Dudley Nightshade Flt Lt. 6 RNAS Petit-synthe, France
Feb 27, 1917.
B flight went Ballooning this morning. I was Tail end charlie and saw the Flight Commanders wing man get the Gas Bag. My kite got overstressed in the dive so popped over to a friendly Aerodrome. The ground Chaps said all the flying wires need to be braced.
A journal of the Great War – By an Anonymous Aviator (Colin Urquhart)
Part 7
During the first week at Ochey I flew daily patrols up to the big salient southeast of Verdun, where our French allies were once again on the offensive. I was becoming frustrated with the Strutter these days. For one, the new Fokker biplanes seemed a bit more manoeuvrable than my machine, and the Albatros scouts (or “Albatri,” as they were invariably known) were in another league altogether. For another, it suddenly seemed that my Vickers gun had become impotent. On 26 October we met a lone Hun two seater as we made our way home from the Verdun area. I fired nearly two hundred rounds at the thing without apparent effect.
Ochey was reasonably comfortable. We had well-constructed huts built on the same lines as the quarters we’d had at Luxeuil. We kept to our same groups, and my American chum Choto took the space across from mine. But the camaraderie was short-lived. The next day he failed to return from a flight up to the lines. His flight mixed it up with a group of Fokker biplanes and in the melee his machine touched Ray Collishaw’s. Collishaw suffered nothing more than a start, but poor Choto’s upper plane came apart and he crashed. His body was recovered by the French and he was buried up near Bar-le-Duc.
Ochey, however, offers a great deal more comfort than Luxeuil, for we no longer have to traverse the mountains in sleet, rain, and fog. They say we shall probably fly from here until the spring at least. The aerodrome is on a low rise just outside a meagre village of forty-odd houses. An even smaller hamlet called Thuilly-en-Groseilles lies just to the east of the field and offers a very cozy little café. You can get anything you need in Ochey’s shops, but you have to go to Toul for anything you want. The old fortress town of Toul is about eight miles to the northwest.
On 25 October, Collishaw had an entertaining day. While ferrying a machine to Ochey (without his gunlayer) he was attacked by several Hun scouts. He destroyed one but got well shot up by the others. One enemy round shattered his goggles and he got bits of glass in his eyes. In all his wild turning and diving he wandered well into Hunland before he shook free of his assailants. He then made his way homewards and landed at the first friendly field he saw. As he trundled up to the hangars, he was stunned to see that the “French” aeroplanes all bore black Maltese crosses! He immediately took off again and made it to a real French aerodrome, where he spent several days letting his eyes recover.
On 30 October 1916, I flew with my new gunlayer Landon, Dissette, and Flt Lieut Foster up the salient. We ran into three Fokkers and got into a ripping good scrap. My Hun tried to escape and I followed him for a good distance over the lines. I managed to put more than a hundred rounds into him from as close as ten yards [picture below], but again with no obvious effect. He spun down over the German trenches and made his escape.
There are rumours about some new naval scout squadrons being formed and I let Wing Cmdr Bell-Davies know that I was keen to try a single-seater some day. He offered little encouragement, but I am clinging to the hope that he is simply taciturn.
I ordered that the 29th be a day of rest for the Jasta so that I could personally interview each pilot and finish the necessary paperwork for the transference of command for both Jasta 1 and Jasta 2. I also thought it would be beneficial to the pilots if they could have a day to grieve the loss of their comrade. I started with Leutnant Böhme because he is the pilot I'm most worried about, but after our interview I think he has managed to put this tragedy behind him and move forward with his duty. He did have one request which I have granted and that is to fly lone missions for the next few days. Of course, I can completely understand his request as I believe I would also be hesitant to fly in a formation after what happened. My good friend Leutnant Muller is flying with the us and so his interview was a mere formality since I already know of his abilities. The one pilot that does stand out from the rest is a certain Leutnant von Richthofen. He is very keen and has already proven to be a successful pilot. I foresee him having a very successful career as long as he manages to stay alive. The rest of the pilots all are good men and quite keen to perform their duties to the best of their abilities. At the end of the day I was feeling much better about my Jasta and I'm quite certain that in the coming days we will give a good accounting of ourselves.
The 30th was the first day that I flew with my men and it turned out to be quite a successful day at that. The morning patrol consisted of Leutnant Böhme in schwarm ein and Leutnant Muller, Leutnant von Richthofen, and myself in schwarm zwei. The four of us circled the aerodrome gaining altitude and after some time Böhme waved and left for his patrol. It wasn't long until I turned my schwarm toward the front to begin our patrol. As we approached the front, I saw in the distance an aerial engagement in process and as we closed the distance I noticed that it was Böhme and he was engaged with two Nieuports and a Quirk. I gave the signal and we attacked but before we could get into position I saw that Böhme had flamed one of the Nieuports. Muller and Von Richthofen were chasing after the other Nieuport and I attacked the Quirk. I made short work of the Quirk and it was soon falling earthward on fire. I waited for the others to form up and then we completed our patrol. When we landed I learned that Muller had claimed the other Nieuport, so three enemy machines were brought down, not bad for a morning's work. The afternoon patrol was just as eventful. Leutnant Böhme was once again flying the solo patrol and I led Muller, Von Richthofen, and Gerlich on a line patrol of the front down near Bapaume. We had hardly settled into our patrol when a flight of three Nieuport 17s swooped down on us from the clouds that were hanging above us. Fortunately, they were hasty in their attack and we were able to counter and avoid their first pass. The engagement devolved into a melee with seven aeroplanes swirling and swooping around in the sky, a perfect situation for another collision. I managed to stay above the fray and saw a Nieuport chasing Leutnant Gerlich so I dove and was able to get a burst into the Frenchman which caused him to break off and attempt to run. Unfortunately for him, the Albatros is faster than my old Halberstadt and I quickly closed the distance. My second burst must have killed or wounded the pilot because it flipped over and began to spin. I watched until as a speck it plunged into the ground. I gathered my schwarm, completed our patrol, and headed home. The men were quite pleased with my double for the day, and to be quite honest, so was I. I am quite pleased with the performance of my Jasta today and especially with Leutnant Böhme's performance.
Member and provider of banjo music for the Illustrious BOC
A journal of the Great War – By an Anonymous Aviator (Colin Urquhart)
Part 8
I was rousted out of bed at 4:30 in the morning of 31 October to accompany Red Flight to escort the 4e Groupe on a raid to Metz. Dissette and I were the only two in the wardroom. The place was starting to take on some character. Edwards had led a scrounging party into Toul and acquired some second-hand furniture, including a wonderful china case which we’d put behind the bar to hold bottles, five overstuffed chairs which would not have been out of place in a Bulgarian bordello, a genuine baize-topped card table, and an assortment of smaller tables, throw rugs, magazine stands, kerosene lamps, ash trays, and a bronze nude of dubious artistic value. Someone had framed lewd pictures from La Vie Parisienne and the inevitable ping-pong table had appeared. Dissette was from Toronto, where I went to school, and we compared notes about favourite spots in the city as we had our tea and toast.
Commander Bell-Davies came in and we both stood.
“Stand easy,” he said, and fell into a chair alongside Dissette and me. “Urquhart, you’re off the Metz job. Take White Flight up to Verdun and hop over to visit the Huns at La Folie Ferme and bomb the place. Our orders came from the French Second Army, so it’s an important show. I can spare only you, Sharman, and Coltrane from the Metz job, so don’t bugger it up.” Thus inspired, I went off to find Lieut Higgins, the RO, to get details on the area and study the maps.
We took off at 7:40 and skirted the salient to the west, passing over the rubble of Verdun and then turned northeast towards the target. Still about five miles out, I spotted a flash of sunlight reflecting off something below, bright against the gloom of the forest of Spincourt. It was hard to make them out, but eventually another faint glint gave away the two aircraft rising to meet us. I put down the nose of the Strutter and made straight for the Hun aerodrome at La Folie Ferme. We unloaded our bombs and, with Sharman and Coltrane close behind, turned and climbed towards our lines.
About three miles east of the muddy smear of the front lines, the Huns engaged us. Two Halberstadt scouts. I was able to avoid their first pass with only one round through our top plane. Landon rattled off a drum and I turned to join the fight. One of the Huns was diving on Coltrane. He didn’t see us coming and I got the Strutter behind him. The Hun had begun to climb, which allowed me to close the distance between us in a few seconds. I caught him from behind and to his left, a little below and only 75 yards away. I fired and held the trigger until we had to break off to avoid collision. The Halberstadt flipped upside down and began a long, inverted spin, crashing into the forest below.
The other Hun had made a run for home. We returned elated, although I rather spoiled it by missing Ochey and taking a twenty-mile tour of the countryside before getting by bearings again. Unfortunately neither Coltrane nor Sharman saw my Hun crash, so my claim awaits the French.
The news at lunch was that the Hun gun-merchant Boelcke is dead, killed by crashing with one of his own people. One less worry... The other news was that I'd been promoted Flight Lieutenant. Five more shillings a week!!!
Dudley Nightshade Flt Lt. 6 RNAS Petit-synthe, France
March 2, 1917.
The Sqn was covering Aerodromes again, I was Tail End to 6 A/c . Spotted a speck in the clouds off to Port amid Archie bursts. Alerted the the Flight by firing off 9 rds,but I as to far behind. They headed home while I broke off. The speck turned into 3 E/a finishing off two Fee's. As they formed up I took the closest and gave him a drum of 303's. I stayed high and reloaded then Chandeled down firing as I over flew him. Clearing my tail, I lost him in low cloud and blowing snow.. Upon landing I put in a claim only to have it rejected.
News of the world. Intrepid Fliers - October 1916:
October 1 The Battle of Le Transloy was the final offensive mounted by the British Fourth Army during the Battle of the Somme. October 4 The troop transport ship RMS Franconia was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-47 in the Mediterranean Sea. October 5 The Battle of the Cerna Bend began in Macedonia between the Bulgarian and Entente armies. October 6 Serbian troops attacked Bulgarian troops near the villages of Dobroveni and Skochivir on the Macedonian Front, but were counter-attacked and pushed back. The Bulgarians took the village of Brod. October 7 In the Battle of Brasov the city was recaptured by Austro-Hungarian forces. October 8 Under the command of Kapitanleutnant Hans Rose the German submarine U-53 sank five merchant ships off the coast of Rhode Island, USA. October 9 The Eighth Battle of the Isonzo began and continued the Italian attempts to extend the bridgehead established at Gorizia. Eleftherios Venizelos arrived in Thessaloniki to establish a pro-Allies provisional Government and to raise an army. October 10 Allied Governments sent an ultimatum to the Greek Government demanding surrender of the Greek naval fleet. Spyridon Lambros replaced Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos as Prime Minister of Greece. October 11 The Greek Government acceded to the Allied demands. October 12 The Eighth Battle of the Isonzo ended with little territorial change and heavy Italian casualties. October 13 The Norwegian Government prohibited belligerent submarines from using her territorial waters. October 14 The Transylvanian frontier into Romania was crossed by German troops. October 15 Anti-Entente demonstrations were held in Athens. October 16 On the Western Front French troops gained a foothold in Sailly at the Battle of Morval. October 17 During the Senussi Campaign the Allied Western Frontier Force moved to attack the enemy Senussi troops at the Affairs in the Dakhla Oasis. October 18 General Henry Rawlinson mounted further attacks against the Germans at Gueudecourt during the Battle of Le Transloy. October 19 French forces began a new offensive to capture Fort Douaumont at Verdun. October 21 Austrian President Count Karl von Sturgkh was assassinated by Friedrich Adler, son of the founder of the Austria's Social Democratic Party. October 22 Constanza in Dobrudja was captured by German and Bulgarian forces on the Eastern Front. October 23 The British minesweeper HMS Genista was sunk by a German U-boat off the west coast Ireland. October 24 French forces opened the First Offensive Battle of Verdun and recaptured Fort Douaumont. October 26 The naval engagement, the Battle of Dover Strait took place when the German Empire launched flotillas of U-boats in order to disrupt the Dover Barrage and destroy all Allied shipping in the Strait. October 27 By the time the Battle of Dover Strait ended the British had lost one destroyer, one troopship and several drifters while the Germans suffered only minor damage to a single torpedo boat. October 28 Ernst von Korber was appointed Austrian President following the assassination of Count Karl von Sturgkh earlier in the month. October 29 The Sherif of Mecca was proclaimed King of the Arabs. October 30 Hermann von Stein succeeded Adolf Wild von Hohenborn as German Minister for War. October 31 The Ninth Battle of the Isonzo was launched - the third of three short-lived offensives fought on the Isonzo front in the autumn of 1916. The battle started with an attack on Vrtojba and the northern and central areas of the Karst Plateau.
(From The Great War - Unseen Archives by Robert Hamilton)
"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."
February 1 Germany began a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. February 3 President Wilson severed diplomatic relations between the United States and Germany. In the Bay of Biscay, the German submarine U-53 torpedoed and sunk the US liner Housatonic which was carrying a cargo of wheat. The crew was later picked up by a British steamer. February 4 Mehmed Talat Pasha replaced Said Halim Pasha as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. February 5 A British armoured force won an engagement against the Senussi at the Siwa Oasis. February 6 The Turks evacuated the south bank of the Tigris east of the Hal-Tigris junction near Kut. February 7 The British passenger steamer SS California was torpedoed by the German submarine U-85 as she returned from New York to Glasgow. February 8 The British destroyer HMS Ghurka was on patrol off Dungeness when she struck a mine laid by UC47 and sank. February 10 A meeting took place in London between the British Government and members of the International Zionist Movement about a Jewish homeland in Palestine. February 12 The American schooner Lyman M. Law was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Cagliari, Sardinia by the German submarine U-35. The ship was on a journey from Maine to Palermo in Italy when the Germans ordered the crew off the schooner before a bomb was detonated, setting fire to the 1,300-ton wooden vessel prior to its sinking. February 13 Scandinavian Governments published a joint protest against German submarine warfare. February 14 The British Government gave a pledge to the House of Commons that restoration of Alsace and Lorraine to France was an aim of the war. February 16 Japan and Great Britain agreed that Japan should receive all German concessions in China and German Pacific islands north of the equator. Britain would receive German Pacific islands south of the equator. February 17 An Australian War Government was formed. February 18 The British steamer Asturian was damaged by gunfire from a German U-boat whilst en route from Liverpool to Alexandria. February 20 Japan and Russia agreed that Japan should receive all German concessions in China. February 23 The Second Battle of Kut was fought between Indian and British troops and Ottoman forces at Kut. The battle was part of the British advance to Baghdad which began in December 1916. February 24 British and Indian troops recaptured Kut al Amara. The Zimmermann Telegram was passed to the US by Britain, detailing the alleged German proposal of an alliance with Mexico against the US. February 25 The Cunard ocean liner RMS Laconia was torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat U-50 while returning from the United States to England. The Germans began to retreat from front line positions on the Ancre as part of the withdrawal to the Hindenburg line. February 26 President Wilson addressed Congress requesting powers to arm US merchant ships following the unprovoked sinking of the American liner Housatonic and the schooner Lyman M. Law. February 27 The German Chancellor justified the country's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare and proclaimed it to be a great success. February 28 The American press published the German proposals for an alliance with Mexico against the United States.
(From The Great War - Unseen Archives by Robert Hamilton)
"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."
A journal of the Great War – By an Anonymous Aviator (Colin Urquhart)
Part 9
My Halberstadt from the previous day was never confirmed.
And so began November 1916. I wonder how many people would have thought 27 months ago that the war would have lasted this long? On the morning of the 1st Landon and I accompanied F/Comdr Draper and F/S/L Armstrong’s machines back to the Verdun front, this time to bomb an enemy aerodrome at Mercy Le Haut, well behind the Hun lines. There was a heavy ground haze and even heavier cloud, so it was a long and tiring flight. My eyes burned with the strain of keeping Armstrong, who led, in sight. We found the target and turned home. In the end it was two and half hours of exhausting boredom. On landing at Ochey we went to the RO and gave our reports. I was about to ask if I could head for town to get a bath, but Lieut Higgins ordered me to go and see the boss before I got the chance to open my mouth.
I reported to Commander Bell-Davies’ office and saluted. “Flight Lieutenant Urquhart,” he said with a smile. “Are you used to that yet?”
“I rather like the look of the extra ring on the sleeves,” I told him. “I was thinking of getting a few more sewn on.”
“Before you go off on that, Admiral, read this.” He passed me a sheet of paper. It was authorization for a transfer to the “detached squadron.” I asked what that meant, thinking perhaps that I was bound for Salonika or Borneo or somewhere similarly remote.
“We have detached a unit to the RFC to help them in the Amiens area. The new Hun machines are hurting them badly. It’s a single-seater squadron. The new Sopwith scouts, I understand.”
My heart gave a leap. The Sopwiths’ reputation had already spread. They were a true “pup” to fly, and so they had been nicknamed. I was to report at once, which meant a day-long drive by road. Bell-Davies told me I was to return a Breguet bomber to St-Pol-sur-Mer, and then get a drive down to join the new unit at a place called Vert Galant near Doullens.
I had less than a half-hour to get my kit squared away and pay my wardroom chits off. I’d never flown the Breguet. We had only two of the things, which were useless machines. George MacLennan was our resident Breguet merchant and he spent fifteen minutes teaching me how to avoid the many ways the thing could kill me. And with that I bid farewell to 3 Wing.
It was eleven at night when my driver finally found Vert Galant after a Cook’s tour of Flanders after dark. It was a large field – two separate fields actually – locating in a sloping hollow among low rises of land. There was a cluster of farm buildings at a road junction, a small copse, and hangars lining both sides of the Doullens-Amiens road. We were on the east side of the road, along with 13 Squadron RFC, flying FE2s. The west side was not currently occupied, although it was prepared for two more squadrons, and our side could have taken another one. One of our flights was accommodated in the Ferme de Rousel, on the east side of the road across from the larger farm at the crossroads. Two rows of newly-constructed corrugated iron huts housed the rest of the pilots. Some of the men were supposed to be housed under canvas until more new huts were ready, but the squadron had sent a boarding party to claim some wooden buildings across the road. As long as no other squadron moved in, the place was ours.
I met Squadron Commander Bromet, formerly of 1 Wing. He told me I was in B Flight, commanded by Acting F/Cdr Bob Little, an Australian. I told him how thrilled I was to get a shot at the Pup, but he said with a sigh that as the newest arrival I was consigned to fly a Nieuport scout until more Sopwiths arrived. He hoped it wouldn’t be for long.
The few fellows remaining in the wardroom at that hour seemed a pleasant crew. I met Bob Compston, a very young-looking Englishman, and Jimmy Goble, another Australian. I shared a drink with one of the flight commanders, a very nice fellow named Colin MacKenzie. He’d been a medical student and a probationary surgeon in the RN before learning to fly. Commander Bromet promptly christened us Colin and Semi-Colin. I, of course, became Semi-Colin.
Charles Booker, an English fellow who’d spent time in Australian, was an acting flight commander. He showed me the way to my cabin in the dark. The others were asleep, so I quietly laid my sea bag on the floor and bedded down for the night.
The following morning I flew a familiarization flight in a large triangle over to Doullens and south to the Somme. Compston led, with Danny Galbraith, me, and a fellow named Barry Hazard. Galbraith, interestingly, is a Torontonian and a good chum of Stearne Edwards from 3 Wing.
The Nieuport was a joy to fly, but its only armament was a Lewis with a 47 round drum mounted on the upper plane. To change it one had to stand with the stick between one’s knees and pull the silly thing off. I have no head for heights and it would be a simple matter for me to tumble into the void. I told myself that I would simply have to make do with 47 rounds. May the equipment gods smile on me!
The flight was uneventful and the weather foul, freezing rain pellets that stung like needles and gusts and bumps and crosswinds. To add to the joy, my little LeRhone engine started misfiring as I approached Vert Galant in a stiff breeze. I went around a second time and settled myself down. Because of the wind I had to land approaching from the north which meant a slightly downhill run. The machine seemed to take forever to settle down and for a few seconds I thought I’d introduce myself by trundling into a row of trees at the far end of the field, but at last the machine stopped. The engine was making terrible sounds so I shut it down. The ack emmas were not thrilled about pushing it four hundred yards back to the hangars. I explained to the irate petty officer that it was a bad case of cylindritis and shutting the damned thing down was to be preferred to rebuilding the engine tonight.
Raine, as usual a great story. Just wanted to give you some information that you might want to use in your upcoming stories. In Arthur's story he took command of 8 RNAS as of November 5 and you can include him in your stories if you want. I think it's cool when we do that, but of course, you don't have to if you don't want to use him.
Member and provider of banjo music for the Illustrious BOC
Very cool. I have already introduced the historical squadron commander, but let me think about it. I merged my story with MFair's in the other DiD last year and it was great fun. He and I were planning to do the same at 3 Wing, but he lost his guy to a mid-air collision before we really got it going.
Dudley Nightshade Flt Lt. 6 RNAS Petit-synthe, France
March 3, 1917.
Mission: Balloon Burst
T/O: B Flight 0810 Hrs Load: Rockets and machine gun ammo. A Flight : Divert Patrols to the east
Remarks: An Un tidy show. Our flight of 5 machines were coming off target , after getting the gas bag, when we ran into e/a. 5 Albatross Scouts. I had a merry time with 2 on my tail when 3 more got into the fight.. A regular Turn and Burn it was. I spotted 3 airplanes going down before I pulled a blue Max and did low level over the lines and thru the trees to scurry home. Counted 13 hits in my kite.
Sgn losses: 2 N-17's + all B flight machines damaged. Claims 1 e/a.
Fantastic stories! I'll try to post a Berthier story soon.
I visit this site now only for this thread and any WOFF news. Otherwise I've moved back to the old Combat Ace forum. It looks good and works well. This one doesn't.
"Upon my word I've had as much excitement on a car as in the air, especially since the R.F.C. have had women drivers."
James McCudden, Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps
Dudley Nightshade Flt Lt. 6 RNAS Petit-synthe, France
March 4, 1917.
Mission: Railyard Loc: Between Loos and Lens B Flt: 6 a/c T/O: 0810 Hrs. E/a: Sighted 2 3-6 a/c Patrols well above us. Albatross or Halb's
Remarks: Supply didn't have any rockets so it was off with machine gun ammo. We passed under numerous Huns but they did not attack why ? Our Intell said that we did some damage.
Raine, thanks for the compliment. Coming from you that really means something to me. I'm trying to learn from you and Hasse because in my mind, you guys are the real masters.
Member and provider of banjo music for the Illustrious BOC
Raine, best of luck to Colin as a Nupe pilot! She's a fine machine, though the British version with only the Lewis gun is lacking in firepower. Bruno is also starting to have ideas about Nupes...
Banjoman, please don't underestimate your writing skills! Your stories have been enjoyable reading ever since the first adventures of Abner in the old DID. Keep it up!
1 November 1916. Melzéville.
Dear Mama and Papa,
Thank you for your latest - its arrival truly saved my day. Terrible weather continues here and we are more often than not completely grounded, which leaves us with excessive amounts of spare time. Some of that we can spend in military matters, like improving our tactical and theoretical knowledge, or making sure our machines and living quarters are in tip-top shape. But at the end of the day, we’re military pilots, and our sole raison d’être is flying and fighting the boche! So you can probably imagine how not being able to do that because of miserable weather is enough to make us mad.
Speaking of flying (which we still manage to do occasionally), I recently had quite an adventure with my observer Vercingetorix. (Remember that his real name is Pascal Girard and we jokingly call him Vercingetorix because his moustache resembles that of the famous gentleman in Royer’s painting!) We were flying high above the trenches on a photographic reconnaissance mission as the escorts for one of our machines equipped with the camera when a German biplane approached us from their side of the lines. The fellow was alone and I recognized that he was flying a Fokker biplane scout. It resembles the infamous monoplane of the same company, which is now more or less obsolete and only rarely seen over the front. Well, this German aviator had a newer machine, and was clearly seeking to put it to test in a real fight, approaching as he was our pair of two-seaters in a very threatening manner.
Both of our crews had noticed the attacker and the observers were prepared to give him a fiery welcome with their machine guns (you remember our machines carry two such guns for self-defense). The German went after the plane with the camera, which was flying on our right wing. Only amateurs open fire from too great a distance, so we waited until the Fokker was about 150 meters behind us - and only then did both observers pull the trigger. The barrel of the gun is very close to the pilot’s head when firing backwards, and I could really feel the loud cracks and smell the powder! The German pushed his machine downwards and attempted to dive below us and then pull his nose up and fire at our exposed bellies. Our observer guns can’t be used against an enemy approaching from that angle, so the boche clearly knew what he was doing.
Quite instinctively I made a sharp turn to the left and then descended towards the Fokker, trying to give Pascal a good field of fire straight ahead. My maneuver must have taken the boche by surprise, because he was still aiming at our other machine. Pascal opened fire and we flew past the German so close that I could actually see the details of his cockpit! Our bullets must have hit the Fokker’s engine, because soon after our pass the boche turned his machine around and entered into a steep dive, leaving a thick trail of black smoke behind him. He then disappeared into a cloud several hundred meters below us and we could no longer see his machine. Only the smoke trail was left to remind us of our first combat encounter.
We returned to formation and flew safely back to base without any new adventures. After landing, we were still quite excited about our experience and attracted a big crowd to listen to our report. Although we hadn’t actually seen the Fokker crash down, the case was so obvious that we wrote an official claim of victory to the headquarters for further examination. Alas, the next day we received word from them that observers in the forward trenches had witnessed that same German machine diving down very close to the ground, but then the pilot obviously managed to straighten his course and soon the plane disappeared into the distance, leaving a trail of smoke behind it. So we had definitely hurt him, but not enough to bring him down! We were of course disappointed, but such things happen in war.
Our captain was nevertheless very pleased with our offensive spirit, though he did remind me that I’m not flying a Nieuport and one can also be too aggressive for his own good in a fight.
As strange as it may sound, I actually enjoyed my first air combat. It’s hard to describe the experience, but it feels like living your life to the full and then even beyond that. In that moment, nothing else matters. It’s just you or him. Everything else is insignificant and pales in comparison. I’ve seen combat on the ground, but it never felt like this, so it must be the element of flying that gives me this powerful impression.
In any case, the captain spoke wisely - one must try to avoid becoming reckless.
Still, I wonder: what could I do with that Nieuport?
As always, tell Marie and Sophie and Louis that I love them and always think about them. And please write often, especially during these bleak months of winter.
Your humble (occasionally) and obedient (rarely) son,
Bruno.
PS. Please tell Sophie that the new socks fit perfectly and that I greatly appreciate them. One can never have too many pairs of warm socks in my line of work!
"Upon my word I've had as much excitement on a car as in the air, especially since the R.F.C. have had women drivers."
James McCudden, Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps
What a welcome addition to a Sunday morning. I'm sitting in an airport coffee shop, and thought I'd check the forum. Great to see your Berthier and "Vicengetorix" in action. Please keep them alive for many more chapters.
"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."