Mission five. Adler Tag Team. 5th February 1916. Kyte.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Briefing.



Uncle stood in the Ops room surveying the assembled pilots.
"Right gentlemen, as you know Major Kyte has been summoned to HQ to explain the idiocy which seems to have pervaded the Squadron recently. With the exception of one pilot whom you all know, we are putting that episode behind us and getting on with this war.
Your new mission is to escort our spotter aircraft and protect them from the Fokker scourge which has prevailed for far too long. We are to regain our ascendency of the skies, and to that end will be flying Fighter sweep patrols from this morning in order to prepare the way for the spotters. Your Duty Rota is on the notice board. So let us get on with the job of defeating the Hun.
That is all gentlemen. Dismiss.
Flight Sergeant Stones report to the cookhouse for special duties."

With that Uncle strode out of the room.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

The AAR. or The turkey shoot!


The Flight of Pete van der Maren, consisting of Buzz Bumble, Womble Jessop and new arrival to the Squadron Second Lieutenant Able Cane soon found themselves heading out over the Lines. it was not long before the spotted two pairs of Eindeckers below them. One was heading along the trenches and the other pair were heading towards the Bulldogs.



Pete signaled to split up the flight and take on each pair separately.






Bumble stooped on a likely looking stooge and got in the first shots of the dogfight with a height advantage giving him very good results, damaging the Deckers' flight controls.



Next it was Pete's turn to surprise his adversary and set it smoking from a damaged oil seal.



New boy Cane took on a green Fokker and got some success, stitching a neat line of holes through the enemies left wing.



The surprise had been complete and next Buzz and Womble dished it out to the fourth Fokker who seemed a bit slow off the mark, although he did belatedly return fire to Buzz but missed his target. Unfortunately at this moment Womble's gun jammed.





So far it had been a Turkey shoot for the bulldogs, and Pete now chased down his own adversary, and still with the height advantage and a well placed burst of rounds set him on fire.



Able Cane took another poke at his fleeing opponent but his shots went wide as it turned away.



Buzz continued to harry his target and now damaged its tail section.



Pete unmercifully continued to systematically take his Fokker apart.



Taking a leaf out of Petes book Lt. Cane now put in some serious damage on his own quarry. Damaging its engine, which started to emit acrid black smoke as an oil seal failed.



Buzz went one better and put his Decker on fire.



Finally retaliation came as the green machine caught Pete napping as he fixated on his pursuit.
A ripping sound, told him he had been hit before he noticed the enemy gun go silent.



Buzz now came to the end of his shooting spree, as the flames from his pray not only put him off his shot but his ammo ran out.



Pulling an Immelmann and passing above the Green machine, Pete now started to harry the burning Eindecker.



One more burst as it turne was enough to put it down.



Pete monitored its path, as it finally came down on the German edge of No Man's Land.



For a moment all combat seemed to cease as the sky cleared of machines and protagonists re grouped to regarded the situation.



As the aircraft attacked once more the flames finally engulfed the stricken Eindecker overcoming the pilot and sending it crashing down a blazing meteor to impact inside the German lines.



As the last person to put lead into it this gave Pete his second victory of the day.



The heat was now on as the four DH machines chased down the two remaining Germans.



Pete got a surprise when the green Eindecker suddenly turned upon him and delivered a burst of fire, albeit inaccurate after his Immelmann. With his eye now well and truly in Pete's return was much more telling. It was ,therefore, so much more frustrating that his gun took this very moment to jam on him.



Meanwhile, Womble and Able who now dived to the same altitude as his opponent had the other remaining German machine boxed in with a wall of bullets.



The inevitable happened and he went down to a shared victory, although the claim went to Womble as he was the closer.



The green machine, now running low on both fuel and ammo decided to make a run for it whilst the British were in disarray.



He had not taken into account that Able was heading his way until a fusillade of shot sailed past his head.
With his very last two rounds he attempted the impossible.



Bingo! The only German success of the day, and the only explosion.
Able Cane was down on the German edge of No Man's Land.


.
With two avenging DH's in hot pursuit, raining down lead upon him the German pilot beat a hasty retreat towards the nearest cloud cover.





Could he make it and live to tell the tale?



In his frantic attempt, he threw his machine about the sky in a series of remarkable aerial perambulations and acrobatics.



Almost inevitably, with two aircraft on his tail this fox was finally run to earth.



As the chaser's guns jammed and with a sigh of relief he finally reached the cloud cover in the nick of time, and prevented the Bulldogs achieving a clean sweep.

Is this possibly a turning point for the Bulldogs. Could it be a sign of things to come?

Kyte.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

The Butcher's Bill.
.
Bulldogs.


2nd Lt. Pete van der Maren / RTB/ 2 kills.


2nd Lt George "Buzz" Bumble /RTB 0 kills


F/ Sgt Arthur "Womble" Jessop /RTB/ 1 Kill


2nd Lt. Able Cane. EXP/ NML. 0 kills
Rolled 3 -3EXP -1NML = -1 KIA

Eagles.


SD


SD


SD


RTB

Kyte.

[flash]

Well done Rob, that showed them what for - you had far more luck than I did with this scenario - came at a cost though
New table looking good too

Uncle Says:

Well done chaps - you cleared the way for the recon but at a price - poor Cane didn't survive the impact.
I am pleased to tell you 2Lt Peter van de Maren is awarded the Military Cross for his actions and his five victories thus far - he is now confirmed as a "Lucky Blighter" ! and your first ace

Rob, please PM me details of a replacement for Mr Cane.

[Vagabond]

Blimey - you gave them short shrift there and no mistake, what an exhibition of 1st class flying and shooting. Pity about Able Cane, don't suppose he even unpacked his bags.

As Dave said the table and backdrop look great, well done with that, the big advantage of a dedicated room, I don't think I'd ever thought of painting the wall, I've always used some form of backdrop, usually black until I learned better on this forum.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Able Cane.
Was that the chaps name?
Must get a new pilot for Uncle to enter into the Flight.
Bye the way Uncle, thanks for holding the Fort whilst I was off at HQ.
Kyte.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Peter van der Maren will be holding court in the Mess tonight to celebrate his gong.
All pilots are welcome. I will as usual provide the first round.
Kyte.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

I guess that Cane just was not able!
Rob.

[gully_raker]

That showed the jolly old Hun a thing or two!
He will respect those DH-2's when next he encounters them.
Sad to see Mr Cane go down but that was often the fate of "new Chums"!

Great table & backgrounds Rob. Must be great to finally get your dedicated games room up & running.

Rep is on its way mate.

Expect to see some of C Flight at the Knees Up in your mess to celebrate Pete van der Marens gong.

[Stumptonian]

Terrific action that went all your way until poor Cane got the inevitable "newbie" draw ,
Yours is how I expected things to go when I wrote this mission, but most have gone t'other way.

Nice looking table and background. I snagged a bit of that backdrop for my first attempt back in 2015 but the snips I had copied were not tall enough and I only used it a few times.

Nice result for your veterans, and congrats on the new ace.


But what of Die Adler?


All we see is "SD" for the fallen?

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Thanks Baz.
Got the Rep OK.
All your chaps were there lasht night Baz.
Don't know whast state they are in thish morning, hic!.
Kyte.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

But what of Die Adler?


All we see is "SD" for the fallen?

Unless we are up against a known opponent I never find out who the pilots are or how the fared. We may get the odd one shot down our side of the lines who is entertained in the Mess prior to incarceration, otherwise we never discover the outcome.
Kyte.

[zenlizard]

It seems the new DH2s have well and truly put an end to the "Fokker Scourge". Minor shame that Mr. Cane suffered the all-too-common fate of rookies, though.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Yes Sam, and I was looking forward to all sorts of good puns about his name over the next few missions. Still that's the way the cookie crumbles.
Rob.

[mikeemagnus]

Well well well, that was a turkey shoot and no mistake, or were they eagles? I cannot remember the last time my chaps flew that well. Your lad's shooting skills were excellent too. I'll have to get my lot out their practicing more. Sorry for the loss of Cane though. I couldn't Adam and Eve it when he went down. Its just pure bloody murder sending up young chaps like him who seem unable to survive long enough to eat an apple, so to speak!

Congratulations to 2nd Lt. Pete van der Maren on his MC and to him and F/ Sgt Arthur "Womble" Jessop for their kills. Uncommonly good shooting chaps

Good to see your new playing area too - looks rather well designed. Nice