Thankfully the weather has improved in Alsace. A few quiet missions later and we are again patrolling around St Die. I spot a couple of aircraft ahead. They look like Parasols, we're getting pretty close to each other now......hold on...we don't have any Parasol Escadrilles around here!
...and those aircraft are coming straight towards us!

A steep climb avoids the enemy's first pass and gives me height over the two Pfalz scouts. I pick my target as my wingman takes on the other Pfalz. I put a good burst into him and he slows right down. I try to throttle back as well but I'm still too fast and I end up side by side with the Pfalz. As I look across, his engine splutters and then bursts into flames......the last I see of him is as he smashes into the forest below.

I look for my wingman and see he's beaten the other Pfalz who spins down into the trees.

It's a long fly back to our airfield in Fontaine, but a happy one.

Attached Images
pfalz1.jpg pfalz2.jpg pfalz3.jpg pfalz4.jpg pfalz5.jpg

"A great deal of an aeroplane could be holed without affecting its ability to fly. Wings and fuselage could be—and often were—pierced in 50 places, missing the occupants by inches (blissfully unaware of how close it had come until they returned to base). Then the sailmaker would carefully cover each hole with a square inch of Irish linen frayed at the edges and with a brushful of dope make our aircraft 'serviceable' again within an hour."