Carrick, condolences on the loss of your lad. Rupert we hardly knew ye. Or, to quote the falling bowl of petunias from HGTTG, "oh no, not again".
Fullofit, Toby seems hellbent on winning the war single-handedly. I fear this may all end badly for him if he doesn't slow his pace a step or two. If the Hun don't catch up with him the powers-that-be back in England most certainly will. You know how they like to protect their VC pilots by plunking them into Home Defence. Just saying - again.
Harry, Lazlo might still be seeing some new bling. It's not always about hitting a set number of victories, there are other factors taken into account as well you know.
Seb, tough luck about von Toombs' kette mate. Tough luck too on the pullback of the DIIIs. Such is war. On the upside, there's an award to celebrate, despite the usurping of the Gong Fairy's authority.
Seb, tough luck about von Toombs' kette mate. Tough luck too on the pullback of the DIIIs. Such is war. On the upside, there's an award to celebrate, despite the usurping of the Gong Fairy's authority.
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Lou, Thank you! Very gracious of you sir! I wholeheartly appologise and I look forward to hopefully seeing the Gong Fairy again!
Reported in from Pilots Replacement Pool. I went out to the Flight Line to watch a Flight Take off. I say, much cleaner then the Trench's and further away from the Guns.
Harry, Lazlo might still be seeing some new bling. It's not always about hitting a set number of victories, there are other factors taken into account as well you know.
Good luck carrick58, I'm not gonna mess with the Gong Fairy again - sorry Lou! That picture (not you Lou) reminds me of a headmistress I had as a boy! War Diaries of Sebastian Von Toombs
Feldwebel Sebastian von Toombs Jasta 18 Halluim /Rekkem 2 Confirmed Kills
Chapter 5 28th & 29th January
First things first, it was great party last night with Jasta six and Rupert, I wonder when I’ll see him again? Hopefully soon, he had a skinful last night hope,I he doesn't fly in to anything, needless to say a fun night was had by all. My head was pounding when we were awoken in the huts and reported for duty. Second the Hammer is back! While I was out drinking the mechanics were painting, God bless their souls! The mission today was another airfield defence this time much further south to the airfield called, Phaleinpin. So was expecting to meet our friends the Sopwith strutters. Walter von Bülow-Bothkamp, who his friends called ‘Jonny’ was leading the flight and he has plotted a course that would take us over British lines. The man is an absolute living legend. In the air the only idol we have is experience and he has it in spades. He's fought in France, Palestine and even with the Turks in Syria what's more he has the scars to prove it! He makes light of them telling us they are, "as unconsequential as a dueling scars". He's a very fine man and inspires great confidence in us lesser mortals, that being said I was wishing I was feeling less hungover for such a sortie!
Walter von Bülow-Bothkamp
It was again a beautiful but bitterly cold day, our airfield is 3 miles from the frontline and day and night we are rocked by the explosions and the constant rumble of shells landing has become a normal part of life. However, today I was introduced to a new facet of life at the front, small arms fire.
We were in great shape and great formation as we left the airfield the sun was shining, our machines majestic, and the enemy a long way away. Or so it seemed. No sooner had we cleared the air field and were no more than 300 m high we came under small arms fire from the ground. I saw bullet holes ripping my wings, and although nothing serious was damaged it was enough to give me the willies. No sooner had the small arms fire stopped I saw, Walter our flight leader starting to break and take evasive action. At first I thought it was the smallarms fire that it caused a flight leader to take such action, but my head as always was craning around and sure enough about 500 m above us were four or five Sopwith Tripes diving on us. we each of us took a plane and did our best to outmanoeuvre it and gain an advantage, I felt much more experienced than I did that first day that I arrived and had my fiery induction to the Jasta, at the hands of the Tripes. Two or three times I managed to get on the tail of mine and pump some rounds into it but today they were faster and more agile than us. They also had had the element of surprise, by now I was doubly shaken.
The Tripe that I was fighting broke off and ran for home, and like a fool the red mist decended and I got target obsessed and chased him across the lines. It was only as Paul came and flew alongside me and indicated I needed to fly back that I realised I'd lost the plot. But, by now we were well over into their territory. The anti-aircraft fire was coming perilously close and our low height was no defence, Paul turned for home, I came to my senses and followed. But I was still shaking as we flew together back to our home field I had to circle twice before I felt confident in landing. And my first attempt at landing was so fast that I had to do a touch and go. Whereas a few days ago I felt in control now I feel a bit like the proverbial cork on the ocean. No more flights are scheduled for me today, I’m going to get some sleep and try and rediscover my poise. Paul told me I'm not the first to lose self awareness and control but it will be the death of me if I allow my emotions to get the better of me in the air.
29th January 1917
Another airfield defence, this time Thielt. The Kommandant Heino Griffenhagen led the flight, a rare treat. I have to confess that during take off my eyes were glued to the skies and I was anticipating another visit from the Brits and their Trips. But nothing, and no small arms fire either! About 10 minutes into the mission, even before we’d got to our climb point the Kommandant had engine trouble, when he broke away and dived had I thought he must of spotted Tommy, but no, the sky’s were clear. Walter stayed with him and returned to base, leaving myself, Josef and Paul. Paul took the lead his axe pointing the the way. The clouds were starting to build, and it feels a degree warmer. We flew to our assigned airfield, which is east of Roulers about half an hour away including our climb and the world looked very quiet. We circled the airfield and began to widen our search. About 15 minutes into this, my engine started making the horrifying noises, it sounded like a sock full of nuts and bolts being repeatedly struck against a tree. We were at about 3000 meters and I had plenty of height to play with, so signalling to Paul, I turned of the rattling engine before it could blow up in my face, and glided to the airfield we were defending.
As I was starting my unpowered descent, I saw Paul and Josef strike out west, they had spotted a formation of Tommy two seaters, Josef bagged one! Lucky chap. ... I had to be content with a beautiful and peaceful descent, the only sound was the wind rushing by and my heartbeat pounding in my helmet. It truly was a moment of peace, stillness and tranquillity that was utterly surreal in the midst of so much war. I landed safely and was treated to some very fine hospitality... I write this as I wait for my transport home.
That’s a gripping report Fullofit, great stuff, I find my self cheering you on ... and I’m the Hun! Good luck for your half century
Seb, thanks for the kind words. That was the nicest thing anyone ever said to my pilot. Back to business, this had to be the first time I’ve ever seen the Gong Fairy this mad. You better be on your best behaviour if you ever want to be graced by her presence again. Ah yes, the hammer is back. Looks better that way, doesn’t it? It’s good to have friends like Paul to look after you. Who knows where von Toombs would end up without him?
Carrick, I think I shot down Rupert. See the last video. Tough luck. Now that your new man is a Brit, you needn’t worry about Chesty anymore.
Lou, Toby can’t help himself. He sees an Iron Cross, he lines it up in his iron sights and shoots it with bullets, which aren’t iron. It’s that simple. And by now the powers-that-be have so many VC pilots they don’t need to worry about one more. Let him be. HD is not for him.
Harry, congrats on the latest bling. Another Iron Cross to aim at.
All claims have been denied. Something about “behind enemy lines” business.
It’s what Mulberry needed - a quiet babysitting job of 3 B.E.2c’s from RFC-7 on a bombing mission over a troop camp east of Monchy-le-Preux. He soon realized “quiet” was a relative term. As they were taking off to rendezvous with the two-seaters , two enemy machines overflow the aerodrome. One of them continued on, while the other one broke formation and circled back to position himself behind Toby. Only Rolands would be so bold! Mulberry decided to teach him a lesson. The Walfisch was maneuverable, fact, but not as maneuverable as the Pup. It didn’t take long to have the roles reversed and now the Roland was on the defensive and taking damage. Half a turn later, the Hun was taking a dirt nap and Toby was ordering his flight to form up and get on with the mission.
They found the Quirks after a while and continued on. Two Fees flew close by in the opposite direction, coming back from their mission no doubt. The pilots waved to them as if to say: we’ve done our duty, now it’s your turn. Lucky bastards would be back on the ground soon sipping hot tea. At least they were above the clouds now. No Hun would surprise them by flying out of a cloud, unless he was under them, but it’s much easier to deal with the enemy below than above. That is unless you haven’t spotted him and he sneaks up from behind, shoots you and leaves you full of holes. Toby’s thoughts were interrupted as one of the B.E.’s detached from the formation and turned back. Probably hit by Flak, or had an engine problem. Poor sod will be on his own crossing the NML on the return trip. They’ve finally reached the target. Toby couldn’t see it through a thick cloud layer, but somehow the two remaining bombers found it. They were now on their return leg when a speck appeared far ahead, emerging from the clouds. Mulberry tensed. Was it a Hun? He decided to investigate and pointed the nose of his Pup to intercept. He could now see the sleek shape of an Albatros. The fight was on! As they merged, more German planes appeared. He couldn’t tell how many, but he kept his target in front of him. Toby fired and the rounds connected. The Boche dove away, but the Pup was able to keep up. It took some time but in the end the Albatros was damaged sufficiently to spiral into the ground.
Toby looked around and saw two Huns following a lone Pup. Well, that was not a fair fight and he closed the distance to even the odds. One of the Germans spotted him and made an abrupt turn to face Mulberry, but the maneuver didn’t work as intended and the pilot stalled his plane and lost control. Toby didn’t see it but he heard a bloodcurdling crash. His eyes were already tracking the other Albatros. He could see the Hun was gaining on the poor Pup, but Toby was right behind the pair. He fired to spook the enemy pilot and give the other Pup a chance to escape. It worked! The Albatros disengaged and came after Toby. It was the last mistake he ever made. Toby’s Pup easily found Albatros’ tail feathers and his Vickers ruffled them in the worst possible way. The poor Hun caught on fire and nosed into the ground.
Toby found himself alone again. Recently this seemed to occur very frequently and Mulberry was getting used to finishing missions as a lone wolf. What would be a wolf without some sheep? He was near Riencourt when he noticed a lone Albatros returning from a mission. Toby debated if he should let him go and turn back to reach the safety of his own side, or to go ahead and fleece this Boche. What made up his mind was the Hun’s livery. The Albatros was painted dark brown. The German pilot had to be of some renown to mark his plane in such a way as to caution his opponents. So this was one of Kaiser’s Kanone. An Ace ready to do battle with any and all challengers. Toby was game. The two planes passed each other mere feet apart, but the Pup turned tighter and the British pilot was perforating the plywood fuselage with the dwindling amount of ammunition he still carried. Mulberry overdid it and the gun jammed from firing too long. Toby disengaged while struggling with his Vickers cursing and bashing the breech in equal amounts. Finally, after clearing the jam, he got back on the Hun’s tail and brought him down near the aerodrome.
The angry Flak was following him as he flew near the base. Toby was certain he overstayed his welcome and turned west, climbing as he went. He continued to scan the skies for any stragglers or enemy that would try to sneak up on him from behind. Thankfully he didn’t come across anyone else. After returning to Vert Galand Toby needed to make the report and fill out the claim forms, but most of all he needed a drink.
"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."
Fullofit, wow sir you are an inspiration, the way you calmly wait and shoot and rarely miss makes you a fine pilot and marksman. You are as bold as a lion, I hope everyones fears for you are misplaced! I hope at least one of these lastest kills gets confirmed and you make 50!
War Diaries of Sebastian von Toombs
Feldwebel Sebastian von Toombs Jasta 18 Halluim /Rekkem 2 Confirmed Kills
Tuesday 30th January 1917
I had the most wonderful letter from Katryne delieved this morning it was truely wonderful to hear all the news of home. I miss my sweetheat but it seems she is doing well, working hard assisting the Parish minister in caring for widows and orphans, my parents are well and in good heart as my brother Peter has been on leave and been home. She has heard nothing of her brother, and as Katryne is so often in the most uncertain of circumstances is trying to remain positive. I love that about her, always so positive, a rare and wonderful ray of sunshine in my life ... We hope to marry later this year, we are waiting to her 21 birthday. I will write back to her as soon as my diary is finished.
The job today was escorting reconnaissance two seaters over the front, and into British territory. It was a fairly straightforward run, and passed without incident. Mostly.
On our return to our side of the lines, beneath us, I spotted what looked like five Sopwith Tripes stalking us about 1000 -1500 m below us. It was almost as if the five of them wanted to draw us down into battle, but my experiences of the Tripe have not been good and there was no way I was taking their bait. One of them started to climb and I kept my eyes fixed on him. When he was about 300 m below me I knew I had no other option than to engage. Not seeing any of the other Tripes I dived and took him on. I dived on him hoping my speed, and energy would provide the advantages I need if I’m ever to best one of these blasted planes. Seeing I taken the bait he broke left and I followed, a matter of seconds later I saw that I had sprung a trap. There was a second Tripe and now, I was alone, separated from my flight, and outnumbered.
I broke into a cold sweat realising I haven’t been at the front even a full week and it was all about to end. I did my best to put into practice everything I’ve learnt from Paul and Walter, I kept calm, I dived and attempted to outmanoeuvre them. Which is jolly hard when they’re flying the ever so manoeuverable Tripes. I was also very aware that I didn’t want dive into the remaining three Tripes who were obviously waiting below, I felt on a knife edge, balancing different priorities, the number one being to stay alive.
My manoeuvres meant that I seem to be in a perpetual stall but somehow I shook them both off my tail. One of them disappeared and I entered into a duel with the remaining one. Heaven knows what happened to the second, I half excepted him to pop up on my tail any second. After a couple of rounds into the remaining Tripe he too decided that discretion was the better part of valour and ran for home. For about 30 seconds I chased him, then realising he no longer wanted to fight I too thought I should quit while I was ahead. I pointed the nose East and 10 minutes later caught up with the rest of the flight and we landed safely with out further incident. Our job a great success.
I have to wonder if I’ll ever down one of these infernal machines that have come to haunt my fears and live in my nightmares. The Sopwith Triplane.
Seb, thank you for your praise, but I’m sure most pilots here do just as well. We just can’t see it. We need more vids. Now, I was sure that Tripe was about to pepper your behind. You can thank your lucky stars von Toombs is still with us.
The Roland and two of the Albatroses have been confirmed. Toby’s next adventure took him back over the same aerodrome from yesterday. They were circling over Riencourt with no Hun in sight. Toby kept looking back to check on his 5 wingmen. After numerous times of doing that something didn’t add up. All of a sudden there were 6 of them following. Toby looked closer. One of them didn’t look like a Pup, but no one was reacting to it. Was it a friendly? Mulberry banked harder to investigate. Two black crosses on the wings flashed in front of him. The German machine was matching his moves and they were coming at each other head on. They continued to spar while the rest of the ‘B’ flight looked on. No one interfered. “- I guess the school is in.” Toby thought to himself as he strained to make another tight turn. He finally had him and began to pommel the Halberstadt. The Hun eventually dove for the ground and Toby followed but soon realized the enemy is not going to recover and eased the control column to gently come out of his dive. The Boche smashed into the ground on his port side and Toby resumed his position at the head of the formation.
It didn’t take long before they noticed two new specks on the horizon coming their way. It seemed like the busy part of the Front all of a sudden. Toby recognized them instantly. Rolands! He watched as one dove below while the other one came straight at the Pup formation, scattering them in all direction. Toby was on him instantly and dishing out pain. He was sure he hit one of the wingtips, which resulted in the Walfisch losing control and diving into the ground. The second bomber was being chased by Simpson. Toby slipped in behind and fired into the cockpit. He continued to fire, but the rear gunner found him and returned fire. Mulberry dove under to avoid any serious damage and watched as Simpson finished him off. The second Walfisch was dealt with.
They were now overflying Riencourt which was bad luck for an Albatros attempting to land. It seemed everyone wanted a piece of him, including Toby. These planes were truly bulletproof. He must have spent half of his ammunition on this enemy. Eventually the enemy scout was forced to land near the still smoking crater of the recently shot down Roland and the pilot climbing safely out of his plane.
Toby was quite content with how the mission turned out and was happy to lead his flight back to the friendly side, but their path has been blocked by another flight of enemy machines. They were coming straight for them from a higher altitude. Mulberry knew they were in a bad place, but he was determined. He singled out the leader of the Schwarm and put his Pup in a climb, firing his Vickers as the Halberstadt flew overhead. It was free for all, Pups and Halbs everywhere. Toby continued to track the Hun he fired on, seeing he was out for blood, following the Pup and attempting to exact revenge, but the British pilot was too quick for him and never gave him the chance to fire. Then suddenly Toby spotted a silver Halberstadt. The Hun had to be exceptional to stand out like this. Toby had to try and take him out. He followed him firing at less than ideal angles. At one time he found himself flying upside down or backwards. The Hun was good and nearly escaped, but Toby continued to find him with his gun. He pressed on and didn’t stop firing. That is until he ran out of ammo. It was a sick feeling of silence among the cacophony of engine noise and other guns firing. It felt like a maniacal laugh that couldn’t be heard. Mulberry watched as the silver Halberstadt slipped away and flew in the opposite direction trying to reach the safety of the nearby aerodrome. Toby was now in big trouble with him being on the wrong side of the lines and a number of enemy planes in close proximity. Thankfully none followed him across and he was able to reach Vert Galand unmolested.
He breathed a big sigh of relief once back on the ground. It is getting dangerous up there.
"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."
Bugger, Thrown into it and almost got Axed. Off on a show the flag flight. Our 2 a/c got boxed in by a Hun machine and beat up damaging both . My kite had 12 holes in it. The e/a had height and bounced our flight then took turns shooting at us. My rear Ob got off 2 strings of 7 to 9 rds no hits the other kite barked away till the e/a went home ( out of ammo ? home for dinner ? ) One thing for sure the enemy has better machines.
Excellent reports gents' - keep them coming. I always like to drop in here and read about the latest escapades.
@Carrick - I'm surprised those things are still being flown in 1917. I'm stuck in one in May 1915 (for the RFC) under my casual campaigns thread.
Von S
~ For my various FM/DM/AI/Tuner Mods for First Eagles 2, WoFF, RoF & WoTR, recommended is to check over this post. For my First Eagles 2 clips, go here. ~
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