Albert, indeed, but what to do when it’s raining cats and dogs? Everyone is a wimp then. So, final day with No.41. Four claims and two confirmed. Yeah, those claims across the lines just don’t work so well. Just look at Raben’s haul from yesterday and no credit. At least Kevin can drown it all in whiskey. Finally a command of your own. Congrats on the promotion and looking forward to see how our hero will whip No. 64 into shape.
None of the claims Klaus made yesterday were confirmed, not even one. Claiming victories across the lines is tough. Before their morning mission to defend the Mars-la-Tour aerodrome August approached Klaus and let him know abandoning Schwarm Eins will not fly in this Jasta. He needs to take more responsibility. Klaus wanted to ask if Schwarm Eins has same orders, but decided to hold his tongue. The C.O. let Klaus know Schwarm Eins will be composed of only three members and Klaus better take care of them on this mission. Great, babysitting work! The Schwarm (and a half) clawed their way up and above the rain clouds. When they set their course for the second waypoint a flight of SPADs came down on them and decided to made the day that much more interesting. Klaus watched the first one to come down and lead them to one side, while the rest comes up from behind. Raben was wise to this trick and let one of his wingmen go after the decoy, while the main strength of the Schwarm (and a half) remained with him. The remaining SPADs were now coming down and Klaus hit one as it passed by. He watched as the enemy went into a dramatic spin. He knew well it was another ruse. He followed his theatrical foe down waiting for him to pull out of the spin and continue as if nothing ever happened. He waited. The altitude was dropping rapidly. The SPAD continued to fall. Another Fokker went for a closer look, sniffed around and left the rotting carcass to smash into the ground. Klaus came out of his dive, surprised he got the enemy with his initial burst. But there was no time to marvel, another SPAD was coming his way. It was closely followed by a Fokker. After being shot at the SPAD went into a spiral, just like the first one and the Fokker that was attacking left him for dead, but Klaus wasn’t convinced and continued to track the enemy. Just before crashing, the French machine miraculously regained control and was on his merry way heading back across the lines, except for Klaus, who was now on his tail and firing. It was a great surprise for the enemy pilot. His controls weren’t working for real now and he continued to spin into the ground as originally planned.
When that little scuffle was over Klaus obediently followed Schwarm Eins with their three planes to the next waypoint. He decided it made sense to catch up and combine it with Schwarm Zwei, which also now consisted of three planes, including Klaus. May as well make it one Kette. This at least will allow him to do more damage should any Strutters decide to show up. His mind wasn’t even halfway made up, and Schwarm Zwei hasn’t reached Schwarm Eins yet, when a whole armada of dots showed up to his port side. He counted nine dots, to his six. Not the best odds. What followed was a blur, a furball composed of Fokkers and SPADs. Needless to say, Klaus found himself outnumbered and in a damaged crate. He saw the airfield below and thought to himself he should like to live one more day. He put his Fokker in a dive and went straight for the aerodrome and safety. August be dämned with his experiments and reduced flights.
27 July, 1918 15:05 afternoon mission Montingen, Verdun Sector Jasta 18 Oberleutnant Klaus Gustav Raben PLM HHO EK1 EK2 Fokker D.VII 55 confirmed kills Awaiting two claim confirmations
After this morning’s escapades Klaus was leading this abnormally small Schwarm to patrol friendly front lines between Pont-à-Mousson and Marbache. They were near Verny when a flight of enemy bombers appeared overhead. Klaus gave the signal and as soon as the Bréguets went on the offensive, he began to avoid any of them attempting to latch onto his tail. He was surprised all of them didn’t go straight after him, but who’s going to look a gift horse in the mouth? It was a boon and Raben took pleasure in taking advantage of it. One of them crossed his gunsights and he fired a few rounds. He may have hit it, but wasn’t sure. The wind was buffeting his plane and throwing his aim off. The large bomber went into a steep dive and Raben decided to let that one go and searched for another target. He found one being chased by August. Along with his cousin they’ve brought one of the beasts down. Klaus may have been the one to set the bus on fire but it probably was August who fired the last shot and took out a big part of the top wing for good measure. Klaus found another target soon and went directly after it. Two more Fokkers were already on him and softening him up for Raben. He lined him up and again registered a few hits, but the wind was blowing him off course. To make matters worse, the bomber’s rear gunner pierced his fuel lines as Klaus was flying overhead to make another pass at his target. There was nothing else to do but to stick with it and make sure to bring that bomber down before having to set his own bird down. The Bréguet went down and smacked into the ground beautifully. Klaus had just one more thing to do: set his plane safely down, which he did in a large field near the wreckage of the bomber. Klaus got our of his machine and started to wait for the recovery crew.
"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."
