The Strafe Of The Kite Balloon

[RAF_Louvert 101]

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Greetings All,

 

I was doing a bit of research this AM and remembered a set of books I'd read quite some number of years back that pertained to WWI naval operations at Dover: "The Dover Patrol, 1915-1917" by Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon. Chapter 19 of Volume II deals with the air services of the patrol and the 60-some pages are well worth the read as they are rich in dates, events, people, and planes. Both volumes are available in various formats for free online, and for your convenience what follows is the link to Google Books offering of Volume II:

 

The Dover Patrol, Volume II

 

The chapter ends with a wonderful poem about a balloon attack carried out by Flight Lieutenant Colin Roy MacKenzie on 7 September, 1916, while flying a RNAS Nieuport Bebe. Here is a scan of said poem:

 

 

 

 

 

Love how descriptive it is, and the bit about counting to five after firing the rockets shows this was written by someone who'd actually been there. And it's really quite moving at the end, IMHO.

 

 

Lou

 

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[Olham 164]

Well, it definitely is moving - a broken-off lifeline, broken off in the cruelest way for those surviving,

as "missing in action" is as if someone disappears in the battle haze like a ghost, not even leaving

you some ashes to bury. On the other hand maybe less cruel than to face the remains of the fallen

pilot - a body shattered after a long steep and desperate fall.

 

The poem is very descriptive indeed - almost could be used as an instruction how to do it.

Thanks for sharing, Lou!

Edited January 1, 2013 by Olham

[rjw 48]

Love how descriptive it is, and the bit about counting to five after firing the rockets shows this was written by someone who'd actually been there. And it's really quite moving at the end, IMHO.

 

Have to agree with you on this point Lou. I get an empty feeling at the end of the poem, and it is written with some knowledge of tactics.

 

Thanks for posting it and I will have to locate the books you mentioned online.

[Flyby PC 23]

It's always very revealing when you read contemporary accounts of wartime events. Notwithstanding the authors intent, which makes it worth reading anyway, but for the inadvertent glimpses which it gives you into the authentic context. Little things, which you wouldn't or couldn't make up.

 

Without flying OFF and simulation of WW1 flight, and hurting towards an imaginery barrage balloon with my own rockets, the poems references to a feignting approach from high, a headlong dive to fire rockets from above and catching the backfire in your face might not have meant half as much to me.

 

I'm still learning more however, he counts to 5 to make sure the rockets are clear. Does that mean firing rockets was like firing a musket, where there's a pause between firing and the discharge of the weapon, so the five second drill was to keep your aim steady and true beyond the moment of pulling the trigger, or was the 5 second delay to let the rockets and their sticks fly clear of their mountings an still be on target? I'm tempted to think it was the first scenario, because I was led to believe that trying to keep your sights on the target right through the shot and any recoil was good disciplined shooting anyway. I think it's quite probable the rockets would have had a 1 or 2 second fuse, because when you think about it, most rockets do.

 

To me, such details make all the difference in the world, because you can understand that the words were written by someone who was actually there, and doing the things they describe. That's not to condemn fictional writing, but it's just not in the same league as genuine first hand narratives.

 

It's very though provoking. I might never have guessed that rocket attacks were in effect flown as dive bomb attacks, but it actually makes a whole lot of sense considering the arcing trajectory of rockets fired horizontally. I love the way that flying combat sims opens your mind to understand and interpret what people who flew in combat for real were saying, and perhaps get an insight into why they might do certain things in a curious or particular way.

[HumanDrone 4]

Good points about the fuses, Flyby, and the discipline of shooting as well. I would think that the "dive bomb" type of attack would also give you the advantage of being a difficult target - AA stationed around the balloon would be firing up past the balloon to some degree, and moving their sites closer and closer to the balloon as you dropped - and then, as you pulled out, you are really moving and again represent a more difficult target. I was kinda surprised in the last few stanzas of the poem that the poor fellow, while successful in his attack, was not successful in his escape.

 

I can imagine going after a balloon this way in OFF, it makes a lot of sense. But in real life, I'd probably try to release the rockets as high as I could above the ballon and still have a good chance of hitting it - probably have the guns blazing, too! I'd go lower in OFF, but I'm a lot "braver" in OFF than I would be in real life!