homepage Forums Air Combat & Civil Aviation Wings: Over Flanders Fields DiD Centenary Challenge

News of the World from last month for Intrepid Fliers - April 1915:

April 1
French pilot Roland Garros shot down a German aircraft with a forward-firing machine gun bringing in the era of the dogfight.
April 3
Britain completed the construction of an anti-submarine net barrage across the Straits of Dover.
April 4
Russian forces captured the village of Cisna and reached Sztropko in the Carpathians.
April 5
The United States demanded reparation for the sinking of their merchant ship William P. Frye in January 1915.
The French army began a broad offensive from Meuse to Moselle on the Western front.
April 6
French forces attacked the Germans east of Verdun in the Battle of the Woevre.
April 8
The Turkish government commenced mass deportation and massacre of Armenians.
April 9
An assassination attempt failed on the life of the sultan of Egypt, Hussein Kamel.
April 10
French troops continued their advance between the Meuse and the Moselle.
April 11
The German battleship Kronprinz Wilhelm was interned at Newport News in south eastern Virginia.
April 12
British and Indian forces attacked Ottoman troops in Mesopotamia at the beginning of the Battle of Shaiba, southwest of Basra.
The Greek Government rejected the Allied offer of Smyrna to Greece - made to entice the Hellenic Republic to join operations at Gallipoli.
April 14
The Battle of Shaiba ended when the British successfully defended the city of Basra.
The Germans accused the French of employing poison gas at Verdun.
April 15
The Belgian town of Ostend was bombed by Allied aircraft.
April 16
Turkish forces occupied the city of Urmia in northern Persia.
The British transport ship SS Manitou was attached by the Turkish torpedo-destroyer Demir Hissar.
April 17
Heavy fighting at Hill 60 near Ypres resulted in British forces regaining possession of the strategically significant area of high ground.
The German-commanded vessel Demir Hissar was intercepted south Of the Greek island Of Chios by British destroyer HMS Minerva and forced to run aground.
April 18
Fighting continued on Hill 60 with an unsuccessful German counter-attack.
April 20
Armed Turks attacked Armenians in Van but they were repulsed. Outside the city, all Armenian owned property was destroyed and the Turks laid siege.
April 22
The Second Battle of Ypres began with the Battle of Gravenstafel Ridge which marked the first time that Germany used poison gas on a large scale on the Western Front.
April 23
The British Government declared a blockade of the Cameroons.
April 24
The Battle of Julien began as a counter-attack by the Allied troops to try to regain ground lost to the Germans after the Battle of Gravenstafel Ridge in the Second Battle of Ypres.
April 25
The Gallipoli Campaign started when allied troops landed on the peninsula in the Ottoman Empire.
April 26
The Treaty of London - a secret pact between the Triple Entente and Italy - was signed in London by Great Britain, France, Russia and Italy in order to win the support of Italy against its former allies in exchange for substantial gains of territory.
April 27
The British submarine E14 took part in an operation in the Sea of Marmora where she sunk the Turkish gunboat Nurel Bahr.
April 28
The first Allied advance was repelled at the First Battle of Krithia during the Gallipoli Campaign.
April 29
German Zeppelin LZ-38 bombed Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk.
April 30
German forces occupied Shavli in the Baltic Provinces.

(From The Great War - Unseen Archives by Robert Hamilton)

News of the World for Warbirds Rising - August 1915:

August 1
The Galata bridge in Constantinople harbour was destroyed by British submarines.
August 3
The Second Battle of Isonzo ended with no strategic result as both sides ran out of artillery ammunition.
Russian forces evacuated Van in Armenia.
August 4
Russian troops evacuated Warsaw but took up defensive positions on the north side of the Vistula River.
August 5
After the Russian withdrawal the Germans occupied Warsaw in Poland.
August 6
The Battle of Sari Bair (also known as the August Offensive) began - the last and unsuccessful attempt by the British to seize the Gallipoli peninsula from the Ottoman Empire.
August 7
Heavy fighting continued in the Battle of Sari Bair. British troops were supported by New Zealand and Australian troops.
August 8
The Turkish battleship Barbaros Hayreddin was sunk by the British submarine E11 in the Dardanelles.
August 9
British troops recaptured the trenches at Hooge.
August 10
A surprise Turkish counterattack from Sari Bair on Gallipoli forced the Allies to withdraw.
The German Zeppelin L12 was damaged by aircraft fire during a raid on Dover in the English Channel.
August 12
A British torpedo-carrying seaplane took off from HMS Ben-my-Chree and sank a Turkish supply ship in the Sea of Marmara.
A British advance at Suvla towards the Tekke Tepe Hills was repulsed by the Turks in the Gallipoli Campaign.
August 13
The passenger ship HMT Royal Edward was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine UB-14 in the Aegean Sea.
August 15
The National Register was taken in Britain.
August 16
Lowca and Harrington near Whitehaven in Cumberland were shelled by a German submarine.
August 17
The city of Kovno on the Eastern Front fell to Austro-German forces.
August 19
The German battle cruiser SMS Moltke was torpedoed by British submarine E1 in the Gulf of Riga.
August 20
British airmen destroyed a German submarine off Ostend, Belgium.
August 21
The Battle of Scimitar Hill in the Gallipoli Campaign, which ended in another strategic failure, was the final British offensive in the Dardanelles.
Italy declared war on Turkey.
August 22
Ossowietz in northern Poland was stormed by German forces.
August 23
British warships bombarded German positions at Zeebrugge and Knocke on the Belgian coast.
August 25
German occupying forces established a Polish government in Warsaw. General Hans Hartwig von Beseler was named Governor General.
August 26
German forces occupied the fort of Olita on Niemen and captured Byelostok and Brest-Litovsk in Poland.
August 27
Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff notified Secretary of State Robert Lansing that, "full satisfaction" would be given to the United States for the sinking of the ocean liner SS Arabic on 19 August.
August 29
A combined British, Anzac and Gurkha force failed to take Hill 60 at Suvla.
August 30
The British Government agreed that the Allies could guarantee eventual freedom and self-determination of Bosnia, Herzegovina, South Dalmatia, Slavonia and Croatia, provided Serbia agreed.

(From The Great War - Unseen Archives by Robert Hamilton)

Adolwolf Becker was flying a spotter mission and got hit by Archie. His health went to 97 and soon after the engine quit. He was able to glide back to friendly territory and make a dead stick landing on a road. Lucky it was just a scratch. No hospital time.

Nicely down, MFair, nothing hurt but your pride, the best way to come down!

Here's last week's status report. Please remember to post your updated status on Saturday so I can include it in our weekly status report on Sunday.

Thank you for doing the charts Banjoman. Fullofit, nice touch with the new to put the war in perspective.

Not a problem, I'm really enjoying this DID much more than the other. My dislike for the SPAD is affecting my enjoyment of flying Abner.

MFair, I thought this would really show that it was a World War. Funny they didn't call it that at the time.

Banjoman, I'm with you. I prefer this slower pace as well.

Thanks Rick, it was quite easy. There was a beautiful road right below me.

Clarke has been on a few long patrols down in Alsace. Recently they had a short distance patrol from Fontaine airfield that went across the frontlines due east. No enemy planes sighted, Clarke was preparing to head back to Fontaine when he heard a steam locomotive. Geoffrey his rear gunner also heard the train and tapped his shoulder and pointed down while grinning wildly. Clarke signal to other two planes that he was leaving formation and dropped down alongside the enemy train.

They weren't far from the frontlines and this train was heading deeper into enemy territory. Might be one of those smuggler's trains he had heard about, didn't matter really as it was about to become target practice for Geoffrey.




They didn't damage the train enough to stop it, but Geoffrey sure did enjoy the three passes Clarke made along side the enemy train.

Way to go MudWasp, anything to stop those nasty Boche.

We gave them hell today on a patrol up near St Die. Clarke lead two other Moranes piloted by non HAs. He set up a patrol line between Colmar and Ensisheim and caught a flight of BIIs. His squadmates stayed in tight formation as he dove underneath the Aviatiks. Geoffrey rattled off a few bursts and then the rear gunners of his mates blasted away. Soon he heard the sound of two planes burning and headed to the ground.

He returned to the patrol and spotted another flight headed towards them. He set up position to pass directly head on and underneath their flight of three and soon spotted the visual clues that these German Aviatiks had GUNS. Fortunately this tactic worked and no Moranes were seriously damaged. One Aviatik was downed and claimed by Clarke. The claim was approved and is his first for an armed enemy aircraft.






His squadmates Flachaire and Tessier had claims confirmed too!

Congrats, I've only seen one Aviatik CI and it put a few holes in my wings. I've been wondering how to attack them in a Morane.

That ain't the best tactic as we fly exposed to their guns, although only briefly.

Best position to be in in my head is slightly below and directly in front of them as they can't fire directly forward. Trouble for us is that all the Aviatik pilot has to do is kick a rudder and side slip some to bring his forward gunner on target.

Top Secret bombing run early am yesterday. Target Freidrichshafen Germany, just inside the Morane's fuel range.

Intel has it a new Hun secret weapon is being developed in massive hangars there. Clarke took off at 06.00 with Flachaire and Tessier who were not armed with bombs. Their task was to provide cover in case the new armed Aviatiks were in the area. They headed out a hair south of due east from Fontaine. Two hours later they found their target.







Clarke could tell his bombs hit the massive hangar and Geoffrey rattled off his gun at it as Clarke swung clear and peaked beneath his upper wing at the damage. He was disappointed, the Germans must have hardened it against bombs this size.



He set his compass for west and arrived at Fontaine about two hours later. "We need bigger bombs" was what he told the commanding officer. "Then that target will have to wait until we have a more capable bomber aircraft." was what Clarke was told in response.

Cool, Clarke is getting to perform some really interesting missions. Up in St. Pol, it's always the same two missions, line patrol and deep recon.

That wasn't a WOFF assigned mission...I just wanted to do something different.
Can't/won't do that all the time, but it was fun to see if it could be done. Still had about 10% fuel left. Long flight to drop 4 bombs.

And why not... I read a book a months ago about a French painter that was sent to the airforce to paint for propogander etc.
He ended up near Verdun by long range bombing Squadron (Voison 5's). They claim to of invented massed long range bombing runs to various towns in Germany. So your Secret Mission is quite correct actually.

That is good to know.