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Carrick, good to see you back in the air. Fullofit, that was an exciting chapter in Aldi's story! Please keep up the great work.

There has not been much happening in Demian's world lately. Here is the latest...

Memoir of Demian Kraft

Part 5

My failure to obtain confirmation for the victories only I knew I had weighed heavily on me as February closed. Ltn d. R. Wieland was outwardly polite to me, but I detected none of the warmth that he showed to the other pilots and I concluded that I was definitely on probation. To make matters worse, the weather allowed little opportunity to change my fortune.

On 27 February we were dispatched to guard the balloon line in the Ypres sector. It was a beautiful clear winter day. One could see for miles. This was my first really good chance to see the front in this well fought-over salient and I was staggered by the brutality of the landscape. Trees, where they showed at all, were mere stumps. Villages were heaps of broken stone and twisted metal. Wire was laid over wire and the fields were dimpled with shell-holes as if they had been beaten flat by a crazed coppersmith. Much of the ground had been flooded and then frozen. When the thaw came it would be a study in misery. I thanked God for my decision to fight in the sky.

Scenery, however, was all we saw that day. If the English were up, they were avoiding us.

The next two days were stormy and unfit to fly. Ltn Wieland organized little activity, so Berse and I made for Ostend, where we found a café called “‘T Gruen Huis,” where two young sisters served tables and flirted with the soldiers and sailors who crowded the place. The older girl, Hanne, told me that the English had dropped bombs on the city two or three weeks before and teased me about letting them.[1] I explained that the English were not too careful with Belgian lives, but she just laughed and suggested that the British Navy would soon land soldiers on the coast to take away our airfields. Hanne knew nearly every officer who entered the café by name. I wondered if she might not be a spy. When we paid her for our coffee and omelettes she asked how our new CO was.[2]

On 2 March we flew again, a long difficult flight in low visibility to escort some DFWs on a photographic mission over the Ypres sector. Over the salient we climbed into sunshine and saw two Gitterrümpfe [3] overhead. Although there were five of us the Englishmen dived down and engaged us. They scored a few hits on my machine before I could turn on them, and then they dived away. One escaped, but the other turned to fight. Unfortunately we all got in each other’s way. I was able to climb up under the enemy machine and get some good shots at it, but it fell away into a cloud bank and we lost it.


British dud bomb, dropped on Ostend port, February 1917

Historical Notes:

[1] There was a bombing raid on the port at Ostend on 10 February 1917. Invariably, some bombs hit civilian homes. The Germans obligingly posted lists of civilian casualties in the newspapers.

[2] A plan for a British amphibious attack on the coast around Ostend was in its earliest stages about this time. Called Operation Hush, it was to coincide with a successful push on the Ypres Salient in the summer of 1917. Mercifully it was scrapped.

[3] Lattice-tails, i.e. pusher types.

@ Raine....great stuff!

Regards,

Jeff

wow, nice bomb pic.

Gilbear Du Bussy
Sous Lieutenant
2 Section Flt Leader
Esc 81
La Noblette Ferme,
Verdun, France.




June 30, 1917.


Missiom: Line Patrol
Alt: 1800 meters
WX: Overcast with Rain
2 Sec: 4 a/c
1 Sec: 3 a/c
E/a: Spotted 3 flights on the enemy side. 15-20 ? different alt.
Claims: 1 Albatross Scout
Losses: 2 damaged. Spads.


Remarks: As Section leader, I broke into the lowest and closest Flight. This turned into 2 Hun Scouts. a brisk and short shoot up. I got in a string of fire then zee gun jammed so had to pull out of the fight and hide in zee clouds. I did see 2 Spads firing and on the tail of one e/a then loss sight. Top Cover lagged behind on the turn to target so was low and slow and did not engage the e/a.

Gentlemen, thank you for the compliments and words of encouragement. I'm really having fun with this pilot.

News of the World for February 1917 - Intrepid Fliers Group:

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)

News of the World for June 1917 - Warbirds Rising Group:

June 1
Zeebrugge, Ostend and Bruges were heavily bombed by the Royal Naval Air Service.
June 2
After some of its vessels were sunk by German submarines, Brazil revoked its neutrality and seized all German ships in Brazilian ports.
June 3
Italy proclaimed its Protectorate over independent Albania.
The Independent Labour Party and the Socialist Party met in Leeds to advocate a peace settlement. Among the attendees were future British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald and philosopher Bertrand Russell.
June 4
General Aleksei Brusilov succeeded Mikhail Alexeiev as Russian Commander-in-Chief.
June 5
German aeroplanes bombed the port of Sheerness and other Naval establishments on the Thames Estuary during daylight hours.
June 7
The Battle of Messines launched an Allied offensive near the village of Messines in Flanders. The battle began when a number of enormous underground mines were detonated under the Messines Ridge.
June 8
The Tenth Battle of the Isonzo was called off by Chief-of-Staff Luigi Cadorna with only minor territorial gains for the Italians.
June 9
The Russian Provisional Government refused a German proposal for unlimited armistice.
June 10
The Battle of Mount Ortigara began between Italian and Austro-Hungarian troops to gain possession of Mount Ortigara, on the Asiago Plateau.
June 11
Allied Governments delivered an ultimatum to Greece demanding the abdication of King Constantine I.
June 12
King Constantine I of Greece abdicated his throne in the face of pressure from Britain and France and internal opponents - including Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos - who favoured Greece's entrance into the war on the side of the Allies.
June 13
US Major General John J. Pershing arrived in France.
German Gotha aircraft launched a major heavy bomber raid on London in daylight.
June 14
The German Zeppelin L43 was shot down by a British fighter aircraft during a reconnaissance mission in the North Sea.
The British Admiralty approved plans for the convoying of merchant ships.
June 15
The Espionage Act was passed in the United States. The act prohibited any attempt to interfere with military operations, to support US enemies during wartime, to promote insubordination in the military, or to interfere with military recruitment.
All Irish veterans of the Easter Rebellion still in custody were freed by the British government.
June 17
The German airship L48 was intercepted and destroyed by British fighters over the sea near Great Yarmouth.
June 18
Austrian Premier Count Heinrich Clam-Martinitz resigned.
June 19
General Arthur Currie was appointed to command the Canadian Corps.
June 20
The British Sloop HMS Salvia, operating as a Q-ship, was sunk by German submarine U-94 off the west coast of Ireland.
June 23
The P&O liner SS Mongolia struck a mine and sank off the coast of Bombay.
June 25
The first contingent of United States troops arrived at the port of Saint Nazaire in France.
An Austrian counterattack in Trentino recaptured Monte Ortigara.
June 27
Greece severed diplomatic relations with Germany, Austria-Hungary
and Turkey and a state of war was declared.
June 28
General Edward Allenby succeeded Sir Archibald Murray in command of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force.
June 29
The Russian Summer Offensive began along a broad front in Galicia.
June 30
The British steamer SS Ilston was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine UB-23 on a voyage from Swansea to France with a cargo of railway material.

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

Gilbear Du Bussy
Sous Lieutenant
2 Section Flt Leader
Esc 81
La Noblette Ferme,
Verdun, France.



July 1, 1917

Wet day rain showers during morning. Line Patrol during afternoon with 5 a/c in the section. No luck .

Gilbear Du Bussy
Sous Lieutenant
2 Section Flt Leader
Esc 81
La Noblette Ferme,
Verdun, France.


July, 2, 1917.

Escort during morning, Top cover got hit by 5 Scouts then they hit the Recon ships. I banged away at one, but he scissored then went home. We had 3 Damaged + 1 forced down. 1 Sopwith B-1 damaged. for 1 claimed Hun.



Afternoon line Patrol, Another fight this time with Green Tail Scouts. The 3 a/c spotted and broke into us ( 5 Spads) as we tried to get behind them. Fired then ran do a chandel fire repeat. Finally, my Hun ( a Very good pilot) came out of his turn too low so I was able to swing down on his tail. got within 100 yards a perfect set up and my Gun Jammed. All I could do was dive away and RTB We lost a Spad that flight and 1 pilot wnd. for 0.

Drago Duntz
Marckebeeke

The propaganda arm of Germany took a hit today as it was reported that their up and coming star was killed in a mid air collision with a Sopwith Tripe. He had turned to engage one of the 9 Tripes about 3 minutes into the fight when an Albatros came across his front. He turned to avoid it and the last thing he saw was the 3 wings of the Tripe.

Note: this was one of the most exciting fights I have been a part of. 2 flights of RNAS Tripes and both flights from Jasta 28w. It was great! Right up until I got killed.

Here is the status report for last week's action.

I'm sorry guys that I haven't written anything in a while, I've just been so busy. I promise to write up something this week. Didn't want anybody to think that I'd disappeared.

MFair, tough luck! I know something about being in the middle of a furball and not having anywhere to maneuver. Better luck with the next letter and stay away from the middle.
Banjoman, thanks for the report again and no worries. We know you're preparing something good!
So much has happened. I need to post another Aldi report tomorrow.

Gilbear Du Bussy
Sous Lieutenant
2 Section Flt Leader
Esc 81
La Noblette Ferme,
Verdun, France.


July 3, 1917.


Mission: Offensive Flight up by Rethel.
2 Sec: 5 a/c
alt: Max Height
E/A: Spotted close by and Headed home 2 DFW Types. Off to the East 2 flights of a/c 5 or 10 ?
Losses: 1 damaged

Remarks: I saw both Bosche buy it. one was a flamer the other spun in. I didnt have the speed at that altitude to get close so fired at long range, No prize.

Mission: Line patrol
Alt: 1800 meters
2 Sec: 7 a/c
e/a: 4 Albatross V strutters Green Tails
Losses: 2 Spads missing.
Vic: 0

Remarks. The e/a dove on us from in front scattering or flight. Next thing I knew was one was om tail and firing. I took 7 hits, but was able to split S away from him. Applying power and chandeling , I came up on the E/a firing small strings of 9-23 rds after 210 rds fired he smoked a little then the prop stopped. The last That I saw of him was haft way over NML and gliding for home.

Gilbear Du Bussy
Sous Lieutenant
2 Section Flt Leader
Esc 81
La Noblette Ferme,
Verdun, France.


July 4, 1917.


Mission: Line Patrol
2 Sec: 4 Spad,s
1 Sec: 3 Spad's
Alt: 1500 meters
WX: Overcast at 1800 meters with linited vis in clouds 9/10ths cloud cover.
E/A: 2 Recon types.
Vic: 0
Losses: 3 Spads damaged with my wingman Wnd.

As temporary Esc Flight leader, I broke into the E/a flight of 2 Dfw's firing. as we came around and climbed 1 e/a nosed over and disappeared in a cloud. The other we made passes at ti it too disappeared in clouds. The Bosche gunners are getting very good and I wasnt the only one to get bullet holes.

Jasta 18
First week of March 1917, Halluin

It's been snowing on and off for the past few days and all flights have been called off. Paul Strähle was one of those people who could not sit still in one place for long, so it was no surprise that on one particularly snowy day, when everyone was sitting in the mess reading newspapers or playing dominoes, Paul got up and left the hall to come back shortly all dressed up in his flying gear. He walked past everyone and went outside. He proceeded to make a snowball as big as he could, then another one, slightly smaller and finally a third one - the size of his own head. He stacked them all up and returned back to the mess hall all out of breath. Aldi and Walter pretended they were not interested in what he was doing. Each one being engrossed in some spectacular news from the front they just happened to find in the latest edition of Die Zeitung.
Paul walked into the kitchen and picked the biggest carrot he could find, some lumps of coal and a smoking pipe that happened to lie on one of the tables. He also grabbed Aldi's hat and walked out again. Aldi didn't mind. After Paul borrowed the gloves, everything else was fair game. The snow was picking up again.
Leutnant Strähle placed Aldi's hat on top of the snowman, stuck the lumps of coal where the eyes would be, the pipe where the mouth should have been and the carrot where ... errr the snowman would have his genitals. Walter looked up from his newspaper and asked Aldi: - "Does the fool know this is Grieffenhagen's pipe?"
- "Nope." Was Aldi's nonchalant answer while trying to stack the tallest domino tower.
Von Bülow returned to his paper and added: - "Good" in rather amused voice.
Paul came finally back, sat down on one of the chairs and was all smiles trying to catch attention of his friends. They kept pretending they haven't noticed. Paul's frustration was growing, he got up from his chair and went out again. Aldi and Walter looked out the window very interested in what else Paul will come up with. His next task was to give the snowman a pair of large breasts. Walter commented expertly: - "These are quite nice!" Aldi agreed. But then, Paul went one step further and gifted the snowman one large pair of testicles to go with the carrot. He then decided that his work was done and came back inside, pulled a chair close to the window, put his feet up on the window sill and proceeded to admire his handiwork.
It didn't take long before Oberleutnant Grieffenhagen came in and gave an order: - "Leutnant Strähle, my office! On the double!"
⛄
There was only one flight this week to patrol over the aerodrome. No enemy contact.

I finally got some good stick time and Demian Kraft gets himself wounded in a silly move...

Memoir of Demian Kraft

Part 6

On 3 March I led a group of four Albatros to attack a balloon near Armentieres. It was an uneventful flight over, despite which I grew more and more nervous as we neared the target. I was determined to get a credited kill at last, and I knew that if I could only hold my machine steady and ignore the Flak I could claim a balloon – not as good as an enemy aircraft, but it would be a start.

As we drew near I searched the area for the target balloon but saw nothing. The ground was a speckled mat of brown mud and frozen white, and finding the yellow-tan balloon proved very difficult. I dived lower, hoping to see the thing against the sky. Pink-white Flak bursts began to welcome us, uncomfortably loud and close. Suddenly there it was, closer than I expected and end on to me – a poor target. I kicked the rudder bar and swerved around. There was time only for three short bursts and I was past the balloon. No luck. Then, just as I turned for a second attempt, I saw Leutnant Galetschky firing and pulling up, but too late! His wheels hit the balloon and his Albatros began tumbling out of control. The balloon crumpled and began to burn. I circled and watched Galetschky fall, turning around and around. Just before he hit the ground, his machine levelled out and put down in an open field. It was a kill for him, won in the most unusual way.

4 March was a warmer day than we had seen in a long time. I was detailed to lead again: me, Berse, Ltn Galetschky, and Ltn Rosenstein. We were to patrol the lines between Ypres and Menen. I had climbed to 2500 metres by the time we approached the salient.

Rosenstein fired a green flare – enemy in sight. He drew close to my right wings and pointed ahead and to the west. A few distant Flak bursts showed us the way to a pair of Sopwith two-seater machines heading back to the lines. They were some 500 metres below us and I led the way with a roaring dive. Never had I flown so fast, diving steeply with the engine full on. About 100 metres from the Englishman I began to fire, targeting the gunner. But the enemy gunner was a brave man. He remained at his post despite the rain of bullets all around him, and he won the battle between us. I felt a stunning blow in my side, like falling off a horse onto a fence rail. Rushing past the Sopwith and climbing, I turned away and reached down to my left side. My glove came back covered in blood. Only then did I feel light-headed.

My engine had been hit and was missing badly, and we were well past our lines. I turned east and tried to hold my height, now about 1200 metres. But the engine was failing worse every minute and I lost height. In the distance I could see the hangars at the Menen aerodrome. For a couple of minutes I was sure I would make it, but then the old Mercedes died completely. Every machine gun and rifle in the salient opened up at me, and I glided home behind a still propeller I was serenaded by the sound of splintering spars and the slap-slap-slap of machine gun rounds perforating my wings and fuselage. I dropped the machine into a muddy, rough field, narrowly missing a tree. Then I simply fell asleep.



When I awoke there was great pain. I was in the back of a truck, bouncing along a road. My punctured carcass was in the hands of the army, who were dispatching me to a field hospital, or so I thought. As it turned out, I was lifted out of the truck on a stretcher and brought into the clean, airy front hall of Bavarian Kriegslazarett No 2 in Tourcoing, a large permanent hospital only 9 km from where I had come down. This establishment was set up for civilians, and I soon learned that it had something of a specialty in treating diseases of the amorous sort. [1] The Sanitäter and driver who brought me there had a long argument with a monocle-wearing doctor who insisted that I be brought somewhere else. By this time I was truly uncomfortable. As far as I could tell I’d been hit only a glancing blow, but certainly a rib was broken. I could see a bit of bone through the open wound. At length, the doctor relented, but not before a little crowd of doctors and nurses had gathered about and not before I'd treated him to some ungentlemanly suggestions. The onlookers, many of them "professional" women, laughed and jeered.

The surgery took longer than I thought it would as there were a few bits of bone and more bits of bullet everywhere. The lungs were not damaged, though, and the rib itself was not badly shattered. It was merely set and bound, and I was told by a cigar-smoking surgeon to hope for the best. After two days I was cleared to travel back to Ghistelles, where I would be designated ZbV for a week or two: “zur besonderen Verwendung” or as we called it “stupid little jobs officer.”

Historical Notes:

[1] This hospital treated 410 women for venereal disease in 1916.

Fullofit and Raine, thanks for keeping the great stories coming! I have beed derelict on this front for awhile. I barely have had enogh time to fly some missions and only just now posting. The stories are thin and for that I apologize. I Hope to do better in the coming weeks. For now the video and a thin report will have to do.

Carrick, thanks as well for keeping things alive here. I do get some time to read the reports on my smart phone and that fills my WOFF void.

Best Regards to all!

Here is my latest compilation:


Albert Earl Godfrey

1 Mar 1917 @ 09h03 Patrol to Camblain L’Abbe airfield
All's quiet on the western front!

3 Mar 1917 @ 09h01 Patrol to lines south of Monchy Le Preux
All's quiet on the western front!

4 Mar 1917 @ 09h02 Patrol to lines south of Monchy Le Preux
All's quiet on the western front!

9 Mar 1917 @ 09h00 Escort 3 B.E.2c to Vimy Lines

Today at briefing we were advised we would encounter heavy low cloud cover and winds of 8 kn from the WNW.

Caldwell lead “B” flight with myself, Eggleston, Pidcock, Young and Hall in tow. “A” flight was to assist and was composed of Bishop, Molesworth and Hervey

We formed up as usual, just north of the field, attaining an altitude of 6700 ft. at 09h12, before heading out. We met up with the B.E. 2c’s over St Vaast at 7500 ft at approximately 09h15 and headed out towards Vimy and the lines.

At 09h30 we encountered two Halberstadt DIII’s. I made a pass on one and then turned sharply onto his six but lost him several times in the clouds. I searched aimlessly for him and finally saw both DIII’s heading away together, unaware of my presence. I gave chase and quickly gained on the trailing DIII. Approaching closely I gave him several volleys, watched debris fly from his craft and saw him peel away. Taking the opportunity in hand I headed straight for the leading DIII and attacked him equally. Passing under him I made a sharp turn to port in time to see my first foe coming up on my six and I quickly shook him off, gained altitude, turned onto his six, closed and sent several volleys into him sending him down. I didn’t waste any time and quickly looked for his mate who I noticed on my port side heading into the clouds, I swung into his direction but lost him in those clouds.

I turned to regain the lost ground and rejoined my flight. No sooner had I done so than I spotted 7 Hun Albatros DII scouts at 12 O’clock high. They were intent on harassing our B.E.2c’s and the game was soon on. I observed Eggleston chasing one and hung back to cover his efforts. I soon spotted another DII on his own and gave chase. I sent several volleys into him from a distance and watched as he spun down, but in control, and he pulled out low to the ground, making a break for it. I chased him down, gave him another couple of volleys and watched him plunge into the ground, on our side of the lines.
I no sooner had dispatched him, than I was chasing another who fell to my guns and made a forced landing in front of our lines.

I had lost our flight at this point and decided to head back to Filescamp.
Landing there I put in a claim for 3 Huns which were later confirmed and I was advised I would be receiving the Military Cross. Eggleston had claimed one, and Hall had claimed two others, all of which were confirmed on our side of the lines. Hall had been forced down and suffered light wounds. Pidcock and Young both had suffered light wounds and their crafts were destroyed upon ditching on our side of the lines.

Bishop, of “A” flight also suffered light wounds and his craft burned out in a forced landing.

Footnote:

"Bishop" is William Avery Bishop, who just joined the squadron and so I have some hopes to flesh out my stories with some of his exploits. I was somewhat miffed by his first flight here, as he properly destroyed his machine and got himself injured! WOFF will have it's way, inspite of historical accuracy with regards to pilot exploits it seems.

Raine:



410 cases of VD infected women treated at that Hospital ? Damn them Frenchmen !

Good film Mr. Wiggins