Originally Posted By: Mogster
Wow, a Jabo Camel. I had no idea

Although intended purely as a fighting scout, the Camel was pressed into other roles as the need arose, and that most hated by most pilots was ground-attack work. The type had an introduction to this duty, with selected units, during the Cambrai battles, but the ferocity of the German push that began on 21 March led to the wholesale involvement of the Camel squadrons, in an attempt to stop the advance.

It was dangerous work and losses were high. Such missions tended to be of short duration and, consequently, pilots were able to fly a greater number of sorties. Capt A.H. Cobby, the leading Australian, recalled that these sorties involved 'getting to the line, loaded up with bombs and ammunition, as fast and as often as one could, and letting the enemy on the ground have it as hot and as heavy as possible'. An indication of this is the fact that on 25 March, 4 Sqn AFC expended more than 15,000 rounds of 0.303in ammunition. The bombs, mentioned by Cobby, were of the 20lb (9kg) variety, and the fitting of a carrier for four of these bombs became standard.

A variation on this type of work was attacks on enemy aerodromes. This was not a new idea, having been practised on an individual basis, but by 1918 it had been developed into well-organized raids that involved large numbers of attacking machines. A typical 'Wing Show' was that of 80 Wing on Haubourdin aerodrome on 16 August, led by 4 Sqn AFC, but involving 92, 88, 103 and 2 Sqn AFC machines. The attack was led by Cobby, who had painted the upper top wing of his Camel white, for easy identification. Col L.A. Strange, the Wing Cdr, flew alongside Cobby in his 'personal' Camel that was maintained by 4 Sqn AFC. Hangars and stationary machines were bombed and shot up with incendiary ammunition from all five squadrons and then 4 Sqn AFC proceeded to attack troops and transport in the surrounding area.

(from Sopwith Aircraft, by Mick Davis)



There's a good account of the Haubourdin raid in Cobby's own book High Adventure (which is also a WWI air combat classic), and there's also a story of the attack online, at the official history website detailing the combat actions of the AFC during WWI (in PDF file format):

http://www.awm.gov.au/cms_images/histories/9/chapters/24.pdf