Hello my darling, and thank you for your letter. I'm glad to hear that you're keeping the estate in such fine order. As to your inquiry, if the War Department want to use the back field for an encampment then I suppose we must do our duty and oblige them but I do not want those men intruding upon the nearer grounds. Tell old Tom Smith to keep his shotgun handy and a weather eye out for any "scroungers" in the orchard. Better still, if it does eventuate that this encampment goes ahead, make sure to send one of the help over with a few baskets of fruit and whatever else from the garden to prevent any nosey parkers from trying to help themselves and ending up with their buttocks perforated by buckshot.
I'm sorry if my handwriting isn't entirely up to snuff today, I'm writing this by candlelight while my machine is prepared for a dawn patrol. It's cold here but the weather has been generally pleasant so that means two or three patrols a day. Things are still much the same here, Alan (Lt Osborne, my observer) and I have been having a jolly old time knocking the spots off of every Hun machine we see. I've put in three more claims since I wrote to you last, three Fokker E.III's. It must be Eindecker season because that's all we see lately.
No matter how many we knock down Master Fritz seems to have more in the big German cupboard that Eindeckers come from. I'm not particularly impressed with these aircraft but we did have rather a close shave the other day, ran into four E.III's in the area near Loos which you will have read about in the papers. Three of us (Paget-Graves, Reid and myself) were around there patrolling there at 6,000ft or so and along comes this cocky #%&*$# trying to attack us from head on and below. I decided to steam off after alone him as he was singleton looking for a fight and nobody else from B Flight seemed inclined to offer this German fellow battle. It wasn't hard to get Alan in position and when he eventually remembered where the trigger was on his Lewis gun he took a few shots and then stopped firing, his Lewis had jammed. Thankfully he sorted it out while I stayed with the Hun and he ended up making short work of the Fokker, sending it down trailing smoke after putting his Lewis gun to rights. Once again however, this Hun employed the ruse so popular with his ilk upon being out maneuvered, namely spinning for the deck and fleeing home. I decided not to follow as we were close to the Hun trenches and, as I said before, I'm not in any way inclined to afford those gentlemen the courtesy of a social visit. A lesson I learned back in 1915 in my poor old Morane Parasol.
Having lost height from a spin while attacking this first Fokker I made for Armentiers at about 5,000ft, spotting A flight at about 7,000 as I made my way West and it was at this point that I learned a valuable lesson: Never climb while over the lines. You see I thought that, since B Flight was nowhere to be seen, I would join A FLight instead and was climbing to reach their altitude when Alan started shouting and pointing and, just in time, I saw that we were in the company of three more Eindeckers! It was a running battle from there on in, they didn't get any shots in at since I kept pur Fee out of their way us but all I could do to further the "Offensive Spirit" was single one out briefly and let Alan have a crack at him before breaking off to maintain my line of retreat towards Armentiers where I knew out foes would be loath to follow.
Alan knocked one down with the pillar mounted gun which surprised me, I've always thought the thing to be a useless extravagance, dead weight really since using the silly thing is more of a danger to Alan than it is to the enemy but Alan is a very determined chap when he gets the bit between his teeth, he has quite the allotment of pluck when things get hairy and sees no problem in climbing out of his nacelle to shoot backwards over the tail. I didn't see much of what was happening behind me as I had to be looking out for three aircraft at the same time but Alan claimed that he sent one of the Fokkers down and his word is good enough for me. Fortunately for us both members from A and B Flight saw our actions and confirmed both Fokkers as being destroyed and, just this morning, the adjutant got a wire from an observation balloon crew who spotted our Fokker from yesterday going down so this brings our score to four machined confirmed destroyed.
We were lucky, what I should have done was make for Armentiers at full speed and THEN climbed back to join A Flight but the sight of them above gave me a false sense of security. Lesson learned.
In other news I've been poking around with a little black magic called "file editing" that I learned from a travelling gypsy who stopped by Clairmarais to sell us some eggs (Corporal May, the one in the records office has some deal with her). I consulted her in ways to instill the proper fighting spirit in the other members of 20 Squadron so that they might take the fight to the enemy but to no effect. Such is the spirit here that, while I may refer to my "Farman Experimental Model 2b" as a "Fighting Experimental", the others here operate their machines as "Fleeing Experimentals" which is a damn shame really. If they'd buck up their act then, between the lot of us, we'd be sending a lot of these Fokkers and Aviatiks down in flames and the war would be over by Christmas. As it stands right now, Alan and I are waging a one man war against the entire perishing Deutsches Luftstreitskrafte!
My machine is almost ready so I must sign off soon but, before I do I was wondering if you have heard from Lord Elliswood about having his stallion sire a foal over Black Bessie, the two should produce a fine progeny for hunting don't you think? If he does agree and deigns to pay a visit, be liberal with the Courvoisier and make sure he keeps his hands to himself. Rotten old lecher. I'm not above reaching for my duelling saber even in this day and age. Speaking of horses though, I've been thinking that we should do some fox hunting when I come home on leave. How would you like that? Just the two of us of course. We can fill our flasks, take a hamper out and make a day of it. There's some good country south of the estate for hunting and "picnicking" Just don't let on to your friends that I take you out on jaunts like that or we'll never hear the end of it! The fitter Sergeant has just informed me that my machine is ready to fly si I must end the letter here my darling.
Devotedly yours,
Archie.
P.S. It's late enough in the season now to begin summer planting, I don't think we'll be getting any more frost so do remember to get the vegetable patch in order.
Let's pretend I got the BWOC badge to embed here.
Wenn ihr sieg im deine Kampf selbst gegen, wirst stark wie Stahl sein. "The best techniques are passed on by the survivors." - Gaiden Shinji
A quick note in case you read anything in the papers, we got into a bit of a scrap the other day on afternoon patrol and HQ is sending a correspondent, I don't want you worrying if you happen to see 20 Squadron or my name in the paper. The Huns have just captured Vimy and things are heating up here in our sector, Fokkers are on the warpath as well. Alan and I have just put in two claims in after the last patrol, an Aviatik (Sort of like a German Be2c but much better organised) and a Fokker.
Alan and I got into a grand old beano with three Fokkers and ended up landing, well, crashing really, near an army camp north of Arras but we're both unharmed so don't worry if you read about it in the newspaper. I say this as I have been ordered to report to Corps HQ to speak with a press correspondent regarding the action over Arras. Neither Alan nor I thought much of our scrap at the time except for regret that our dear old Fee had to be driven home on the back of a tender but it seems that HQ wants a positive story to counter the bad news about Vimy I suppose and, rumour has it that some Froggy chap recently raised his score of victories to ten so, if our victories are confirmed, that will put Alan and I at a total of six and give our papers a chance to show the people at home that the RFC is keeping its' end up and not being outdone by a bunch of wine swilling Frenchmen.
I'm sending this missive with one of the troops who is going home for training as an observer. We often take NCO's up and show them the ropes just to maintain an emergency reserve. He's a good lad, name of Sergeant Darling. He's not a public school boy so he may feel somewhat out of his element at the estate. Make sure that he gets a good meal before he leaves and please do try not be too embarrassed if he insists on calling you 'ma'am' or 'your ladyship', which he may. Have old Tom lunch with you both and then drive him to Farnborough in the motor.
Also, we're running a little short of various sundries here. If you could arrange to have the following list delivered to Clairmarais then all of us here should be eternally grateful:
1 x Cricket bat, the last one got broken on mess night. A dozen gramophone records (The chaps here love 'Rag', you'll know best what to get.) 10 x safety razors. A crate of plum jam, marmalade or whatever conserves are available. A case of whisky. A case of stout. 5 x tins of pipe tobacco
Use my chequing account with Lloyds to pay for it all please dear and have Harrods deliver them using my name. I will also be writing to Lloyds to increase the household funds and transferring a sum in your account to provide for you in the event that any of the help get drafted or sent to do war work which I now feel is inevitable, please let me know if and when you require more money sooner rather than later should things get tight. I don't want my dear little tulip going without, war be damned. Enjoy the spring my love, I'll be home on leave as soon as I can manage it but, with the way things are right now, you may not be hearing from me for a while.
Yours, with ardour and devotion,
Archie.
Let's pretend I got the BWOC badge to embed here.
Wenn ihr sieg im deine Kampf selbst gegen, wirst stark wie Stahl sein. "The best techniques are passed on by the survivors." - Gaiden Shinji
Jimmy, some fine letters with good period flavour. I'll look forward to reading more. You should consider joining the Centenary DiD, where there are a few of us who like the creative writing as much as the flying.
I'd like to join the DiD but I only have WoFF 1 so that might put me at a disparity with other players for various reasons. As soon as I upgrade to WoFF UE I'll definitely look into giving it a shot since I follow the thread avidly.
Let's pretend I got the BWOC badge to embed here.
Wenn ihr sieg im deine Kampf selbst gegen, wirst stark wie Stahl sein. "The best techniques are passed on by the survivors." - Gaiden Shinji
Many Telegraph readers will by now be familiar with names like Roland Garros and Oswald Boelcke, men who have been dubbed by many as "Aces" of the skies over the Western Front. Today, it is my privilege to report to you today the exploits of one of our own emerging "Aces", 2nd Lt Archie Berry of 20 Squadron. Royal Flying Corps. 2nd Lt Berry, the son of Lord Berry of "The Great Vale" Estate near Elmstead has recently joined the growing ranks of the "Aces", men who have destroyed several enemy aircraft in combat. With eight confirmed German aircraft destroyed to his credit, Berry has been involved in numerous actions against the formidable Fokker aircraft favoured by Oswald Boelcke that has been so commonly employed by Germany over the front to harass our own men and machines. Berry was well know at Eton for his fencing prowess and now he is well known in his squadron for his aggressive duelling tactics against the Fokker scourge and his willingness to fight the Hun even when outnumbered.
The skies over the city of Arras played host to his latest exploit, the destruction of a Fokker aircraft in aerial battle. The German aircraft lost control and crashed within view of the residents of the town, encamped soldiers and this correspondent alike. As one rapt human mass we watched in awe and terror as Berry piloted his machine against no less than three German aircraft, wheeling through the air as gracefully as a hawk, hounding the Germans and driving two away before sending the third out of control to his end, face down into the mud. According to Berry this is not an uncommon feat for the men of the RFC, when I spoke to him a day after his action over Arras Berry said "Our men are with at least two of theirs and we have two of them in our busses to their one, Master Fritz doesn't stand a chance no matter how many Fokkers he comes along with." Inspiring words from an officer fresh from battle and a dramatic crash landing which occurred as a result of damage to his aircraft after the gallant action, both Berry and his observer were unharmed. I had thought that my story would end here but, as though to prove his statement to the press true. our offices have today received a communique that Berry has been credited with two more Fokkers today after yet another battle with no less than four (with some sources claiming five) enemy aircraft in the area of Ypres.
It's our pleasure to inform our readers that 2nd Lt Berry has been recommended for a decoration by his commanding officer, Captain Edward Skidmore. What we anticipate as being the first of many decorations for Archie Berry, an officer of true British stripe who is taking the fight to the enemy wherever he may find him.
Editor's Note: We have received news after proofing that 2nd Lt Archie Berry has been awarded the Distinguished Service Order and will be gazetted in tomorrow's morning edition of the Daily Telegraph. His investiture is expected to take place at Buckingham Palace some time in April.
Telegram to "H"
Dearest H (stop) Have been in the thick of it (stop) Prepare for a visit to the Palace (stop) More in the Telegraph (stop) They didn't even mention Alan (stop) Please have Harrods send 5 Wreaths (stop) I am fine (stop) Fondly, AB (stop)
Last edited by JimmyBlonde; 02/17/1710:54 AM.
Let's pretend I got the BWOC badge to embed here.
Wenn ihr sieg im deine Kampf selbst gegen, wirst stark wie Stahl sein. "The best techniques are passed on by the survivors." - Gaiden Shinji
Jimmy, I agree with Raine. You are putting up some dandy reports Sir! Keep it up, it's fine reading with my morning coffee.
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