Okay, FullofIt, game on! I'm not tremendously hopeful because the claims gods hate me. Here is the latest from Vogel.
Tagebuch of Ltn. der Res. Hans-Dieter Vogel, EK1, EK2
Jasta 26, Iseghem (Izegem), Belgium
Part 20
29 July 1917
Freie Jagd! And I am leading with Oberleutnant Loerzer just off to my left and Dannhuber and Auer on the other side. The morning is still cool and the sun barely up. It pains the eyes to look to the east but that is where the enemy will come from if they are about. We circle southwest of Menen until we reach 2000 metres. Then I set course for the north rim of the salient. We have not gone far past Menen when I see two aircraft circling about a little below and off to my right. We dive and find an Albatros – Jasta 27, I believe – giving up the fight as the little brown English machine heads back across the lines. It takes only seconds to adjust the angle of my dive to cut off this enemy’s escape. I closed the distance quickly. The machine is unfamiliar. A single seat RDD [1] with a pronounced dihedral. My first burst causes the Englishman to roll away to his left. And now the mystery is solved. I see that the upper wing is staggered back from the lower. It is a De Havilland Type 5, the first I have seen. It is easy to follow. My second burst finishes the matter and the little brown scout smashes into the mud below.
"A single seat RDD with a pronounced dihedral."
Bullets rip through my Albatros. I am low over the enemy trenches and a dozen machine guns and a thousand rifles are seeking me out. I climb away to the east but my radiator is damaged and streaming boiling water past my shoulder. The machine carries on for a few kilometres until I see our aerodrome in the distance and switch off.
I return and claim the DH5. We laugh and joke and drink bad coffee in the pilots’ hut. The boss tells me I am lucky and should lead the next patrol. He spends much of the time at the telescope that is mounted outside. The adjutant brings him papers to sign. Blume’s weasel dog scratches incessantly. I suggest we give him a bath with petrol, which Blume does not find funny. We persist in insulting the poor hound until Blume concedes that the thing needs a bath. He is just about to go in search of a tub when the telephone rings. Enemy aircraft have been spotted assembling south of the Lys. We immediately take off and climb in the direction of Rekkem. There we circle and climb to 2500 metres. Our first sight of the enemy comes when our Flak gunners put up a show just to the south of Menen. We turn towards the black puffs and soon see small groups of Sopwith Camels already engaged with our own Albatros scouts. I pick out one Sopwith and dive on it. Oberleutnant Loerzer stays with me.
The Englishman does not see me and my first burst is from extremely close range. The machine drops into a spin and I follow it down as quickly as I dare. Just above the ground it recovers and begins to turn west. But then, before I can close the distance, it begins to fall out of control again. I believe the pilot has collapsed. As I circle and watch the Sopwith fall I see Oberleutnant Loerzer follow it down and fire into it. We return to Iseghem and the Oberleutnant files a claim for my Camel. I consider contesting it but I am holding the better part of sixty marks which he has given me and judge it a fair exchange.
That evening we stroll into the town and have a modest dinner together at the hotel restaurant across from the train station. Meat is scarce but the fish is excellent and there are potatoes and even some baked tomatoes. And beer! There is always beer.
The boss’s Camel has not yet been confirmed. It seems Blume has indicated that he saw me fire into the machine and believed that I disabled the pilot. The matter is with Hauptmann Wilburg at Fourth Army. I have not yet heard about the DH5. We shall see.
NOTES:
[1} RDD = Rumpfdoppeldecker – a biplane with an enclosed fuselage, as opposed to a "lattice-bodied" aeroplane like an FE2.
![[Linked Image]](https://simhq.com/forum/files/26367.jpg)
