The War on the ground along the Somme front ground on relentlessly. Casualties mounted every day & despite what some folk thought it was no less hazardous in the Air. Both combatants wanted aerial superiority!
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Captain "Bon" King commander of C Flight Hearts of Oak Squadron called his Scout Pilots to a briefing. "Right Chaps. listen up!"
GHQ has called for a maximum effort to gain aerial superiority from the jolly old Hun so our recon & artillery spotters can do their job without harassment". "First thing tomorrow morning I will lead a full complement of C Flight on an Offensive Patrol well into German Territory to try to clear the skies of German Aircraft".
I will fly the Dolphin along with Lt "Tiny" Large as top cover & Lt "Quick" March will lead a flight of 3 Camels in No.1 with "Mick" O'Leary in No. 2 & Algy Smyth-Browne in No. 3". There have been reports of a new Hun fighter that matches or betters the performance of our crates so keep a good lookout for trouble!".
Meanwhile over on the German side of the lines Ltn. Parshau, Deputy Staffel leader, along with his other Scout pilots were inspecting the two new Fokker D.VII's that had been sent to the Eagles Jasta for appraisal. Their trial flights had shown these new fighters were a huge step forward from their ageing Albatross D.Va's.
He looked directly at his crew & stated. "This is our chance to do some damage to those Verdammit British who have caused us such losses over the past weeks. Tomorrow I will lead a patrol in the Red & White Fokker along with Ltn Schnieder in the Lilac one while Ltn Jacobsen will lead a Kette of Albatross accompanied by Lt Hutterer in the one with the Eidleweiss & Vswb Huffzky will fly the black fuselage one. We will fly at different altitudes. The Fokkers at 6000ft & the Albatross at 5000 to try to lure the enemy to attack & we can dive down on them!
Early next morning C flight took off & were soon over the Front Lines. "Bon" spotted a group of what were obviously German Aircraft approaching from the Starboard quarter. He fired off a red flare to alert his pilots.
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Alerted by Capt Kings warning Lt March signalled his Camels to climb up to meet the oncoming Albatross. Soon the two groups of aircraft converged & "Bon" using his Marksmans ability exchanged fire hitting Jacobsen's Albatross but receiving return fire from Hutterer's D.Va & Schnieder's D.VII.
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The two leading Camels attacked Vswb Huffzky's Albatross & received return fire from both him & Ltn Parshau's D.V.II
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The two groups of aircraft now separated & manoeuvred for advantage.
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Ltn Parshau now got on the tail of "Quicks" Camel & managed to cause a flesh wound to his upper left arm. Ignoring the pain Quick turned away from the danger.
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Apart from that fight the other two lots of aircraft were milling around trying to avoid collisions. Tiny Large had climbed up to the level of the Fokkers whilst "Bon" bided his time to see what developed.
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He was soon rewarded as both he & Mick O'Leary bracketed Hutterer's Albatross & they saw the pilot jerk in his seat. "That put one into him" thought "Bon".
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Tiny & Schneider now exchanged long range shots but did little damage.
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Some photographs somehow went AWOL at this stage but in the exchanges Algy Smyth-Browne's Camel was set on fire
This is the first Fire damage card drawn!
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Disaster now struck the Germans as the inexperienced Vswb Huffzky collided with his Kette leader who was busy clearing a gun jamb.
The Black fuselaged Albatross spun down to a hard crash landing in German territory. Jacobsen's aircraft was fortunately undamaged.
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The German leader now made a head on attack on Bons Dolphin causing damage whilst to rub salt into the wounds the Dolphins Lewis gun immediately jammed. (As Bon was still one Altitude peg below the Fokker at this point he fired the upward pointing Lewis mounted on the starboard side of the top wing!)
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Algy's Camel continued to burn but the fire seemed to be dying down.
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Ltn Parshau now got a broadside burst into Mick's Camel but his guns also jammed!
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Tiny also had gotten onto the tail of Ltn Huutterer's Albatross & caused good damage before his guns also Jammed!
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Mick O'Leary now administered the Coup de Grace to Ltn Hutterer's Albatross & no sooner had he thought to himself "Begorrah Ove Made Ace" than he felt a hammer like blow to his Left Shoulder! "Bejeeses! He cried "Ove been hit! That bloody hurts" before he fainted for a few minutes. Fortunately his aircraft continued away from the Fokker before he came to & immediately turned for the safety of home but the fight had drifted well into German territory so he had a long & dangerous flight ahead of him.
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The fire on Algy's Camel had now burnt out but the Aircraft was badly damaged so he too turned for home hoping to avoid any further damage.
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Bon who had now climbed to 6000 ft again used his Marksman skill put a damaging burst into Schneider's Fokker which caused its engine to omit clouds of black smoke.
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As Mick O'Leary turned for home he came under close attack from Ltn Jaacobsen. Mick shuddered. "Blooody Hell, the poor old bus wont take much more o this! Oi might never get to enjoy making Ace!"
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Tiny Large now got a close range burst into the German leaders aircraft which also caused the Fokker to smoke but in return was under the guns of Jacobsen but the damage was light.
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Lt March & Ltn Jacobsen now had a head on fight but amazingly no great damage occurred to either aircraft.
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Jacobsen now got to the side of Quick's Camel & did damage this time!
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Bon had continued to hound Schneider's Fokker & again got a good burst into the D.VII
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Shortly after he got another burst into the Fokker but saw little result.
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Meanwhile preoccupied by their battle both Jacobsen's Albatross & "Quick" March's Camel exited the playing mat & so returned to their home aerodromes without taking any further involvement in the fight!
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Tiny Large now made a head on pass at Parshau's D.VII & had the satisfaction of seeing the German aircraft catch fire & have its guns jam at the same time!
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As the Aircraft passed the Fokker continued to burn but it seemed to have subsided somewhat.
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Bon made another head on pass at Schneiders Fokker & although the German caused some damage to the Dolphin & caused its engine to smoke the damage Bon caused to the D.VII was just too much & the aircraft spun into the ground in No Mans Land.
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Parshau's Fokker continued to burn
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In the meantime both Algy & Mick had managed to fly their damaged Camels back to The Hearts of Oak Aerodrome without interference from any German Aircraft as they were fully occupied by the Dolphin & SE 5a.
As the First Aid men lifted Mick from his Aircraft he rubbed the St Christopher medal screwed to his instrument panel. "Thank you Lord & all His Saints for bringing me home!"
The Fokker's fire then burnt out but there was no relief for Parshau as Tiny Large got a good burst into the D.VII & wounded the German Pilot. The Fokker now spun into the ground near the River in German Territory.
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The last German Aircraft had crashed & left the Dolphin & SE 5a in control of the skies over the Somme!
OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS
Wow! What a great marathon fight that was! Pilot Wounds & Fires Galore!
Thought my chaps were in deep trouble when Quick copped a wound early but thankfully not one that required him to head for home like Mick O'Leary's did & Algy caught fire. Algy was lucky too as the fire died out to allow him to make it back to base. Mick got home with only ONE damage point to spare.
I used Zoe's Altitude rules & flash's D8 charts. I rolled a 3 on the Random Set Up chart for the German Aircraft.
Don't know how I lost about 4 photos(?) Pete's problem must be catching!
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