OTT Daring Young Men Mission 2, 14th January 1916, Coming and Going
OTT DYM Mission 2 – 14 January 1916, Coming and Going
“What the hell was all that racket outside?”
“It’s a Frenchman, Uncle. Just came in and made a bit of a messy landing. Seems he was badly wounded during a fight with one of those bombers the hun have been sending over recently, so dropped in to see us for some medical attention.”
“Aah, right Mick. I assume he’s been shipped off to the medics pretty sharpish then, has he?”
“He has indeed, poor chap. Not in a good way at all!”
“What about his aircraft? What is it and what sort of shape is it in?”
“Well now. There’s the thing. It’s one of those rather nice looking Nieuports the French have. I saw one quite recently when I was up at Saint-Omer looking around. It was being shipped off to our navy boys, but I got a quick once over before it flew off. Nice machine. And this one is hardly scratched, apart from the cockpit being rather beaten about. But that can be fixed in short order I imagine. What do you think? Should we call up our allies and ask them to fetch it or what?”
“Oh Lt Taker, I think we’ll just test it out first, don’t you agree? See what we think of it. If we like it, I think we’ll look after it until its pilot has fully recovered. If not we’ll tell the French to come and haul it away. Why don’t you taker her up tomorrow and give her a good run around, assuming the Ack Emmas can fix her up in time!”
So it was that the following morning Lt Mick E Taker found himself at the controls of an unfamiliar bus. A Nieuport 10, normally reserved for French pilots or ours in the RNAS. Flying with his wingman for the day, a Canadian by the name of 2nd Lt Phil U R Boots, he decided that he wouldn’t risk going across the lines, but instead flew a patrol just west of the allied trenches.
They were about to make their way back to the barn when he noticed Boots waggling his wings furiously and pointing further to the west. A series of explosions at ground level showed where somebody was up to mischief. Sure enough, a large aircraft appeared above the smoke and flames dotting the town below. It looked like another Gotha raid was under way. So he signed to Boots, flying a Morane-Saulnier Type L, that he intended to attack and off they went in pursuit.
Obltn Hermann Lux, piloting the Gotha G1, was well satisfied with the achievement of his mission. The target below had been reported as being a forward storage point for munitions, but by the looks of the explosions and fires below, that was incorrect. Never the less, they had undoubtedly hit something that resembled a factory building, so he had the feeling they had been pretty successful.
Then he spotted the incoming enemy aircraft, off to starboard. They had to be the enemy, as none of his own side’s monoplanes were permitted over enemy territory, and one of the two aircraft he could see was definitely a mono plane.
His observers, Ltns Albert Mendel and Wilhelm Kummets, had already spotted the incoming threat and were readying their machine guns. A quick burst of fire from each confirmed there were no jams at this point. He hoped there would be none later either.
The two RFC aircraft came buzzing in like a couple of hornets, the Nieuport on the port side of the Morane.
So the big Gotha broke left.
Not wishing to confront the big bird head on, Lt Taker decided to try and get behind his foe. But the Canadian, flying the Morane, was not one to hang around and charged straight in on his enemy’s flank.
Straight into a hail of bullets, from two machine guns, that stitched his machine neatly. Had it not been for the fact that one of the enemy guns jammed almost immediately, he would have been in even more serious trouble. As it was, his engine coughed as badly as a thirty a day smoker and signaled the end of his morning’s work. That and his own gun jammed without doing one tiny bit of damage to the hun.
He dived away, but not before the remaining hun machine gun gave him even more to think about, damaging his right rudder controls into the bargain. At which point, Mick Taker, who had decided to abandon any idea of a more cautious approach, came to his rescue by distracting the German observer. Taker missed, at long range, but was himself hit as he flew in towards his target. Then again from another burst of hun fire at long range. Both he and his enemy had found the range and were doing a lot of damage to one another.
Then disaster struck Lt Taker. Just as he thought he’d got his quarry cornered, another furious burst of fire in both directions almost destroyed both assailants. It inflicted serious damage to the Gotha, including taking out one of the observers, but it also resulted in a hit on something vital on his own aircraft. The little Nieuport burst into flames and despite his best efforts to continue the chase, swerving from side to side in an effort to put out the flames, there was no reprive this time. The fire had caught hold and would not relent. The Nieuport and Lt Taker with it, spiralled downwards from the sky towards the earth below!
As 2nd Lt Phil Boots struggled towards safety, with his engine in the throes of dying, Lt Taker plunged earthwards flailing his arms fruitlessly at the flames, shouting and cursing his bad luck.
And that was that!
It left the Gotha and its crew free to limp back to safety and some much needed medical attention for Ltn Wilhelm Kummets. As for the other observer aboard the Gotha, Ltn Albert Mendal had just shot down his first enemy aircraft. There would be a celebration in their mess tonight!
Later that afternoon at the Bulldogs aerodrome.
“Any luck Jo?” Uncle asked of F/Sgt Jo Lee, one of the rookie pilots who had recently joined the squadron.
“Ran into a couple of hun, sir.” The flight sergeant hadn’t yet managed to get used to the idea of using familiar names with officers! “But no luck I’m afraid. The old “Gunbus” just isn’t fast enough I’m afraid.
“Saw them both when I was on the lookout for Lt Taker. Reckon the two of them were scouting the area where that bomber was operating this morning.”
“More than likely” mused uncle, whilst puffing away on his pipe. The smoke filled the little office and although the smell was pleasant enough, Lee wasn’t altogether happy about it, being a non-smoker himself.
“So what happened Jo? Keep it brief if you please.”
“Yes, sir! But do you mind if I ask, first, if there is any news of the Lieutenant?”
“Oh, yes, there is. He made it back ok. The air was blue for a while and his clothes were black. He had an awful scare, and has a few burns here and there too. But he seemed more upset by the fact the Gotha got away. He swears he was certain the thing was badly beaten up. I’ve grounded him for a day or two to recover from the burns and the shock. Nothing too serious I believe.
“Now then, that report.”
The F/Sgt and his observer, AM2 Walter Lewis, had been sent up to look for the missing Nieuport, mainly because the French had been in contact wondering where their pilot was and what had happened to their aircraft – oops!
Anyhow, they had reached the area where 2nd Lt Boots had indicated there had been a run in with a Gotha, and were looking for the missing Nieuport, when along came a pair of huns. A two seater, which he had identified as an LVG, and a monoplane. A Pfalz he thought.
He immediately attacked the two seater head on, hoping the enemy only had the one rear facing machine gun.
He was correct, luckily for him and AM2 Lewis had managed a few shots before he had been forced to dive under the LVG and swing round to allow his observer to have a go at the monoplane. They took a few hits themselves in the process, but not enough to worry them. In fact they hardly noticed, it all happened so quickly. More to the point, they had beaten up the opposition and oily black smoke now trailed behind the Pfalz.
The firing stopped abruptly, probably because the rear gun on the LVG had jammed. Next thing they knew, they were trying hard to catch up to the LVG that was quite a bit faster than they were . Even allowing for the angle of attack, which permitted them to catch up a bit, they never felt they were in with much of a chance. The German monoplane had swung about to attack them from the rear, but then it too found it had the same problem. “We chased as hard as we could, sir, but the poor old Gunbus just wasn’t up to the job.”
By that time, the clouds were gathering and the light became a lot poorer. So the LVG disappeared into the clouds and we headed home for want of fuel.
“Not a very successful day then.” remarked Uncle. “Lost one aircraft, albeit it didn’t really belong to us. The bally Gotha succeeded in bombing a facility behind our lines and got away with it. And a pair of hun reconnaiscance aircraft picked up all the information about the bombing raid they wanted and we could do nothing about them. Dammit, we need better aircraft”
“Aye, that we do, sir.”
“OK Jo, that’ll be all for now. If you are thinking of popping over to see Mick Taker, be aware he’s not in the best of moods, OK?”
The End
Butcher’s Bill
Entente
Lt Mick E Taker – Nieuport 10 / SD FLM FT / 0 kills
Throw 2D6 = 9 – 2 FLM = 7 Injured – Skip 1D2 scenarios = 3 – Skip 1 scenarios
Result – Skip 1 scenario
2nd Lt Phil U R Boots – Morane-Saulnier Type L / FRTB-E / 0 kills
Result – All good
F/Sgt Jo Lee (Rookie) pilot Vickers F.B.5 / RTB / 0 kills
Result – All good
AM2 Walter Lewis – observer Vickers F.B.5 / RTB / 0 kills
Result – All good
Central Powers
Obltn Hermann Lux – pilot (Sharp Eye) Gotha G1 / RTB / 0 kills
Result – All good
Ltn Albert Mendel – observer Gotha G1 / RTB / 1 kill
Result – All good (1 kill)
Ltn Wilhelm Kummets – observer Gotha G1 / WIA / RTB / 0 kills
Throw 2D6 = 6 – 1 WIA + 1 RTB = 6 Injured – skip 1D3 scenarios. Throw 1D6 = 5
Result – skip 3 scenarios
Ltn Karl Niederhoff – pilot LVG C11 / RTB / 0 kills
Result – All good
Ltn Alfred Osterroht – observer LVG CII / RTB / 0 kills
Result – All good
Ltn Hans Leptien EKII;PB;WBb (Itchy Trigger finger) – Pfalz EI / RTB / 0 kills
Result – All good
Victory points Decisive victory for the Central Powers
Reply With Quote
Your chaps were up against it with the Morane knocked out & the Nieuport shredded so quickly in the first stint; the Gunbus outnumbered & out classed in the second.... this will be a tough time for the Bulldogs.
Well what can I say Mike except your game was almost a copy of mine. Lost your Neuport early on & then although you damaged the Gotha you just could not bring it down. 
Your Gunbus did all it could but lacked the Speed to get a result.
It was a pleasure to follow your exploits in the 
Originally Posted by mikeemagnus
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