shredward

Anyone know what's become of him? Haven't seen him since we moved boards. shredward

Hi Unc, We have an SE5 in name only. It is actually the SE5a Hisso masquerading as. One day perhaps..... Cheers, shredward

22 Sqn RAF - an SE cunningly disguised as a Biff lol. Those puke-green/poo-brown Krumpet krates all look the same

Hello Bletch, We don't have any German two-seaters before the introduction of the Wahlfisch at the beginning of April '16. So, other than Quircks, you won't see anything earlier than that. Something we hope to amend down the road. Cheers, shredward

From the History channel: June 19, 1917 King George V Changes Royal Surname On this day in 1917, during the third year of the Great War, Britain’s King George V orders the British Royal Family to dispense with the use of German titles and surnames, changing the surname of his own family, the decidedly Germanic Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, to Windsor. The second son of Prince Edward of Wales (later King Edward VII) and Alexandra of Denmark, and the grandson of Queen Victoria, George was born in 1865 and embarked on a naval career before becoming heir to the throne in 1892 when his older brother, Edward, died of pneumonia. The following year, George married the German princess Mary of Teck (his cousin, a granddaughter of King George III), who had previously been intended for Edward. The couple had six children, including the future Edward VIII and George VI (who took the throne in 1936 after his brother abdicated to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson). As the new Duke of York, George was made to abandon his career in the navy; he became a member of the House of Lords and received a political education. When his father died in 1910, George ascended to the British throne as King George V. When war broke out in the summer of 1914, strong anti-German feeling within Britain caused sensitivity among the Royal Family about its German roots. Kaiser Wilhelm II, also a grandson of Queen Victoria, was the King’s cousin; the Queen herself was German. As a result, on June 19, 1917, the King decreed that the royal surname was thereby changed from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor. In order to demonstrate solidarity with the British war effort, George made several visits to survey the troops on the Western Front. During one visit to France in 1915, he fell off a horse and broke his pelvis, an injury that plagued him for the rest of his life. Also in 1917, he made the controversial decision to deny asylum in Britain to another of his cousins, Czar Nicholas II of Russia, and his family, after the Czar abdicated during the Russian Revolution. Czar Nicholas, his wife Alexandra and their children were subsequently arrested and later murdered by the Bolsheviks.

From the New York Times June 18, 1916 IMMELMANN KILLED BY FALL, BERLIN HEARS GERMAN AVIATOR WAS CREDITED WITH HAVING BROUGHT DOWN FIFTEEN ENEMY AEROPLANES New York Times. BERLIN, June 21. Leutnant Immelmann, whose daring exploits as an aviator have made his name known throughout the world, is reported to have been killed in a fall with his aeroplane. The Leutnant's name was first mentioned in an official report from the German War Office on Oct. 2, 1915, when it was related that he had shot down his fourth aeroplane. The last mention of his name in an official communication was on May 17, when he had shot down his fifteenth aeroplane. Leutnant Immelmann received various decorations, ending with the highest order, Pour le Merite, when he disposed of his eleventh adversary. When he shot down his twelfth, Kaiser Wilhelm wrote him an autograph letter of commendation. The Kaiser crossed out the word twelfth and substituted thirteenth, saying: "One cannot write as fast as Immelmann shoots" The Leutnant was a native of Dresden, born in 1890. The newspapers devote much space to his exploits. Some of them compare him with Captain Otto Weddigen, the submarine commander, who gained fame by sinking three British cruisers in the North Sea, and later met his death on the U-29.

From the History Channel, historyofwar.org: June 18, 1915 French End Attack in the Artois After several weeks of heavy fighting, including savage hand-to-hand combat, with little success, French troops halt their attacks in the Artois on June 18, 1915. The Second Battle of Artois, 9 May-18 June 1915, was the most important part of the Allied spring offensive of 1915. It was hoped to capture Vimy Ridge, break through the German lines, and advance into the Douai plain. This would cut key German railway lines and perhaps force them to retreat from their great salient bulging out into France. The Allied offensive was pre-empted by the German gas attack at Ypres (second battle of Ypres, 22 April-25 May 1915). By the time the Artois offensive began, the real crisis at Ypres had passed, but it did prevent the BEF from playing a bigger part in the planned offensives. Even so, the British First Army, under General Haig, was allocated to the offensive, and was to attack Aubers Ridge, over the same ground attacked during the battle of Neuve Chapelle (10-13 March 1915). The Artois, located in northern France between Picardy and Flanders, near the English Channel, was a strategically important battlefield during the Great War and saw heavy fighting throughout the conflict. Over the course of 1915, the most significant Allied offensives on the Western Front all took place in Artois. On May 9, French and British troops launched a two-pronged offensive around Vimy Ridge and Aubers Ridge respectively. The British attack at Aubers Ridge was a total failure. It cost the BEF 10,000 casualties and achieved nothing. The French offensive would be launched by the Tenth Army, under General d'Urbal. It was supported by 1,200 guns with 200,000 shells, a huge amount for ammunition for 1915. The artillery bombardment began six days before the attack was due to go in. The French attack on 9 May opened with a dramatic success. Pétain's XXXIII corps advanced 2.5 miles in the first hour and a half of the battle, and the 77th and Moroccan Divisions actually reached the crest of Vimy Ridge. General d'Urbal had not expected such rapid successes, and his reserves were six miles behind the front line, preparing to move up over the next few days. The German reserves were much better placed, and by the end of the day the French had been pushed back off the top of the ridge. Over the next five weeks the French and Germans engaged in a battle of attrition in the area immediately behind the old German front line. This was a maze of communications trenches and strong points, where progress was slow and costly. The Moroccan Division did manage to fight its way back onto Vimy Ridge on 16 June, but was once again pushed back. A second British attack, at Festubert, 15-27 May 1915, was less disastrous than the attack at Aubers, but also marked a change to a war of attrition. Meanwhile, fighting continued throughout May and into June, with the French opening up a diversionary assault on the Somme River, some 40 kilometers to the south, in an attempt to secure the village of Serre. In Artois, the town of Neuville St. Vaast finally fell to the French 5th Army on June 9. On June 16, hoping to press their advantage, the French launched further assaults on the German lines in Artois. Over the next 24 hours, French artillery fired over 300,000 shells around Neuville St. Vaast; the Germans still managed to outgun them, as the higher altitude of their lines allowed them to fire on French positions with greater ease. On June 18, the French command called off the battle in Artois, after many small advances and changes of control of territory. The attack in Artois failed to achieve its original objectives. Vimy Ridge remained in German hands until it fell to the Canadians in 1917, while the battle of attrition favoured the Germans. The French suffered 100,000 casualties, the Germans 75,000, and as the French were well aware there were more Germans than Frenchmen. The French consequently began to build up a force of 900 heavy guns, over 1,000 field guns and 37 divisions for another major Artois offensive that fall, the Third battle of Artois, as part of a wider offensive that included the Second Battle of Champagne and the British failure at Loos.

I have both Kriegstagebuch der Jagdstaffel 12 and Chronik der der Jagdstaffel 32, and they are both great. I just wish they would do some of the other units. Highly recommended! Cheers, shredward

From the FirstWorldWar.com, Wikipedia: June 15, 1918 The Battle of the Piave River The Battle of the Piave River was the last major Austro-Hungarian attack on the Italian Front and heralded the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian army on the way to the dismantling of the Empire. The main assault, fought between 15-22 June 1918, was prompted by German demands upon their ally to launch an offensive across the Piave river - which was situated a bare few kilometres from key Italian cities such as Venice, Padua and Verona - now that the Russians had withdrawn from the war. It was also intended as a belated follow-up to the spectacularly successful combined German/Austro-Hungarian offensive at Caporetto the previous autumn. However the Austro-Hungarian Army of June 1918 was quite different from the one that had triumphed at Caporetto eight months earlier. It was demoralised, equipment and other supplies were perilously low, and while apparently demonstrating superior numbers of divisions to their Italian counterparts individual unit strengths were notably weakened. At the same time the Italian Army had been the beneficiary of burgeoning Allied war munitions production. Furthermore, incoming Chief of Staff Armando Diaz had taken care to deploy adequate defences along the Piave. However both Austro-Hungarian commanders on the spot - Boroevic and former Commander-in-Chief Conrad - were in favour of an attack along the Piave (Conrad much more so than Boroevic), although both (in a state of unhelpful rivalry) demanded significant reinforcements before an attack could commence. This led to newly-installed Chief of Staff Arz von Straussenberg's decision to split forces equally between the two commanders, 58 divisions in total (against 57 Italian). Although the Austro-Hungarians intended to advance in a pincer movement Straussenberg's decision to divide his forces meant that neither commander had sufficient strength in depth to achieve a knock-out blow. Straussenberg determined to open the attack with a direct assault on the river by Boroevic's forces, to be followed with an attack in the Trentino by Conrad. Boroevic opened the offensive with his Fifth and Sixth Armies on 10 June, crossing the Piave along the coast. General Diaz learned the exact timing of the Austrian main attack: 3:00am on 15 June, so, at 2:30am, the Italian artillery opened fire all along their front, on the crowded enemy trenches, inflicting heavy casualties. In some sector the artillery barrage had the effect to delay or stop the attack, as Austrian soldiers began to revert to the defensive positions, believing to have to face an unexpected Italian attack, but on the great part of the frontline the Austrians still attacked. Boroević launched the first assault, moving South along the Adriatic Coast and in the middle course of the Piave River. The Austrians were able to cross the Piave and gained ground against the Italians in the face of heavy resistance, before Boroević was finally stopped and forced to order a retreat. On the subsequent days Boroević renewed the assaults, but the artillery barrage destroyed many of the river's bridges and the Austrian formations that crossed the river were unable to receive reinforcement and supplies. To make matters worse, the swollen Piave isolated a great number of units on the west bank of the river, which made of them an easy target for the Italian fire. An estimated of 20,000 Austro-Hungarian soldiers drowned while trying to reach the east bank. On 19 June Diaz counterattacked and hit Boroević in the flank inflicting heavy casualties. By 23 June the Italians recaptured all territory on the southern bank of the Piave and the battle was over. In the meantime Conrad attacked along the Italian lines west of Boroević, on the Asiago Plateaux, on the 15th, with the objective of capturing Vicenza. Little came of Conrad's assaults except a further 40,000 casualties to the Austrian total. In the aftermath, Boroević was particularly critical about the behaviour of Conrad that, after the complete failure of the first attack, preferred to continue the assaults in the subsequent days, but with much minor strength, rather than to send reinforcements on the Piave sector. Meanwhile Conrad's attacks along the Trentino from 15 June by his Tenth and Eleventh Armies, intended at the capture of Verona, proved of little effectiveness. Faced with strong counter-attacks by the Italian Fourth and Sixth Armies (which included British and French troops) the Austro-Hungarians suffered 40,000 casualties within a week. The comprehensive failure of the offensive served merely to hasten the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian army, which effectively ceased to exist as a single cohesive force. Its dismantling was finalised by the Italians at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto in the autumn.

It's early days, and they can only get better. Remember that OFF has been five years in the making, and we're not there yet. RoF has got a great engine, and some really great features. RoF I'm sure will become a really outstanding combat flight sim. And that is great for all of us. Cheers, shredward

We could tell you, but then we would have to shoot you. shredward

Alex Revell posted this at the Aerodrome this morning... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/8115137.stm Cheers, shredward

Many Thanks Jim, Yes, pronunciation is same as Sheila - both names are Celtic. She will usually go by 'Cat'. Cheers, Ted

Salut mes amis! A special flight from Les Cigognes dropped out of the clouds at first light on the Solstice, escorting our daughter safely home. Shelagh Catriona Gustavison touched down at 04:46 on 21 June, weighing in at 7lbs 14oz, and she is practically perfect in every way. Christy and I are completely smitten. Cheers, Ted

You already know the answer to that one!

It's in the works. Cheers, shredward

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=300318715817 Cheers, shredward

I think Pol just unlocked that door again. It'll be pots of iron oxide, umber and carbon black for you! shredward

Found it. It's at a museum at a place called Nar Nar Goon near Melbourne. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LHM...ith-Camel-1.jpg http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LHM...ith-Camel-2.jpg shredward

Seems to me that a/c is in Oz - can't remember for sure - maybe Hobart? shred of aged grey matter

From the History channel: June 11, 1918 Allies Launch Counterattack in France After several months of an aggressive German offensive on the Western Front during the spring and early summer of 1918, the Allies begin their counterattack, including an assault on June 10, 1918, by four French and two American divisions on German lines near the town of Antheuil-Portes in central France, some 45 miles from Paris. Code-breaking by French intelligence at the beginning of June 1918 had allowed the Allies to prepare for a German attack in France that was to begin at midnight on June 7. The French launched their own massive artillery bombardment some ten minutes earlier, catching the Germans while they were still preparing for the attack. The Germans countered with an even stronger assault, firing 250,000 rounds of poison gas—including mustard, phosgene and diphenyl-chlorarsine—into the French trenches, incapacitating some 4,000 French soldiers and killing 32. After three days of battle, the Germans had forced the French back to Antheuil-Portes. Winston Churchill, in Paris at the time coordinating Allied munitions, wrote to his wife on June 10 that “If the French cannot hold [the Germans] back on this sector, it is not easy to see what the next step on our part should be.” The following day, four French and two American divisions launched a counterattack aided by significant air support as well as over 150 tanks. They successfully pushed the Germans back from Antheuil, taking more than a thousand German prisoners. A German attack west of Soissons on June 12 made negligible gains, and German Chief of Staff Erich Ludendorff called off the offensive that same day. The Allies continued their push, however, beginning a change of momentum that would gain force throughout the summer of 1918 and the final months of World War I.

From the History channel: June 10, 1917 Italians Renew Battle on Mountain-tops in Trentino On June 10, 1917, Italian troops launch a renewed assault on Austro-Hungarian positions in the mountains of the Trentino region in northern Italy, on the border with Austria. The formidable nature of the northern Italian terrain—four-fifths of the 600-kilometer-long border with Austria was lined with mountains, with several peaks rising above 3,000 meters—made the Italian, of all the fronts during World War I, the least well-suited for battle. Nevertheless, upon their entrance into the war in May 1915 on the side of the Allies, the Italians immediately took the offensive against Austria in the Trentino, with little success. By the end of 1915, after four battles fought on the Isonzo River, in the eastern section of the Italian front, Italy had made no substantial progress and had suffered 235,000 casualties, including 54,000 killed. The Tenth Battle of the Isonzo—by the end of the war there would be 12—in May 1917 had met with a similar lack of success for the Italians. A major Austro-Hungarian counter-offensive launched on June 3 reclaimed virtually all of the ground Italy had gained; Italian Commander-in-Chief Luigi Cadorna shut down the attacks on June 8. Two days later, the increasingly frustrated Italians renewed the battle, attacking six mountain peaks in the Trentino. Italian deserters had revealed details of the assault to the Austrians, however, and they were able to counterattack successfully and hold their positions. The Italians did manage to capture one mountain peak, however—the nearly 7,000-foot-high Mount Ortigaro—and take some 1,000 Austrian prisoners. Two weeks later, the Austrians seized control of Ortigaro again, taking 2,000 Italian prisoners. By the end of June, after three weeks of heated battle on the mountain peaks and passes, the lines of territory had barely changed, at the cost of 23,000 Italian and nearly 9,500 Austrian casualties.

And Whump You're dead!

Tony answered Zoom's question, and with that, I think we will close. Cheers, shredward

OK guys, You've each had one free swing. Now let's play nice. Cheers, shredward