Oberflugmaat Sigmund Winterhart Seefrosta II Vlisseghem airfield Flanders
9 confirmed kills
22nd August 1918
Morning sortie
Leutnant Huecker spoke to the whole Jasta early in the morning. "Meine herren. I know rumours have already been circulating so I wish to put them to rest. The enemy has launched several attacks along our front to the south. Massed forces have attacked our lines and in some cases broke through, however strong counterattacks have halted them. Albert is in danger of being overun. It is imperative, now more then ever, that we take the battle to our enemies with all of our might. I task all of you to do your upmost for our people, our country and our Kaiser".
As the talk and noise died down and as the ground staff were dismissed, Huecker started the briefing.
He explained that the Jasta would be heading down to Passchendaele again to patrol the northern side of the Ypres salient.
The weather had improved and the rain had ceased but large clouds remained.
They took off and headed out south west, climbing up to 4200 meters in the meantime.
The journey down was quiet and Seefrosta II had turned north along the lines when several aircraft in the formation suddenly moved away. Something was up, just then bullets whistled past Sigmund from below and as he rolled he saw a formation of Camels climbing up towards him.
He avoided the surprising but clumsy attack and came around at the now very slow moving foe. He fired into one of the Englanders who dived away. Sigmund saw another just to the left and went after him. He poured a long burst into him and as the Camel tried to dive away he went with him.
He caught up and blasted him again. The Camel tried to climb now but Sigmund fired again. This time the Camel almost fell out of the air and smashed into the ground.
Kevin looked around and spotted another enemy ahead and went after him.
He got behind the Englander and fired, watching as bits flew off the damaged Camel. He tried to climb and roll away but Sigmund was having none of it and poured both barrels into him. The bullets sprayed the cockpit and clearly hit the pilot who slumped forward and the aircraft nosed down and smashed into the ground.
Sigmund couldn't see any other enemy aircraft but two nearby Fokkers had hung around and he formed up with them.
They headed home and landed safely. On reporting in several other Fokkers were also landing.
Five Camels had been downed without loss.
Afternoon sortie (awaiting two confirmations)
Leutnant Freymadl took the briefing and confirmed the afternoon sortie would be out to the lines south of Nieuwpoort once more.
The weather had turned sour again and the rain had returned as the large Schwarm formed up. They headed west and after 20 minutes they could see the front down below, despite the rain and clouds.
It was at that point Sigmund was looking down to the left and saw aircraft below coming across the lines.
He signalled and the Schwarm nosed down towards the other formation. The other aircraft were getting hammered by flak and Sigmund recognised the round noses of Camels.
He chose a target and dived down onto him. He hit the Englander despite him trying to evade at the last moment and came around for another run.
He got on the Camel's tail and hit him again. The Camel side slipped to the left but Sigmund went with him and by throttling back he stayed above and behind the Englander.
"Dieses mal nicht!" said Sigmund as he opened fire with a devastating burst that tore the wing off the Camel and Sigmund watched it spinning uncontrollably down into the ground.
He searched and saw another Camel below him trying to run for home. Sigmund rolled and dived down. He reached the enemy aircraft quickly and the Englander turned to face his foe.
Sigmund fired as the Camel came towards him and the Englander tried to run again but another burst put paid to the pilot and the enemy aircraft smashed into the ground.
No other aircraft were nearby so Sigmund headed off home. On landing, several other DVII's were doing the same.
He went to make his report and clean up. Four Camels had been downed and just one Fokker damaged.
Later on Leutnant Huecker called Sigmund to his office.
"Well done today Sigmund, that was a superb performance again. You took my words to heart and took the fight to the enemy." said Huecker.
"Thank you sir, I tried my best as I will always do" said Sigmund.
"Well you're best is very good indeed. We've had confirmations for two of your four claims today. One this morning and one this afternoon. That brings you to 11 confirmed kills yes? Making you officially a 'kanone'!" continued the Leutnant.
"Thank you sir" said Sigmund.
"That's not all, I've had word from headquarters that they agree with my recommendation that you be promoted forthwith to Vizeflugmeister with immediate effect" said Huecker.
"Finally, they agreed with my other recommendation that your performances since your arrival warrant recognition and as such I have the honour to award you the Eisernes Kreuz Zweite Klasse. Please accompany me to the kasino so I can announce your award and present it to you with your fellow pilots" finished the Leutnant.
Sigmund was understandably delighted, "Vielen dank herr Leutnant!" exclaimed Sigmund.
They headed off to the kasino where the presentation was made and the announcement of Sigmund's promotion and 'kanone' status where also announced.
A fine evening ensued.
"A great deal of an aeroplane could be holed without affecting its ability to fly. Wings and fuselage could be—and often were—pierced in 50 places, missing the occupants by inches (blissfully unaware of how close it had come until they returned to base). Then the sailmaker would carefully cover each hole with a square inch of Irish linen frayed at the edges and with a brushful of dope make our aircraft 'serviceable' again within an hour."
Fullofit - Well, I suppose this hate for two seaters is mutual across all sides then! Bet the two seat pilots feel rather smug about it though. A latrine guide wouldn't be surprising at this rate. So then, some really eventful times for Klaus, and through it all it seems like the claims board acts all the same. One out of three there, thankfully another confirmation for a breguet when it physically couldn't be denied. Some more confirmations waiting though, one can hope they do get confirmed somehow. The SPADs it seems prove to be a consistent annoyance throughout, as are those Breguets which are picking fights when they probably shouldn't, but Klaus keeps on downing them! That much is good. What isn't good it seems is the damage and losses taken by the Schwarm, nor that last mission. It's a shame, that, but there was nothing to be done. At the very least, congratulations on the kills that were earned and the bling!
Carrick - Now this is a good turnaround, congratulations on the previous Alb and the balloon at least. Shame about the dreidecker but still, congrats on the acehood!
Tross - Well, I suppose it steal beats being shot up! Thankfully though it's over. So the pace picked up for Sigmund then I see! Well, plenty of opportunities to do things and make use of that as a new opportunity I guess! A fight against a skilled camel but he got outmaneuvered, and then some typically thick-skinned two seaters which give two confirmations, congratulations with that! Wavering resolve it seems with rumours like that, eh? Regardless, another fight with a Camel that tried to get lucky jumping Sigmund and then some more! Again, congratulations on those kills and confirmations. Not only acehood now but also bling, congratulations!
Raine - Congratulations on the bling!
RAF - So Freddy has been getting on well, albeit with some help of course. Having Bellows certainly oughta be a help I'd imagine, and he indeed is one. The first fights too it seems are going well, good on getting those nicely painted Boches!
Finally I managed to get above my injury and get approved to fly again, this was an absolute relief. No more trying to educate newbies, and on the topic of which, the squadron again managed to get a full refill and we were at mostly full squadron levels of equipment and personnel again. This was however offset by the arrival of bad weather got in the way of this. My first day back I flew only one mission, which was a flight to take down a Boche balloon. We took off in a three man flight but lost our third man while crossing the lines, turns out his engine malfunctioned and he had to land nearly crashing in the process, what bad luck. This wasn't a big issue though and the mission continued. We soon found the balloon and I dove down to engage, raking it in bullets on my first pass and then making a sharp turn to open fire again, igniting the thing. Not able to sight the flight lead I came home. In the end this was largely for nothing, as flight lead too was lost in the clouds and he couldn't even sight the balloon, let alone me downing it. Thus, my claim was rejected. I wonder when this weather will improve...
"Those who survive a long time on the battlefield start to think they're invincible. I bet you do, too, Buddy."
NR - Good to see Baptiste back in the air even if for just the one sortie today. He did his job against that Hun balloon although by the look of it no-one else was around to witness it. That's unfortunate, but with a fully equipped Escadrille and a full day tomorrow, he's up for the fight at last.
"A great deal of an aeroplane could be holed without affecting its ability to fly. Wings and fuselage could be—and often were—pierced in 50 places, missing the occupants by inches (blissfully unaware of how close it had come until they returned to base). Then the sailmaker would carefully cover each hole with a square inch of Irish linen frayed at the edges and with a brushful of dope make our aircraft 'serviceable' again within an hour."
Pursuant to official decree set forth on 11 décembre 1916 by l’Ministre de la guerre, République française, l’insigne des blessés militaires, (the Insignia for the Military Wounded), is presented to Sergent Baptiste Cyrille Leanders for wounds suffered in battle.
The people of France thank you sincerely for your patriotism, your loyalty, and your sacrifice.
Vizeflugmeister Sigmund Winterhart, EK2 Seefrosta II Vlisseghem airfield Flanders
11 confirmed kills
23rd August 1918
Morning sortie
It had been a very pleasant evening in the kasino and Sigmund woke needing a large glass of water. Once he was up he made his way to breakfast where the talk was about the ongoing attacks further south around the Somme. The rumours were abound that Albert had fallen.
Leutnant Huecker took the morning briefing and explained that both Schwarms would be heading west to the lines to patrol around.
The weather was good for the early morning jaunt as Sigmund and the other pilots got airborne, formed up and started out west once they'd climbed up to 4500 meters.
They'd not gotten very far when something caught Sigmund's eye back over his right shoulder. He looked around and saw a formation of enemy aircraft engaging Schwarm Eins.
He signalled and swung around to go and help. As he neared he recognised the foe as DH4's. Sigmund looked for an opening and saw an Englander attacking a DVII in front of him. He nosed down and caught up quickly, firing into the two seater. The DH4 rolled and dived away. Sigmund stayed high though and looked around again.
As he was looking his aircraft received hits from below, the Englander he'd hit had recovered quickly and his gunner was firing up towards Sigmund.
Angered by this, Sigmund rolled his crate and dived onto the DH4 with guns blazing. Again the Englander rolled and dived but this time Sigmund went with him.
As the DH4 levelled out Sigmund dived down under his tail. He then nosed up firing a devastating burst into the cockpit. He clobbered the gunner and the pilot and watched as the enemy aircraft nosed down and went into the ground.
Sigmund checked around but couldn't see any other aircraft, although the bright sun made it difficult anyway.
He made his way home and landed safely. Several other DVII's were doing the same.
Once the reports were in, three DH4's had been downed and although several Fokkers were damaged, none were lost.
Afternoon sortie (awaiting one confirmation)
Leutnant Freymadl explained that Schwarm Zwei would be heading along the coast covering Oostende and upto the lines. Schwarm Eins had other plans down towards Ypres.
The weather remained good as they climbed into the air and headed along the coast.
They'd flown over Oostende and could see the front clearly in the blue skies.
As they flew on Sigmund spotted another formation off to the right and coming across the lines towards Oostende or perhaps Zeebrugge.
Schwarm Zwei moved towards the new formation and Sigmund recognised them as RE8's.
As he swung around for his favourite tactic the rest of Schwarm Zwei scuppered that by attacking en masse, sending the enemy formation to hell.
Cursing to himself, Sigmund saw one of the 'Harry Tates' dive down underneath the rest and went after him.
He was coming in from a little above and the enemy gunner tried to keep Sigmund at bay but he fired several good bursts into the Englander. Bullets smacked into Sigmund's wings but a final flurry must have hit the enemy's wires as the machine lurched over and went into a convoluted spin and went right down into the ground.
Sigmund looked for another target and found another RE8 now running for the lines. He dived down and caught him up. He stayed behind and beneath the tail as the Englander tried to evade but Sigmund was in no mood for games and blasted the enemy aircraft. Another burst had smoke pouring from the stricken aircraft and a final burst had flames erupting out of the fuselage.
The burning aircraft went down and smashed into the ground below.
Sigmund couldn't see any more enemy aircraft so formed up with a nearby DVII and headed home.
On landing and reporting in four Englander two seaters had been downed and although Oberflugmeister Bieber's Fokker overturned on landing he was able to walk away.
Later on Leutnant Huecker was only able to confirm the last RE8, the others either not being seen or claimed by ground units along the coast.
In a brief talk with the others in the kasino later, he also confirmed that Albert had indeed fallen.
"A great deal of an aeroplane could be holed without affecting its ability to fly. Wings and fuselage could be—and often were—pierced in 50 places, missing the occupants by inches (blissfully unaware of how close it had come until they returned to base). Then the sailmaker would carefully cover each hole with a square inch of Irish linen frayed at the edges and with a brushful of dope make our aircraft 'serviceable' again within an hour."
Albert, those bloody SPADs! How is one expected to do their work with those French biplanes in the way? As for Sigmund and being blessed, there is only one reason why that is true. It’s the lack of Strutters. Those DH.4s are nothing compared to those vicious Sopwiths. BTW, what is the expiry date on those Strutters? I haven’t seen one in a while. Not that I miss them. So, Winterhart continues to punish the Camels. Soon they will be properly afraid of the Fokkers. Why would they attack from below? It’s suicide. So a promotion and an award all rolled into one night of celebrations. Don’t stay up too late, there’s more fighting to be done tomorrow.
Then tomorrow arrives and an early morning it is. See how good it was to leave for bed early? So, more DH.4s to deal with. It seems Sigmund prefers to fight angry when it comes to the two-seaters. I can understand that. Those bombers shouldn’t even think about engaging a formation do scouts. Punishing them is the only way to teach them that painful lesson. Don’t mess with the Fokks! Then more two-seaters in the afternoon. This time the more docile Harry Tates, but again the confirmations don’t come easy. Still think WoFF treats Germans same as the British when it comes to confirmations? Darn, I was hoping Oberflugmeister Bieber would never walk again.
NR, finally the claims board has seen the error of their way and now Klaus is enjoying a good haul of confirmed victories. Apart from failed missions, life is good. Now for Baptiste life seems to have improved as well with his grounding coming to an end. As to the claims however, that’s another story. Looks like a case of champagne is required to be delivered to the claims office. Congrats (if that is appropriate) on receiving your wounded insignia.
23 August, 1918 06:45 morning mission Montingen, Verdun Sector Jasta 18 Hauptmann Klaus Gustav Raben AO PLM HHO EK1 EK2 Fokker D.VII 82 confirmed kills
This morning Klaus learned that four of the five SPADs from yesterday have been confirmed. These were his most bitter confirmations to date. He still had the burning troop camp in front of his eyes. This feeling of shame was exacerbated by the news he had been awarded the Albert Order for valour, which he didn’t think he deserved. If that wasn’t enough, the Schwarm was sent this morning to intercept enemy planes on their way to bomb the factories at Pont-à-Mousson. After circling the area for what seemed like ages Klaus noticed below a Bréguet gliding with no engine power. Klaus took him out wondering if this beast was part of a larger force heading for the factory, or just an unfortunate Franzose, whose engine failed at the wrong time. With the factories safe from one lame bomber, the Schwarm returned back to base.
23 August, 1918 13:25 afternoon mission Montingen, Verdun Sector Jasta 18 Hauptmann Klaus Gustav Raben AO PLM HHO EK1 EK2 Fokker D.VII 82 confirmed kills Awaiting one claim confirmation
In the afternoon it was another support of ground forces near Nancy. The Schwarm completed their patrol without seeing any enemy planes. They were now on their way back when Klaus noticed low flying formation near Malzeville. He looked closer and was sure they were enemy SPADs. He gave the signal to attack and made a sweeping dive to let the unsuspecting formation bass below and expose their rear. He was about to attack one of the SPADs when shots zipped by his Fokker. It was a trap. By concentrating on the enemy below he completely missed the ones above. While he was getting in position to attack, the other SPADs did the same. He had to dodge their attacks instead of pressing his own. Not the best way to engage the enemy, but he made best use of what he had and attacked any SPADs that came across his crosshairs. He had one of them nearly finished off, but was again swatted away by another enemy behind. Klaus always tries to reciprocate and did so this time as well. The enemy that has just fired at him was content simply with firing a few rounds and continuing on his way. Not so Klaus, he made a point of getting on the tail of the SPAD who just spoiled his hunt and eradicate it. And so, down the enemy went, sprawling itself across the landscape. Raben wasn’t ready to leave yet and looked for another enemy to bring down. He found one soon enough, already engaged in a dogfight with another Fokker. Klaus made his intentions known and engaged the enemy. This foe met his end in short order and Klaus was now ready to get back home, but not before he decided to investigate the commotion nearby the Malzeville aerodrome. There were planes already battling each other and it was logical Raben would join in. He quickly selected his target, a landing Bréguet, and decided to accelerate its landing process. Since there was no airfield below the landing didn’t go as planned. After that it was really time to go. The circling SPADs were starting to get angry and Klaus was running low on ammo.
"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."
Tross - Today proves to be a bit different in regards to the number of sorties. Doesn't change the claim situation though, nor any fights. More rumours it seems! And a rather disobedient DH4. You'd think, you shoot it and it dives away and you think its gone, but no. It comes back to shoot some more. Well, I suppose that pilot got taught his lesson and then come two more. Shame only one got confirmed of course, but hey, still dealing with those bloody two seaters. More towns falling. The front is shifting.
RAF - Can't say this is the kind of award one would want to have, but thanks nonetheless!
Fullofit - Well that's all great then, if they sorted themselves out and are approving claims. Baptiste isn't about to go bribing the claims office though, not about to play along with them, that wouldn't be right. Suppose a congratulation for this is bizarre but still, something anyway. So with those SPADs confirmed, a new threat in the form of a lone bomber emerged? Not much of a threat, that is. How strange. Then something more serious with those SPADs which tried to outsmart Klaus but that didn't work out for it, nor the other one. Of that poor Breguet though, what did it do to deserve this? Poor thing. Well, hopefully they all get confirmed!
I was awoken to news that the Captaine wants to see me. I was hopeful for a promotion or a new crate for myself to fly, but soon this excitement faded and I was instead informed that I was finally receiving an insignia for my woundings in battle. I acted satisfied in front of the Captaine, but going outside of his office I developed an urge to trash the thing. Resisting such an urge, I just accepted that this is probably the best I'm going to get in terms of recognition for the time being anyway. With such a mood I went into our first mission, the objective of which was attacking a Hun aerodrome. We climbed together with the first flight and went off to cross the lines, but unsurprisingly lost them somewhere while crossing. We eventually found our target and began strafing, which wasn't all too exciting with perhaps the most adrenaline coming from a wingman nearly gunning me down while making his run and then subsequently someone igniting and exploding what I assumed was a truck. After around four runs, we all turned for home and left. I never did find out who nearly managed to gun me down though, no one admitted to it... What a bother.
The next flight was a patrol behind friendly lines over one of our military camps, and was practically nothing more than just an airshow for the troops below. At least it let us get ourselves in the air while crates from the first sortie got repaired.
"Those who survive a long time on the battlefield start to think they're invincible. I bet you do, too, Buddy."
Fullofit - A gift from the gods in that first sortie, a buggered Breguet. I'll help him down thinks Klaus, but that hapless Frenchman was certainly not helpless and put up a tremendous fight. But the outcome was surely a formality and so it was. Then a very clever ploy by those SPADs in that second sortie. Fixated on the ones below whilst the others high up sneak up unseen. Klaus's luck was in as that burst didn't hit anything important. But then the ploy is spent and it becomes something of a free-for-all and Klaus likes free-for-alls. He even managed another Breguet who thought he was safe trying to land in the middle of a melee.
As for Sigmund, the DH4's are more like Breguets but more nimble, not quite Strutter nimble, just nimble. When he's checked out what enemy units are in his area there are Breguet and SPAD Escadrilles, as well as SE5's so hopefully he'll meet up with them at some point soon. As for Oberflugmeister Bieber, we were all hoping he'd have some throat damage, maybe orally impaled on his flight stick, but no, he's fine. As for Strutters I'm not sure, I'll do some digging.
NR - So recognition for Baptiste's wounds, yes, all good, thanks very much, but what about a new crate, or at least some sorties that will allow him to try and get a new crate. But no, a ground strafe and a dead rubber, I'd seriously think about a transfer to a more active front.
"A great deal of an aeroplane could be holed without affecting its ability to fly. Wings and fuselage could be—and often were—pierced in 50 places, missing the occupants by inches (blissfully unaware of how close it had come until they returned to base). Then the sailmaker would carefully cover each hole with a square inch of Irish linen frayed at the edges and with a brushful of dope make our aircraft 'serviceable' again within an hour."
Fullofit - With regards to the Strutters I believe they are disappearing, turning into more Breguets in most cases.
Vizeflugmeister Sigmund Winterhart, EK2 Seefrosta II Vlisseghem airfield Flanders
12 confirmed kills
24th August 1918
Morning sortie
During the morning briefing Leutnant Huecker explained that, unless otherwise ordered, all aircraft were to operate on 75% fuel capacity. He tried to butter it up by saying that whilst supplies were still coming through they had to do their bit to maintain them.
Thankfully the distances up in the north of Flanders were generally short he went onto explain.
Finally he went through the morning sortie. The Jasta would be heading down to Roulers and patrolling from there to the lines.
The weather was still good as the large schwarm took off and headed south towards Roulers.
The journey down went quietly as did the first trip to the lines and back. On the next leg to the lines, Sigmund, who was last man in the formation watched as several of the Jasta moved to the left. He scoured the skies but couldn't see any other formation.
Finally he saw a single shape off to the left, then another and another. They were well spaced out and at a similar height.
Sigmund moved towards them as well and now saw them for what they were, DH4's in a melee with another formation of DVII's.
Sigmund looked for a target and found one down below as an Englander tried to run for home.
He dived down onto the DH4 all guns blazing and scored some good hits. He came around and closed in again, this time the enemy gunner did his damnedest to keep Sigmund away. A bullet smacked into the windscreen and others into the wing. Sigmund closed in and at point blank range he opened fire, tearing chunks out of the Englander.
He came around again and blasted the Englander one more time and the bottom right wing snapped away.
The DH4 began a weird spiralling fall which only ended when it smashed into the ground below.
Sigmund couldn't see any other aircraft nearby so decided to head home.
Two DH4's had been downed by Seefrosta II without serious loss.
Afternoon sortie (awaiting one confirmation)
Sigmund's mount had been patched up and he was sitting in the briefing room with the others. Leutnant Huecker confirmed the destination for the afternoon sortie as the lines west of Passchendaele.
The weather had deteriorated and a steady rain was being blown by strong winds into the faces of the pilots as they took off.
The massive clouds made it very difficult to see accurately and certainly not far.
As they headed out south west they'd reached about halfway when bullets smacked into Sigmund's DVII. Instinctively he rolled left and looked around to see a Camel on his tail.
"Scheisse! Woher kamen sie?" said Sigmund as he pulled the stick into his belly and turned as tightly as possible.
The Camel went with him but in turning left Sigmund had the advantage. He powered around and after a few laps was gaining. The Camel driver realised this and dived down, side slipping as he went to throw Sigmund off. He was patient however and waited for the Englander to level out. He then pounced on the enemy aircraft and poured bullets into him.
The Camel visibly slowed and Sigmund stayed behind by slowing to a virtual stall.
"Jetzt hab ich dich!" exclaimed Sigmund as he fired a long burst into the enemy aircraft. The Camel's engine virtually exploded in midair and he nosed down into the ground in flames.
As Sigmund climbed back up he saw another enemy aircraft trying to run across the lines. He dived down onto the Camel's unsuspecting tail and poured both barrels into him. His bullets found their mark as the pilot slumped forward in his cockpit and the Camel nosed down and went straight into the ground.
Sigmund looked around and made his way home as there was nothing else nearby.
On landing and filing his report, four Camels had been downed and although a DVII had been lost the pilot was ok. Oberflugmeister Bieber had been downed twice in two days now.
Later on Sigmund had the news that only one of his claims had been confirmed. The first Camel in the afternoon was certified but the other two were rejected as unseen. He was now on 13 confirmed kills.
"A great deal of an aeroplane could be holed without affecting its ability to fly. Wings and fuselage could be—and often were—pierced in 50 places, missing the occupants by inches (blissfully unaware of how close it had come until they returned to base). Then the sailmaker would carefully cover each hole with a square inch of Irish linen frayed at the edges and with a brushful of dope make our aircraft 'serviceable' again within an hour."
Cecil P Fawnsworth Sgt, Rfc, 54 Sqn Fienvillers, AF.
Aug 21 , 1918.
5 Victory Confirmed 2 Unconfirmed The rain has let up just fluffy clouds so its a Low Sgn Patrol. Out 2 flights of 4 chased and caught a Recon escorted by 3 Fokkers. I came close ,but my wing leader got the 2 seat. then we chased a Fokker. No luck. 54th scored 1 Recon + 1 of the 3 Fokkers for no loss.
NR, it looks like those bottles weren’t necessary after all. After sobering up they’ve started to do proper work at the claims office. Baptiste just needs to wait for his board to start drinking coffee instead of liquor. As for the Bréguet, there is no such thing as a poor Bréguet. They’re all bloodthirsty beasts and each and every one of them needs to be put down. That wounding badge is worth gold. Don’t you dare throw it away. It’s a ladies magnet. They always ask where you were shot and did it hurt. You can always show them the place and ask them to kiss it better. And that’s the problem with those SPADs, they all look alike. You can never tell who is flying what plane. No wonder you couldn’t tell who the eager beaver was trying to gun you down. I’m surprised they can tell one from another when it comes to claims. Somehow they can do it. Don’t ask how.
Albert, I don’t know, a gift that shoots back? Remind me never to invite you to my birthday party. Those Bréguets are dangerous even without an engine. Good thing the gunner wasn’t a good shot, or Klaus would have been gliding back home as well. Those SPADs will use every trick in the book to gain an upper hand and Klaus fell for it like a fresh out of training novice. Need to keep that head swivelling. As for that Bréguet, it just happened to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Klaus won’t mind at all especially if the two-seater gets confirmed. That is true, the DH.4’s aren’t as good as Strutters, still nothing to underestimate. They just used to be fast, and that’s how they used to get away. Now they fancy themselves some sort of scouts. Something they must have picked up from those Brisfits, I suppose. You just be ready for those Bréguets. They can easily turn with a Fokker. That’s great news for Sigmund about the Strutters. He never has to worry about a flock of them descending on his ass. Klaus will also breathe easier not having to deal with these silver devils. But now Winterhart has to deal with DH.4’s, Brisfits and Bréguets instead. He’s got the DeHavillands figured out as it was evident in the morning sortie. Then the real threats in the afternoon. That’s what the Fokker was made for, to beat the Camel and so it did. Congrats on your victories even though denied. Such is the lot of a German pilot. On the bright side, it appears the enemy doesn’t like Oberflugmeister Bieber either.
24 August, 1918 06:45 morning mission Montingen, Verdun Sector Jasta 18 Hauptmann Klaus Gustav Raben AO PLM HHO EK1 EK2 Fokker D.VII 86 confirmed kills
Two Bréguets and two SPADs have been confirmed. The morning orders were to patrol friendly front lines between Marbache and Nancy. Not much went on during the mission except for one curious event. A single SPAD attacked the Schwarm and none of the Germans reacted, preferring to keep their thumbs firmly up their arses. Klaus had to coax the Amerikaner to come down and play. The man was skilled and brave to singlehandedly take on the entire formation of Fokkers. Raben could barely keep up with this one and only after some lucky shots he was able to damage it. It was only then that one of the other Fokkers attacked smelling an easy victory. He dove on the injured SPAD but missed. He repeated his maneuver and this time he didn’t miss. The two planes collided. The SPAD tumbled to the ground while the idiot made an Eindecker from his D.VII. The valiant American crashed into the ground after failing to stabilize his spin. The idiot smashed his Fokker nearby. This Sturmbock tactic needs to end. The enemy has many more planes than the Germans.
24 August, 1918 13:40 afternoon mission Montingen, Verdun Sector Jasta 18 Hauptmann Klaus Gustav Raben AO PLM HHO EK1 EK2 Fokker D.VII 86 confirmed kills
In the afternoon they were sent to patrol friendly front lines near Malzeville. Once on station Klaus spotted a number of dots approaching Malzeville aerodrome. Two or three detached to head the Germans off. Traditionally the rest of Raben’s flight insisted on keeping their thumbs firmly in their buttholes, while Klaus had to deal with the bloodthirsty Bréguets alone. Leading the French machines through the middle of the German formation had no desired effect. Klaus had to do it alone. He was able to take down one of the beasts by blowing off part of the wing. Bréguet went spinning down while Klaus looked for more. He spotted one that was finally being chased by the rest of the Fokkers, but they weren’t doing much damage except tripping over each other. Klaus finally gave it a few squirts and the beast seemed to take the hint and started going down. Klaus encouraged it to get down faster by sending a few more volleys its way. The rear gunner responded in kind, but Raben knew it was all over for the two seater - the propeller wasn’t turning anymore. Klaus went for another run, but the gunner didn’t appreciate that and let the German know with a few well aimed shots into his fuselage and wings. Klaus thought better of it and instead allowed gravity do the work for him.
Once that bird was eliminated Raben looked towards the airfield where two more machines were circling it. He decided to make his introductions and directed his Fokker in their direction. The two enemy planes noticed this maneuver and responded with one of their own. They were now heading straight at him and Klaus was second guessing his move. It was too late to get out of it and he pressed on. As the second Bréguet approached and banked to follow his leader, Klaus sent a burst or two into its exposed belly. The enemy machine wobbled and was hit again by fire from the rest of the Schwarm. The French pilot then rolled his plane, while being pummelled by Raben’s guns and dove for the ground. Klaus considered going after, but then realized the other Bréguet was still being chased by his wingmen and decided to get involved. He caught up with the pursuit and sent a few rounds into the enemy. The other Fokkers continued to hound him until the enemy plane dove for the safety of the aerodrome. Klaus watched him float close to the field, nearly down and out of harms way, but Raben wasn’t ready to give up and decided to have another go. He dove towards the beast and fired. As he passed it, he could see the pilot struggling with the controls as the big plane nosed down. The rear gunner continued to fire away. At this point the large bird would have crashed already were it not for a steep cliff at the edge of the airfield. The sudden drop bought the Bréguet a few more seconds, but there was no turning back anymore. The beast was below the level of the airfield and had no power to climb back up. It smashed into the side of the cliff. Raben continued to circle the field marvelling at the natural phenomenon that was the Malzeville Cliffs. (For those interested, the end of the vid shows this odd part of the countryside)
"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."
Tross - I guess the recognition will just have to suffice, since HQ seems to have a complete disregard for any sanity in this locale as today will you show again. Eh, an active sector won't save Baptiste from his true foe, his own mount. So the day begins with a DH that doesn't really put up much of a fight and dies, as it oughta. Good on that one! The second sortie proved more amusing with the camel, but he it seems didn't use the advantage of his own craft with that left turn and soon paid for that too. Shame it's only a 1/2 but still congrats!
Carrick - Well, shame about the ability to get one for Cecil but still, victories with no losses are good for the squadron! The ground attack and balloon defence is a bit less exciting, but at least it's far safer it seems!
Fullofit - I don't think switching drinks will help here, when both command and claims seem to be mentally deranged at best. Bloodthirsty beasts you say? Surely can't be nearly as bad as the strutters though? Ah, well of course. That's the one non conventional usage for it. Well, may as well keep it around be it for that or to serve as a reminder of one's misfortunes or something like that. Baptiste has bigger concerns right now than women unfortunately. SPADs do have that tendency it seems, that's why one oughta follow in Baptiste's footsteps and make it increasingly distinct bordering on obnoxious, I mean a giant 'vive la france' is certainly one way you won't be confused for anyone else. The claims board? Probably some method in their madness. Congratulations on the confirmations, but what... What on earth just happened right there? Not only did he singlehandedly try to attack them ,but he actually tried to hold up there and did for a bit with his moves. Unfortunately that was ended with what I can only describe as an early attempt at a rocket program with that ascent. Bizarre. Can't even say if that's heroic or foolish on his part. So it seems like the flight is useless as per usual, and Klaus has to kill off two Breguets for himself, and then another two. The campaign against them continues. That cliff, uhh.... What secret weapons program brought us that I wonder? Stil, better hope for the confirmations.
Finally a day with some returns for my efforts, only to be ruined by our commanding officers. The day begun with more bad weather which ought to have delayed flights in the morning altogether, but instead we got more bombers and a subsequent scramble. We scrambled and took off, trying to find the source of the threat before eventually stumbling upon a flight of Rumplers. An engagement begun which left me frustrated as I struggled to find a target that wasn't either too high up or taken by the rest of the squadron. Eventually I managed to find a target roughly on my level headed towards me, which I proceeded to shoot at while flying past it. Making a turn, I got subjected to return fire and we went into our own dance. He kept on spinning while I kept on trying to pop up to gun at him and avoid return fire. We must've spent around 5 minutes flying around like that, making a slow descent before finally his crate begun slowing.
I took this as an opening and went for more daring attacks, rising at him from below and finally knocking out his engine! Worse for me though, this resulted in me stalling and opening me up for his fire which promptly landed into my engine block. My engine started leaking fuel and rapidly, but in my anger from this exhaustive exchange where I could barely even see him with the stupid big wing I've got nor deal any real damage to him I decided to push on. I didn't care for my crate, I only cared for bringing down that #%&*$# Boche. And that's what I did, wildly kicking about my crate through several near collision gun passes which got me hit several times once over. Finally, after another minute of this and getting to near empty fuel tanks I noticed that the Boche's engine stopped. I screamed out a loud 'VIVE LA FRANCE' with joy at the realisation that not only is his engine dead, but also that we were behind friendly lines so he had no hope. My engine unfortunately died right after. I accepted the consequence of my own greed and started looking for a place to land, knowing that with the mud and the torn up land near the frontlines it'll be difficult.
As I flew, the Boche passed underneath me once, the gunner sending a hateful spray towards me before they turned away and smashed into some trees. Meanwhile, losing altitude and time I settled on a patch of grass that seemed to be the most stable thing to be out there, even with it having a noticeable incline. The presence of smoke nearby didn't fail to draw my attention either, so deseprately I made my landing and succeeded, slowly coming to a halt before I can introduce my plane to a nearby picket fence. Behind me laid remains of another Boche crate, actively burning and surrounded by a curious crowd of ground troops. I managed to arrange a pickup for my crate and departed back to home base with a smile on my face owed to my Rumpler which I sent off into the woods in full view of the infantry.
Getting back I was prepared to celebrate my acehood, but those hopes were cut short by our Squadron again returning back to square one. Three men died in that fight, including one who was mortally wounded and didn't make it to land in time for himself to get saved, while others had seriously damaged crates so we were once more reduced to around 3 flyable airmen. Worse yet, another mission awaited us the moment the rain would clear, which was to attack a railway. This of course seemed utterly mad given our current state, but command had absolutely no care so I wound up being forced into a crate to fly off and get on with it.
This didn't go well either as anyone with a working brain would expect, as upon getting to the target and beginning our first run one of the fellow three aerial musketeers present here managed to catch a bullet during the dive. Either that, or he miscalculated the ground, but in the end the outcome was all the same. We were now one SPAD short as he disintegrated upon contact with the ground. Now this wasn't going to stand, not on my watch. Seeing absolute red after witnessing what just went down and coming to terms with the fact that we were sent out here with full knowledge that this flight would just be a useless waste of lives, I decided to take it out on the closest people I could pin the blame to, those being the MG gunners. I quickly climbed and made a circle around the rail station, identifying two sandbag-covered machinegun nests. Swinging my crate around, I dove down for the first one, squeezing the trigger while holding the sight directly on the machinegun. The gunners desperately turned the gun from my remaining wingman to myself, but it was too late. The impact splashes from the soil quickly crawled across the ground towards the nest until finally the bursts of brown were replaced by several puffs of red. Having found my mark, I simply held the plane still, firing into the spot until I was about to collide with it, sharply breaking. I broke off and then made another pass, examining my work. Several bodies laid sprawled around the nest and the gun fired no more.
Satisfied I turned around and similarly attacked the second nest, taking bullets head on and mainly into my wings. This took more effort though, as this time their sandbags actually did their job and the gunners managed to hang on and survive, even firing back while I passed overhead. Looking back and seeing them still manning their gun I simply reasoned "If they want to die at their post, so be it." Executing a sharp loop, to the point of my vision nearly blacking I was upon them before they could react and this time there was nothing to help them. Several bursts of blood later, the crew lay dead or dying. One tried to make a run in the last moment, but it was nothing a side slip couldn't solve and after sending several bullets directly into him he fell into the mud, torn up and dead. With that out the way, ther was now no one stopping us from continuing our assault on the railway but I didn't bother. Instead I made another slow pass over the two nests, just to discourage any wanna-be saviour or medic from even trying to help them out. They forfeited their lives by killing one of ours, and I was only ensuring they pay for it. Assured that the gunners were dead for sure, I turned and headed for home while trying to control my urge to punch something.
Last edited by NotRelevant; 08/25/2112:27 AM.
"Those who survive a long time on the battlefield start to think they're invincible. I bet you do, too, Buddy."
Fullofit - Kongratulations to Klaus on his konfirmations. Then on to today's goings-on. A good fight with the Amerikaners as it seems they always arrive with a height advantage. Klaus had taken care of one, that is until someone else in the Jasta thought 'i'll just nick this one with a couple of bullets of my own before he hits the deck' instead he nicked it by smashing into it...lunatic.
Then a prolonged run in with some Breguets. For a while there they double teamed Klaus very well indeed and he was taking some punishment but the pugnacious Prussian stayed on his course and brought the Frenchman down. Then some more to add to the mix, good show.
As for Sigmund, he's happy downing whatever turns up but is quite looking forward to meeting something different for a change. As for Bieber, he's unbreakable that one. Funny enough he's unique in being the only pilot in his Majesty's forces to have the rest of the Jasta offer to paint his aircraft for him. Alas he declined.
Carrick - A couple of non events for Cecil, some time to take a breather.
NR - Congratulations on the confirmation but to celebrate he has a run in with some hard to find bombers. He stayed with it and kept plugging away, taking hits in the process but in the end he won. The bomber crashed and he didn't and it all happened over his side. But then the bad news about the lost pilots and the crazy news about the next sortie. He did his best against that railyard and made it home, that's as much as he could hope for.
"A great deal of an aeroplane could be holed without affecting its ability to fly. Wings and fuselage could be—and often were—pierced in 50 places, missing the occupants by inches (blissfully unaware of how close it had come until they returned to base). Then the sailmaker would carefully cover each hole with a square inch of Irish linen frayed at the edges and with a brushful of dope make our aircraft 'serviceable' again within an hour."
NR - Baptiste has the blood lust, let's hope it does not cloud his judgement in battle. Congrats on his well-deserved bling!
Fullofit - I agree with Klaus, the Germans can ill-afford to be trading planes with the enemy seeing as how they have twice as many available to them at this point. As to those "cliffs" around Malzeville, I believe a slight adjustment in elevation of that facility in the global layer files may be in order.
Albert - 12 confirmed already for Sigmund? He's going to be showing off an EK1k in the near future if he keeps up this pace.
Carrick - It looks like Cecil should be receiving some bling soon as well, given his ace status and all. The Brits though are a bit slow on the paperwork regarding such things at this point in the war so it may take HQ longer than is preferred to send out the notification.
Wonderful reports and videos and screenshots folks, most enjoyable and enlightening. As for Major Abbott, he is getting along quite splendidly in his new command, with the added bonus of having both of his recent claims approved by HQ. He's wondering if COs are just assumed to be honest by the Brass Hats and so their claims are not questioned. Time will tell.
Lou - I'm afraid it'll have to be a posthumous one. Glad to see Freddy is enjoying life as a CO with confirmations to go with it.
Vizeflugmeister Sigmund Winterhart, EK2 Seefrosta II Vlisseghem airfield Flanders
13 confirmed kills
25th August 1918
Morning sortie
Leutnant Freymadl grabbed Oberflugmeister Bieber and Sigmund and explained they'd been tasked with the defense of a balloon west of Ostende.
Sigmund and Bieber looked at each other. "Three of us sir?" enquired Sigmund.
"Yes, orders from the top. The rest of the Jasta is to remain on standby." said Freymadl.
Uneasy as he felt, Sigmund took off with the other two into the clear blue skies, formed up and climbed up to 4000 meters. Together they headed off west towards the balloon.
They'd been gone about 12 minutes when Sigmund saw flak ahead and above. In the crystal clear air he clearly saw a large formation above and coming towards them.
He gulped deeply, there were at least 10 enemy aircraft, but then his eyes caught more shapes off to the left, also attracting some flak. Another formation! This was a similar size. 20 or more enemy aircraft were now closing in on the trio of Seefrosta II.
He now saw the first formation were Camels and they dived down towards Sigmund. He threw his aircraft around and avoided their initial pass. He looked up and now saw the second formation diving in to join in the fight.
He saw Freymadl in trouble and went after one of the Englanders on his tail. He hit him hard and the Camel rolled away. Bullets smacked into Sigmund's DVII from above and he had to cut short his attack.
He rolled and dived down and went after the Camel he'd just hit. He got behind and blasted the enemy aircraft. The Camel turned right and Sigmund went with him.
He saw three more Camels trying to get on his tail but he pressed home his attack. He came up behind and pummeled the Englander and watched as flames and smoke erupted out of the stricken Camel.
He had no time to celebrate as more bullets whacked into him. This time his machine started trying to pull to the left.
He rolled and dived and on levelling out he saw a Camel ahead of him. He blasted the Englander with both barrels and must have hit the pilot as he went straight down into the ground below.
Sigmund was just about to check behind when something hit his head. He was dazed and desperately tried to keep the DVII level. He couldn't see out of his right eye and blood streamed from beneath his helmet.
Another bullet shattered his right elbow and he had no movement in that arm.
The DVII nosed down as more bullets hit the machine. Sigmund was weak now from loss of blood, he didn't have the strength left to straighten the aircraft out. Then it all turned black...............
The Fokker ploughed into the ground and exploded.
"A great deal of an aeroplane could be holed without affecting its ability to fly. Wings and fuselage could be—and often were—pierced in 50 places, missing the occupants by inches (blissfully unaware of how close it had come until they returned to base). Then the sailmaker would carefully cover each hole with a square inch of Irish linen frayed at the edges and with a brushful of dope make our aircraft 'serviceable' again within an hour."
NR, congrats on a proper award this time. Now you can throw away that wound stripe. Yes, they’re all bloodthirsty in my book. Klaus can barely keep his butt in one piece because of them. Perhaps that big “Vive la France” sign is the reason you are still flying VII instead of XIII? Le Capitaine certainly doesn’t want such an iconic plane to be relegated. There is no guarantee you’ll paint something similar on the new machine, once you get it. That single SPAD definitely showed everyone what that machine is capable of. Perhaps Baptiste should be taking notes? And it seems an idiot was needed to bring it down, so he did. Then as per usual, it takes the Schwarm inordinate amount of time to realize they are under attack, or to be more precise that Klaus is under attack. They don’t attack because they’re blind, or out of spite? You decide. So Baptiste had another run in with the two-seaters. Those give him most trouble, it seems. At least he managed to bring the beast down without getting any holes in his person. One of those newer models can’t be far off. Then, that poorly conceived afternoon mission. Sending three planes to attack a railyard is just bad planning and the result was a downed aviateur. Leanders had to take revenge for the fallen comrade and risked his own hide in the process. But the gunners paid a heavy price for it, repeatedly. I just hope there are enough planes/pilots left to conduct war tomorrow.
Albert, Scheiße! Another good Flieger meets a glorious end. That must have been a wild fight. You should start making movies of it. Sorry to see Sigmund go. The only consolation from it all is that Oberflugmeister Bieber’s fate was most likely sealed that day as well. No more singing in the shower. As for Klaus, he’ll continue to put up with the victory-poaching wingmates, Bréguets full of delusions of grandeur and SPADs sporting spotty skills. So what’s next? Continue a career in Seefrosta II as Oberflugmeister Bieber? A ride in a Bréguet? Attempt to get a posting in No. 43 under command of Major Abbott? Or try your luck and throw your Hat in the Ring?
Lou, I don’t know if just adjusting the elevation would work. The airfield is nice and level on the north side. The south side you could throw in unwanted newborn children and never hear from them again. It looks like the entire ‘drome would have to be relocated further away from that abyss.
25 August, 1918 05:45 morning mission Montingen, Verdun Sector Jasta 18 Hauptmann Klaus Gustav Raben AO PLM HHO EK1 EK2 Fokker D.VII 89 confirmed kills
Three Bréguets from yesterday have been confirmed. In the morning the Schwarm was sent to support ground forces south of Pont-à-Mousson. Enemy planes were spotted while en route to the Front. Klaus himself couldn’t spot any bandits, but the rest of the Schwarm seemed uneasy and ready to pounce. Raben finally noticed the enemy diving on him and banked in the last instant. The air where he’d just been was filled with bullets. Klaus maneuvered to get on the tail of his attacker and was about to send a volley into its belly when he looked back to see another one of the SPADs diving on him. This one came only centimeters away from his tail. The rest of the Schwarm was already on him and Raben decided he didn’t want to get involved with so many planes going after one target. He stayed above and observed the hunt. In the end Ltn Künster claimed the prize.
25 August, 1918 12:15 noon mission Montingen, Verdun Sector Jasta 18 Hauptmann Klaus Gustav Raben AO PLM HHO EK1 EK2 Fokker D.VII 89 confirmed kills
The afternoon brought more ground forces support duties between south of Pont-à-Mousson and Marbache. While approaching the Front and over Pont-à-Mousson, the Schwarm again signalled approaching enemy machines. Klaus couldn’t see them this time either. It was only when shots from below started to ring out that he took action. He could now see Bréguets going in the opposite direction and taking potshots at the Schwarm. That was their mistake. Klaus soon had one on the run and managed to bring it down. As he was admiring his handiwork more shots hit his plane. This time it was a SPAD diving on him from above. Must have been the escort which at the moment appeared to be rather peeved. Nevertheless, Klaus would take care of him as well to make it a matching set.
The Schwarm reformed after eliminating the last of the enemy planes and continued on with their mission. Later, the Schwarm encountered a flight of SPADs. Raben battled with one, but the Franzose had gotten away. It was Klaus that was peeved this time around.
"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 - Congratulations to Klaus on the Breguet confirmations. Then he grabs another in the afternoon sortie but blimey it took some shooting down. The SPAD was simpler at least. As for Sigmund, it was a fight and a half but it was only ever going to end one way unless I'd ran away in the first 10 seconds. That's the third time one of my pilots has been done for flying in those tiny formations. I don't use trackIR so not sure I can make films. As for my next creation, read on.
Introducing......
2nd Lieutenant Andrew George Murphy. He's from the Back Bay area of Boston in Massachusetts. He's 24 and after excelling in sports at college he was a professional baseball player with the Boston Red Sox. He'd been part of the roster in the 1912 World Series against the New York Giants.
He also helped out in his father's timber business bringing the boats down the Charles River to the yards.
He enlisted in the USAS in early 1918 and after basic training he was sent to the USAS training facility at Issoudun in France.
He qualified in June 1918 and was assigned as an instructor for two months before getting a move to 22nd Aero based at Toul.
This is his story.......
2nd Lieutenant Andrew Murphy 22nd Aero Toul airfield
25th August 1918 - 9am
Lieutenant Murphy grabbed his belongings out of the back of the truck which had bobbled it's way from Issoudun to Toul. He'd managed a night in Neufchâteau on the way but had still been on the road since 4am this morning.
The French driver tipped him a nod and trundled off again. Andrew made his way to what appeared to be the main office and went in.
After showing his papers to the adjutant he was shown in to the CO's office. Major Rowan Hayes was 26 and from Detroit, he'd not seen active service before being appointed as CO when the squadron was made operational only last week.
Lieutenant Murphy saluted.
Hayes checked the paperwork, "Ah Lieutenant Murphy, I'm glad to meet you. So you trained on a Nieuport and have a few hours now on the SPAD. Well we'll soon knock that up." said the Major.
"Thank you sir, yes I'm looking forward to getting stuck in here" said Andrew.
"Are you indeed, interesting. Well you've certainly chosen an opportune time to join us. Large scale attacks are taking place along the front and we'll soon be joining them. We're going to be very busy so don't be too eager Lieutenant" said Hayes.
"I'm ready sir, not gungho, just ready" said Andrew.
"Good, glad to hear that. Well first things first, go and get your self sorted in your room. Grab some refreshment, i'm sure you need it after that trip. You can go look over your aircraft if you want as well" said the Major.
"Thank you sir, I am thirsty that's for sure" said Andrew.
"We have no mission this morning so I'll introduce you to the other pilots. There is one planned for this afternoon. You can join us on that, but first I want you to take your aircraft up for a few circuits of the airfield."
"Yes sir" said Andrew.
An hour later Lieutenant Murphy was introduced to the other pilots in the mess.
Amongst others there was Francis Tyndall from Sewall's Point near Miami. Clinton Jones from Ross in California, Ray Bridgeman from Forest Park, Illinois and finally Ray Brooks from Framingham, Massachusetts.
Andrew and Ray Brooks seemed to hit it off straight away as Brooks recognised Andrew from his time with the Red Sox.
It was then time for Andrew's first practice flight.
"A great deal of an aeroplane could be holed without affecting its ability to fly. Wings and fuselage could be—and often were—pierced in 50 places, missing the occupants by inches (blissfully unaware of how close it had come until they returned to base). Then the sailmaker would carefully cover each hole with a square inch of Irish linen frayed at the edges and with a brushful of dope make our aircraft 'serviceable' again within an hour."
Cecil P Fawnsworth Sgt, Rfc, 54 Sqn Fienvillers, AF.
Aug 23 , 1918.
5 Victory Confirmed 2 Unconfirmed
Into the Weeds Flyboys was the order of the Day. Hit a Rail yard to disrupt the Conter attacks mine hit somewhere in the smoke or 12 a/c bombed in a glide at 3,000ft. Since I was already low I shot up an Enemy Convoy. I say thrilling . 2nd Flight had 8 a/c over an Enemy AF my bombs fell short then it was home James.
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