homepage Forums Air Combat & Civil Aviation Wings: Over Flanders Fields The "DiD Campaign Revival" - Intro, Rules, Reports & Records Chart

Ah, nice to see the reports coming in again folks;

Lederhosen, Your report format is very creative and original. Very nice to see. Finally into a Chasse Squadron.

Carrick; I too have noticed the wind effects but not to the extent you have experienced. I guess I have something to look forward to.

HarryH; Night bombing! Now that seems like an execise in futility doesn't it!

Raine; Good to see Cam writing some fine reports again! Cam has to dump those strutters and get a scout! That's tough work he has.

Finally got caught up on Cam's letter writing. Happy New Year everyone!

29 December 1916
3 Squadron RNAS
St-Pol-sur-Mer, France

Hi kid,

I suppose I should have written yesterday to tell you I was still in one piece, but I was too busy giving thanks and drinking pink gins with Arnie Arthur in the wardroom to be that unselfish. Life is good again. Arnie and I took our Stutters up early yesterday into a frigid pale sky and climbed to 10,000 feet before heading over Hunland for our third crack at that railroad junction. We were supposed to have an escort, but once again they lagged behind.

You have to divide the sky into sections and examine each one methodically. I stared until my head ached but to my surprise never spotted a single German aircraft. A high altitude drop was all Corps was getting out of us today � and the Hun Archie opened up as we approached the target, bouncing us around the sky. Good shooting, considering our height. We dropped our bombs and turned west, both Strutters in a full-throttle shallow dive the whole way. I reported the target damaged, although I confess that may have been wishful thinking as the junction was largely obscured by cloud.

Today is miserable and windy, a hard ground frost and driving sleet. All flights are washed out and according to the met office we�re not likely to get up again until the New Year. Our officers have all been invited to a Hogmanay dinner and dance at the Alexandra Hospital. I�ve been put in charge of meal pipes, then playing a pibroch before the main course � Glencoe, I think. I�ve told Red Mulock he has to make the toast to the Pipe Major (me) as they would in a highland regiment, but he said something very naval and very rude in reply! Still, I'm insisting on free drinks for my efforts.

But I�ve saved the best news to last. I have a pass to head to England by destroyer on New Year�s Day and � as soon as the weather permits � fly a brand new Sopwith Pup back, my very own! I�ve been chatting with AM1 Kwiatkowski, my lead mechanic, and we�re going to go over it bolt by bolt. PO Blackbeard says I should get Kwiatkowski working on my Bedalia too, since there is a chap in the seaplane base at Dunkirk with a Morgan, and he wants to set up a challenge endurance race after the winter. I think he really just wants to make book on it, actually.

Things are looking brighter, which is a good thing now that the Entente has told the Kaiser what to do with his so-called peace proposal.

I heard that Dad got the promotion he wanted as Superintendent of the Halifax Graving Dock Company. He deserves it. You won't be able to put up with Mum now! How does it feel to be a rich man's spoiled brat?

Write soon, and kick that cat for me!

Cam



"We dropped our bombs and turned west, ... in a full-throttle shallow dive the whole way."
-- Farewell to the Strutter!

Carrick,

Weren't these guys lobby boys in The Grand Budapest Hotel?

In my case, utterly futile indeed!

G-- Da-- it, wounded again!!!! Too much wine and cake in Paris over the holidays I guess. We bumped into two flights of Rolands. I prayed they didn't see us but to no avail. We got one but all four of us limped home with our tails between our legs. The N17 is ok to fly, but its pop gun just aint up to modern standards.

mercy
duc la T�te

Lederhosen, Sorry to hear that! Hope the nurses are pretty!

It was good catching up on reports with my morning coffee.
Going to have to de-ice the sat dish before I watch Roberts video.....

Oh Yeah! I know what that's like. Been getting a lot of freezing rain here these days!

The horror of it all!

Having got WOFF V2 as a Christmas present, I am unable to play it due to having to get a new video card, so my plans of re-joining the DiD campaign is yet again delayed.

Keep the great reports coming - they are now my morning read before RL takes over.

Brain deBois-Gulibare
Adj, SOP 7
6 Jan 17.

Logbook: I flew as #2 a/c of a 3 plane section for Bombardment of Infantry East of Reims. 1st Flt added 1 a/c for Damage Assessment. Met with 2 N-17s as High Cover from Esc 68. Dropped on leader bombs, Maybe we hit something ? I couldn't tell at all. The Capitaine was happy when we landed,but un- happy that we lost an a/c that was reported forced down behind Enemy Lines.


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Raine: They look like Bell Hops Hun?

Sergeant Artie Lange
Marieux Aerodrome
RFC 5 Piloting B.E.2c
3 Jan 17 - Flight grounded due to bad weather
4 Jan 17 - Flight grounded due to bad weather




5 Jan 17 - Artillery Spotting Over the Lines

After much debate and hesitation RFC 5 A and B flights were cleared to take off at 9h2 in some of the coldest and harshest weather to date. We were given an artillery spotting mission over the lines that had been in the works for over a week and follows up our previous mission farther south. According to the brass we need to come back with solid data to report that will assist our front lines with planning their movement and attacks. We were all under stress due to the weather this morning, but suited up for the business at hand. After reaching our rendezvous with 4 Nieuport 17's from Esc 26 flying cover, we experienced some engine trouble that caused us to fall behind slightly. Whatever it was seemed to right itself and we were able to catch up to our squad mates. Flying and fighting the enemy in these birds is difficult enough but in the dead of winter it is down right a miserable business.




Visibility was poor at best but we reached our target and spotting the artillery was completed fairly quick order. Our flight returned without firing a shot and the word came in later that our cover flight of Nieuport 17's from Esc 26 made it back safely as well. No enemy was visible and were most likely grounded due to the bad weather.

My observer/gunner Captain Tallon Winfrey and I are getting along well. Even though I am up for a transfer, I have decided to stay with this fine group of men at RFC 5 in Marieux a little while longer. My ultimate goal is to be a fighter with an elite group of chaps, but that day will have to wait until I feel ready for to make that request.

Hi Guys: Good reports!

I had my first flights of 1917 in the last couple of days. Somewhere along the line I've apparently been promoted to Flight Lieutenant, and am now starting to lead a few flights. If it was announced by WOFF, I missed it.

I noticed that my map needs updating as the frontlines have moved around Ypres and several new airfields have popped into existence with the new year.

Got injured today by some nasty Albatros lads near Menen and had to dead-stick land my Strutter in our trenches. I'm in the hospital until the weekend.

Rittmeister Bachmeier and Udet drew an airfield defence mission. Udet has been given a new DIII to fly, but Bachmeier doesn't have one yet. Just not enough to go around.

The french came out to fight today. A very brave lone pilot fought well, but not good enough.







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Cam Fraser is learning the art of being a scout pilot

6 January 1916
Calais, France

Hi kid,

Let me tell you about the Pup, and then regale you with adventures from the past two days. But first let me tell you about carbonnade. As I write, I am in Calais. A group of the boys took the tender in this evening for a concert, but I decided I�d rather take a walk about and meet them later. I�m sitting in the "Hotel des Sauvages" contemplating carbonnade, a wonderful French-Flemish stew of rabbit (I�m told beef is more common), mushrooms, and onions, all done in a sauce made from the local dark beer. Wonderful stuff on a cold, snowy evening like this one.

Now for the Pup. I sailed with Arnie Arthur in the destroyer HMS Tartar to Dover on New Year�s Day and found our new Pups already at the air station there. After a brief familiarization I took mine for a 40 minute flight along the south coast of England. The Pup is a wonderful aircraft, nimble and light. It�s like a thoroughbred compared to the Hun planes, which are like cavalry chargers, or compared to aircraft like the BE2 that the RFC uses, which are like docile cart horses. It could do with a bit more power, mind you, and our rate of fire is no better than the Vickers gun on the old Strutter. But this one�s all mine.

The following morning we took off for St-Pol at seven o'clock, me leading Arthur. Had some scary minutes lost in cloud over the Channel and descended through absolutely filthy weather so find the familiar harbour of Dunkirk nearly straight ahead in the mist. It was pure luck. In truth I had set course to make landfall well west of Dunkirk so I would know to turn east to find it when I saw the coast. But thanks to Arnie Arthur the story of my navigation prowess has spread quickly. Red Mulock is already calling me Magellan.

Weather kept us grounded until yesterday, when five of us, Mulock, Robin Mack, �Tiny� Travers, Arnie, and me, were ordered to patrol from Diksmuide north to the Channel coast. We reached Diksmuide and turned north. Within a couple of minutes, Mack signalled EA in sight and pointed downwards. Five two-seater Rolands were heading east below us. We dived to the attack.

Alex, I have no idea who those Huns were, but we had our hands full. They were all over us with their two-seaters! After a mad twisting fight lasting about five minutes, I suddenly found myself alone with four of the Rolands taking turns at me. I was still getting used to the Pup and to the lack of a gunlayer behind me. I was spending as much time looking backwards as forwards, and I had a devil of a time keeping track of enemy aircraft. I fired some ineffective bursts at the odd plane that dashed past me, but it was all I could do to avoid a collision or a stall.

Finally I saw a chance to dash for home. And didn�t the four Huns follow! Twice I had to turn and fight them, and both times I took more damage than I caused. A flight of Albatros scouts even passed overhead and for a brief horrible moment I thought they were going to join the party, but they headed east like good little Huns. Finally I crossed our balloon lines, the four Rolands just out of range behind me. Our Archie opened up on them, hitting one of the rotters. The others turned home at last and I landed at one of our forward fields for a pee and a drink -- in that order.

At four in the morning, the wind and snow outside our cabin awoke me, and I smiled to think that operations would be cancelled. But less than five minutes later, the steward came in to rouse me. Four of us were ordered out in the midst of a winter storm to shoot down a Hun observation balloon that was irritating the generals.

We had not even reached our lines when the flight leader, Mack, waggled his wings and pointed at four Halberstadt scouts about a thousand feet below and a half-mile off our starboard quarter. The Halberstadt is outclassed by the Pup and we attacked confidently. Again I found it hard to calm down and concentrate in a single-seat scout. I am too twitchy, looking around either too much or not enough. Once, a Hun even got behind me and put some machine gun bullets through my port planes. In the middle of the dance, two of the EA collided, both falling in flames, and I had to fly through a shower of burning aircraft parts!

I disengaged, climbed, and sorted myself out mentally. Then I saw two of the Huns breaking for home, and a lone Pup giving up the chase. The Huns were a little lower, so I applied full throttle and closed in on the rearmost Halberstadt in a shallow dive. He must have been asleep, because I quickly got right behind him, no more than 20 yards away. I opened fire and think I hit the pilot instantly. I kept firing in short bursts. They taught us at Eastchurch to say "son of a #%&*$#" with each burst -- that's about five rounds. After about eight seconds, the Halberstadt banked and slipped away to starboard, then went straight down. He crashed into a frozen beetroot field and exploded. I have made the claim and think this one should go through quickly. FSL Matt Colton, who was in the last pursuing Pup, says he saw the explosion.

Well, kid, I�ve finished the carbonnade and am moving on to the Calvados and a lovely tart � the pastry kind. If any of those Temperance hussies back home tell you to avoid the demon drink, tell them that you have it on good authority that Calvados improves the brain, sweetens the breath, and makes you irresistible to the opposite sex. Oh sorry, I�m wrong. It�s promotion to Admiral that does all those things.

Kick the cat for me,

Cam



"I opened fire and think I hit the pilot instantly."

Wudwasp -- love the photos! It's scary to see that the Vee-strutters are starting to arrive.

Excellent! Gripping storytelling, Raine! Great to see Cam learning the ropes as a scout, and getting victories.

H

Cam has his Pup and is learnibg the ropes. Great read! In fact I too am learning...from the historically reasearched content

Boys, I'm back in town! (And so glad to be back!)
I'll try to catch up with everything with my morning coffee tomorrow.
I'm glad that you carried on while I was on leave.

Olham...Olham????....hmmmm who is that?