Axgrinder 0 Posted January 11, 2010 (edited) I f you missed last night, you missed a good one! I have spent many hours building four missions that recreate the battle for Vimy Ridge. Duck, Firecage, Von Guber and myself flew the first two days of the battle, April 9-10, 1917. We flew out of Camblain, Mont St. Eloi and Etru. The first day was mostly recon work along the ridge to identify German position and strength The second day was Ground support for the Canadian forces on the lines. On the first day the Canadians put up a constant shelling of the German lines to try and keep their heads down why we flew up and down the lines taking photos. Unfortunately for us the main German pursuit Squadron in the area at that time was Jasta 11 based in Douai! Manfred and his bunch took great pleasure in shooting our BE2 recon planes from No. 2 and No. 13 squadrons down at will. We did have a flight of 1/2 strutters from No. 43 squadron as fighter/recon with us and they did their best but ultimately were no match for the German Alby's! The day rightfully earned it's monicer that is remembered in history as "Bloody April"! We lost nearly every recon plane we sent out. We did manage to gather some usefull intell. The second day found us doing a great deal of ground pounding to harass the German troops and keep them busy while the Canadians formed their troops for the coming attack on the ridge itself. Squadron No. 8 came in with their pups and used rockets to break up and destroy German tank units that were moving up to stop the Canadian attack. Se5's from No. 40 squadron provided air support and kept an eye out for the Hun fliers. Everyone was quite busy and the day went well for the Allies. The pups had a field day with the German tanks. For some reason early on the German fighters were no where to be seen so the Se5's joined in on ground attacks. Later in the day the Germans sent in a flight of Roland CII's to bomb and strafe our troops. This caught us by surprise so we had to turn our attention to them. By that time we were all low on ammo and fuel. While we were in pursuit of the Rolands, Jasta 11 showed up from the east at very high and ready to bounce us! We thought we were finished for sure! For some reason they stayed high and didn't attack. We were able to scatter the Rolands which allowed us to turn our attention on the Alby's. Lucky for us Manfred and his boys were not in the mood to fight. The Germans spent the day teasing us in the air. They would fly away back toward Douai then turn like they were going to attack then turn tail again back to Douai. Von Guber finally grew weary of this game and along with Firecage followed them back to Douai. As the Albs were making their final approach Von Guber and Fire Cage attacked the flight We believe they knocked a few of them down but we will never know for sure! Von Guber we believe was shot down durring the attack and Firecage was killed by a direct flak burst on his aircraft! To our credit we did manage to keep the Hun at bay while the Canadians formed their lines for the Vimy Ridge offensive. We will fly day 3 and 4 another time. Untill then here are some recon photos we managed to get back to our lines. In case anyone is interested I have posted all four missions in the download area of the forum. Attached image(s) Resized to 81% (was 1306 x 940) - Click image to enlarge Resized to 79% (was 1346 x 860) - Click image to enlarge Edited January 11, 2010 by Axgrinder Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VonGuber 2 Posted January 11, 2010 It was a good time. I'm looking forward to days 3 & 4. Thanks for all the hard work on those missions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Axgrinder 0 Posted January 11, 2010 Great pics VG! Glad to know I wasn't the only one to survive and bring some intell back to HQ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
themightysrc 5 Posted January 11, 2010 German tank units? Are you sure about that? I hate to be a pedant, but in 1917, I don't think that the Huns had any tanks, unless they were captured Mk I's, still less tank units. The campaign sounds great, but lose the the tanks on the German side - that's ahistorical. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VonGuber 2 Posted January 12, 2010 I think it should be capitalized...."Pedant". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GRUMPYBEAR 1 Posted January 12, 2010 Hey Axe can you put those missions in the download section? GB Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Axgrinder 0 Posted January 12, 2010 (edited) Allready there Grumpy! Hey Simon - You're right, but in the game tanks blow up better than people - call it poetic license! Edited January 12, 2010 by Axgrinder Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
