“What the hell is all this row about”, Uncle shouted, “you’re supposed to be pilots in the R.F.C. not in kindergarden”, it all went very quiet, Uncle as he was affectionately known rarely raised his voice, especially in the Mess. This must be something really difficult he was going to ask of us.
“C Flight are next up on the rota but as Vagabond is the only pilot still effective in C Flight I’m attaching him to B Flight for this next mission”, he turned his steely eyes on me, “you will fly with MacIver and Plaskitt-Smythe”. “Replacements are on the way to bring C Flight back up to strength but they are not going to arrive in time to partake of this jolly little jape that HQ have sent us. See me in my office in 15 minutes and I’ll go over the details of the operation”. With that he turned on his heels and was gone.
Fifteen minutes later the 5 of us marched into his office expecting the worst, there were the Twa Jocks, MacIver and MacGreggor, myself Vagabond, our ranking officer Charles Plaskitt-Smythe and his Observer/gunner Podgy Pogson. These four had been here when I arrived 8 weeks ago, they had been paired up for quite a while and worked well as a team. As the new boy even after 8 weeks I was still in awe of them, they were veterans who had survived for a long time, at least in R.F.C. terms in the dark days of late 1915 early 16.
Text relating to photo is below it.
“Right let me introduce Joseph Ryan, he’s just arrived” said Uncle.
“Hiya” he drawled “just call me Joe”, we all looked him over, MacGreggor was the first to speak, “we’ll just call you Ryan”, he paused, “until we’ve decided what to call you”. “Hey, no offence” Joe drawled, “I’m from the Bronx and we’re friendly folk there”. We all looked blank. “The Bronx” he repeated, hopefully, “you know in New York, the US of A”.
“Ahh a Colonial” I blurted out, “that explains the accent”, his granite features twitched a little and I thought maybe he didn’t like to be reminded of his Colonial past. “What are you doing over here” MacIver inquired. “Well” Joe drawled as he looked me in the eye, “I thought you guy’s needed a little help, things don’t seem to be going too well for you at the moment”. “Well you could be right at that” I conceded and his face softened a little, maybe from granite to basalt, that sort of soft.
“Ok” Uncle broke in, “that’s the introductions over, and as you are all aware we’re a man down to fly 3 two seaters so Joe in spite of not even had time to unpack is going to fly on this mission with you” and he looked over at me. I swear there was a twinkle in his eye, but he kept a straight face.
“We are to support Fort de Tavannes, the Germans are using the tunnel here” and he pointed at the map “to bring up men and supplies in the attack on the fort and we are going to close the tunnel and stop their jolly games”.
“This is the only photo we have of the tunnel and we have good information that the cutting leading to the tunnel is between 25 and 30m deep, the intelligence suggests it’s not protected by AA guns but whoever said that doesn’t have a clue about our enemy. If it’s important to them then it will have hordes of guns protecting it, almost certainly the guns will be on the rim of the cutting and probably down in it as well.
The Brass thinks we needed 3 flights to achieve this successfully but have informed me that 5 and 9 squadrons who should have been leading this sortie can’t provide any aircraft and so we are on our own”.
“Plaskitt-Smithe, as Flight Commander I know you would normally decide the running order but in this case I’m going to over ride you. MacIver in a FE2b will go first, Vagabond in the other FE2b will follow and you will fly the BE2c and go last”. “We need to hit this target and you are the best bomb aimer and the BE2c is the steadiest plane to enable you to get the job done”. “MacIver and Vagabond will fly interference for you”.
Joe perked up at that, saying with a wry grin, “you’ve watched American Football Sir?” “Yes and I didn’t understand a bloody thing” was the curt response.
Plaskitt-Smythe with Podgy Pogson riding shotgun, the last plane in the trio of B Flight is approaching the cutting, the other two planes are already in it.
The pilot of the blue Fokker has been given instructions to “fly low and follow the road to the farm, the cutting will be straight ahead”. He saw the BE2c and then looked away to follow the road and when he looked back it had disappeared.
The view from his cockpit. No sign of the enemy planes, where the hell have they gone. He is flying low, very low, following his instructions, he knows that to be able to drop into the cutting and attack the enemy he needs to fly with his wheels just off the ground, otherwise he will not be able to make the drop into the cut. Of course flying low means he can’t see the damn thing until he’s almost on top of it.
If he had been flying higher, this is the view he would have had. It is a long straight cutting with near vertical sides, cut through rock, and the tunnel is at the end of it.
The RFC are in the cutting, flying 12’ above the floor and keeping very, very, straight, well you can see why, they can’t move either right or left without touching a wing on the wall, it’s very, very, narrow.
MacIver is leading the way, MacGreggor his gunner is alert to the slightest danger. I’m following and Charles is bringing up the rear as ordered. All I can see is the tail of the green FE2b in front and the back of Joe Ryan’s helmet. It moves from side to side and every so often back over my shoulder, which pleases me, it shows he’s alert and has some idea what to look for and where to look for it, if only he can shoot as well I pray. I’m not turning my head looking for the enemy, all my concentration is on making sure I don’t hit the side of this trench, I thought that was by far the most dangerous thing at the moment.
An AAmg opens fire and MacGreggor returns it, I’m just using 1 ruler for Mg’s and 2 for AA guns.
MacIvers green FE2b flies fast towards the mg, MacGreggor and it continue to trade shots and then the mg pit explodes, MacGreggor jumps up and down, expressing satisfaction in the only way you can, when you’ve killed someone and they didn’t kill you.
The Blue Fokker is getting closer to the farm but is still a long way from the cutting.
Continuing the mad flight along the cutting they are fired upon by the next AAmg, but the shots stop almost as soon as they started, jam thinks MacGreggor with satisfaction, as his own bullets plough into the mg position.
Closing fast MacGreggor continues to fire into the mg pit causing even more damage. +1 is for shot at same target not height advantage.
The AA gun further on in the cutting fires but it misses. Note I’m leaving previous damage tokens by the AA, so it’s not all new but a cumulative figure. AA gun and AA mg are my to distinguish the two types.
As a counterpoint to the desperate fighting in the cutting, the intercepting planes continue flying along the road, the second Fokker following the first at a respectable distance.
Just a shot of the village on the far side of the railway cutting, mainly because I quite liked it, there is no impact on the action.
A long range view to place everyone. The Fokker’s are going to drop down in the cutting on the tail of someone fairly soon.
MacIver has flown over the AAmg and MacGreggor fires on the AAgun further down the cut. We close on the damaged AA mg and Joe opens fire, destroying it with a well aimed burst of fire. I’m feeling slightly better about having a new gunner, Joe certainly knows what he’s about.
I can see that MacGreggor is still firing at the AA Gun in front of him when it explodes in a ball of flame.
That’s 3 down, the force is with MacGreggor, I look up and see the Fokker appear over the rim of the cutting. I bang Joe on the head and point up.
The same view from above, I decided that planes outside the cutting are not able to fire into it unless tailing or right over the rim.
As this is.
MacGreggor in the lead FE2b opens fire on the last AAgun, which had already fired and missed but bullets from the blue E111 sliced through their plane, causing considerable damage.
Joe is on the ball and fires at the E111, but whether me banging him on the head has distracted him a little I don’t know because the damage seems slight.
A dramatic shot as the E111 dives down into the cut, gun blazing to be met with a hail of lead from Joe Ryan.
MacIver prepares to drop his bomb as MacGreggor continues to fire into the last AA gun. The blue Fokker rips into MacIvers FE2b and Joe continues to shoot up the Fokker, I just know it’s not going to end well, we are too close with no room for manoeuvre. I can see that the Fokker’s tail is in shreds from Joes firing, but otherwise there doesn’t seem to be too much damage.
If I had looked over my shoulder at this point I would have seen how far behind Plaskitt-Smithe was in the BE2c, but I didn’t, I was far too concerned with what was happening in front of me.
Dropping the bomb from such a low altitude means it hits the tunnel almost instantaneously and there is a huge explosion. MacIver had already pulled the stick back and the FEE is climbing like a sick cow, when the updraft blew the plane upward, which was just as well because he was far too low to make it out of the cutting otherwise.
As soon as I see the explosion I jettison my bomb to try and give my poor plane a bit more lift to make it over the edge of the cutting myself.
The Fokker goes straight in front of us, he never made the turn into the cut, the damage to his rudder must have meant he couldn’t turn, he flies straight into the side of the cutting and explodes in a ball of flame. I heave a huge sigh of relief, I hadn’t realised I’d stopped breathing.
A misleading photo, MacIver in Z for Zebra is doing a vertical climb to exit the cut and the blue Fokker has flown straight into the side wall of the cut.
Even as MacIver was doing his desperate climbing turn MacGreggor and another AA mg over the tunnel mouth had been exchanging fire but as their plane reached the rim the last burst from the AA hit the engine and it started to vibrate in a most disconcerting way.
The G force from the climbing turn affected MacGreggors shooting and he had missed the AA mg 3 times.
The second Fokker reaches the rim and prepares to dive down, I don’t see this but it fires at me, as Plaskitt-Smythe who also sees that the tunnel is blown drops his bomb to make the unwieldy BE2 more manoeuvrable, well more manoeuvrable than a brick. As the E111 fires at me so Pogson in the BE2 shoots up at him and the E111 bursts into flame.
The CDL Fokker is followed by a CDL Halberstdat, and behind him is another Halberstadt. Although, as yet we can’t see them.
The Fokker diving into the cutting, as Plaskitt-Smythe is climbing out of it.
As the BE2 pops up over the rim of the cutting the CDL Halberstadt sees it and opens fire, causing a limited amount of damage, probably due the surprise of seeing a plane rise out of the ground in front so close. Depending who you’re rooting for the good/bad news is his gun jams.
Pogson makes good use of the E111 flying into the cut and stitches bullet holes all the way along the fuselage.
I’m climbing out of the cutting following MacIver as the AAmg opens fire on my plane, Joe fires back but neither seem to do any damage.
Pogson continues to shoot at the CDL Fokker causing damage as well as setting it on fire.
The CDL Fokker pulls up out of the cutting and the AA mg mistakes him for an Allied plane and opens fire. As well as the fire the pilot has to contend with a ruptured oil pipe and smoke as well as flames erupt from his plane.
Turning to port he is directly in front of the AA mg which continues to shoot at him. Can’t they see the big black cross on the plane? Evidently not because his plane takes so much damage that it crashes into the ground right in front of the AA mg.
Fortunately for the pilot he was very low and so survives the crash, but emerging from the smoke and flames sees the AA mg very close.
He pulls his service pistol out of it’s holster and like a screaming dervish attacks the AA crew, screaming you ******, you can maybe insert your own text here. They turn and run like hell.
Going back a few seconds in the story - I have turned away from the AA mg over the tunnel and they fire but miss yet again however in their defence I imagine having a huge explosion just under you, must spoil your day somewhat.
Joe is shooting at the AA gun just in front of us.
Having an excellent position for the shot but a jammed gun the Halberstadt pilot chases after Plaskitt-Smythe in the BE2 as the AA Gun fires at the BE2.
PIC035
As the AA gun on the far side of the cutting also fires at the BE2. Joe Ryan in V for Vagabo… Victor fires into the AA gun.
The damage caused by the two AA guns severely maims the BE2, Plaskitt-Smythe decides he has to land or they will crash. Having just emerged from the cutting he is at a very low level in relation to the surrounding land, so is almost down anyway.
Both MacIver and I bring our planes inline to attack the AA gun that has just shot up Plaskitt-Smythe, I can see he is straightening up and losing what little height he has.
The CDL Halberstadt is still chasing the BE2 and still hasn’t un-jammed his gun.
The BE2 has landed safely and the Halberstadt has un-jammed his gun in time to exchange fire with the 2 FE2b’s MacIvers plane is so badly damaged that he is wondering if he should follow Plaskitt-Smythe's example and land before he crashes.
We break right as the Halberstadt breaks left, this is the move we need and with heads down, flying as low as possible we head for home.
The clincher is when the following brown Halberstadt misjudges the situation and does an Immelmann turn and heads back the way he’d come, so neither of the two closest enemy planes can catch us, we’re home free. Hope Plaskitt-Smythe and Pogson make it ok.
Well a huge mistake over the rules in the situation when Plaskitt-Smythe got shot by the 2 AA guns. Firstly I have the BE2 as 14 damage, when I have subsequently found out it only has 10 damage. Secondly it was when I was looking at the rules to find out how he would land that I saw 2 sections that affected the situation, AA guns can’t fire at altitude 1, and they can’t fire if a friendly plane is within ˝ a ruler. Altitude 1, Neil has said they can fire so that is resolved but there was a plane within ˝ a ruler, so they couldn’t fire.
If I had allowed the AA gun to shoot and the BE2 was on fire it can’t fly straight. If it can’t fly straight it can’t land.
My resolution is to allow the BE2 to land safely and the crew to roll on the E and E table to see what happens to them, that way I get an impartial decision.
Hopefully that is OK and no one is going to object to that solution.
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