OTT The Early Doors Mission 4 - Verdun - 21st April 1916 (Chuck)
The briefing had been straightforward enough; find the enemy headquarters and ID their artillery emplacements. I however determined to do more than that.
I was with the boys discussing the mission, “Finding their headquarters and gun types is all well and good, but I want you gents to take down their observation balloons as well. Everyone we take down hinders their ability to fire precise salvos. That is going to save the lives of many of the poor chaps mucking through hell in the ground attack to come.”
“When we go in Smithy will be on the right with Conlen as his gunner. They’ll take out the balloon here then make a run at the HQ. The rest of us will come in from this direction. King, your primary mission will be finding the HQ. Jace see if you can take out this balloon on the way in.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Finn and I will try to keep any air cover the Hun has off you gents so you have an unhindered approach. But watch out for Archie.”
“We’ll be in and out before the Hun know we’ve been there!” answered King.
I liked the upbeat mood of the boys. This was a very dangerous mission and there was bound to be loses. I didn’t look forward to that eventuality…
We were up at the dawn and on our way. I was flying my old kite again. After my last sortie there had been notches in the propeller so Moulton was busy working on the synchronization gear so I didn’t end up shooting my propeller off! There was a dense fog covering the ground, but it would burn off as the sun rose higher.
There ahead of us were the German lines. Smithy broke off and went right. Finn and I were on either side of King. The balloons were high in the sky. The Hun was ever watchful.
We were getting close to the Hun’s forward trench line when Smithy flew past the balloon to our flight’s right. The resulting fireball brightly illuminated the early morning sky. Smithy rocked his Fe back and forth to knock burning fragments of balloon from his wings instead of breaking right to recon. Couldn’t blame him for that!
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Meanwhile we were within firing range with two Eindeckers approached from the left; I veered to face them. We exchanged a few rounds; King was to my right.
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After pulling an Immelman I was on one Hun. I peppered him with my port gun and then my starboard gun.
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Smithy joined in the pursuit, but did not attack. Either Conlen’s machine gun was jammed or being reloaded.
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Finally running out of ammo I was determined to stay on the Hun’s tail as I reloaded. It was difficult but I for the most part managed.
I was still following my prey when one of the Eindeckers broke off to chase after King.
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*******
As Smithy and lt. Diamond had the Hun air cover occupied we made a beeline for the Hun’s secondary trench line. The fog was beginning to clear as we passed over what was surely the Hun’s HQ. King tilted the plane slightly so I could obtain the best photos possible.
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We then continued on towards one of the gun emplacements. Seeing the big guns being readied made me nervous, but I had a job to do and endeavored to do it.
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I started taking pictures when a shell burst just underneath us. Fortunately I held onto the camera and managed several shots. Once back inside I took a glance to port; the lower left wing being full of holes.
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*******
Keeping in mind lt. Diamond’s orders to bring down the balloons and seeing as Smithy and the L T seemed to have the Hun fighters occupied I went after the balloon on the far left.
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I pulled an Immelman after my first pass, noted the flames, and strafed the bugger again. I wanted to make sure the beast was going down!
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But my blasted gun jammed. It was then I noticed King’s Fe engaged with a lone Fokker and started in to render aid.
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As the Fe flew pass the Fokker I was horrified to see two explosions and feared she been taken down. I was relieved to see the aeroplane continue on seemingly unscathed.
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Firing a final volley at the center balloon I flew in to distract the Fokker so King could get away.
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I was low on ammo and only wanted to distract the blighter. As soon as King was safe I broke off and headed for home.
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*******
We were on our way having survived at least three near misses from enemy artillery. The center balloon was the only one still aloft. I checked my gun and took aim as we flew pass. I emptied my forward gun then switched to the aft firing weapon. I was rewarded with two plumes of flame erupting from the drachen.
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Then we were seemingly in the clear.
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*******
Amazingly I had stuck with the Fokker and finally had my twin Lewis’ machine gun re-loaded. He pulled an Immelman and I fired an ineffective shot.
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Smithy on his way home didn’t see the Fokker approaching. Which was just as well as my next shot flamed the bugger. He circled toward home and I finished him just before he reached the trench line.
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I then turned for home, but as I approached our lines something below me caught my eye; a lone Albatros! He was heading for home and hadn’t noticed me. Though I was low on ammo I couldn’t resist the prospect of notching another victory. I pulled a split-S and dropped in right behind him and scorched his tail!
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He crashed just short of the German trench line.
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With my ammo all but exhausted I turned around and flew towards home. My men had each taken down a balloon and I scored two victories. Our work was done.
I can only imagine what Charles King and Jace went through based on the state of their aircraft after the engagement. Big holes and little holes and a lot of them littered the plane. They accomplished the mission though and on the way back Jace downed the middle balloon to boot!
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Originally Posted by Skafloc
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