Vasco 3 Posted October 30, 2009 Mein Herren! Please find below the daily report covering Jasta 4 operations for the 8th 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, Firecage + 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 - Patrol Over Enemy Territory - T/O 10:23 Piloten Firecage - Mission Commander Stumpjumper Sitting Duck von Baur von Frobben Axgrinder Red-Dog Dutch Sweeteye The poor November weather forced another late take off for the first sortie of the day. The Jasta had been tasked to patrol around Arras paying particular attention to air movements around Bapaume The 16 planes of the Jasta lifted from Markebeeke and climbed through the rain to form up before heading towards the southwest. While en route towards the designated patrol sector a flight of British RE8s was encountered skimming the cloudbase to the north of the formation, but because of the high likelyhood of of the formation becoming dispersed amoungst the cloud they were allowed to continue. As the Jasta approached the lines around Arras, the darker puffs of our own flak were seen through the wispy cloud ahead and to the right of the formation. The mission commander decided to engage and turned towards the west. The flak was concentrated around two formations that were identified as Sopwith F1 Camels appromimately 700m above us, also patrolling the front. They engaged as soon as they saw the multi-coloured aircraft below them. During the engagement in and out of the clouds von Baur took hits to his engine and fuel tank and lost control of his DRI when his engine cut out while performing a break turn; his aircraft was seen to spin all the way to the ground. Dutch, Sweeteye and von Frobben also fell to the guns of the Camels for no reported kills. Red-Dog managed to crash his Pfalz while in low level pursuit of one of the Camels when the fight dropped low over our side of the lines. During the fragmented engagement, the fight was joined by a flight of Sopwith Pups who were attempting to strafe ground targets and one quickly fell to the guns of Stumpjumper, who managed to land on our side of the lines after taking damage later in the engagement. Elsewhere in the area, Firecage, Sitting Duck and the Jasta commander encountered a flight of French SPAD VIIs. Sitting Duck accounted for one of these before they were lost in the clouds and Firecage took out a lone Camel that had become seprated during the intiial engagement. Of the original formation, only the Jasta commander, Firecage and Sitting Duck managed to return safely to Markebeeke. Mission 2 - Scramble! - T/O 14:03 Piloten von Baur Red-Dog Stumpjumper Firecage Sweeteye While preparing for the next sortie, the Jasta was alerted to the arrival of enemy scouts over the field by sirens sounding from the nearby artillery regiment - a large formation of SE5As from 56 Sqn RFC were diving on the airfield from southeast and all the available pilots ran to their waiting aircraft. The Jasta commander was first into the air and promptly became the target of half a dozen of the enemy scouts. Despite executing break turns to throw off the aim of the pursuing SE5As, eventually their guns found their mark and the Jasta commander was forced to land his aircraft in the field behind the Jasta hangars where he continued to observe the fight from the ground and what became an excercise in survival for most of the flight. The most noteworthy efforts were from Stumpjumper and Firecage, who having got sufficient seperation from the maurauding SE5As turned back towards the fight with enough altitude and energy to match the enemy scouts. Both Firecage in his DRI and Stumpjumper in his Pfalz accounted for two each of the British aircraft, which in Stumpjumper's case brought his tally to 5 however, during the low-level dogfight Stumpjumper's plane collided with that of von Baur which caused the demice of the Jasta's latest ace. All other pilots landed safely after the remaining SE5As, their ammunition exhausted departed to the west. Mission 3 - Patrol Allied Lines - T/O 15:14 Piloten Stumpjumper - Mission Commander von Baur Sitting Duck Red-Dog Firecage Sweeteye Once the wreckage of downed and damaged aircraft had been cleared from the field, the Jasta took off for its last sortie of the day; a patrol over the lines just west of Markebeeke. The mission commander lead the formation in a climb directly towards the front in order not to waste the remaining daylight. Upon reaching the front, a formation of tan-coloured aircraft were seen to be diving on our trenches and the Jasta dived directly down towards them. When the formation was at approximately 500m altittude and diving fast another enemy formation of Sopwith F1 Camels became visible approaching fast and low across the lines from the west. The French SPADs attempted to break off from their attack on the trenches but found themselves quickly outmatched; two of them falling quickly to the guns of Red-Dog and Stumpjumper who had both arrived first on the scene in their Pfalzes. By this time the Camels had engaged the rest of the flight and von Baur took a headshot from one of the Camels and crashed in no-man's land. Stumpjumper and Red-Dog were still not finished and having scattered the French turned their attention to the British. Stumpjumper sent 2 of the Camels down in flames while his wingman Red-Dog took care of another. The mission commander signalled the Jasta to reform on our side of the lines and lead the formation back towards Markebeeke just as the light was beginning to fail. 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) Firecage - 5 (Ace) Sitting Duck - 4 Burning Beard - 3 Stumpjumper - 3 Red-Dog - 2 Submitted respectfully on 9th November 1917, Vasco Officer Commanding Jasta 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red-Dog 3 Posted October 30, 2009 Another cracking report Sir. Whats the jasta's kill ratio looking like, how many deaths v kills since we started? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sitting_duck 3 Posted October 30, 2009 With all respects to the commander, that must have been the other sitting duck that returned. This duck got toasted quite quickly once the melle broke out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vasco 3 Posted October 30, 2009 With all respects to the commander, that must have been the other sitting duck that returned. This duck got toasted quite quickly once the melle broke out. Duck, I had you down as landing safely after the first mission having killed a SPAD VII. Are you telling me you died? Vasco Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sitting_duck 3 Posted October 30, 2009 (edited) well,,,,lets just say it wasnt a pretty landing lol... and yes,,,,rip.... lol..and just noticed,,,you have me flying the last sortie.....that must have been the other sitting duck also.... Edited October 30, 2009 by sitting_duck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vasco 3 Posted October 30, 2009 True, That'll teach me to cut and paste from previous reports to save reformatting every time. I didn't delete your name from the mission 3 listing from the previous week and the timer on the edit facility has passed. Next week I'll send you the draft report by email and you can check it for me before I post. A second pair of eyes would certainly be an advantage. Vasco Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
