Astonishing coincidence or amazing OFF development?

[Javito1986 14]

I completely by accident stumbled upon this old 2003 post on the Aerodrome forums while browsing WW1 aces:

 

"On August 26th, 1918 nine Sopwith Camel's from the 17th Aero Squadron were attacked while attempting to assist a single Camel of the 148th Aero. Depending on the source anywhere from 30-50 Fokker D.VII's of J.G.3 decended on the would be rescuers and downed seven aircraft.Six from the 17th Aero and the one from the 148th. This was over Bapaume.

Also depending on source it was claimed the 17th *downed anywhere from five to eleven D.VII's. My question is what do the German records reflect regarding this combat in reference to their total *numbers and their losses?

 

Thanks"

Now have a look at my pilot's diary entry for August 25, 1918. He's in 148th Aero:

 

"August 25, 1918

Massive air battle on our side of the line today. At least 25 craft involved from multiple Aero squadrons pitted against a number of DVII craft from Jasta 25. I shot the wing off one of them but was hit very hard by another Hun, hastily made a rough landing in the nearest field. 17 Squadron intervened and finished off the last of the Huns. I must say, Elliot White Springs handled himself with the utmost skill during the battle, having claimed a number of enemy machines downed."

I didn't write down everything out of laziness but what actually ended up happening was that I and the squadron dove on some four Fokker triplanes below us because they were easy pickings. I looked up and saw the sky darkened with many, many, many (at least 15) Fokker DVIIs that I hadn't seen. We were very, very hard pressed (i.e. I mentioned shooting one down only to be hit and forced down myself immediately after) until 17th Aero arrived out of nowhere and chased the DVIIs off. This was by far the largest air battle of my campaign and has yet to be surpassed (currently it's September 26th).

Granted it happened a day earlier than the real engagement, and in real life it actually went even worse for 148 and 17 than it did in my campaign... but I read that and was amazed by how closely my pilot's career that day lined up with IRL events, without my even realizing it!

 

[Olham 164]

That's what we mean, when we stress the word "immersion" here so often - it feels so real!

I found this post answering a post about that incident in "The Aerodrome":

 

http://www.theaerodr....html#post21280

 

The book „The Jasta War Chronology“ states as follows:

 

26. August 1918:

 

148th Aero Camel, 1Lt Siebold KIA, shot down by Lt. Frommherz of Jasta27, at 17.45

 

17th Aero Camel, 1Lt Tipton POW, shot down by Lt. Frommherz of Jasta27, at 18.00

 

17th Aero Camel, 1Lt Frost POW/DOW, shot down by Lt. Frommherz of Jasta27, at 18.05

 

17th Aero Camel, 2Lt Todd POW, shot down by Lt. Klimke of Jasta27, at 19.55

 

17th Aero Camel, 1Lt Roberts KIA, shot down by Lt. Heinz of Jasta B ( ? ), at ?

 

17th Aero Camel, 2Lt Jackson KIA, shot down by Lt. Bolle of Jasta B ( ? ), at ?

 

17th Aero Camel, 2Lt Bittinger KIA, shot down by Olt.Loerzer of JG3, at ?

 

On this day there was only one German pilot killed in action over Fins ( Gefr. Becker of Jasta 48 ).

No wounded German pilots are mentioned for this day. It seems that this loss has nothing to do

with the above mentioned fight. Maybe some of the German aircraft involved in this fight were

damaged somehow.

 

Interesting is, that only the first three kills lie close together. The 4. was almost 2 hours later

(if the guy didn't get the times wrong).

 

PS/Edit: the question marks probably were made because of the "B" - this stands for Jasta "Boelcke",

which was Jasta 2.

Edited November 16, 2010 by Olham

[RAF_Louvert 101]

.

 

Yuppers, pretty darned amazing I'd say. This sim never ceases to impress me.

 

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[+elephant 36]

Now that's impressive!

That's making me more sad in the idea that I have to wait for my game to come...

Edited November 17, 2010 by elephant

[Olham 164]

Elephant, you should be prepared for 15 - 20 days, until the sim is in your hands.

But I can assure you: every second is worth the waiting!

[Javito1986 14]

I forget how long it took for my copy to get here... I don't remember it being THAT long. Actually I was surprised by how quickly it got here. I want to say it was a week.

[Olham 164]

In my case it also took only 12 days. But I thought it might be better to prepare him for a little wait.

[+elephant 36]

Do you too live in Europe Javito ?

I'm expectin' at least in the time frame given by Olham.

Parcels from outsite EU have to pass from Greek Custom Service before passed to Greek Mail...

Things are not running so fast, (moreover in Civil Services), in my country you know!

 

I've been reading your pilot's log Javito, what a read!

Very lively narrated! You have some talent there, you know...

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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Elephant, as others have already noted it will be well worth the wait Sir. And you've already found a bit of reading to get you in the mood with Javito's recent run of wonderful reports. Other currently active sagas in "Reports From the Front" you will enjoy are those of Olham, themightysrc, and carrick58. And you might like Paul Blum's adventures too, which you can find here:

 

Paul Blum's Story

 

You will also want to read the excellent OFF outings documented in the "Krauts vs Crumpets" forum too.

 

By the time you've caught up on all these your copy of OFF will have arrived and your own adventures will begin.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

 

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