Harry, were other pilots complaining they couldn’t hear their engines over Lazlo’s borborygmus? Good luck with that balloon claim! Never mind, just read the second report. Geez, all this hard work and then thwarted by paperwork. I have done that a few times. I’m glad the videos are taking off. We need more.
Raine, that was a good idea to get drilled by that Sergeant-Major! Loved the meeting with the King bit. Enjoyed the whole story. Looking forward to Collins returning to France.
Carrick, like Lou said, rough!
Lou, yes more teeth. Teeth make things more scary. Look at any dentist. So, 6 in a day. That is impressive, most impressive. Hope you get at least half confirmed, but you know how it goes. You’ll either get none or all. Next time shoot all six down, but only report two, so that the C. O. is happy too. Congrats on a stupendous achievement.
Wulfe, et tu Brute? Videos galore today! What! Both Fokkers denied? I demand a recount! Great shooting and it looks like you have a handle on that bloody N.16. I also could have sworn you were shooting another Nieuport. I really like your description of the atmosphere at the Escadrille and your Thenault is even better than Jean Reno.
The new arrival, Flight Lieutenant Pellyn followed Mulberry to the Colmar rail yard and dropped his bombs too early. They exploded harmlessly in the nearby forest. Thankfully Toby had more luck. His ordnance exploded in the middle of the freight storage area. It was definitely the final stop for most of it. Pellyn was already making his way back to base, while Mulberry was hanging around to survey the damage. He too turned back and headed for the safety of the friendly front lines. It wasn’t long after that out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw an object fall out of the sky. Toby swung his machine to take a better look. At first he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary and he was about to congratulate himself for seeing things, but soon after he noticed a flash of wings below. It was a Fokker turning around. He apparently misjudged his surprise dive-attack and was now correcting his mistake. The two machines nearly collided with each other while going head to head. Mulberry noticed a second Eindecker but this one was not maneuvering. Toby quickly jumped on his tail expecting a dive, a bank, a climb, something, but this one was paralyzed with fright. Toby hesitated. It was an execution. He fired a short burst to get a reaction. Nothing. “- Fight! #%&*$#, fight!” Mulberry fired again. Finally the inexperienced pilot made a move and Toby followed. He continued to punish the Hun. Grey smoke and vapour were trailing behind the damaged machine and he was losing altitude. Toby noticed the first Fokker attempting to get on his back. He let the green one go. He wasn’t going far anyway. He turned into the other monoplane and fired. This Fokker was damaged as well and shortly crashed into the forest below. “- Now, where did that green one go to?” Mulberry asked himself. He checked his rear and continued to search below when suddenly something strange occurred. These grey streamers just passed him on each side. “- What was it?” Then the windscreen exploded sending shards of glass in his face. “- I’m being fired upon! How?!” His thought were racing. The shock was caused more by the sudden appearance of the enemy, rather than the fact that his life was perilously in danger. He felt his face burn from the cuts, but continued to turn and search for his assailant. He found him. It was an E.IV, but not flown well. Toby was able to get the bead on him and fired. He damaged him and this one also began to smoke. Another salvo and the Eindecker started to slow down with the engine failing. Mulberry was worried his engine or fuel lines were damaged and didn’t follow the stricken Fokker down. He turned his machine around and headed for home, just looking back once to see a cloud of dust and a column of dark smoke where the enemy had crashed. Toby made claims on only two of the Fokkers. He didn’t see the smoking green Eindecker crash, although it was a strong possibility.
"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."