Where’s my Gunner !
There is nothing in here that will spoil your own game and nothing you will learn about high altitude bombing, because I’ve not mastered it yet, although I thought I was getting closer at the end.
Uncle was giving Lt George Drummond the briefing and neither of them looked happy about it.
Drummond was going red in the face “You mean to tell me Sir that the Brass want us to fly just about as far as these machines will go, then bomb a railway junction with a large but unknown number of troops there, protected by goodness knows what and then fly back here. We’ll have nothing but vapour in our tanks when we get back to the Drome, what if the wind is stronger than normal, we’ll be landing in No Mans Land if we’re lucky, behind enemy lines if not.”
“I know was the sad reply, but if we don’t do it and stop there reinforcements making it to the front then our lads on the ground are going to take a right caning, there’s thousands of lives held in our hands, if we make a success of it – they will live and if we bugger it up – they will die, it’s a simple as that.”
Drummond looked pensive for a moment and then smiled a grim smile, “well I made my will when I entered the flight training school so I suppose there’s nothing more I need to do. So you think the new DH-2’s will be able to give us some cover, that will be a help, because not taking a gunner so we can carry the extra bomb load we’re going to be very vulnerable.” “Well there is a problem with that” Uncle responded and Drummonds smile faded. “Well you see we’ve calculated that the DH2’s can make it there and back but they can’t hang around while you do the business, so they can get you there and get you back but once you’re there, well I’m afraid you’re on your own.”
“I see, and that is the best thinking on this” Drummond queried, Uncle looked very put out, “look I know it’s not ideal but as you may be aware there’s a war on and it’s not a stroll in the bally park for anyone else either.” “Sorry Sir, I didn’t mean to be rude, it all seems just a bit edgy if you know what I mean.”
“I do,” Uncle replied and continued “OK well we think the DH-2’s should be able to see you to the target, I’m going to send 1 with you and 10 minutes later I’ll send the second man, he should arrive just as you finish your 2nd run and will be able to escort you home. That might be the trickiest part of the whole operation I’m afraid because every airfield within 10 miles of your flight there will be aware of where you are going and will be ready for your return.” There was a short pause “Humm you don’t make it sound like an attractive proposition Sir, I would go and ask for volunteers but there are only 4 of us fit for duty at the moment so that makes things easier. Myself, Lieutenants MacNair, De Lacy and O’Flynn.”
“Look,” said Uncle, “I shouldn’t say this but we’re sending C Flight because we think you have the best chance of carrying this off, you’ve got the pick of the Flight available to fly and I’ve explained how important it is to the current push.” “Yes Sir, thank you Sir, I’ll go and let the boys know what we’re up to then.”
“Bloody hell, they must be mad” was the response from Rory MacNair when Drummond told them about the mission, “what fool thought up this jaunt? Bloody Trenchard should be up there flying a BE2c with no gunner and see how he feels about it when the whole German Air Force jumps on his neck. Has he no idea what it’s like up there, it’s bad enough with these obsolete planes without going unarmed as well.” “Yes I know” said Drummond “but look at it from his point of view, there are 4 of us, and if we carry it off then we will save thousands of lives, and if we fail well he’s only lost 4 men, it’s a good gamble, not good for us I know but in the overall scheme of things it’s worth it.” “Crikey Drummond, you’ve been sat in the sun too long” was all Rory could respond with. Drummond didn’t mention that they were singled out as the ones most likely to succeed because he didn’t believe it. Uncle was just making him feel good, it was just a story to buck up their morale and maybe improve their chances because of it, no point in upsetting C Flight any more than was necessary.
The three of them took off in the early morning, circled and climbed over the Drome to gain as much height as possible before setting off on this frankly forlorn hope of a mission. Drummond had decided to fly the BE2c, the slowest and least manoeuvrable plane the squadron had, Rory was in the fairly new FE2b that was more than a match for the Fokker E111 that the enemy were still using, if he had a gunner. There had been some argument with Rory about this but Drummond had finally said, look this is my flight I’m in command and you’ll do what I say. We both know you’re a better pilot than me and so there’s more chance of you succeeding in bombing the living daylights out of the Hun than if I fly the bally thing.
Henry De Lacy was to escort them to the target in the very new DH2. They had talked around the best position for him to fly and decided, one side or the other, they chose starboard, that way if they were attacked from their right he would be in a good position to defend them. If he was in the middle, he would have to cut across one or the other of them to get to the attacker. Of course if attacked from their left he would have to go through both of them but it was a 50/50 chance, toss of the coin, heads they won, tails – well, it won’t be tails.
It was tails.
They were just lined up on a huge concentration of troops when they saw a small black speck in the sky, over in the distance to the left and behind their target. It was quite a long way off and they should get the first run completed before it could interfere in their plans.
Technical Note:- Flying two different planes made the bombing more interesting although just as fiddly, they have both dropped 2 bombs each.
Another Technical Note :- This is the BE2c the small number on the card indicates how long the bombs have been in the air, the 3 with the red disc has hit the ground and flattened the target, the 2 still has one more move to go and is going to fall short of the next target. Probably.
In most cases I used a second movement deck and left the cards in place to help control the bombs, i.e. which were stalls and which were straights, I also have quite a few bomb cards printed from the files section. The 1 2 and 3 counters were also a big help in maintaining some form of sanity as was maintaining careful control over movement sequence, move the bombs before the plane.
Sorry - now back to the story.
By now both 2 seater’s had come under fire from the AA guns protecting the target but the initial shots had gone wide and not caused Drummond or Rory to deviate from their straight course.
If you look closely you can see Drummond’s 2nd bomb landed well short of his intended target and both that and the 1st one hit the same target, the 3rd bomb is still in the air in front of his plane.
Henry has been a bit slow picking up on the black spec in the sky but when it turns towards them he reacts quickly enough, flying the new DH2 was certainly different to the other older planes he’d been used to and that’s for sure.
Unfortunately he’s a bit too eager and nearly runs into Drummond in the BE2.
Rory in the FEE has just seen his last bomb hit the deck and is still flying a straight course so an easy target for the Fokker.
Damn - the fuel can was leaking and the plane has caught fire, he throws the can over the side fortunately the thick flying gloves protecting his hands, but not before the FEE is blazing like a torch. What fuel can?
CRUMP - the last bomb hits the ground but Drummond can see he’s missed again, he was right to let Rory fly the better plane, but if that fire continues on the FEE it’s all going to be a bit academic he thinks. So far he’s only hit one of his targets, but with 2 bombs!!!
The AA gun is almost reloaded – oh oh!
It fires again, smoke indicates a hit but no damage that Henry can see or feel.
If the Fokker pilot’s reactions hadn’t been so fast he would have ploughed straight into the FEE, but he pulls the stick hard to starboard and just scrapes past by a whisker.
Should Rory have had the time to look back he would have seen a trail of destruction behind him, one complete hit, a partial and a miss, well not total destruction but better than Drummond.
The fire is burning strongly, Rory pulls to port to try and blow out the flames but he can feel the plane getting sluggish.
Having slid past the FEE the Fokker pilot takes a snap shot at Henry in the DH2, but his primary target is the green BE2, he’s trying to protect his troops on the ground.
Henry’s view of the same action, with tracer bullets flying past but causing little damage.
Having given Henry the slip the Fokker pilot has the big BEE in his sights, causing some extensive damage to the plane. Drummond is cursing the lack of a rear gunner.
But Henry isn’t done yet, he anticipates the Fokker’s move and carries out a perfect Immelmann turn and is right behind his foe, however the turn has disorientated him a little and his shooting is way off target.
George Drummond, wily as a fox has pulled the big plane to port and the Elll side slipped to starboard, whooof.
Henry returns the favour to the Eindekker. If only his shooting had been as accurate as it looks here.
Rory is jinking the FEE about like it was a marionette and the flames seem to be reducing in size.
The Fokker pilot has out smarted both Henry and Drummond and is back on the tail of the BEE but suddenly his gun jams. Another reprieve for Drummond, he just needs to turn the unwieldy plane around for his second run down the objective.
Meanwhile the AA gun has reloaded and has Henry in its sights again but the shot goes wide once more, he’s leading a charmed life up there at the moment.
Now there seems to be some thoughts in the OTT circle that we should only fly one plane because flying 2 gives us an unfair advantage. I am flying both 2 seat machines doing the bombing.
It might give some of you an unfair advantage but not everyone.
There was about 4 mm safety margin here, all I can say in my defence is that Rory was trying to put the flames out as well as come round in to position to start his next bombing run and Drummond was trying to avoid the Fokker and the BEE is a difficult plane to manoeuvre.
You will have noticed by now that this isn’t a BEE but a substitute and I don’t have an XB deck and so I’m using an XD deck which I hope is similar, the XD one is pretty hopeless, at least when I’m using it. Of course it could be the pilot that’s hopeless but we’ll gloss over that.
Rory’s jinking about has resulted in the fire being extinguished this is the last damage he took and both he and his plane survived. For the present.
The Fokker pilot would have had a field day but his gun was still jammed, he cleared it next turn but by then he’d missed his opportunity. I did smile a little.
Rory in V for Vagabond is now lined up for his run down the centre of the target and Drummond is still faffing around trying to get in position. The Elll continues straight through between them and nearly flies off the table.
Henry De Lacy who had been watching his fuel gauge anxiously for a while decides after the last run at the Elll he has to head for home, the second DH2 is just flying in to help get the boy’s back to the Drome.
Drummond has finally got himself into position and can see right down the line of his intended targets. He’s hit one and missed 2 on his run in, so plenty to go for.
Bombs away, is this a good one or not?
The 2nd DH2 was flying straight up the middle, Rory in the FEE is flying straight down the middle and concentrating on getting three good bombing cards, I felt he had is eye in by now!
The Elll was slowly making its way back to the action.
F/Sgt Liam O’Flynn could see the Elll behind Rory’s FEE and was probably distracted by the AA fire which took him by surprise, especially when his plane burst into flame and was knocked sideways in the sky, right in front of the oncoming plane.
This has disaster written all over it, However Rory has just dropped his last bomb, and it’s the end of a complete turn, and I’m flying for Rory and I get 3 new movements cards – yes it has disaster written all over it.
We were all wrong, Rory pulled to port and Dave’s AI also pulled to port and the two planes slide past each other, the fire on the DH2 continued to blaze but not doing too much damage.
However Rory pulling to port put him in a direct line for the AA fire, the fire indicates a damage card is taken.
Rory is hit, a big lump of shrapnel slices across his leg, the pain is excruciating but he doesn’t black out, managing to keep control of the big plane. The plane takes 6 points of damage as well, to give a total of 12 points, 2 more and he’s pushing up the daisies even if the wound doesn’t finish it for him.
Just an overview to see what is happening, Drummond is still laying eggs, he has 2 in the air, trying to bracket the target, the Fokker has finally got back near to his enemies, O’Flynn is still on fire and Rory is still in the air - just. It’s all starting to look a little shaky.
The fire is still raging in the DH2 and damage is mounting. The pilot symbol is ignored, just as well.
When the AA battery opens fire again, missing this time but only just.
Not a lot else happening but the DH2 takes its final damage from the fire and it finally goes out. Big sighs of relief all round. This is the start of turn 10 and at the end of this turn he has to head home.
Drummond has dropped his last bomb, I was trying to bracket the target by dropping 2 bombs, one on a straight followed by one on a stall, I managed a partial hit with one of them and a miss with the other. For some reason I was better with the FE2 than the BE2.
Drummond is now streaking home as fast as a BEE will streak but the Fokker has been gradually overhauling the slower BEE, and is going to catch him unless O’Flynn can get to him first.
Which he does, causing quite a lot of damage to the plane, but in the process O’Flynn has flown into the orbit of the other AA gun which manages to miss him as well. He looks at his fuel gauge and realizes he has to head for home or risk not making it at all.
The Fokker evaded an immediate second blast from O’Flynn but the Irishman has caught up with him again although not causing any significant damage. O’Flynn is flying home and can only fire at the Fokker if it remains a target of opportunity, if so it’s only a matter of time before O’Flynn puts him down.
In the mean time Rory has made it off the table and Drummond is still off to our left not far in front of the Elll.
The next turn would have been +1 damage but no - he missed and his gun jammed as well, he’s having no luck what so ever.
The next photo is missing, all I can think is the camera man was just so excited he missed it, I shall be getting a new camera man because.
O’Flynn is down.
The Fokker Imelled and in the head on shoot out, in which O’Flynn couldn’t fire because his gun was jammed, the Fokker pilot inflicted 3 points of damage – just enough to send his plane down, but also O’Flynn was wounded in the same burst of fire, right then the Fokker’s gun jammed, but it was too late for O’Flynn, hopefully he won’t be the late O’Flynn.
The Fokker manoeuvre was a classic high risk one, he turned in front of the following plane, so would take damage, he flew straight, so would take damage and then did an Immelmann turn, straight into the oncoming plane and again should have taken damage as it was he took 1 point of damage and shot his adversary down, bravo to the brave Hun.
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