The day started off with a low heavy overcast, looking like it will be a day on the ground. In the mess Hermann was teaching Rudi, Ernst, Reinhardt and Rolf his five player version of Doppelkopf. They were eager and fast learners, (or so they thought) winning several early hands. Ernst won the 3rd hand earning 4 Marks in the process. He let out a hearty laugh as he collected his winnings in front of him. Hermann kept his smile to himself, thats it, reel them in... he would have quite a bit more beer money for town tonight.
Otto was outside feeding the dogs when a dispatch rider entered the aerodrome.
Hermann’s inner smile quickly faded, dispatch riders seldom brought good news.
They gathered in the briefing room and Reinhardt, senior pilot and acting commander at 26 years old, read the orders from Division HQ.
“Seems something was a bit amiss up north. The British have a salient across the river that should have been erased days ago. The bridges across the river had been destroyed but somehow every morning the enemy is at full strength. Information from a secret source has it that there is an underwater tread way that is used at night to bring in new troops and supplies. They don’t appear to have any AA guns defending the bridgehead but it is known that ample AA machine guns are emplaced by the river.”
“Sounds like a job for our vaunted artillery then”, piped in Otto.
“Not quite”, replied Reinhardt, with a quick thin eyed glance at Otto. “We have been given the honor to destroy this invisible bridge”.
With only two Rumplers in the hangar this mission had to not draw the attention of the British. It was decided to stay just above the MG fire range and attempt to bomb the bridges from a higher altitude than normal.
The cloud cover was starting to break up a little so it looked promising.
Tuffy had flown the SPAD VII once three days ago. He got to fly it to the aerodrome from Dunkirk and was truly impressed with its speed. It took some pull to get this new plane from Naval 8. Unfortunately this meant another headache for the ground crew. Another different plane to service. Today’s patrol was sending up four planes, of three different makes, a mechanic’s nightmare.
Tuffy, being the only one to have flown a SPAD was given the honor of having it for it’s first patrol with the squadron.
Noel Lewis would pilot the 1 1/2 Strutter with Richard Rice-Owen as his gunner.
Regge and the newcomer James would have N17s.
When they got to the site of the bridgehead the clouds were still a little patchy. Looking for an intact foot bridge from this altitude was hard enough but now to find an invisible bridge?
As they were among the clouds four British planes appeared. Both sides were a little startled not expecting any opposition but they know how that goes.
Tuffy had told the rookie, James, to stay close. Somehow he wandered left on the other side of a cloud and he lost sight of him. Regge should take care of him he hoped.
As soon as he lost sight of James a Halberstadt came on in front of him and they exchanged salutes. The German tore a little canvass and Tuffy jammed on the 2nd round.
Rudi, piloting the blue Rumpler, was hoping by hugging the clouds he wouldn’t be noticed but Noel didn’t miss him. Maybe he wish he had as Rudi hit his mark and flames began licking the engine cowling of the Strutter.
Reinhardt, in a yellow Rumpler, was behind Hermann and saw him engage a Nieuport. Another was off to the right so he slipped left.
Hermann noticed a Nieuport slicing between two clouds in front of him and went straight at it. In a brief exchange Hermann’s Albatros gained a couple of holes but the Albatros’s twin Spandaus tore the N17 apart!
The flames ate into Noel’s plane before he could take evasive action.
As soon as the N17 fell apart Hermann instinctively knew he couldn’t turn fast enough right to get to the other Nieuport. The quickest way in this case was to turn left and Immel. Unfortunately Rolf had the same thoughts to get to his left, and blinded by the cloud almost collided with Hermann.
Not even seeing Rolf and the near miss Hermann took a quick shot at a fleeting glimpse of a SPAD only to have his guns go silent.
Seeing James go down so quickly Regge turned left to hide in the cloud and lose the Albatros. He would deal with the Rumpler soon enough.
Turning to keep the flames away, Noel got in a telling shot on Rolf but felt a burning twinge from his left as Ernst stitched the Strutter with deadly accuracy from the rear of the Rumpler.
Noel’s gunner was ready also, and with a short burst Richard knew the Rumpler was done for.
Cringing in pain leaning hard against the stick Noel missed an opportunity as Hermann Immel’d right in front of him. “You lucky Bosh”!
To make matters worse Rolf’s maneuver gave him a clear shot, hitting the engine splashing more fuel to the fire.
But Noel kept his wits and the flames did little.
Looking for the bridges Reinhardt lost sight of the Nieuport. When Regge reemerged from the clouds, lo and behold, right in front of him was his Rumpler.
Hermann finally noticed Rolf and kept clear as Rolf focused on the Strutter.
Tuffy was nowhere near the action. He cursed as the unexpected speed of the SPAD took him too far to fast! No wonder Naval 8 let this plane go...
As Regge closed in on the Rumpler he didn’t notice the Albatros sweeping in. Regge hit the Rumpler but it hit back. Otto pinged the oil line and started a fire on the Nieuport. Hermann saw pieces fly off of the Nieuport’s rudder as he closed in.
Noel’s great instinctive flying avoided the Halberstadt and gave Richard an easy shot, again tearing into Rolf’s Halberstadt.
Fires nibble away at the Entente planes...and while still dealing with his wound Noel
somehow managed to keep his burning plane together.
Hermann now felt the thrill of the hunt. His prey was facing away and helpless as he pumped more lead into him. He thought he saw the pilot slump forward but the smoke obscured his vision. Regge immediately knew he was hurt badly and had to disengage, so once more into the clouds..
Reinhardt finally spotted a crossing down below. Now to line up a bomb run...
When Noel finished tying off his wound he noticed Tuffy returning to the fray. Even with the fire out Noel had thoughts of leaving as his plane was badly damaged.
When Regge exited the cloud he saw no one around. His compass showed he was heading to Berlin and he didn’t like that thought, so he quickly turned for home.
Rolf eyed two planes coming in fast. He traded shots taking the worst of it, his controls not responding.
Noel didn’t see the Halberstadt that swooped inches under Tuffy. His quick shot missed.
Barely avoiding the SPAD that hit his controls he headed straight at the Strutter. It was pure luck that he hit and took down the Strutter as Rolf had no real control of his plane.
Rolf knew he couldn’t continue with the plane fighting him more than the British so he headed back. Hermann waved him off noticing his troubles.
Hermann circled round as fast as he could when he saw the Britisher heading for Reinhardt.
Reinhardt was upset to see the enemy waiting for him as he rounded from behind a cloud. Luckily Tuffy was still not used to the speed of the SPAD and overshot the Rumpler.
Hermann closed in on the SPAD’s tail.
Hermann locked in on the SPAD, punishing it. Otto took a quick harmless shot then went on to ready a bomb or two. Reinhardt has one of the crossings lined up but heard Otto firing so had to pass this one by and line up the next crossing.
Just as the bombs were dropped the SPAD slid out from under the clouds. Tuffy had his prey in his crosshairs but only to see the ammo belt be still as he pulled the trigger.
As the SPAD passed behind the Rumpler Otto quickly took up his Parabellum and sprayed it.
Hammering the side of the cockpit Reinhardt cursed as he witnessed the bombs just miss a direct hit on the target.
Reinhardt lined up the last crossing yelling at Otto to be sharper this time!
Again just as the last bombs were released the SPAD swooped in under a cloud. Tuffy didn’t have time for a well aimed shot but it didn’t matter as his guns were still silent.
To his dismay Hermann was waiting and tore the SPAD apart sending it spiraling to the ground.
Again the bombs just missed the target. Turing for home with a heavy heart Reinhardt felt badly that they had failed.
Butcher’s Bill
2Lt James Alberry SD / EXP / FT / 0 Kills
dr 5 - 3 = 2 KIA
2Lt Noel Lewis SD / WIA / FT / 0 Kills
dr 7 - 1 - 1 = 5 injured / dr 5 = skip 3 missions
2Lt Richard Rice-Owen SD FT / 1 Kill
dr 9 - 1 = 8 bruised / skip 1 mission
2Lt Reginald Park RTB / WIA / 0 Kills
dr 2 -1 + 3 = 4 severely injured / dr 5 = miss 5 missions
2Lt William Tuffield SD / FT/ WIA 0 Kills
dr 8 - 1 = 7 bruised / miss 1 mission
Fwbl Rudi Koch SD / EXP/ ET / 0 Kills
dr 6 - 3 = 3 severely wounded / dr 3 miss 3 missions
5 - 1 - 1 = 3 captured and escapes! dr 4 = miss 2 missions
Total miss 5 missions
Ltn Ernst Schmidt SD / EXP / ET 0 Kills
dr 3 - 3 = 0 KIA
Ltn Rolf Schafer RTB 1 Kill
Ltn Hermann Beck RTB 2 Kills
Vzfw Reinhardt Richter RTD 0 Kills 2 partial bomb hits
Ltn Otto Weber RTB 0 Kills 2 partial bomb hits
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