Preamble
Major Triggers of the Hearts of Oak Squadron landed his personal Camel back at his home Aerodrome after attending an Integration Conference at St Omer.
He walked to the Squadron H.Q. Hut & hung his Flying cap, goggles & leather coat on the rack inside the door.
Sitting at his desk he opened the bottom drawer & pulled out the bottle of single malt Scotch that lived there & poured himself a generous measure.
Leaning back in his chair he savoured the smooth warmth of the mellow Whisky.
He pondered over the future & reminisced on the past. Thinking back to his early days as a Ltn. in the RFC flying those early BE's, then the special flight & his Transfer to the Royal Naval Air Service flying Camels as a Captain & forming the Hearts of Oak Squadron. The War which was supposed to be "Over by Christmas" had now dragged on for four years & things had come full circle with the amalgamation of the RNAS & the RFC into the Royal Air Force on 1st April. So here he was back in the RAF! His beloved Hearts of Oak was now 218 Sqd RAF but would still be his "Hearts of Oak"!
At the conference it was confirmed that 218 Sqd would still be working with the Dunkirk Squadrons & Petit Synthe providing escorts for 205 RAF Bomber Sqd & other duties in that area. In fact he had been advised that there was a possible mission to be expected as Intelligence had discovered that a German Destroyer & armoured freighter were making a run to take much needed supplies to Zeebrugge & his Squadron was being asked to provide one of a number of patrols to find & attempt to destroy the freighter.
Then the phone rang in his adjutants office.
The adjutant passed him the message that the German Ships had been sighted & to send his detachment to co-ordinates off the coast near Furnes.
Sending his Orderly Sargent to find Captain "Bon" King of C flight he settled back & took another sip of his Whisky.
"Bon" soon arrived & Triggers outlined the mission & "Bon" then called C flight together & detailed the crews & the mission details.
"Bon" ordered 2nd Lt. Mick O'Leary to lead the escorts who would fly SE 5a's & he was to take Sgt Simon Short in the Camo bus as Simon needed more battle hours & "Bon" thought this would be a good opportunity. For the Bomber he had detailed Morris Dance who had preformed excellently in the recent mission to contain the German Breakthrough however on this occasion he would take 1st Lt James Earl who was an experienced bomb aimer.
The Bomber Crew would travel in a RAF tender to Petit Synthe to pick up a 205 Squadron DH-4 while the SE's would fly there land & refuel before the 3 Aircraft would take off together.
The tender arrived & the bomber crew piled in.
Arriving at 205 Squadron they found their DH-4 waiting for them fully armed & fuelled.
The Se's were refuelled & then the Aircraft took off towards the Co-ordinates supplied.
The Mission
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On the German side of the lines the Eagles Staffelfuhrer Wilhelm Ulmer briefed his Kette comprising of Ltn Schneider in the Black fuselarged Albatross D.Va & Ltn Kirchfeld who wold fly the Pfalz with the yellow tail & markings. They were to keep an eye out for any enemy aircraft that might try to attack the German convoy.
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Passing over the low coastal dunes they soon saw the ships below but also in the distance a group of what were obviously British aircraft including a large 2 seater. Opening the throttles on their engines they moved to intercept the enemy.
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The British crews had also sighted their targets & the oncoming German planes & the DH-4 banked right to approach the ships whilst the Fighters made for the Hun aircraft.
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As the British bomber approached the freighter it came under fire from a Flak gun on board & the German aim was spot on!
Lt. Dance grimaced as his lower legs were peppered by shrapnel. Gritting his teeth against the pain he kept heading for his target
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The Destroyer also fired its Flak gut but fortunately it missed.
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Mick O'Leary & the German Kette leader now exchanged shots & while O'Leary got some good hits the Germans guns jammed immediately.
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Disaster now struck the Germans as in trying to out manoeuvre the SE's the Pfalz collided with Ulmer's D.Va & tore the top wing from the Albatross which plunged into the sea.
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Distracted by the collision Kirchfeld was not able to fire at O'Leary who peppered the Pfalz causing rudder damage.
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The battle now took a dramatic turn as the De Havilland approached the Freighter it received a burst of Machine Gun fire from the ship which caused its fuel tank to explode & the Bomber crashed towards the sea striking the freighter with its rear fuselage & igniting the 2 bombs it carried. The ship was covered in flames from the burning aircraft the crew of which stood little chance of surviving the inferno.
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Sgt Short now got into the action with a good burst into the cockpit area of Schneider's Albatross wounding the Pilot who momentarily blacked out from the shock of the bullet.
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Coming to Schneider found himself in a perfect position to repay the SE pilot with a burst from his Spandaus before he turned for home & safety before his wound caused him to crash.
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Mick O'Leary now came under attack from the Destroyer's Flak & Machine Guns but fortunately their aim was off & the Machine Gun jammed.
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Mick now strafed the destroyers deck but did little damage.
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The four remaining aircraft exchanged shots but Mick could see no further damage to the Albatross & Simon's Rudder went stiff & his gun jammed but not before he hit the Pfalz.
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This duel continued with the Pfalz getting in some good shots on Sgt Shorts plane but then Kirchfeld felt a stinging blow to his left shoulder as Mick O'Leary hit the German pilot with a .303 round.
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O'Leary continued to hound the Pfalz & pumped more rounds into the Hun plane while Schneider continued his run for home.
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Simon Short now came under attack from the German Destroyers Flak gun but their range was off.
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Schneider had now reached the Eagles aerodrome & after landing was carried to the Hospital tent for attention.
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The destroyer continued to fire at Sgt Short but their Machine Gun shots missed by a mile.
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Kirchfeld's Pfalz & O'Leary's SE 5a continued their duel & while the Pfalz did some damage to the British plane Mick's burst caused thick black smoke to issue from the Pfalz's engine & the German aircraft crashed into the Sea.
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The sky was now clear of German Aircraft so the two Se's turned back towards Petit Synthe to break the news of the loss of their Squadron mates & the DH-4 bomber. What damage it had done with its crash was still to be discovered!
Comments & Observations
Well I am not having much luck with my 2 seaters lately. This is the second time in 3 or 4 missions where the 2 seater was lost to the Boom Card in the first few turns.
However the Germans got their share of Boom & there were lots of pilot wounds for them as well.
I used flash's D8 charts & was using Zoe's Altitude rules but did not get the chance to dive the DH-4 before it went "BOOM"!
Mick O'Leary racked up his 3rd victory & Sgt Short got some valuable combat experience !
Very interesting mission thanks to Rob & I will ask Dave to kindly adjudicate on what damage was done to the Freighter & who was the Victor for the Mission.
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