OTT-CYM Mission 5: Going Solo - 5 August 1916 - {Stumptonian}
5 August 1916
Adler airfield near the Somme front.
Ltn Till Huebner and Ltn Günther Giesebrecht are giving their report to Obltn Bernhard Wienand.
They are all very concerned that Ltn Dietrich Oelker has not yet returned from what should have been a routine sortie.
“We were all nearing the front lines when I lost sight of Oelker. He flew into a cloud bank and seems to have missed our landmark.”
“I expected him to rejoin us, but he must have kept going straight when we turned as planned.”
“And what was the outcome of the patrol?” asked Wienand.
“We did not encounter any two-seaters and were returning.
We could see a skirmish in the distance over No Man’s Land.
A pair of Eindeckers from the Falcon squadron had been pounced on by several DH.2s
The English downed both of them. We were unable to catch them and so continued back here.
Oelker was closer to the scrap – he must have thought we were going to follow them.”
“Well I certainly hope that Oelker did not meet the same end as the Fokkers ….”
Wienand was not pleased to hear that the mission had been not only a waste of time, but may have cost him another pilot.
“That will be all, gentlemen. You are dismissed.”
As they were exiting the briefing tent Giesebrecht thought he heard something.
“Mercedes!”
They ran over to the landing field just in time to see Oelker’s Halberstadt rolling to a stop.
A short time later, the three pilots were back in the briefing tent with Wienand …
[Note: Oelker’s words have been translated by Google for ease of reading]
“I lost sight of you in the cloud.” Oelker directs his remarks to Huebner.
“I assumed you were still behind me.”
Oelker continues.
“A minute or two later I crossed the edge of No Man’s Land and saw several pushers crossing ahead of me.”
“They had not seen me, or so it seemed. I turned toward the tailing DH.2 thinking I was leading the attack.”
“I closed in and fired.”
Looking at Wienand now.
“Flammen!”
“I turned to look for you …” again directing his conversation to Giesebrecht and Huebner, “ but realized I was alone!”
“I could see the Englander turning away, the flames taking hold.”
“Another pusher was right ahead. The third pusher turned out to be a Nieuport, and it was closing.”
“I then saw two more pushers – CDL ones – ahead and to my right.”
“I got right up to the burning pusher and fired into him.”
“Nichts!”
“I then turned my attention to the next pusher.”
“I am sure I did some damage this time.”
“Then I heard the distinctive sound of a Lewis …”
Da da da da
“Bits of fabric were chopped from my lower wing.”
Da da da da
This time from the other side!
[B]“Fünf Engländer!”
“Five – and I was in the middle of them”
“I could see that the burning one was still flying.”
“I very nearly collided with one of the CDL pushers …. They were all very close.”
“I lost sight of the flaming Englander.”
„Vielleicht kann ich eine wahrscheinliche beanspruchen?“ looking toward Wienand.
< Perhaps I can claim a ‘probable’ ? >
[Unseen by Oelker the DH.2 fire flares up but then goes out.]
“The Nieuport flew straight at me, firing his Lewis, but it must have jammed.
My return fire did some damage.”
“Then one of the CDL pushers was in close behind the Nieuport.
I don’t think he had seen me.
I definitely hit the pilot – but then my verdammt weapon jammed!”
“I turned away to work on my weapon and received some more Britische Kugeln.”
< British bullets >
“I found myself in a perfect position to rake one of the CDL pushers, but for that damned jam …”
“I managed to avoid the Englanders for a time.”
“… but I caught up with the one I wounded – well I am fairly sure I wounded him – and gave him a terrific blasting.
Noch mehr Flammen!”
< more flames >
“Again I am not sure what became of that aircraft. I had to turn to face the other three again.”
[Herbert’s DH.2 continues to burn]
“The Nieuport fired at me from long range but I did not see any damage.”
[Duke has emptied his Lewis drum]
“The Nieuport got between me and the other CDL pusher.”
“I did an Immelmann and returned fire on the Nieuport.”
Rauch!
Not a lot of damage but I could see smoke.”
[Herbert’s fire troubles continue]
“I got in close behind the Nieuport and fired.
Ich hatte ihn für die Rechte tot“
< I had him dead to rights >
„My verdammt gun jammed again!“
“I saw the pushers nearly take each other down.”
“The Nieuport was smoking heavily and left the area.”
[And then there were two ….]
Unseen by Oelker, Herbert’s fire sputters out.
“Für dich nicht wahrscheinlich!”
< No ‘probable’ for you! >
“Die unbeholfenen Briten kollidieren erneut fast!“
< The bumbling Britishers again nearly collide >
“The CDL pusher got behind me and managed to damage my rudder control.”
Again I Immelmanned and gave him a thrashing.
I definitely wounded this one!
“Aber ich wurde auch beschädigt ....“
< but I was also damaged >
The CDL pusher turned away, but I still had one left.
He came so close he nearly ripped my wing off!
“Another Immelmann. I was so close! How could I have missed?”
“Ich war wütend!”
< I was furious >
“I stayed on his tail and this time …..”
“Flammen!”
I could see the flames taking over the pusher.
"I lost sight of the CDL one."
[Pateman escapes while Oelker is distracted.]
“The last I saw, the pusher was still burning. I could not risk chasing him down …”
“I could not believe I had survived!
Five enemies driven from the field, but none I can definitely claim as a victory …”
[A year or so later, a certain Canadian pilot would add to his count without a second thought ….]
Wienand addressed the young pilot,
„Na wenigstens bist du in einem Stück zurückgekehrt.“
< well at least you came back in one piece >
„Ihr Flugzeug ist jedoch eine andere Geschichte ...“
< Your aircraft, however, is another story >
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The next morning, Wienand has his orderly tell Oelker to report to his office.
“Du hast nach mir geschickt?“
< You sent for me ?>
“Ja, ich habe gute Nachrichten.“
< Yes, I have good news >
„Unsere Artillerie-Beobachter berichteten, dass ein DH.2 über dem Somme-Sektor in Flammen aufgegangen sei ...“
< Our artillery observers reported that a DH.2 had gone down in flames over the Somme sector >
“Herzliche Glückwünsche. Sie haben eine bestätigte Tötung.“
< Congratulations. You have a confirmed kill. >
=======================================================
Butcher's Tally
Bulldogs
DH.2
F/Sgt Alex David SD FLM FT
C&W: 6 -2 FLM = 4: Injured 1D6(2) : Skip 2
DH.2
2Lt Charles Gordon FRTB-F
DH.2
2Lt Percy Herbert FRTB-F&W
C&W: 8 +1 Landed -1 WIA =8: Injured 1D2(1) Skip 1
Nieuport N.11
2Lt 'Eddie' Duke FRTB-S
DH.2
2Lt Stan Patemen FRTB-W
C&W: 9 +1 Landed -1 WIA= 9: “All’s well when you land well.”
Adler
Halberstadt D.II
Ltn Dietrich Oelker FRTB-D 1 Kill
Adler Victory
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Well that was a very interesting scenario, Mike.
It was not looking good for Oelker at first – 50% damage from the first two hits!
Then I had the curse of Double Zeros on close range shots – Three Times!
And once with a gun jam to boot.
But the scenario special rules of FRTB helped me get through it.
Every plane in the scenario – all six – had FRTB.
I was thinking of arguing for a victory on the basis of every opponent being driven from the field, but in the end I managed to squeak one out.
I ended up with a FRTB myself, but could have avoided it had I used the Lucky Pilot card.
I was saving it for Flames, Wounds or Booms that never came for me.
So Lucky Ltn Oelker will take the inherent Sniper skill awarded in this scenario.
Thanks, Mike.
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Originally Posted by flash
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