Bloody April 1917
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A campaign for First Eagles.
This is a historical campaign for the Flanders terrain in First Eagles, to recreate the nadir of the Royal Fying Corps, "Bloody April" 1917. It requires a standard install of First Eagles, plus Edward's Flanders terrain, and a number of extra add-on aircraft. There is a TXT file which explains all that is required.
The campaign uses a variety of early-1917 aircraft, and every mission will provide extensive aerial action, with large numbers of aircraft from different squadrons going about their various missions along the Front.
Historical Background
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A major British offensive was planned to commence in the Arras area in Flanders in April 1917. The First Army (General Horne) and the Fifth Army (General Allenby), comprising British, Australian, Canadian and Indian troops, would make a major push along the River Scarpe, and towards Vimy Ridge. A month of bloody fighting yielded little except heavy casualties on both sides, on the ground and in the air. A brilliant Canadian assault captured Vimy Ridge, and a tenacious Australian attack at Bullecourt penetrated the Hindenurg line for a time, but stubborn German resistance limited the gains to no more than a few miles overall.
In the air, early 1917 was a difficult time for the Royal Flying Corps. The Fokker scourge of early 1916 had been defeated by aircraft such as the DH.2 and the FE.2B, but by early 1917 these aircraft were obsolescent, and were facing newer German machines such as the formidable Albatross D.III. In addition, the German air force was now operating on the Flanders front in larger "Jastas", or "Flying Circuses". Newer British machines such as the Sopwith Pup and Triplane and the Bristol Fighter F2B were becoming available, but in small numbers. The Royal Flying Corps would suffer grievous losses in "Bloody April".
A mission for First Eagles.
Bucky's Quick Mission No.6: Five Fokker's! March 2nd, 1916.
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Introduction:
This mission is a re-enactment of an actual aerial combat that took place in the
early morning of Tuesday, March 2nd, 1916.
On this day, Sgt T.P.H. Bayetto (That's him in the Morane's 'Loadout' screen
photo), flying a Morane Type N "Bullet" of No.3 Squadron RFC, was escorting
a Morane BB two-seater on a long reconnaissance mission over Vallenciennes,
a few miles SW of Mons, when they were attacked by five Fokker Eindekker's.
This is how the action was described in the 'Royal Flying Corps Communiques',
a weekly written report of significant actions, produced for the RFC's internal
consumption throughout the war:
"Sgt Bayetto (Morane Scout, 3 Sqn) on escort duty to the Vellenciennes
reconnaissance, reports having been attacked by 5 Fokker's in the
neighbourhood of Vallenciennes. The reconnaissance machine dived to get
clear, but was closely followed by the hostile machines. Sgt Bayetto opened fire
on the nearest hostile machine and drove it down, apparently into the woods
near Vallenciennes. After this engagement he saw no more signs of the
reconnaissance machine and returned over Lille where he was again attacked
by 3 Fokker's. These he eventually evaded and after circling round Lille for 15
minutes, returned to his landing ground."
In actual fact, Bayetto couldn't find his comrades because they had just become
the ninth victims of the infamous German fighter ace, Max Immelmann...
The Morane BB's pilot Lt C.W. Palmer, managed to get the stricken plane down
safely despite being shot in the foot. The observer, Lt H.F. Birdwood was killed.
Palmer was hospitalised but died of septicaemia on March 29th after having his
foot amputated.
T.P.H. Bayetto was killed in an air crash in England in July 1918.
Immelmann fell to his death in controversial circumstances on June 18th, 1916.
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To set the scene:
From the time of its introduction in mid 1915, the Fokker Eindekker had only been
encountered in small numbers. Initially, it was distributed in one's and two's to the
two-seater Feldfleiger Abteilung units as an escort machine. Even so, in spite of
the relatively few Eindekker's available (only about 55 by October 1915), its impact
was considerable, inflicting heavy casualties on the RFC's slow and poorly armed
aircraft.
By early 1916, the Germans had realised that the Eindekker would be more
effective if used in greater numbers and within dedicated fighter formations which
they called Kampfeinsitzer Kommando units (KeK's).
This mission depicts the day when the RFC encountered one such unit: KeK Douai,
consisting of five Fokker E.III's...The largest number seen together up until that
time...From early March onward, the Fokker's hunted in packs! However, once the
RFC started to receive the Airco DH2 and Nieuport 11 in significant numbers in the
spring of 1916, it spelled the end of the period that came to be known as
"The Fokker Scourge".
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Mission guidelines:
Flying as Bayetto in a Morane Bullet, the mission begins at approximately 6700
feet. You're already deep inside enemy territory. Keep close to the reconnaissance
machine you're escorting, and follow him to the target.
Remember; to replicate Bayetto's actions you'll have to take out at least one
Eindekker (FYI: Max Immelmann will be in the E.III that attacks first...A chance to
alter history?), then fly over Lille on your way home...Assuming you're lucky
enough to even begin the homeward journey!
Just a few words of warning:
Archie is liable to be quite active, so you might want to jink about a bit.
More importantly...BEWARE THE HUN IN THE SUN!
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Mission requirements:
To fly this mission as intended, you'll need:
Flanders Terrain.
By Edward.
To be found in the Combat Ace, Downloads, 'Maps/Terrains, section.
Morane N "Bullet".
By P10ppy.
To be found in the Combat Ace, Downloads, 'Add On Aircraft', 'WW1', section.
BE2c.
By Capun and his team at Skunkworks
To be found at the Skunkworks site. (Registration required.)
Fokker E.III.
By Laton. Skins by V.Deutschmark. FM by Peter01.
To be found in the Combat Ace, Downloads, 'Add On Aircraft', 'WW1', section.
Fokker E.III, Buhme skin.
By V.Deutschmark.
To be found in the Combat Ace, Downloads, 'WW1 Skins', Section
PLEASE NOTE:
The BE2c has a tendency to fly at low throttle, which makes the propeller rotate
too slowly. This also makes it very hard to keep the Morane from overtaking it all
the time. Therefore, I changed the following parameters in the BE2c Data.INI
file. You may want to do the same?
I think the AI flies it much better with these settings:
[Engine]
SlowPropRPM=1200
FastPropRPM=1550
MaxPropRPM=1800
IdlePropRPM=950
For maximum realism, the mission should be played with all gameplay settings
set to 'Hard'.
Many thanks to all the above artists for their most excellent contributions to this
great game.
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Compromises and game limitations:
The No.3 Squadron reconnaissance machine in use that day was a Morane BB,
a sort of two seat biplane version of the "Bullet". This plane is not available
for FE at this time, so I've had to use the equally slow and vulnerable BE2c...
C'est la vie!
Lesser annoyances are:
Vallenciennes doesn't exist on the FE map, but the action does take place over the
same general area, so no big deal.
Hardly worth mentioning but Bayetto's Morane would not have been painted red at
this time. The order to paint the noses of all Type N's was given in mid July, during
the battle of the Somme, to minimise the possibility of the Morane being mistaken
for the Fokker Eindekker.
I've had to use V. Deutschmark's Buhme skin to depict Immelmann's E.III.
Immelmann did fly an Eindekker with a very similar paint job though.
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Installation instructions:
Install the mission by unzipping the downloaded file to the following path:
C:/Program Files/Thirdwire/WW1/Missions
Alternatively, you can drag and drop the unzipped MSN file directly into your
'Missions' folder.
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I hope you enjoy flying this mission and find it both challenging and enjoyable
enough to play it more than once...I've tried to make it as historically accurate
and authentic as the game will allow.
Feel free to change any of the parameters as you wish.
I would welcome any suggestions or general feedback, good, bad or indifferent,
via any one of the FE forums.
Best of British!
Bucky. 28/5/07
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References used in creating this mission:
'Royal Flying Corps Communiques 1915-1916'... Edited by C. Cole.
'British Fighter Units Western Front 1914-16'... A. Revell.
'Early German Aces of World War 1'... G. Van Wyngarden.
'The Jasta War Chronology'... N. Franks. F. Bailey & R. Duiven.
'Under The Guns of the German Aces'. N. Franks & H. Giblin.
'Sharks Among Minnows'... N. Franks.
'Above The Lines'... N. Franks. F.W. Bailey & R. Guest.
'Above The Trenches'... C. Shores. N. Franks & R. Guest.
'Morane-Saulnier Types N,I,V'... Windsock Datafile No.58. J.M. Bruce.
'Fokker E.III'. Windsock Datafile No.15... P.M. Grosz.
'Fokker E.I-II'. Windsock Datafile No.91... P.M. Grosz.
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Hi Guys
Hi Guys
Four wallpapers (1360x768) based on (modified) First Eagles screenshots.
Nieuport 11 of early war french ace Jean Navarre /12 kills/.
Hey boys any for prepared italian ww1 front ! Nieuport 17 of best italian ace Francesco Baracca /34 kills/.
(S!) ALL hi ;-)