” Daka daka daka daka. Then, inevitably, suddenly, it was all over. One single shot. The sound of something vital tearing, breaking, snapping, snarling and it was all over. Hammond watched with satisfaction as the hun aircraft plummeted towards the arms of waiting mother earth, and reflected on just how close his enemies; those for whom he felt no hatred, had come to ending his own life. But he was here and they were there. It was the war.
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It only remained to see off the lone surviving Albatross that, rather incredibly, had decided to return to the fray, at last and late. But someone else could do that!
In short, Ltn Kurt Parschau, whose cynicism had proven justified, made his escape, to report back this near disaster to his superiors. He had left a small mark of sorts, battering his way through the battle weary remnants of the dogfight he had largely missed. And he carried home some minor scars of his own.
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But he did get away! On the whole, it is said that the Battle of Cambrai was not won or lost by either contesting force. Gains were made and not exploited. Counter gains were made and again not exploited. But lessons were learned! Tactics changed and the Central Powers came very close to succeeding with theirs in the early part of 1918. But history is the law in this case and judges that they were held up, to run out of steam and wearily retire. The Allies, weary themselves and largely because of the help of a future, greater power, used their new tactics to finally put an end to this unholy pastime, that is now known as World War 1.
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Thank you if you got this far.
Mike
The Butcher's Bill
Allies
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2nd Lt Arthur Hammond / RTB/WIA/1 Kill / destroyed 1 Stosstruppen unit
Wound resolution: Roll 2D6: 2 + 6 = 8 – 1 (wounded) + 3 (Landed safely). Total 10 All well.
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2nd Lt William Rhodes-Moorhouse / RTB/WIA/1 Kill
Wound resolution: Roll 2D6: 5 + 6 = 11 -1 (wounded) + 3 (Landed safely). Total 13 All well
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Lt Alexander C Clarke / RTB / 0 Kill
No crash, no wound, no dice roll.
Sgt Alan W Davis (Observer) / RTB/ 0 Kill destroyed 2 Stosstruppen Units
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2nd Lt Ralph Tolerton Leather / RTB / Involved in collision in which enemy aircraft destroyed. All well when you land well.
Cpl Sholto Douglas / RTB / 0 Kills Destroyed 1 Stosstruppen Unit. All well when you land well.
Butcher's Bill
Central Powers
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Ltn Gerhard Anders / SD / NML / 0 Kills Destroyed 1 AAmg unit
Crash resolution Roll 2D6: 1 + 1 = 2 -1 SD -1 NML = 0 Killed
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Ltn Kurt Parschau / RTB / 0 Kills Partial hit on tank. All well when you land well.
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Vzfwbl Arno Brendler / COL / EXP / NML / 0 Kills
Crash resolution Roll 2D6: 5 + 3 = 8 – 3 EXP – 1 NML = 4. Injured – Skip 1D6 scenarios. Rolled 4. Skip 4
Ltn Adolf Weiner / COL / EXP / NML / 0 Kills
Crash resolution Roll 2D6: 2 + 3 = 5 – 3 EXP – 1 NML = 1 Killed
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Fwbl Georg Schulte / SD / WIA / NML / 0 Kills
Crash resolution Roll 2D6: 2 + 5 = 7 – 1 SD – 1 WIA - 1 NML = 4 – Injured – Skip 1D6 scenarios. Rolled 4. Skip 4
Ltn Karl Schattaner / SD / NML / 0 Kills Partially destroyed 1 tank (bomb)
Crashy resolution Roll 2D6: 5 + 1 = 6 – 1 SD – 1 NML = 4 – injured – Skip 1D6 scenarios. Rolled 4. Skip 4
In addition – The Stosstruppen knocked out 1 tank.
Results :
Entente destroyed: 2 x 2 seaters (8 pts); 1 scout (3 pts); 6 Stosstruppen (18 pts).
Central Powers destroyed; 1 x AAmg unit (3 pts); 1 tank (4 pts); 1 tank partially (2 pts)
Entente hold Bourlon Wood but are forced to retire because of results elsewhere in this sector.
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Originally Posted by mikeemagnus
Many thanks for all the feedback - very humbling. Thanks a lot. As for the bubbly - I confess I downed enough of that, this last few days, to prevent a Zeppelin Zaaken taking off. Said goodbye to an old friend whose last fuselage was walked down the aisle to the sound of "Truckin" by Grateful Dead!!! Quite extraordinary to hear that in a village church! Cheers for now and thanks again. Mike
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