Stiffy 1 Posted October 31, 2009 (edited) W4180 - 778 20,000 - 6/16 . . . 10432 - M1070 30,000 - 10/16 . . . (HWWP1484/1) Forms/W3318/2 . . . RNAS Form W. 3348. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mission Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ____________________________________________________________ Squadron: B Sqdn 1 Wing, (attached to RNAS-2) Type and No. of Aircraft: Sop. Strutter B1, four in flight Pilot: Flt SubLt. Montgomery Mountjoy-Standfast Observer: None Locality: St. Pol Sur-Mer Date: 30 October 1916 Time: 08:00 Duty: Bombing Height: 12,000' ____________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Target destroyed. Two Fokker Eindekkers shot down. Claims submitted. From the diary of Montgomery 'Stiffy' Mountjoy Standfast My first flight with B Squadron was an eventful one. The night before in the mess I was royally ribbed by the other chaps. "Heres to your impending doom Stiffy!" they cheered "Don't you worry Stiffy!", Laughed a young lieutenant named Jarrow, "We'll bury you with full honours and tell your dear old mum you got 2 bosche before you crashed!" "Don't bother about them, there only teasing!" Said a reasuring voice as stepped out for a cigarette. "sorry sir!" I said flustered at finding myself lighting a cigarette in front of my C.O, Commander Elder. "And don't bother about that either! You're not on duty now Lad!" "Thankyou sir." I said as he strolled off across to the hangars. The next morning I was awoken at seven by a fresh faced young lieutenant who I found sitting, bold as brass in the corner of my quarters reading my paper. "Morning! Monty is it? Splendid!" He continued, not pausing long enough for me to answer in my dazed state. "I'm Lieutenant Chapman, your new wingman! Call me Freddy if you like, most people do!" He rose quickly from his seat and flung the door open. "See you on the turf in twenty minutes then!" He grinned, "C.O must think you're up to it, hes assigned you as flight leader!" "What?" I exclaimed pulling on my breeches. "Don't worry, shouldn't be too hot. Just popping over the lines to drop some eggs on a Jerry railyard!" An hour later I was in the air. Along with Fred Chapman I was joined by Sidney Williams and Dick Richards, both excellent pilots in their own right. As we rose gradually on our path across the Flanders countryside I huddled down in my cockpit to make the most of the warmth of the engine. As we crossed the lines the sky still remained clear of enemy aircraft, much to my relief and, despite attempts by the German 'Archie' gunners we passed over to German territory without event. Before long the target railyard appeared in a clearing before us and signalling to my flight I began a rapid descent to get our planes down to a height more suitable for bombing. And so it was, on this clear October morning that I dropped my first bomb in anger. The explosions where huge in comparison to the training charges I was used to and I noted with satisfaction that at least 2 of my bombs had hit thier mark, one hitting the roof of a goods shed and the other landing smack bang in the middle of a pile of crates, showering the contents all about. As I pulled up and began to bank around for the dash home, skimming not far above the trees I found myself laughing out loud for the sheer exhilaration of it all. My laughter was short lived. Suddenly a popping, ripping sound thumped from behind my head. For a moment a had no idea what had caused the noise but as I looked back I saw the line of holes along the top of my fuselage and with a cold terror I looked further back to see the group of three Fokkers which had dropped down behind us as we were occupied with our bombing run. Quickly I pulled the stick back and kicked hard on myleft rudder. As my plane banked around hard it dawned on me that the German plane was not doing the same. For the second time that day I found myself laughing out loud - these Huns where rookies! Any pilot worth his salt would have followed me round on my bank but this poor chap had hardly banked at all, afraid to stall a craft that he was not yet skilled at flying. For a moment I almost felt sorry for the poor fool as a swung my crate in behind him, he didnt stand a chance and was soon sinking towards the ground, smoke trailing behind. I didnt wait to watch the innevitable crash as no sooner had i dealt with the first than a seconf Fokker drifted across my sights. "This is too easy!" I muttered to myself" but just as I was taking aim to sink the Hun a stream of bullets tore through my lower wing, splintering a strut and sending a strip of canvas flying off. "Ahh" I said to myself realising in my over -confidence I had stumbled into a simple trap "Thats more like it lads, almost had me there!" I executed a tight left hand turn to engage the following plane, as I did so I saw Chapman's Sopwith scream past in pursuit of the Hun I had been chasing, firing straight into the pilot, killing him dead. The new Hun was a far better pilot and I found myself locked into a whirling dogfight, each of us trying to out-turn the other. Eventually I crept up and got a shot of into his tail, tearing a large hole through his elevators. The German must have kicked hard on his rudder as he manged to perform an almost flat turn, causing me to overshoot. I continued to bank round to pursue the Hun expecting to see him make a break for home. I was surprised however to be greeted with the sight of the Fokker bearing down on my on a collision course! In the moment I had to react I realised the german could not pull up due to the damage I had dealt his elevator, with a split second to spare I pulled up hard hearing the roar of the 'Oberursel' Rotary as the enemy pilot skimmed below me. I looked over my shoulder and my suspicion as to the plane's damage was cofirmed as the Fokker piled, full speed into the treetops. The skys clear once again, A-Flight headed home. An hour later 'Old Tom' my Strutter rolled to a stop in front of the hangars. Jumping down from the cockpit I was greeted by the smling faces of the pilots I had been drinking with the night before. "You're still alive Stiffy!" Grinned Jarrow "Looks like the old man was right about you taking care of yourself! Looks like we won't have to bury you will honours after all!" "No" I said, smiling, "But you can still write to my mother to tell her I killed two Huns if you like!" "What?!" he said, his grin turning to surprise. "C'mon, you can buy me a drink" I said as we all strolled towards the mess, "I'll tell you all about it." Edited October 31, 2009 by Stiffy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ras 0 Posted October 31, 2009 Stiffy. A wonderful report and dissertation of your exploit. I love reading this kind of stuff. I love writing too, but I am so new to this era of aviation, it just doesn't come to me. I will leave it up to all of you fellows-both on the good sid and the "DARK" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
carrick58 23 Posted October 31, 2009 Nice reading , Good work Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RAF_Louvert 101 Posted October 31, 2009 . Outstanding mission and report Stiffy! Well done Sir. Cheers! Lou . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stiffy 1 Posted October 31, 2009 W4180 - 778 20,000 - 6/16 . . . 10432 - M1070 30,000 - 10/16 . . . (HWWP1484/1) Forms/W3318/2 . . . RNAS Form W. 3348. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mission Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ____________________________________________________________ Squadron: B Sqdn 1 Wing, (attached to RNAS-2) Type and No. of Aircraft: Sop. Strutter B1, four in flight Pilot: Flt SubLt. Montgomery Mountjoy-Standfast Observer: None Locality: St. Pol Sur-Mer Date: 31 October 1916 Time: 07:45 Duty: Recon Height: 12,000' ____________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Failed to reach target to to heavy enemy activity in British sectors. Engage by group of 4 halberstadts. Did not realise at first that was seperated from the rest of my flight so had to fight Huns single handed. Shot down 2 of the blighters before ran out of bullets. Turned tail for home! This strutter is turning out to be a surprisingly good fighting machine! Hope they dont do anything foolish like try to make it a 2 seater! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stiffy 1 Posted November 1, 2009 To Lord Mountjoy-Standfast VC Devon England 1st November 1916 Dear sir, It is with great sorrow that I have to inform you of the death of your son. Montgomery was killed in a collision with an enemy aircraft while in the execution of his duties. Rest assured that your son died bravely while defending his comrades and his nation. In the short time Stiffy was with us he laid claim to downing 5 enemy aircraft, I'm sure these victories would have been confirmed if time had permitted. Yours W.I.Elder Commander B Squadron 1 wing RNAS Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted November 1, 2009 (edited) Stiffy, my condolences for your fallen alter ego, Sir! One of our pilots hit the mud too today - Leutnant Wilhelm Konigstein (Blue781) was hit by Flak, as far as we know. No comfort really - sorry. PS: may I invite you to post your future tales in the common "Krauts vs Crumpets" thread? Your style is very entertaining, Sir! Edited November 1, 2009 by Olham Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Siggi 10 Posted November 1, 2009 Commiserations old chap. But, looking on the bright side, better a young sprog with only a couple of hours under his belt. It still hurts, but not as bad as an old vet with a couple of hundred. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
