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Thread: OTT CYM 6 – Dog Days of August – 11 & 12 August 1916. AAR by Mike

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    Default OTT CYM 6 – Dog Days of August – 11 & 12 August 1916. AAR by Mike

    Lt Mick Evan Taker of 52 Sqn RFC, “The British Bulldogs”, looked over the side of his aircraft and stared at the view. The site that greeted him was more than welcome, as down there, a few thousand feet below, was Dover, the white cliffs and Swingate aerodrome, home to 49 Squadron RFC since March 1916. Blighty! His first time back in many months. What a relief.

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    He’d been given a fortnights leave, along with 2nd Lts Jerry McKenzie and Patrick Moor, and was going to to visit a friend in Dover, so long as she was still there of course! If not, it would be a short train journey to the delights of London. But first he would meet up with McKenzie and Moor, both of whom were arriving by ship from France.
    He landed at Swingate, just east of the famous Dover Castle, made himself known to the officials there and within an hour had collected his “Dover Garrison” pass from Dover’s Chief Police Constable, David Fox and was now strolling along the busy promenade towards the western end of the harbour. So many folk there, going about their daily lives despite the war just 20 miles across the channel in France. If the wind was in the right direction, you could even hear the occassional rumble of the guns practicing their destructive art.

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    His colleagues should already be here too, with any luck. He could see the admiralty pier with a troop ship berthed alongside, loading up fresh men for the front. Perhaps the other “Bulldogs” had arrived on it earlier.

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    A high pitched whistle and a cloud of steam, signalled the departure of a train, just leaving the pier’s continental Marine Station, probably loaded with the war’s wounded. And looking seaward, that view was all about the war too. The outer harbour was very busy, with small boats plying to and fro between the many warships of His Majesty’s Royal Navy. It brought to mind a picture he had seen, of this same place, before he had even left Australia on this peculiar adventure. How strange it was to find himself, once again, part of that picture.

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    He had agreed to meet his fellow airmen in the Ordnance Inn, a pub not far away. So when he reached the end of the promenade, by the entrance to the Prince of Wales pier, he turned right, crossed the tram and railway lines and the swing bridge over part of the Wellington Dock and then right again, into Snargate Street, to walk a short distance to the pub. But he stopped in his tracks when he saw the pub was partially destroyed!

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    He was shocked, because this is where his friend had worked. Stopping a passing policeman he asked what had happened. By coincidence this very same constable had written the report on the incident. His tale was brief, but the full story, as reported in the newspapers ran something like this:

    “At 02.15hours on 20 May there was another moonlight raid by seaplanes on Dover. They dropped fifteen bombs in rapid succession with the first landing on Dover College, where the college boys were still in residence. Bombs were dropped on Western Heights, damaging part of the Grand Shaft Barracks while the next fell on the roof of the Ordnance Inn, 120 Snargate Street. ………..
    Locals said that throughout this assault, the defence guns were silent and that no aircraft went up to fight off the attackers. ”

    “I used to enjoy the occassional beer here myself!” added the constable, “That this place got hit is a crying shame. Hopefully they’ll sort her out soon enough.”
    “Do you know if anyone was hurt?” Mick enquired.
    “Nah, don’t think so, sir. Blooming miracle if you ask me” replied the officer and walked off on his rounds.
    Mick had to admit he was pretty cheesed off with that news. He only hoped that his friend really had escaped unscathed. It was then he heard a cry hailing him. Turning around he saw Jerry McKenzie and Patrick Moor approaching.
    “Lordy” said Jerry, “I hope your girl wasn’t in there when it all came down!”
    “No, thankfully not, or so I’ve been told, but I have no idea how I’m going to locate her now. That was over two months ago. So I guess its off to London for us, lads.”
    “Two months ago!” remarked Patrick. “A bit slow to clear the mess, wouldn’t you say?”
    “Too many other priorities I guess, said Jerry. “The locals must be pretty brassed off by now, what with all these raids and nobody doing much about it!”
    And with that thought in mind, off they headed for Priory Railway station on the other side of town.

    Two weeks later, having had a really good time in London, they were back again in Dover. Deciding to pay their respects to the boys of 49 Squadron, they made their way to Swingate aerodrome . But here they found the place almost deserted.
    “All the pilots are out looking for U boats, sir” Said the sergeant on the gate. “And the CO ‘as given orders for any newcomers to report directly they arrive. Seems we need ‘elp with yet another possible raid, sir”.

    Sure enough, not an hour later, they found themselves in the air once more. The CO had had little choice but to give them some aircraft that were intended for elsewhere. Three brand new Nieuports. Mick and the others had never seen them before let alone flown them. But that was the war for you!

    They had split up to cover the area so that shortly after, when three enemy aircraft were spotted, as expected from reports from France, approaching Dover from the south, Jerry McKenzie was off to their left, heading east, whilst Patrick Moor was to their front right, heading west. Mick Taker was nowhere to be seen.

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    The Germans new this area well by now. Their first, moonlight, raid had been way back in January, when a Friedrichshafen FF 33b had dropped eight high explosive and one incendiary bomb, which had spread far and wide. One had hit yet another pub, The Red Lion in St James’ Street, killing Harry Sladden and injuring James Browning, George Gambrill and Richard Willis (locals). Another had hit Leney’s Phoenix Brewery. That really had upset the locals.

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    So these three raiders knew exactly where they were heading. Intent on destroying the railway stations which served the troops and wounded men using the Admiralty pier, plus any dock facilities that surrounded it, they were on track towards the western end of the harbour.
    The moment they saw the RFC aircraft approaching they closed ranks and lined up for their bombing runs.

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    What happened next was all over in a matter of a few minutes! Jerry McKenzie banked heavily to his port side and approached the enemy with the intention of getting on the tail of the lead aircraft.

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    Patrick Moor, headed for the same enemy, aiming to cut off their approach and to try and get them to sheer off their present course.

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    Sadly, though, owing largely to their inexperience, both were heading for more trouble than they had bargained for.

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    McKenzie succeeded in his objective, but found himself the filling in a lead sandwich. One quick burst of fire, which hit a lumbering great FF33 and next second he was hit by return fire from his quarry, plus the rear machine gun on a blue Albatros and also, most crucially, the forward gun on the other Albatros! This last piloted by Fwbl Robert Janzen, who could now claim his first kill. Why? Because something went bang, rather loudly, and down went the Nieuport for a bathe in the English Channel, the pilot praying all the while that the fight had created enough interest, amongst the local fishermen, for them to spot where he crashed into the water, a couple of miles off shore.

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    As for Patrick Moor, he mis-timed his attack, banked too hard to port and almost collided with one of the hun. In a bit of a panic, he never-the-less managed to squeeze past, just; only to be hit from behind by the observer on the Albatros who had remained calmly oblivious to the danger posed by two aircraft trying to cuddle in mid air. This was not going well for the Bulldogs.

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    So with little in the way of opposition, the three German bombers happily continued on their intended bombing runs, with only a brief interlude whilst the observer in the hindmost two seater also had a pop at Moor’s Nieuport. He was pretty sure the shot was a good one, but much to his annoyance, the MG coughed and abruptly ceased to function.

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    This all happened just as Mick Taker came into view. He’d gone off to the east looking for early signs of the raiders, but had missed their approach completely. Finding nothing, he now returned to see the moment one of his flight’s Nieuports created a bit of a splash in the sea, whilst simultaneously the raiders were about to bomb Dover unopposed. He was not amused.

    Not much he could do about it though, as he was a long way off as yet.

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    Meanwhile, the FF33e seaplane, flown by Fwbl Franz Theiller, dropped the bombs that had been released by the observer, Ltn Wilhelm Kummetz. The eggs sailed down towards the town, exploded unpleasantly on some houses in the unfortunate Snargate Street and took out some of the railway line, which ran northwards from the harbour towards Canterbury and London.

    Following that, as the remaining two Nieuports, flown by our very own Bulldogs, hurried on their way to attempt retribution,the first of the Albatros two seaters started its bombing run, leaving it a bit late to hit the intended target!

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    The deadly load screamed earthwards, missing the docks by a very wide margin and the town hall by a rather small margin, ending up by

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    hitting some waste ground, to the side of a road which lead to the Western Heights, doing little more than minor damage to some nearby houses, but also wrecking a couple of shops on Biggin Street!

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    However, the third and final bombing run, by the hindmost Albatros, was far more successful, from the point of view of the German crews that is. Its’ bombs stradled the dock side and inner part of the Wellington dock, damaging cranes, goods and spare parts, as well as injuring some of the dock workers who had been too slow to run for cover. To add insult to injury, a rowing boat belonging to the harbour master was also smashed to pieces and sank rather unceremoniously. It had been known as “Happy Days II”. Number III would be required I suspect!

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    It was time for the three enemy aircraft to head home.

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    Turning, first to the east and then circling to the south,

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    all three crews were able to get a good view of the damage they had done.

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    No doubt they would exaggerate wildly, especially as a photo reconnaisance was highly unlikely.

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    Never-the-less, they were satisfied with the apparent success of their mission and were content, now, to get out whilst the going was good. No casualties either.

    But that was about to change, even if they didn’t yet know it.

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    Focusing on the lead aircraft, (an Albatros two seater, flown by Vzfwbl Hans Achterberg) which had now overtaken the slower FF33e, Mick Taker attacked almost head on. He blasted it at close range and the German pilot returned the compliment before swerving to starboard, partly to avoid a collision but also because he reacted to having his shoulder pierced by a .303 round. He was heading home whether or not he wanted too. No further action required from him, thank you very much. He had hit Mick’s Nieuport as well though and a thin black stream of oily smoke began trailing behind the Nieuport like a chinese dragon. That plus Mick was struggling with the rudder controls for a few seconds afterwards.

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    The Albatros’s observer, Ltn Franz Hennig, also had a pot at Mick once they had passed one another but he missed completely plus his gun jammed. He was not amused.

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    Now, passing high above the ancient walls of Dover Castle, Patrick Moor finally got into the action too, with a long range burst of fire on the other Albatros. It did quite a bit of obvious damage, but nothing like enough to effectively harm the raider.

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    Then Mick Taker spun his aircraft around and fired a last, long range, shot at the rapidly departing leading Albatros, jamming his own gun and receiving a shot in return from its observer. Neither side did any damage to the other in this exchange and Mick, realizing he hadn’t the speed to catch the raider now, turned about again, to take on the lumbering seaplane.

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    It was obvious, now, that the two faster Albatros two seaters were going to make their getaway quite safely. There was nothing the two remaining Bulldogs could do about it. So partly in frustration; partly to exact retribution for the damage done to Dover; and also, not least of all in Mick Taker’s mind, partly because an earlier raid had prevented an amourous liaison with an attractive maid of Kent, they both turned their attention on the Friedrichshafen FF33e, the slowest of the raiders.

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    Having cleared his gun jam, Mick came into range of his enemy, before Patrick Moor ever got close enough, and a series of bursts of machine gun fire was exchanged with the observer on the seaplane. Mick’s aim was pretty well attuned by that time and a regretable part of his nature wanted revenge for the fate of his fellow Bulldog and friend, Jerry McKenzie.

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    He kept firing short bursts, starting from long range, until very close to the grey bird, on its starboard side, at which point the return fire came rapidly. But he hardly noticed the black oily smoke, once more, emitting from his engine as he flipped the agile Nieuport around to have another go. All the while the German observer kept up a rapid and accurate fire on him, but luckily for Mick, no further serious damage was done. The bullets ripped through the fabric of his birds’ wings and fuselage, chipping a few spars and loosening a few wires on their way. But nothing sufficient to stop his onslaught.

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    Until finally, the German machine gun went silent. Defenceless and horrified by their obvious impending demise, the crew of the FF33e tried desperately to evade further attacks. But that was not to be! One last devastating blow from point blank range and Mick was relieved to see the big grey lumbering bird lurch sideways and almost gracefully glide uncontrollably to the sea, where the pilot made an heroic attempt to land her on her floats. But the strain was too much for her, the undercarriage crumpled and she slewed sideways, creating a huge plume of sea spray, before settling on the surface of the water on what remained of her damaged fuselage. Her crew, both injured, still managed to disembark, before she sank beneath the waves.

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    A few days later, they both turned up back at their barn! Quite how they managed that should be a tale for another time. But for your benefit, dear reader, a very brief account of what transpired.

    A second fishing boat had come to the rescue area, wanting to save the British pilot they had seen crash into the murky waters. Which is why they were on hand to fish the two Germans from the sea. One was obviously quite badly hurt, but the other, whilst injured, was still able to pull a pistol from its holster and threaten them with it.
    “Oy, that aint fair” grumbled the unarmed fishermen.
    “Fair or not” replied the German in passable English. “You will now turn this boat around and head for the Belgian coast.”
    “That’s bloody miles away – can’t be done in this old tub. She aint up to it!”
    “Then I shall have to ask you both to swim back to England, because I aim to do just that, my friends!”
    “You aint no friend of ours mate” was the response, but despite their objections, their predicament decided the day. Neither of them could swim anyway – typical sailors.

    And that was that. Lt Mick Taker and 2nd Lt Patrick Moor, made their way back to Swingate aerodrome, all the while wondering what might have happened to 2nd Lt Jerry Mckenzie. As it turned out, it wasn’t quite as bad as they had imagined. Jerry had been quite badly injured when his aircraft hit the hard grey sea of the English Channel. But, as he had hoped, he had been rescued, very swiftly, by the crew of a fishing vessel. The news had already been relayed to Swingate and Jerry was on his way back to shore and from thence to hospital. Hopefully he would make a speedy recovery and will have learned a salutary lesson from the experience. The sad news was that another fishing boat, with two crew members had gone missing whilst attempting a rescue and was now presumed lost at sea. It would be a while before those two fishermen were released from their status as guests of the Kaiser.

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    And as Fwbl Robert Janzen piloted his Albatros into the safety of a bank of low lying clouds and headed for home, he reflected proudly on the success of their mission and on the kill he had made. A Nieuport, of that he was certain.

    His observer, Ltn Kurt Jentsch was also thinking hard, but about the FF33e he had seen going down behind them and he thought to himself “I’ll be back! I’ll terminate the career of that damned Britisher.”
    Ok, Ok, how was he to know Mick was an Aussie?

    The End

    The Butcher’s Bill

    Entente

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    Lt Mick E Taker / RTB/ 1 kill
    Result – All good

    2nd Lt Patrick Moor / RTB/ No kills
    Result – All good

    2nd Lt Jerry McKenzie / EXP SEA/0 kills
    Roll 2D6 = 7 – 3 EXP – 1 SEA = 3 Injured skip 1D6 = 6
    Skip 6 scenarios.
    E&E
    Roll 2D6 = 7 – 1 EXP – 1 WIC – 1 SEA = 4 skip 1D3 = 1 Skip 1 scenario.
    Result: Skip 6 scenarios



    Central Powers

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    Fwbl Franz Theiler / SD SEA / 0 kills
    Roll 2D6 = 6 – 1 SD – 1 SEA = 4 Injured skip 1D6 = 5 skip 5 scenarios
    E&E
    Roll 2D6 = 10 -1 WIC – 1 SEA -1BEL = 7 skip 1 scenario
    Result – Skip 5 scenarios

    Ltn Wilhelm Kummetz / SD SEA / 0 kills
    Roll 2D6 = 8 – 1 SD – 1 SEA = 6 Injured skip 1D3 = 2 Skip 1 scenario.
    E&E
    Roll 2D6 = 10 – 1 WIC – 1 SEA -1BEL = 7 – Skip 1 scenario
    Result – Skip 1 scenario

    Vzfwbl Hans Achterberg /FRTB / WIA / 0 kills
    Roll 2D6 = 6 – 1 WIA + 1 RTB = 6 Injured skip 1D3 = 5 Skip 3 scenarios
    Result – Skip 3 scenarios

    Ltn Franz Hennig / RTB / 0 kills
    Result – All good

    Fwbl Robert Janzen / RTB / 1 kills
    Result – All good

    Ltn Kurt Jentsch / RTB / 0 kills
    Result – All good

    Victory – A resounding victory for the Eagles
    Entente: One downed enemy tandem + one tandem forced home = 6 points
    Central Powers: One downed enemy scout, two bombers making it home, two bombs hitting Dover and one bomb straddling the dock waterfront = 15 points
    Notes:
    I used Dave’s (Flash) D8 solo charts, as always. I did not use altitude and the initial two Entente aircraft were played AI – I played the third RFC aircraft to join the affray.
    The CP were unfortunate in drawing several “jam” cards but otherwise things went well for them, with both the dice and the cards. The Entente scouts started well apart and the third entered well away from the action. Once the boom card was drawn by them they were never in with a chance of preventing the bombing of Dover. However, the raiders never came close to bombing the hospital in which I was born nor anywhere near my childhood home. Just as well for me huh!

    Once again my regrets at posting so late. It happens ok

    Finally: The facts surrounding the “playing area” and “prologue” for the AAR are all based upon either my personal experiences of Dover as a youth or the researches of Mrs Lorraine Sencicle, a talented lady and former lecturer in economics at Kent University, who has not only done much to prevent the over development of local open spaces and historical sites, but is also largely responsible for producing the Dover Historian. This is a web site without which I could not have discovered so much about Swingate aerodrome or Dover generally as it experienced WW1.
    The site is well worth a visit by those of you who may be interested in what was, for many pilots of the era, a last jump off point before reaching the Western front. My heartfelt thanks to her and the rest of the team involved.

    https://doverhistorian.com/2019/10/0...ine-aerodrome/

    Cheers

    Mike
    Last edited by flash; 12-03-2020 at 07:49. Reason: Tally Correction

  2. #2

  3. #3

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    Interesting AAR. Do you have any close up photographs of the ships in the harbor? What scale and source, please?
    So how many books are in your personal library?

  4. #4

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    Very nicely done Mike, stupendous scenery & local history in particular - seems most struggled to catch the Hun on the way in but you managed to knock one down on the way out so that's good, though Micks assessment of his speed is underestimated, he could have caught the Albatros as the N.17 is in the next speed band up but probably wise to break off to fix the jam !

    Uncle says:


    Well done for showing the flag chaps - at least the folk back home could see we were trying. Couple of bumps with the Tally but not unexpected after a long leave in blighty - couple of BEL missing, however no differences made to the results.

    GHQ has announced Lt Michael E Taker is awarded the military Cross for his fifth victory as a result of this action
    PM Uncle which skill he will be taking on please.

    Meanwhile back at the Eagle's nest Ltn Jentsch is carpeted by Obltn Leptien so he may explain what (expletive deleted) he was doing in a tandem over the channel on his first day back from sick leave ...
    Good job he knocked one down eh !
    Last edited by flash; 12-03-2020 at 07:45.

    "He is wise who watches"

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    Mike you have set a very high bar with your new terrain, I was very impressed when you posted some pictures a while back and even more so seeing it in action today. It blends in extremely well with the background you use and because of the way the flock is laid it covers the jigsaw edges very well. I would give it 10 out of 10 but you have the wave train coming from the wrong direction, it would ordinarily be from the S.W. and so I am going to mark it down, on the 11th and 12 August 1916 the wind was from the S.W., a rookie error but I'm sure if you'd checked, Mrs Lorraine Sencicle would have corrected this elementary error.

    It's amazing to see the old pictures from when you were a lad, or maybe you were a teenager as you could obviously afford a Box Brownie to take them. I've been along the front a lot of times but only once been into the backstreets of Dover when I had a slow puncture and needed it repaired before getting on the ferry, I don't think I've ever noticed the beach certainly never seen the hordes of holiday makers as you did. Just wonderful.

    Great game report, I enjoyed reading it but it took much longer that usual as I spent so much time inspecting the terrain, looking for ideas as I've been thinking of creating a flock mat with trenches to replicate NML and this is really inspirational, presumably it's a one off fit and the jigsaw doesn't go together in a different way?

    Altogether brilliant, well done mate.


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    John has kind of 'said' it all, Mike. Well done AAR even if it was an Eagle victory.


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    Do you have any close up photographs of the ships in the harbor? What scale and source, please?
    Sorry Robert, I have no idea what scale they are and if you look closely they are modern, not WWI. I bought a job lot at a knock down price, at Exeter Legionary show. The fact they are modern is why there are no close ups But I can take some for you if you like and see if I can establish more details about manufacturer, scale etc. Let me know if you would like this information.
    Mike

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    Lt Michael E Taker is awarded the military Cross
    Wooohoooo, drinks on me lads. Down to the mess toot sweet.

    Ltn Jentsch is carpeted by Obltn Leptien so he may explain what (expletive deleted) he was doing in a tandem over the channel on his first day back from sick leave
    Much grovelling and head bobbing as a former Adler would say. It was that or request yet another chap to be seconded from elsewhere and his name just happened to be the one I picked out from the list of idle pilots lounging in the mess on their lazy backsides. Anyway, the good Ltn thought the sea air might help his recovery. Good job he didn't join in with the swimming though. He didn't take his costume along

    Couple of bumps with the Tally
    Sorry about that Uncle. I thought I shouldn't add BEL as well as SEA. I'll just have to learn to read everything more carefully in future

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    on the 11th and 12 August 1916 the wind was from the S.W., a rookie error but I'm sure if you'd checked, Mrs Lorraine Sencicle would have corrected this elementary error.
    Hahahahaha No I certainly didn't check that at all and anyway, what's a wave train? Is it anything like a gravy train? It certainly sounds happy. Please wave back to it on my behalf No doubt its full of that horde of holiday makers you mentioned. Waving should cheer them up no end
    It's amazing to see the old pictures from when you were a lad, or maybe you were a teenager as you could obviously afford a Box Brownie to take them
    Yea that box brownie did me proud as a kid. A little wobbly when taking selfies and as you can see I completely missed myself when taking the photo of the copper.
    Sad to say, Dover has changed so much since those happy days. Now its just a matter of shooting through in your car on the way to France (if you can afford a car that has decent tyres of course). Lets hope the future arrangements with our French neighbours doesn't slow that process down too much.
    PS Does the wave train ever go through the channel tunnel these days?
    Thanks for the reps everyone. Enough of the banter, time to start Mission 7.

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    presumably it's a one off fit and the jigsaw doesn't go together in a different way?
    Certainly right there John, but it is still pretty versatile. Remove the harbour and town pieces (which are seperate) and you have an estuary for just about anywhere in the world. Even add an offshore island or three.
    Alternatively, add a Napoleonic style town and harbour and you could sail the brig sloop Speedy away from the dock where she was built by Thomas King in 1782 (thought you'd like to know that), straight into action against French privateers, well before Lord Cochrane ever got his big mits on her (Did I mention something about a ship with sails - ooooh err). Then of course, you could leave it as it is, remove Swingate aerodrome (also free standing, and place a few radar masts, huts etc in its place. Bobs your uncle WW2 BoB terrain
    So not quite a one off - I did try to think about its future

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    Wow!

    Been waiting to see this action since you first gave us some hints a few months back.
    Well worth the wait, mate.


    It was also good to see the FF33e in action - especially liked the closeups of its demise.
    Float planes are definitely something I need to add to my collection.

    REP on the way (by bottle bobbing across the channel - hope someone notices it and picks it up)

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    Thanks Pete. It was a very enjoyable mission, both to prepare for and to play. Thanks and well done for coming up with a plan to bomb my home town
    Its taken me a long time to get around to completing everything but hopefully all is back on track again - so its on to the next one

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    Quote Originally Posted by mikeemagnus View Post
    Thanks Pete. It was a very enjoyable mission, both to prepare for and to play. Thanks and well done for coming up with a plan to bomb my home town
    Its taken me a long time to get around to completing everything but hopefully all is back on track again - so its on to the next one
    This one was 'the other Pete', Teaticket, Mike.
    He deserves all the credit.

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    Mike,
    That was a great AAR, and your terrain... wow.

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    Thumbs up

    Another "classic" AAR from your pen Mike.
    Very impressed by your addition of actual history of Dover.

    Loved the splash effects & the scenery as well.

    Some well deserved Rep is on its way!

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    Thanks guys and my apologies to Peter "Teaticket" - really am going senile Peter, but that should take nothing away from the comments about it being an enjoyable mission. It really was Thanks.

    PS - Mistaking Pete for Peter is nothing these days. I called my daughter Yon today. Her name is Charlotte and Yon is my wife. And I'm always mixing my sons names. Am I the only one to do that I wonder?

    On with number 7. Mission complete, photos done and dusted, and prologue written. Nearly there



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