2 January, 1918 08:45
Saint-Loup-en-Champagne, Marne Sector
Jasta 19
Oberleutnant Zygmunt Dolf Hahn EK2 EK1 HHO PLM AO RA
106 confirmed kills

Two of the SPADs from yesterday have been confirmed.
There was more snow below and frigid blue skies above today. Ziggy was leading his Schwarm on the second circuit of patrolling enemy front lines north of Rosnay when he noticed three dots in the distance north of him. They were well into German held territory, so it was a safe bet they could be friendly, but he wasn’t going to bet on it just yet. Hahn brought his flight closer for a look-see. They seemed silver from this distance. Could they be Nieuports? But there was no Flak chasing them at all. Were the boys downstairs asleep? Perhaps these were Pfalzen? They needed to get closer. One of the dots dove down. No, definitely not Pfalz creations. These had rotary engines. Definitely Strutters. They were bigger than Nieuports, and slower, and not as nimble. By the time Ziggy arrived at this conclusion, the enemy planes were upon them. He sprayed one while engaging it head to head. He then reversed and went after the other. The rear gunner wasn’t asleep and returned fire. Zygmunt immediately remembered the last time he was chasing a silver Strutter. It didn’t end well for him. He followed the French two-seater from a distance, being careful not to give the enemy too easy of a shot, but the gunner continued to find him and continued to perforate Ziggy’s poor mount. In the end Hahn decided to slink away from the battle with an overheating engine. The Strutter was not worth the risk.

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On his way back the engine ceased and Hahn was able to glide as far as the Prouvais Woods. There, he decided to set his sick Albatros down along the railroad tracks. He was doing well until he was forced into a narrow valley and he soon realized his wingspan was wider than the snowbanks on both sides of the train tracks. First his port wing hit the side then his starboard went into the other side. The Albatros’ wings then conformed to the shape of the gully and dropped the entire aircraft down to the ground. Zygmunt was safe, but his plane was a mess. While dismounting his stricken aeroplane, the wheel axle broke allowing the left wheel to come off. The jolt caused by this failure threw the unfortunate pilot off the top of the fuselage and into the snow bank. Ziggy inhaled lungfuls of frozen powder while clumsily digging himself out of the bank. It took the rest of the day to recover his stricken machine.