19 August 1916
Another routine day.
Hours of boredom with occasional bursts of adrenaline rushes.
This was to be one of those times for Adler Leutnants Günther Giesebrecht and Till Huebner …
Approaching No Man’s Land they could see a single Entente Zweisitzer, what appeared to be one of the newer Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutters, below them.
Einfache Auswahl, or Easy Pickings as the Bulldog pilots would say, although not quite as easy as the BE.2c had been for the German fliers to take down over the last year.
Unbeknownst to the Adler, a pair of N.11s was closing from behind cloud cover.
Lt Robert Lewis and 2Lt Edward “Call me Eddie” Duke were preparing to “Snap the trap.”
Huebner closes in and tries to utilize his recently acquired sniper skill.
Tikka tikka
It needs work, apparently …
No chance to get the height advantage, either.
(The Adler are coming down from original Level 5 to Level 4, still one level above the Strutter)
2Lt Arthur Raymond motions Observer AM3 John Morris to abandon their photo mission and return fire.
Da da da da
Morris fires back at the Halberstadt and sees he has done a bit of damage.
Duke has dived behind the CDL Halberstadt.
Da da da da
The bullets whistle harmlessly past Giesebrecht.
Da da da da
Lewis has a go
Giesebrecht feels a sharp pain in this left arm and slumps in his cockpit.
Tikka tikka
Huebner seems to has lost his aim.
His second burst at the Strutter has missed completely.
Da da da da
Morris’s second go, however, brings Huebner’s day to and end, with significant damage to the Halberstatd’s Mercedes, which begins to slow considerably.
Tikka tikka
Huebner fires for the third time with the same result as before.
Has he lost his touch?
Da da da
Morris slams the Halberstadt yet again.
Even without the engine troubles, Huebner’s day would be done ...
Da da da
Duke tries a long shot at the CDL Halberstadt but appears to have taken a page from Huebner’s book.
Da da d…
Duke empties his drum with a burst at Hueber
“Damnitall!”
Duke’s last round has jammed in the breach.
Da da da
Lewis empties his drum as well, but manages to damage the Adler’s rudder controls.
Not that it will matter at the moment, as Giesebrecht is stuck in a left turn trying to move his control stick through the pain.
Tikka tikka
Huebner, a double ace, cannot hit the broadside of a barn today!
Lewis is still fumbling with his namesake’s drum.
Da da da da
Morris gives him more for good measure.
Lewis has freed the jammed round, but now must put a new drum in place, missing a most opportune shot.
The Strutter manages to leave the area intact.
Still fumbling with his drum, Lewis very nearly collides with Duke!
The two Nieuports then make like a post-war aerobatic team and perform simultaneous Immelmann turns.
However, they both realize that the Halberstadts are now too far away.
Lewis gives Duke the signal to head back to base.
Still struggling, Giesebrecht with his wound, and Huebner with his wonky engine, the Adler head back to their airfield.
Their adrenaline rush is done for today.
Butcher's Tally
Adler
Halberstadt D.III
Ltn Günther Giesebrecht FTRB-W 0 kills
C&W: 7 +1RTB -1WIA = 7: Injured 1D2(1) : Skip 1
Halberstadt D.III
Ltn Till Huebner FRTB-E 0 kills
One point of damage from being shot down!
Bulldogs
Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutter
All Zeroes!
2Lt Arthur Raymond RTB 0 kills
AM3 John Morris RTB 0 kills
N.11
2Lt Edward “Call Me Eddie” Duke RTB 0 kills
Lt Robert “Don’t Call Me Bob” Lewis RTB 0 kills
======================================================
Mission Points
Bulldogs: 2 scouts FRTB : 8 pts
Strutter Home : 10 pts
Total : 18 pts
Adler: Zero / Zip / Zilch!
Total Entente Victory!
---------------------------------------------------
Well the only saving grace from this being an absolute disaster for my Adler is that neither was shot down, although Giesebrecht will have to lick his wounds for a bit.
Two pilots, Giesebrecht and Lewis, just one kill away from an ace level, and neither could make it happen.
Lewis did get a “Forced Retirement” out of it but that only earns a pat on the back and is not recorded for prosperity.
AM3 Morris also got a “Retirement” but not a kill.
So the Mission Scoreboard gives the Adler a black eye, and the Bulldogs the right to buy the next round …
Bookmarks