Vasco 3 Posted October 1, 2009 (edited) Gentlemen! Please find below the daily report covering 94th Aero Squadron operations for the 2nd and 3rd September 1918: 2nd September 1918 Mission 1 - Patrol Behind Enemy Lines - T/O 07:16 Pilots Burning Beard - A Flt Commander von Baur Firecage Due to casualties sustained and a number of the squadron being on a long overdue spell of leave, the number of active pilots available for operations was much reduced. All available pilots (including the Squadron Commander) were assigned to A Flt and tasked to patrol behind enemy lines in the vincinity of Porcher. Just as the flight reached Verdun a flight of 4 Albatross fighter were identified flying at approximately 13,000' and the flight commander gave the signal to climb and engage. Just as battle was joined two other flights of Fokker DVIIs and Pfalz DIIIas joined the melee. The DVIIs managed to drop 2 of our pilots during their first pass and leaft Firecage and myself fighting for survival as we split up and dived towards the south. The end result of the battle was that the squadron lost 3 good pilots for no kills apart from 2 Pfalz's knocked down by the Squadron Commander during the retreat. Mission 2 - Patrol Behind Enemy Lines - T/O 11:14 Pilots von Baur - A Flt Commander Burning Beard Firecage Stumpjumper The remains of A Flt was lucky to be reinforced by Stumpjumper, who had just returned froma 48-hour pass to Paris. The flight was again tasked to patrol behind enemy lines over Tichemon and climbed out to altitude of 12,000' in an attempt to reduce the advantage of the enemy fighters who seem to fly regularly at that altitude. The flight commander's decision bore fruit when the formation ran into a flight of 4 Fokker DVIIs at the same altitude shortly after crossing the lines. During the engagement von Baur shot down a single DVII and Firecage accounted for another 2. Unfortunately, Firecage fell to the guns of a Fokker that had dropped onto his tail just before he sent his second victim down in flames. The greatest tragedy of the mission was the loss of our only 5-kill ace Stumpjumper who collided with a DVII while attempting to shoot it off Burning Beard's tail. After the engagement Burning Beard spotted two enemy observation balloons being raised and dropped down to attack, flaming both. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the conversion from Nieuport 28's to SPAD XIIIs is causing problems as the pilots are not yet used to the much higher speed and lower maneuverability of the new aircraft. Flights were suspended for the rest of the day in order to take stock and retrain. 3rd September 1918 Mission 1 - Patrol Friendly Lines - T/O 08:37 Pilots A Flight Burning Beard - A Flt Commander von Baur Axgrinder Sitting Duck B Flight Firecage - B Flt Commander Stumpjumper Baldi With the return of several pilots from leave and one new pilot the squadron was able to assign two flights to the dawn sortie. Both A and B Flt were tasked to patrol friendly lines south of the Argonne forest at 13,000', lessons having been learned from the previous day's engagements. However, during the transit flight to the patrol location one of the pilots discovered that his aircraft had not been refueled before the sorties and had less than 5 gallons in his main tank. The patrol continued regardless. During the patrol both flights engaged a large formation of Fokker DVIIs and accounted for 7 of them for the loss of 4 of our own. Burning Beard accounted for 2 of these aircraft and returned to base safely. Furthermore, Firecage shot down 3 and von Baur and Stumpjumper 1 apiece before falling to the guns of other members of the enemy formation. Sitting Duck (the flight member with the incorrect fuel load) who landed at a friendly base en route to scrounge more fuel before rejoining the formation, managed to collide with another of the DVIIs while shooting at it and didn't make it back. Unfortunately our replacement pilot Baldi managed to shed his wings in a dive (a truly remarkable acheivement considering the robust construction of the SPAD) during a dive onto a fleeing Fokker. Mission 2 - Artillery Spotting - T/O 12:08 Pilots A Flight Burning Beard - A Flt Commander von Baur Stumpjumper Baldi B Flight Sitting Duck - B Flt Commander Firecage Axgrinder Due to the lack of 2-seaters in the sector the squadron was tasked to provide artillery observation over the lines to the east of the Verdun salient. 2 pilots (Baldi and Stumpjumper) had their aircraft equiped with radios for this purpose with the rest of the formation providing top cover. The mission was carried out without incident (apart from the obiquitous archie) and in 16 minutes the target was was bracketed by the guns of 3 batteries. The batteries foward observer transmitted a contact report of 3 enemy Pfalz DIIIas patrolling southeast of the squadron's position and A Flt's Commander gave instruction for the formation to proceed to the reported location. All 3 aircraft were downed for no loss with Sitting Duck accounting for 2 and Firecage 1. Mission - Attack on Mar-sous-Bourcq Aifield - T/O 15:29 Pilots A Flight Sitting Duck - A Flt Commander Burning Beard Firecage Axgrinder B Flight Dudley - B Flt Commander von Baur Baldi The squadron took off in the late afternoon to perform a strike against an enemy airfield located to the north of the Argonne forest hoping to catch enemy fighters ruturning from their last sortie of the day. During the low-level transit torwards the target B Flt (who were in the trail formation behind A Flt) were bounced by a flight of Albatros DVAs and von Baur quickly fell to their guns on the first pass. A Flt commander turned A Flt around to assist the beleaguered flight and the enemy were driven off with 1 shot down by Dudley. Shortly before arriving at the target the squadron engaged a flight of Fokker DVIIs and lost another 2 aircraft during the engagement while accounting for 2 DVIIs themselves; Sitting Duck getting 1 and Firecage the other however, Firecage fell later in the engagement as did Axgrinder after taking fire from the airfield defences and crashing during egress. The remainder of the squadron returned having suffered multiple hits on their aircraft - looks like the riggers are in for another long night! The current tally of active pilots/kills is as follows: Burning Beard - 5 (ACE) Sitting Duck - 3 Dudley - 1 Submitted respectfully on 3rd September 1918, Vasco Officer Commanding 94th Aero Squadron Edited October 1, 2009 by Vasco Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stumpjumper 3 Posted October 1, 2009 WELL AT LEAST 2ND LT JIM SHORTS DIDNT DIE IN VAIN BURING BEARD LIVED, AND THEN HOMER STUBBS MADE A NICE SPOTTINGOF THE ARTY, NOW IF WE CAN JSUT GET THE REST OF THE FORUM TO JOIN US IN MP THAT WOULD BE GREAT Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Burning Beard 14 Posted October 2, 2009 Great briefing Vasco, I am surprised and pleased to see that I have achieved Ace status, which just goes to show plodding along and trying not to steal others kills will allow you to stay alive long enough to be an ace. Beard Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
