AAR OTT DYM Mission 8 - Schlacht um Verdun* Unternehmen Gericht (Operation Judgement)
OTT DYM Mission 8 - Schlacht um Verdun* Unternehmen Gericht (Operation Judgement)
OTT – Daring Young Men Campaign
The Italian Front – 7 December 1917
* Monte Grappe for the Italian Front
The original scenario, by Skafloc, is set on the Western Front in February/March 1916 and can be read here:
https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...ion-Judgement)
All 12 aircrew of the group were in the mess - the members of Flik 55J bis (Ltn Ryan von Taaffe & Wolfgang von Augustin, Fw ‘Sandy’ Svododa, ZgFhr Pablo Pavlich and Karoly Horváth and the newly posted in pilot, Milos Kafka) and the joint German-AH observation detachment, commanded by the German Oblt Karl Klimt and with the rest of the detachment consisting of Karl’s compatriots, Ltn Albrecht Thoma and Fw Ludwig Jäger & Josef Hauser along with the sole AH observation crew of Ltn Eduard Kuhn and Fw Heinrich Fraenkel. The group had become quite informal and close – especially following the terrible previous mission in which three of the group had been killed.
The Hauptman, Michael von Taaffe, a cousin of Ryan’s, stormed into the room – red in the face and steam (if not blood) coming out of his ears.
“Those fools”, he exclaimed to no one particular and perhaps just to the gods, “Will they go on with this madness until everyone is dead? But orders are orders – and they insist.”
The air group members stared at the Hauptmann with their mouths agape. Never had they heard the commander speak of higher command in such a negative and open manner. They tensely awaited their instructions.
The Hauptmann continued, “for whatever reason they want us to drop a bomb precisely on the entrance of an enemy rail tunnel that seems to lead to their fortifications on Mount Grappa. I don’t know the details but supposedly by doing so we should be able to collapse the tunnel entrance. That’s not the idiocy – the rail track lies in a deep rail cut in a canyon. Planes will have to fly in a straight line up the cut in order to drop their bombs successfully. All the while they’ll be easy targets for enemy ground defences and defending scouts. If that were not idiotic enough, they want use to use Rolands. Rolands! Can you imagine. It won’t do, it just won’t do.”
He paused in his tirade and thought for a moment, finally said declared, “I won’t have it – at least not the Rolands”, and then left the mess leaving the company bewildered.
A half hour later, the Hauptmann returned. “It took pulling a few strings at the Fliegerarsenal but they will be sending us better machines – 3 Hannovers for the observation crew and 3 experimental reconnaissance planes being developed by our own Ungarische Flugzeugfabrik Abteil Gesellschaft.”
The scout pilots looked confused. The Hauptmann noticed their confusion and continued, “As we only have 3 reconnaissance crews, the Flik pilots will cew the experimental UFAG planes. Pablo will pilot one with Sandy as commander and bombardier; Karoly will fly the second with Wolfgang; and Milos for Ryan. I suggest you go in in two flights of three bombers. The observation detachment has more experience and will go first, led by Karl. The scouts in the UFAG planes with Sandy in the lead will go in second. Those are your orders.”
The Hauptmann pulled Sandy aside and whispered, “Sandy, if it goes very badly for the first flight, you may abort the mission at your discretion,” but he knew that the brave Czech pilot would be unlikely to do that. He thought that telling Sandy this was a way of assuaging his conscience on what appeared to be a suicide mission.
The six planes in the two groups of three approached the target area. All was quiet and no enemy scouts were seen. Karl led his flight into the cut when the enemy guns opened up – thankfully to little effect.
Ludwig, piloting for Karl, returned fire, but needing to concentrate on not hitting the rail cut walls, he overshot the Italian flak gun. Albrecht, with Josef piloting, closely followed.
On the left, Karl saw an enemy Nieuport, with British markings, appear over the rise of the canyon wall. He tapped Ludwig on the shoulder and pointed. Ludwig nodded and was ready when the British Nieuport [Note: Lt George Mason] closed in. They both exchanged fired. Ludwig’s aim was dead on but so was the Engländer’s. Flames erupted from a fuel line on the Hannover. “Sch….”, muttered Karl. If that wasn’t enough, the flak gun they had just overflown had reloaded and ranged in on the Karl and Ludwig. A second gun ahead of them opened up but was short. The flak bursts rocked the machine. Somehow Ludwig kept the Hannover from hitting the walls of the cut.
The Engländer continued his deadly flight over Ludwig and Karl and towards Albrecht and Josef. Machineguns barked – and both the Nieuport and Hannover took damage. Lt Mason felt a searing pain in his side. Seeing that his machine had badly suffered in the run, he knew he’d have to abort but he knew reinforcements were just behind him. Karl took off his jacket and unsuccessfully tried to combat the flames. Ludwig flew on, apparently not aware of the damage the fire was doing as he focussed on the taking out the second flak gun. [I forgot when planning turn 3 that a plane on fire was not supposed to fly straight….see turn 4 for when I realized I had forgotten this.] By this time Heinrich dipped the third Hannover, with him and Eduard, into the cut and close behind Albrecht and Josef.
A second Nieuport with British markings appeared [Belgian pilot Lt Pieter van den Berg] over the same rise and dove down on the blind side Albrecht and Josef. The Nieuport’s pilot’s aim was as good as the first. The Hannover suffered and smoke began to pour from the engine. The Nieuport’s didn’t all have their way, as Mason turned towards home Albrecht swung his parabellum around irreparably damaging the Nieuport. Mason to bring his machine down safely. Ludwig continued to concentrate on the flak gun ahead of him – the explosion shook the Hannover. “Hmmm…’, thought Ludwig, “hit the ammunition. That’s one less for the others to worry about.” Eduard has less luck taking out the first flak gun getting only a jammed parabellum for his effort.
Van den Berg repeating the flight path of Mason, continued down the line of the bombers, hitting the third Hannover. Heinrich tried to reply the angle was too great and it was too dangerous to temporarily turn the Hannover towards the Nieuport.
An enemy ground machinegun ripped through the first Hannover. It had surprised Ludwig and his aim was off as he tried to reply. Karl was having a bit more success fighting the fire but it was still going and with the damage they had suffered he tapped Ludwig and signalled that they should abort. A third Nieuport, with Russian [‘Lt’ Vladimir Chekhov] markings, appeared – were they to fight the entire world? – on the other side. It flew rapidly, but Heinrich dipped the Hannover slightly to hide below the cut’s walls and the Russian’s bullets passed overhead hitting the far side of the cut.
Ludwig climbed out of the cut and as he did a flak gun just to the side fired. Close but no damage. The first flak gun in the cut zeroed in on Albrecht and Heinrich but the Hannover escaped the blast without damage. Not in a position to fly down the line of bombers, Chekhov turned his Nieuport in to follow them. Flying just over top of the third Hannover he fired at the middle bomber hitting it’s rudder. With his parabellum jammed Albrecht was unable to reply.
With his parabellum finally working, Eduard was ready and waiting for the Russian as he passed over head. A couple of well aimed bursts and the Russian’s Nieuport burst into flames. Unfortunately, for Albrecht and Josef, the Italian AAMG on the ground was ready too. One burst of shots and the heavily damaged Hannover lurched towards the bottom of the rail cut. The flight leader had no more luck. Ludwig was banking right to head home when a fourth Nieuport [Phillipe Dumoulin] dove out of the clouds – dead ahead, aiming straight towards Ludwig and Klimt with his guns ablaze. Ludwig was a good short and with a burst from the Spandau the one wing of the Dumoulin’s Nieuport shattered and the plane plummeted to the ground, but Dumoulin’s bullets had been just deadly. The Hannover’s engine coughed a couple of times and the plane slipped down to the right. A ‘kill’ for Dumoulin and a round of cognac in the mess if he survived. [As I was happy with the story-telling results I didn’t make any adjustment for the blazing Hannover flying turn 3 in a straight line. So I left it as is.]
With two Nieuports down, a third on fire and the fourth circling around, Eduard and Heinrich had a brief reprieve from above but they were the last of the flight and the AAMG ahead was firing a steady stream of bullets into the air. [Actually the AAMG was supposed to be jammed but perhaps this compensates for me not using the scenario rule of a 2 ruler range for the AAMG.] Heinrich returned fire, hitting several of the AAMG’s crew.
While his Nieuport continued to burn, Chekhov shadowed the remaining Hannover. With the fire and a few bullets from Eduard, Chekhov kept his distance.
Then seeing his opportunity, Chekov banked right towards the Hannover, firing as he went. Eduard had continued to fire at the pyre of a Nieuport, but Heinrich used the wall of the cutting to evade the Russian’s bullets causing parabellum’s bullets to hit the wall of the rail cut.
However, when the Russian flew across the cut, Eduard had him dead to rights – unless his parabellum jammed again. Unfortunately for Chekhov that wasn’t to be the case. A second fire flamed up on his Nieuport. With two fire rapidly eating up his machine, Chekhov was finished and turned what he hoped wouldn’t be his funeral pyre towards the nearest landing airfield.
The Hannover had at last reached the tunnel entrance but fire erupted from the flak guns and AAMG positioned around and defending the entrance. Heinrich returned fire and ammunition around the flak gun started to explode, but Heinrich felt a searing pain in his side. He had been badly hit and he whispered a prayer to the Virgin Mary of Mariazell as he was sure he’d not see his hometown again. Sadly the Hannover jerked as Heinrich was hit and Eduard hit the bomb release a fraction – just a fraction of a second to early. The small explosion meant they had missed. With Heinrich wounded, the Hannover headed home to their aerodrome. Would Eduard be the sole survivor of the flight? Would they have vainly lost of 5 of the 6 members of the detachment?
Sandy’s flight had circled above watching the fate of the Hannovers. While the Karl’s flight had failed, they had badly damaged the enemy. He had seen two Nieuports crash, one was nothing but fire and smoke which left one defending Nieuport they’d need to watch. The ground explosions meant that likely two of the flak guns had been put out of action. It would still be a risky, but Sandy thought they just might be able to do it. He had noted that the Hannover’s had often masked their guns by flying to close together. He signalled to the others that they should keep open up the distance between their machines. In his pyre of a machine Chekhov continued to play the role of a fireman.
Pablo led the lead Ufag with him and Sandy into the rail cut. The flak gun fired [picture not shown] and missed. Pablo’s return fire was on target – a few artillery crew had been hit but the gun was still in action. Further back Karoly and Wolfgang dipped into the rail cut.
Chekhov managed to finally quench the fire but his firefighting skills were not what they should have been and the damage to his Nieuport was too great. He signalled to van den Berg that he was returning to the base of their multi-national expeditionary squadron.
As Pablo and Sandy flew over the flak gun both Sandy and Karoly rained bullets on the hapless Italians. Explosions meant that one more flak gun was out of action. However, there was more trouble. A fifth Nieuport appeared…a Nieuport with French markings [American pilot 2/Lt Sam Magee]. Clearly these defending Nieuports had practiced firing into the rail cut. Bullets ripped through the Ufag and severed a fuel line – flames flickered. Pablo fired back – a few hits on the Nieuport’s rudder but the Schwarzlose jammed.
Magee flew between the two Ufags into a crossfire between Sandy and Karoly. More damage to the Nieuport but both Schwarzlose’s jammed. Sandy and Pablo’s Ufag was defenceless and on fire. Continuing to fly straight would be disastrous. They’d need to abort and it would be up to Wolfgang and Karoly or Ryan and Milos. [Turn 9.0 fire damage = 0 / picture not shown]
Pablo pulled the Ufag up to exit the rail cut, but van den Berg was waiting. Pablo banked hard to the right and the Nieuports bullets missed. Van den Berg cursed as both his Vickers and Lewis guns simultaneous jammed. He had the Ufag! Magee skidded behind the second Ufag, just as Milos dove down into the cut with the tail end Ufag catching Magee in a crossfire between Wolfgang and Milos, but the American twisted his Nieuport left then right and the bullets miss their mark. [Note that these are two side-by-side pictures down the line of the trench / cut. I hadn’t intended to do a panorama but in hindsight it would have been a good idea….]
Van den Berg banked his Nieuport around for another pass but was rewarded for the being the next victim in the crossfire between Wolfgang and Milos. A bullet grazed van den Berg’s cheek – perhaps an attractive scar for the ladies. Yet more Nieuports descended on the rail cut. A British Nieuport [Capt Charles Kingsley] put a few more holes in Wolfgang’s and Karoly’s Ufag. An Italian Nieuport (Ten Giacomo dei Ferreti] lurked further off to the right.
An explosion off to the left caused the crew of the two remaining Ufags in the rail cut to turn their heads. They could not see due to the rail cut wall but it could only mean that the fuel tank of Sandy’s and Karoly’s Ufag had exploded.
Four Nieuports buzzed around the remaining two Ufags. Bullets flew in every direction. It was Kingsley turn to be in the crossfire. Fortunately for him, Milos could only watch him pass across the top of the rail cut. Ryan hampered van den Berg by severing control cables. The Belgian wouldn’t be able to turn left or right. Magee veered back towards the cut. The lead Ufag was in his sights. One burst and the Ufag jerked. Hit the pilot. Karoly felt the blood oozing down his left leg.
Ahead of Karoly and Wolfgang the AAMG that had shot down Albrecht and Josef opened fire on them hitting bits of the wing. Despite the pain, Karoly returned fire. He could see the remain crew slump over the AAMG. “No more trouble from them”, he thought, but there was trouble behind as the American was on their tail. In the cut there was little chance of shaking him. Further back, Ryan and Milos had two Nieuports on their tail. Van den Berg had done an Immelmann to get back into the fight, while the Italian, dei Ferreti, slid in behind the Ufag. Unluckily their bullets did little damage to the Ufag. Ryan’s mark was deadly. His Schwarzlose’s bullets traversed the Italian’s Nieuport – smoked poured from the machine and dei Ferreti gasped from the pain in his right shoulder. He would not be able to continue the fight. It would be enough of a struggle to get back to the airfield. [Another pseudo-panaroma which is a collage of two pictures. The join muddles Giacomo’s hits on the Ufag which are a ‘0/jammed’ and a ‘1’ (+1).]
Magee continued across the top of the cut, but by now Milos had unjammed the Schwarlose and the American was the next victim of the crossfire between Wolfgang and Milos. Dei Ferreti headed home while the van den Berg exchanged fire with Ryan but got the worst of it as flames flickered around the engine of his Nieuport. [Another pseudo-panorama shot. I’m not sure why Ryan fired at van den Berg and not dei Ferreti. Maybe I was getting tired by this point or maybe just accumulated confusion. Anyway I decided at the end to let all errors stand – for the sake of the story. :lol ]
Despite the fire, van den Berg got a bit back at Ryan and Milos – no fire, not even smoke but a good hit nonetheless. On the other hand the fire was obscuring the Nieuport and Ryans shot went wide.
Karoly and Wolfgang approached the target. Despite the pain in his leg, Karoly held the Ufag steady. Wolfgang waited and waited. The defending AAMG opened fire. Bullets whizzed past the head of Karoly and Wolfgang hitting the tail but Karoly held steady. He would not return fire until Wolfgang dropped the bomb….”come on Wolfgang”, he muttered. Finally, “bombs away” shouted Wolfgang and tapped Karoly on the shoulder. Karoly fired a burst at the AAMG…more for satisfaction then any hope of taking out the AAMG. He pulled the joystick up as they cleared the tunnel mouth. Just past the mouth they heard the explosion of the bomb….then silence. Had they missed? Then another explosion and another. The whole mountain side rumbled. Karoly turned and through his pain smiled – maybe more of a wince than a smile - at Wolfgang.
But it was not over quite yet…another explosion signalled the end of van den Berg’s Nieuport.
The surviving planes on both sides limped homeward.
Michael van Taaffee stood there as the badly damaged Hannover landed and then two Ufags. “Just three, eh?” Heinrich and Karoly were rushed off to hospital to be treated. Reports from the front were not positive for the missing three planes and their six crewmen.
Of the 12 airmen, just 4 headed to the mess and gazed in stunned silence at their meals. Finally Ryan growled, reached for a bottle of Slivovitz, poured himself a good amount and passed it off to Milos who did the same. When all four had a full glass they looked at each other in silence, tossed the Slivovitz down their throats in one go and threw the glasses at the fireplace. The only sound was from the shattering of the bandy glasses.
While they had taken a toll on their enemy the expeditionary squadron had failed to protect the rail cut and had heavy losses as well. Three planes were down and three had been driven off with heavy damage. The army had rescued the pilots of the three downed planes. All were injured as was one of the pilots of the heavily damaged machines. Four wounded out of seven.
A butcher’s day indeed. Let’s see how the injury / escape rolls go.
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Originally Posted by Skafloc
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