OTT-BYM Mission 02: All for One and One for All – or a Free for All, 12th October 1916 by Mikeemagnus:
https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...One-for-All%94
Ah, the chivalric code of the knights of the air! All for one and one for all! Honor and courtesy to your noble opponents. Just how it must have been in the Middle Ages. Let’s check in on our X Squadron, RNAS knights to see what’s happening….
It had been a quiet mission so far. Flight Commander Nigel Flashman (aka Flashman) looked to his wingmen – Flight Sublieutenant Allan Smith (aka Smith) on the left and Flight Sublieutenant Donald MacDonald (aka Jock) on the right to see if they were okay. All was good. They were supposed to rendezvous with some RFC bombers but, as so often was the case, they were no-shows for one reason or another – poor navigation. Someone should do something about that – like global ability to find one’ position. Of course, if could be for very bad reasons that Flashman would rather not consider.
Well, here was something to liven up the mission. Three stray Hun scouts – one for each of them. A Fokker E.III (Fwbl Otto Marwitz) facing Smith. Were they still sending up poor chaps in those crates? Lucky man – Smith. A Halberstadt (Obltn Fritz Böhning) opposed Flashman. A credible foe, but not one that Flashman couldn’t handle.
On the right Jock’s opponent was one of those new nefarious Albatri with twin-machineguns (Ltn Reinhold Piechulek). Enough to make one’s blood run cold.
And, so our X Squadron knights of the air, eschewing all sensible military tactics, such as concentration of effort, paired off against the enemy knights of the air.
All down the line of aircraft the opposing knights met in the duels – Smith and Otto traded blows. Smith got the worst of the damage but Otto’s Fokker was smoking badly, obscuring Otto’s vision.
In the middle, Flashman inflicted considerable damage on the Halberstadt of the enemy flight leader, but took a grazing bullet to this head – ouch! That hurt like the blazes.
Finally, Jock and Reinhold made not much more than a gesture than a real attempt to come to blows. Perhaps Reinhold was not yet used to the powerful Albatros and Jock was a little leery of his foe.
All of the pilots did their various fancy manoeuvres for another joust at their opposite numbers. Smith did a nice tight turn and got a first shot in but misjudged the deflection angle and missed.
Immediately following Smith’s futile shot, Smith, Otto, Fritz and Flashman came together in a general melee. Otto got the worst of it – the smoke from his Fokker obscured his and Fritz’s plane - or so it seemed since both Smith and Flashman targeted him. One wouldn’t want to think our RNAS chaps were ganging up in and un-chivalric manner. Certainly Fritz could see nothing and fired into empty space.
Surely the smoke must have been a factor – why else would the two experienced flight leaders collide? Or, perhaps they were playing a game of ‘chicken’. Fortunately for both they survived – even if it was with a few singed feathers.
Let’s not forget about Jock and Reinhold. Having reoriented themselves for another pass, they warily approached each other – and rather gingerly firing the machineguns at each other. Jock was fortunate – one of his bullets hit something vital and bright, red flames flickered from the Albatros. Jock smiled. Reinhold? Well, it wasn’t a smile.
In the confusion of the general melee, Smith came out of it with a prime opportunity to fire at Reinhold. He should have held his fire in a chivalric manner but Smith was rough and ready Canuck from the wilds of British Columbia and more familiar with Mother Nature’s ‘red of tooth and claw’ than the manners of medieval knights. Here you go, you…., Smith thought, and took the un-knightly shot offered him by chance. There may have been something from the damage Jock did or not but either way a portion of Reinhold’s plane blew apart and the broken-winged Albatros fluttered down to No Man’s Land.
After this disaster for the Adler's, it was gloves off and a knightly tournament became a street brawl. Fritz’s blood was up – he had had enough of the dastardly X Squadron that had cause them so much grief and sorrow. A long distance shot disabled Smith’s rudder controls. Smith did his best to return fire but the thrill of blast had distracted him.
Jock tried to intervene to distract the Fritz from chasing the rash, young Canadian. Jock was a former flight commander – demoted for striking one of those senior officers that get good men killed for foolish notions - so he still had a good deal of that sense of responsibility that goes with being a flight commander.
Smith merrily continued on his way – oblivious to the danger of Fritz – next in his sights was his original counterpart – Otto. Otto misjudged the speed of Smith’s Pup and fired too soon. Just how Smith managed to hit Otto’s Fokker with the rather acute angled deflection shot is a mystery to everyone – and perhaps to Smith. But there was new use for the handy mallet which history will show was only useful for Vickers but can one really trust history.
Smith was lucky because Jock was on the tail of Fritz who was desperately trying to shake the Scotsman.
The chase ended in a general melee involving all five remaining aeroplanes. By now the nimble Pups had gained altitude on the Alders, which was fortunate for the lucky Smith or else he would have been in a collision with both the Fokker and Halberstadt. Flashman had returned to the fray and joined with Jock in taking out Fritz. Down went the Halberstadt – see the fire burning bright to mark the descent of the stricken aeroplane.
Realizing it was now a very ungentlemanly three-on-one and that the rules of the game had changed, Otto made a break for it. Perhaps with his rather slow Fokker in comparison to faster Pups, that wasn’t such a good idea, but Otto didn’t have many good options and a couple of the Pups were pointed the wrong way.
Unfortunately for Otto, that still left Jock.
Jock dove down on his badly damaged prey and that was the end for the last of the Alder knights of the air.
Down below, an injured Reinhold had somehow managed to escape his burning wreckage in time to see his flight leader crashing in flames near him. He rush over the torn terrain of No Man’s Land to successfully extricate Fritz but dazed by his injury, Reinhold ran in the wrong direction. The Tommies opposite shouted encouragement to them in what little German they knew – “Hier, Fritz”. Now what are the odds that one of the pilots would be named Fritz???
Both Fritz and Reinhold ended up in a British hospital – under close guard, mind you, and the tender care of their best nurse, Matron Schultz. They were even visited by a Royal Flying Corps major, an Irishman, to see if they were being looked after. Now how’s that for chivalric behaviour. A pity that one night when our gallant foes were nearly mended their guard had become a little lax, and the two Adler pilots slipped out of the prisoner’s ward. And, where did that automobile waiting just outside come from? It wasn’t for the vigilance of one of the RFC patients, I believe a 2Lt Vagabond, both of them would have made their escape. Reinhold was recaptured but Fritz made his escape in the automobile. The RFC major must surely have been disappointed.
Victory Points:
Seadogs:
Scouts shot down = 3 X 5 points
Total = 15 points
Adlers
Total 0 points
Seadog Victory
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