Wulfe, that was an exciting air battle. Looks like Gaston isn’t the only one that will require a longer ribbon. Congrats on downing that Fokker. Looking forward to Campbell trying his hand at piloting the DH2. BTW, I’ve never thought of Gaston being likened to Rene. Hopefully he can follow in his footsteps. Great set of pics! Raine, finally a victory as well. This better get confirmed. Sgt. Wilson will be over the moon. Are you going to start a collection of silver victory cups? Lederhosen, what?! German engineering letting Willy down? What’s this world coming to? Scout, Aleck will soon be like Buckminster. Give him time and an opportunity to watch his friends burn alive. He may even one day brag to others about a crispy Hun. He may even get a medal for it.
Dagonet swerved violently. The entire flight scattered to avoid colliding with each other. Gaston desperately scanned the skies to see where the attack was coming from. There was nothing he could see. Was the Hun already below him, pulling out of a dive and training his guns on his Nieuport? Gaston banked to scan below him. Nothing. He checked the rest of the flight. They were flying straight and level, except Ltn. Dagonet, who’s engine was now leaving a trail of faint smoke behind him. He was returning back to the French side nursing a wonky engine. Gaston took over and led the rest of the flight and the lonely N12 on observation duty over the town factories at Martincourt. They were circling mostly between heavy clouds eluding the Flak for the most part of the patrol. Thankfully the Boche didn't feel keen enough to bother them for the entirety of the flight. They were in and out and soon entering a landing pattern over Senard aerodrome. As they were touching down, two Renault lorries with a recovery team were departing the aerodrome and taking the northbound road to the front to pick up Ltn. Dagonet’s Nieuport. The Lieutenant put down just beyond the trenches and was in need of a lift.
Ltn. Henri Marie Dagonet
"Take the cylinder out of my kidneys, The connecting rod out of my brain, my brain, From out of my arse take the camshaft, And assemble the engine again."