Prologue
6th March 1918
Central Flying School Upavon England.
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Lt. Col. A.J. L."Jack" Scott, C.O. of the Central Flying School & recently C.O. of 60 Sqd during the Billy Bishop era & a key figure in Billy's V.C award called his Orderly Sargent to bring 2nd Lt. Tom Cobbley, known to his mates as "Uncle", (not to be confused with the much older "Uncle" the recording Officer of the Bulldogs Squadron) to Scott's office.
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Entering & snapping off a smart salute Tom exclaimed "You wanted me Sir?"
"Ah yes, Cobbley. I want you & the other two top graduates of this course, Sgt's Reginald Smith & Huw Jones to carry out a Ferry operation to take badly needed aircraft to France. Now one of these is the new Sopwith Scout named the Dolphin which you will fly
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& the two Sgts. will be taking new SE 5a's to reinforce the Hearts of Oak Squadron at Bertangles.
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Now you have been training recently on Camels so you will find these are much easier to fly with their inline Hispanio engines. Apparently very steady gun platforms but I do not want you three to do any heroics! This will give you a taste of the Front before you are appointed to a Squadron. Now once you cross the Channel you will land & refuel at the Aircraft Park at St Omer. Then you will need to fly along the lines until you reach Bertangles.
These Aircraft are sorely needed so I want you to ensure they reach their new home in one piece. Understood!
Tom Cobbley called the two Sgts. together & outlined their job. Excitement was high! Finally they were going to France & the War even if this first foray was only a Ferry Mission. However they did not know what might await them tomorrow when they set off on their mission.
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L to R: Cobbley, Smith & Jones.
The Next Day 7th March 1917
The Mission
Early in the morning the 3 rookie pilots climbed into their aircraft & headed towards the Channel & St Omer.
Tom Cobbley was amazed at the view from the Dolphins cockpit & the smoothness of the Hispanio engine. Looking to his left & then right he saw the 2 Sgts were keeping close company on either wing. So far so good!
On the other side of the Channel Captain Bon King of the Hearts of Oak Squadron was discussing the impending arrival of the new aircraft with 2nd Lt "Tiny" Large who had recently returned from wound leave. " Tiny I would like you to patrol & keep a lookout for these new planes. As I understand they are being piloted by 3 chaps straight out of Central Flying School & Lord knows how good they are & if they can steer a compass course.
Just tootle around until you see them & lead them home".
Further away Ltn Wilhelm Ulmer who like Tiny Large had also just returned to lead the Eagles Jasta after being wounded. He was arranging the morning patrols. He would of course be flying his Dragon Albatross D.Va with the Leaders Stripes on the top wing & would be accompanied by Ltn Kurt Parschau in the Black fuselage Albatross. Five minutes behind them would come Fritz Kirchfeld in his Pfalz & Gustav Mahn in a Fokker Dr.1
They would be patrolling along the front lines looking for targets of opportunity
( I had rolled for starting placement & both the British aircraft & the Germans would start from the right corner & right side of the second mat with both German groups facing the Airfield. The first German Group would enter on turn 2 & the next lot on turn 3. This promised some early & crowded action!)
After refuelling at St Omar the 3 rookie pilots studied their maps of the Front Lines to make sure they knew their way to the Hearts of Oak Aerodrome.
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Lt. Cobbley glimpsed 2 dots in the distance which due to the speed of the British planes grew quickly larger. His heart leapt in his chest. "Good Lord! Their Huns!". Waggling his wings furiously he pointed towards the enemy machines & cocked his guns. He knew there was no way to avoid a fight!
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Within what seemed like seconds the sky was full of twisting & turning aircraft & the sound of machine-gun fire filled his ears.
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Reg Smith felt his rudder tighten from the enemies bullets but knew he too had hit the Hun flying towards him.
Tom felt the rush of air as bullets passed his aircraft but had the satisfaction of seeing his own strike home.
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In the next round of shooting he was gratified to see the leader of the German Kette whose guns had jammed, catch fire but he in turn received a bullet wound to the meaty part of his thigh. All aircraft except Huw Jones Se 5a appeared to sustain damage.
(NOTE) For some reason my camera appears to have lost 2 photos ???)
The Fokker Triplane was trailing smoke & another round of shooting saw the British planes pass through the cordon of German Aircraft but not before the Dr.I got another burst into Reg Smiths plane before the Fokkers guns also jammed. It was now time to use the speed of their aircraft to make a break towards Bertangles.
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Ulmers Albatross continued to fight the flames & was forced to perform an Immleman but fortunately no further fire damage occurred. (A card drawn for illegal move---0)
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Reg Smiths SE had now taken severe damage & he turned away from the fight looking for an alternate landing field.
Tiny Large had now joined the fight & put a burst into the Grey & Yellow Pfalz.
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Tiny flew towards the two German Albatross & he saw the pilot of the Black one jerk in his seat. " Got you my lad thought Tiny" The German leader also tried a shot but perhaps blinded by the fire & smoke missed the Camel.
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Tiny & the Albatross' continued to dogfight.
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The Dolphin & the other SE continued towards their target airfield while the 2nd group of Germans regrouped & gave chase.
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Banking to avoid the flaming German machine Tiny tried a deflection shot at the other Albatross but missed.
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The Flames continued to eat at the Albatross but they appeared to be getting less.
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In the meantime Reg Smith was still searching for an alternate Airfield to land his damaged aircraft.
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Tiny was still harassing the wounded German pilots Albatross & the flames from Ulmer's plane finally went out.
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Both the Dolphin & the SE of Huw Jones were approaching Bertangles Aerodrome & managing to keep ahead if the Chasing Pfalz & Fokker.
Tom Cobbley had managed to signal Jones that he needed to land first because of his wound & the 2 British aircraft started to line up for their approach.
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Tom lined up on the runway but probably because of his loss of control due to his wound ended up in the rough off the end of the airstrip.
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Tiny Large was still pursuing the wounded Albatross pilot who was making full speed for his home aerodrome & try as he might Tiny could not close the distance to shooting range!
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Huw Jones now made his final approach to the landing field & judged his touchdown perfectly!
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The 3 German Aircraft which had pursued the 2 British machines now sheered off towards German Lines as they did not want to be caught by unfriendly AA guns & their fuel reserves were getting very low.
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Sgt Smith had finally spied a likely looking emergency British landing strip & made his way towards it.
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With a huge sigh of relief he touched down along the edge of the strip thanking God & the Royal Aircraft factory for the ruggedness of his SE 5a.
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Comments
Well that was a real challenge trying to line up those landings!
Managed to get two down O.K. but it will be interesting after Battle Damage is subtracted from their scores.
I knew it was going to get Ugly when everything came on in the Right hand corner of the Mat & the Germans appeared in turn 2 & then 3.
Anyway a different & enjoyable Fun Game .
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