9 March: Patrol Friendly Front Lines Trescault to Mont St. Martin Good flying weather - uneventful flight
10 March: Reconnaissance (DFW CV from Ss-13) Havincourt to Villers-Guslain Excellent flying weather – uneventful flight
11 March: Balloon Busting (Observation Balloon Sector FB426 – area of Bertincourt/Havincourt, 3 miles North of Lechelle
After the briefing had been completed, Karl’s heart sunk and a feeling of dread washed over him - he had heard so much about balloon busting and none of it was good! (In reality previous OFF/WOFF Campaign balloon busting missions had not gone so well)
The flight to Bertincourt was uneventful. The Kette attacked from the North East from 3,000 feet. Karl followed the Kette leader Josef Wulf who fired on the balloon. Karl drive and started firing but over shot the target. Cursing himself he circled and gained height intending on making his way back to German front lines. To his surprise he found that the balloon was slightly to his left and 500 feet lower. He immediately dived and fired two long busts as well as reducing his speed hoping that it did not make him a sitting duck! As Karl climbed out of the dive, he observed that there was black smoke coming from the balloon. He looked over his shoulder to see the observation balloon in flames. Not wishing to stay around any longer Karl started to zig zag towards the German front lines as well as trying to gain as much height as possible. At this stage Karl was alone having lost contact with the rest of the Kette, although he could see Kette Eins in the far distance at about 4,000, who were being subjected to anti-aircraft fire. It was not until he had landed at Wassigny and switched off the engine did Karl relax. On inspecting his aircraft Karl found to his surprise that he had not been subjected to any ground fire. The other Kette pilots also reported only a couple of holes in their machines. It seemed that the enemy ground gunners had been taken completely by surprise. Would they be as lucky a second time?
Karl submitted a claimed of an observed balloon destroyed.
12 March: Balloon Defence FB8108 - located at Marcoing/Flesquieres Rain first part of the flight – clear weather until end of the patrol. Uneventful flight.
13 March: Reconnaissance (3 x DFW CV from FA(A) 293b) – Boursies to Croisilles Weather overcast. DFW’s subjected to enemy ground fire which was ineffective.
Karl’s observation balloon claim was confirmed – so nice of the pencil pushers back at HQ – let them attack an observation balloon!
14 March: Reconnaissance (3 Roland CII from Ss-17) Heavy rain and heavy cloud cover. Although the Kette reached the rendezvous point - the two-seaters could not ben seen, so the Kette returned to Wassigny.
