Vasco 3 Posted October 19, 2009 (edited) Mein Herren! Please find below the daily report covering Jasta 4 operations for the 7th November 1917: Aircraft Allocation Jasta 4 had 16 serviceable aircraft serviceable for operations during the day. The names of the pilots allocated personal machines are listed below: 3 Fokker DRI - (Vasco, von Baur, Griphos) 6 Albatross DV - Axgrinder, Spawnrider, Dutch, Osten, Leadtongue, Burning Beard) 4 Albatross DIII OAW - (Siting Duck, SRC, Blue781, 1 spare) 3 Pfalz DIIIA - (Stumpjumper, Red-Dog, von Dudley) Mission 1 - Strike on Enemy Railhead - T/O 10:31 Piloten Stumpjumper - Mission Commander Sitting Duck Burning Beard von Dudley von Baur Spawnrider Osten Red-Dog SRC Following up on the reports that large numbers of enemy reinforcements were being moved directly to the front by rail, the Jasta was tasked to provide escort for 5 DFWs of Ss-28b for a strike on the Amienterres railhead. As the 2-seaters had only recently been assigned to the sector and were unfamiliar with the location of the target, the Jasta Commander detailed Burning Beard to fly with Ss-28b and lead them to the target. The Jasta lifted from Marckebeeke in heavy rain as soon as the DFWs were seen passing overhead and climbed directly towards them. The Jasta Commander was first to reach altitude and signalled Burning Beard to orbit several times in order for the remainder of the Jasta to catch up and assume escort position, which was proving difficult with the heavy cloud cover and driving rain. During the third orbit of the 2-seaters, flak was seen bursting just under the cloudbase some 8Km northeast of the formation. The Jasta Commander turned back to the relative security of the DFWs guns and waited for the remainder of the Jasta to catch up. The enemy aircraft were identified as 3 Sopwith Camels which flew by leaving the DFWs unmolested. Elements of the Jasta were by this time closing on the DFWs and started to move into the designated escort positions around the DFWs when another large formation of Sopwith Camels, possibly attempting to catch up with the ones that had just passed overhead appeared. These British pilots were more observant than the earlier formation and spotted the DFWs hugging the cloud and comenced an attack just as elements of the Jasta were closing to escort range. The Jasta Commander turned towards the diving Camels to buy the 2-seaters a little more time. In the ensuing combat, the Jasta became fragmented as the battle which started just short of our own lines spilled over the skies as the combatants became locked together and descended over a wide area. Sitting Duck sent a single Camel down in flames, but took damage himself and landed successfully on our side of the lines; Stumpjumper, who had to this point lead the mission lost a lower wing but still managed to get down safely. In the resulting confusion, the DFWs managed to avoid the attention of the Sopwiths and crossed the lines by Amienterres with Burning Beard in the lead. The Jasta Commander by this time was still running from 3 of the Sopwiths that had broken away from the attack on the DFWs. By dropping through cloud and heading west over the lines, he had hoped to either lose them entirely or string them out so the remainder of the Jasta could pick them off individually. However, the British pilots exhibited a high degree of discipline and co-ordination and stuck with the Jasta Commander's DRI right down to the ground. With only 500m of altitude remaining and no support in sight, the Jasta Commander kicked the DRI into climbing rudder turn and rounded on the Sopwiths. A snapshot at the leading Camel as it passed by the nose of the DRI sent it spinning into the ground with the pilot dead at the controls; the second fell to 3 bursts as the DRI completed a climbing half-loop and raked the Sopwith's belly; the third eventually fell to sustained fire when its top wing detached and the aircraft plowed into the ground just short of an enemy observaition position. As the Jasta Comander pulled back on the stick to avoid the same fate as the last of the Sopwiths, his front view was fliied with the enemy drakken being hauled down on the winch. The only option was to fly through the balloon with the trigger depressed and pray that the balloon flamed before the DRI collided with it. Breaking right as the hydrogen ignited, a somewhat singed DRI hedge-hopped back towards friendly lines. Red-Dog and von Dudley in the 2 remaining Pfalzs' continued towards the target to execute straffing runs on the railhead in support of the DFWs and witnessed the railhead erupt into flames as Burning Beard's bombs found their mark. Unfortunately, Red-Dog was lost when hit by groundfire on egress. The remainder of the Jasta returned to the airfield in ones and twos until all members were accounted for. The photograph below demonstrates the damage inflicted by Burning Beard's strike. Mission 2 - Scramble! - T/O 14:31 Piloten Burning Beard von Baur von Dudley Osten SRC Sitting Duck Red-Dog Stumpjumper In the deteriorating weather the groundcrews were still preparing the aircraft for the last scheduled flight of the day when the telephone rang in the Jasta Commander's office. The divisonal artillery regiment located 10Km to the southeast of Markebeeke had just been straffed by a full squadron of RNAS Sopwith Camels. As the British aircraft departed to the nothwest towards our airfield, the Regimental Commander asked if we would be willing to 'even the score' on behalf of the batteries. The alarm was shouted across the airfield and pilots ran to their machines as the groundcrews waved their arms to indicate which ones were serviceable and able to take to the skies. Chocks and tools were hurled from the aircraft as props were swung and engines sputtered into life just as the first flight of RNAS machines appeared over the airfield. The first off the ground was the Jasta Commander, who barely had time to identify the markings of the first Sopwith Camel when rounds started to tear up the fabric of his machine. As he banked hard to the right away from the other aircraft lifting behind him, a round found the oil tank and sprayed the contents over the windshield. Although contrary to training, the Jasta Commander continued the turn with a failing engine and executed a downwind landing by the hangars just as his engine cut out. He then sprinted over to an unassigned Albatros DVA which Gefreiter Klein had already started seeing the DRI touch down hard in order to get back into the fight. In the pouring rain the melee that ensued was reminicent of a knifefight in a poorly lit Hamburg brothel; anything that could be thrown at an opponent (including some of the less attractive whores) was employed in the fight for survival. The 6 RNAS Camels had the advantage of height and speed, and just as the Jasta thought they had the measure of the opposition, a second flight of 8 Sopwiths joined the fray. The following report has been pieced together during the debriefing after the event. Osten accounted for one of the Camels before being seen to fall to the guns of another; Burning Beard brought down 2 in seperate engagements; von Baur accounted for 1 when his DRI collided with it just above the ground; Sitting Duck destroyed 1 and assisted in the kills on 2 others. Stumpjumper was the only member of the Pfalz flight to survive, having ditched after accounting for 2 of the Sopwiths. The Jasta Commander accounted for 3 and is eternally grateful to Sitting Duck and other members of the Jasta, who came to his aid when enaged in a low-level turnfight with a Sopwith who was hanging on his tail at less than 20m. After the last of the Jasta pilots had either landed or walked back from the remains of their aircraft, the Adjudant ordered that the wrecks be serched to identify the identities of the fallen foes. Although the cost was heavy, sitting on the Jasta Commanders desk are the dogtags of 5 13 Squadron RNAS aces; George Mackay, John Finder, John Green, Colin Brown and Leonard Slatter. Mission 3 - Freijagd - T/O 16:00 Piloten Osten - Mission Commander von Baur Sitting Duck Spawnrider Stumpjumper Red-Dog von Dudley With the weather condition deteriorating badly and the limited number of serviceable aircraft, Osten instructed the pilots available to perform individual sweeps just short of our own lines. Pilots paired up and flew towards the lines at the speed and altitude best suited for their aircraft. von Baur, whos DRI's engine had been performing erraticly throughout the day turned back shortly after take off. Osten, Spawnrider and Sitting Duck pursued a formation of RE8s, with Spawnrider accounting for 2 and Osten and Sitting Duck another each. Unfortunately Spawnrider was reported to have collided with a lone Nieuport in a seperate engagement later in the mission; his tally standing at 6 enemy aircraft before his death. von Dudley crashed after an engagement with a flight of Sopwith Camels which he tried to avoid as he was unsupported, and the Jasta Commander flamed a lone RE8 and had to execute a forced landing due to engine damage afterwards. After the light and conditions had deteriorated to the extend that it was inpractical to continue, the remaining pilots either returned to Marckebeeke or landed at adjacent airfields. The Jasta have insisted that the Jasta Commander submits his kills along with those of the active pilots. The tally is as follows: Vasco - 8 (Ace) Sitting Duck - 3 Burning Beard - 3 Stumpjumper - 2 Submitted respectfully on 8th November 1917, Vasco Officer Commanding Jasta 4 Edited October 19, 2009 by Vasco Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red-Dog 3 Posted October 19, 2009 Excellent report again Vasco,and well done to all those who took part This is what Sundies were made for.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vasco 3 Posted October 19, 2009 Excellent report again Vasco,and well done to all those who took part This is what Sundies were made for.... Except I've noticed an error - add Osten - 1 to the list of living pilots with kills. Vasco Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
themightysrc 5 Posted October 24, 2009 Hi chaps, Sorry, but I'm probably not going to be able to make this Sunday (25th). For reasons with which I won't bore you, I'll have to be elsewhere. If I manage to get back by a reasonable time (ie, about 8ish GMT), I'll try to look in, but won't participate unless I can do so seamlessly and without disrupting everyone else's enjoyment. Please note, all you colonial types out there, that the clocks go back in the UK tonight (Saturday), and hence a 7.00pm start in the UK will be different those of you in America. I've no idea whether you adjust your clocks this weekend or not, so caveat emptor. We will gain an hour. Cheers - and good luck! Si Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Burning Beard 14 Posted October 24, 2009 Allas I too will not be able to fly tomorrow, I have to letter some doors at a local Medical Group and Sundays are the onliest day they are closed. Beard Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
