OTT BYM Mission 3 – “Help, I need help” - 19 Oct 1916 – by Hu Rhu
Oberleutnant Stephan Koch sat uncomfortably in his chair, his wounded arm in a sling. “Gentlemen, I have been appraised of a special mission by Army HQ”. The assembled pilots pricked up their ears and a murmur of excitement filled the room. Ignoring the noise, he went on. “It seems that the nephew of a high-ranking commander has been shot down over the enemy territory and needs rescuing. I have it on the highest authority that this mission is very important to the Fatherland, but it is also very dangerous. As such I am calling for volunteers”. He got no further when the entire Staffeln jumped to their feet.
Koch smiled to himself ‘I knew that my Adlers would be keen to show off their prowess, just as they were last time’. He raised his voice over the hubbub. “Gentlemen, thank you but you can’t all go. Kramer you will pilot the Roland and execute the pickup. You can’t take an observer, sorry Mayer but the space will be needed for the downed pilot. There will also be two escorts. Sadly because of my wound I cannot lead the patrol. Ltns Frank and Huber will provide the protection in case the RFC try to interfere”.
“Now gentlemen, plot your courses to these coordinates, pick up the downed pilot and then get the hell out of there. I want no heroics understand”. All three pilots nodded their assent and then rushed off to get their planes ready.
30 minutes later they were heading over No Mans Land. On the left was Ltn Uwe Frank in the yellow DII and on the right Ltn Gunter Huber in the camouflaged DII. Just behind and at a slightly lower altitude was Vzfbl Wolfgang Kramer in the blue Roland.
Frank peered ahead trying to see the crash site. He finally noticed it on the edge of a small wood and waggled his wings and pointed to Kramer, who acknowledged and started his dive. At the same time Frank saw movement ahead and spotted three enemy machines heading their way. There was no way to tell if they had seen the crashed plane but he was taking no chances. Gesticulating to Huber to attack he flew straight at the nearest English airplane which he now recognised as being a Nieuport 17.
The morning patrol from the Bulldogs had only just taken off when the leader Lt Gordon Jeffs spotted the approaching German aircraft. A two seater along with two scouts as escorts was a standard German artillery spotting mission, although he was surprised to see them so far over the lines. They normally patrolled just behind their own lines. (A dice roll to see if the British spotted the crash site on their first pass was failed, hence no descent)
Nevertheless, he signalled his intention to attack and headed straight for the aircraft opposite a camouflaged Albatros DII. 2Lt Douglas Caulfield headed for the other scout a yellow DII, whilst the newly arrived 2Lt Barry ‘Baz’ Quartermain took on the two-seater.
Kramer put his machine into a dive losing height rapidly, which surprised the British who were expecting a more orthodox engagement, and especially discomforted Quartermain, who overflew his opposite number. Meanwhile Jeffs and Huber exchange fire, with Huber’s bullets striking home but Jeffs’ gun jams. Then with a whoosh both sides pass by.
By now Kramer has his machine in a steep dive and executes his landing perfectly, landing only yards away from the crash site. The downed airman makes his way from the edge of the wood from where he was hiding towards the Roland. Kramer can see that he is wounded as he hobbles along favouring the right leg.
Frank and Huber circle above landing site, to protect Kramer whilst the British planes turn to re-engage. Quartermain now realises too late that his quarry is landing and spots the crash site. ‘So that’s what this is all about’ he thinks and points the nose of his plane downwards with the intention of strafing the Roland.
Huber is paying too much attention to the landing site and fails to spot Jeffs approaching. Having unjammed his guns, Jeffs gets off a couple of close-range shots, which fortunately cause little damage.
Huber jinks left to try and throw Jeffs off his tail and is helped by Frank who closes rapidly and causes Jeffs to sideslip to avoid colliding with the yellow DII. Neither have time to fire as they narrowly avert collision.
Meanwhile Quartermain is descending rapidly and flies under the other planes in an attempt to strafe Kramer.
Kramer urges the wounded pilot to hurry, as soon as he is aboard, he opens the throttle and turns into the wind for take-off. (Again, a random roll for wind direction, which happens to be away from the German lines). This change of direction puts Quartermain off and he overshoots Kramer and can’t fire.
Meanwhile Jeffs is re-engaging Huber but again his fire is ineffective.
However Caulfield and Frank exchange shots at close range, with Frank taking the worst of it, although he damages Caulfield’s rudder, which prevents him from taking after the two seater.
By now Kramer has taken off and having fooled Quartermain, chooses to head straight for home at low level to avoid the British planes which are circling above and being kept at bay by the two Albatros.
It is at this stage that Frank and Huber realise that they are heading further over the enemy territory and have all three British machines between them and safety. Having seen Kramer heading home they decide that discretion is the better part of valour and remembering their orders turn for home. Huber dives partly to gain speed but also to ensure that he can intercept the low flying Quartermain who has remained at a low altitude to chase Kramer.
However, this partially backfires as Quartermain realises he cannot catch Kramer and turns back to deal with the escorts. His long range shot does little damage but reinforces Huber’s intent to reach his own lines as quickly as possible.
Quartermain and Huber close the distance rapidly and narrowly miss a collision as they pass each other.
Meanwhile Jeffs has closed down Frank and engages at long range but again with very little effect.
And Kramer crosses the lines to safety.
However Frank finds it difficult to shake off Jeffs and takes more punishment. The only saving grace is that the Nieuport’s Lewis gun jams.
Jeffs curses his luck as he has Frank in his sights again but can't fire.
And again. Frank is surprised that the Nieuport is not firing as it almost certainly has him in his sights. ‘Perhaps his gun is jammed’ thinks Uwe Frank.
It was then that he had the idea to Immelman and catch out the Englander. (This was an unplanned move as I selected an Immelman rather than a straight, but decided to play it anyway) His audacious manoeuvre almost catches out Jeffs, but as he comes out of the Immelman, the Nieuport is too close and he has to jink to avoid collision. Almost perfect but not quite.
What he doesn’t realise is that the other Nieuports are now closing in on him.
Frank executes another Immelman which puts him in a perfect position to rake Quartermain with a heavy burst of fire, momentarily causing the Nieuport to catch fire. (One card at close range due to the height difference). However Quartermain manages to extinguish the flames almost immediately. (Lucky Pilot – Discards the damage). Caulfield now engages Frank at long range causing some slight damage to his rudder.
Frank is now committed to his path and engages Quartermain at close range with a deadly burst but not enough to put him down. However Caulfield has closed the range and pours close range fire into Frank’s Albatros. Frank feels his machine’s controls go sloppy and starts to go into a spin, when a bullet strikes him a glancing blow on his head and he temporarily blacks out.
As Huber crosses the lines he looks back and sees Frank crash behind enemy lines. There is nothing that he can do about it so he heads back to base to report the loss of his comrade.
Butcher’s Tally
Adlers
Vfwbl Wolfgang Kramer - Roland – RTB 0 kills (Rescued pilot)
Ltn Uwe Frank – DII (Yellow) – SD - WIA 0 kills
C&W Rolled 8 -1SD -1WIA = 6 - Injured Skip 1D3 Scenarios. Rolled 1 = Skip I scenario
E&E Roll 5 -1WIA -1WIC -1BEL = 2 Captured ! The war ended for this pilot...
Ltn Gunter Huber – DII (Cam) – RTB 0 kills
Bulldogs
Lt Gordon Jeffs – Nieuport 17 (#1) – RTB 0 kills
2Lt Barry ‘Baz’ Quartermain – Nieuport 17 (#2) – RTB 0 kills
2Lt Douglas Caulfield – Nieuport 17 (#3) – RTB - 1 Kill (Frank)
Victory Points
Adlers - Rescued Downed Pilot =10 points
Bulldogs- Shot down 1 scout – 5 points
Adler Victory
I started the German planes slightly further back than the scenario, which allowed the two-seater a steady landing but advanced the British further forward to compensate. I also threw a random dice to see if the British spotted the crash site as they flew over it. I made the assumption that this was a routine patrol and would have no prior knowledge of the crash. This would indicate if the British would be in a better position to intercept the two-seater but in the end they did not. Finally, I threw a dice to indicate wind direction for take-off (always take off into wind) which by chance forced the two-seater to take off directly away from the friendly edge, but also made the pursuer miss his strafing attack.
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