September 16 started like any other day, well, not really. Last night, Raab and I went into the village to celebrate his sixth victory. Hauptmann Boelcke offered to buy the first round to toast Raab and wish him much more good hunting in the future. The first one led to the second and so on and so forth until I wasn’t sure what round it was, much less where I was!
The next thing I remember I awoke to a frantic banging on the door. The squadron adjutant was there screaming at the top of his lungs, “Leutnant Schutzenbaum get out of bed! Hauptmann Boelcke wants to see you in his office, SCHNELL!” I opened my eyes to see that I wasn’t in my room at the Chateau and there was a strange woman in my bed, that's when I realized that I was in her bed. I jumped out of bed, pulled on my pants and boots and dressed on my way out the door, tossed ten marks on the nightstand just in case I was supposed to and ran to the truck.
I felt a knot in the pit of my stomach when I got back to the aerodrome and saw that the morning patrol had already left without me. I knew Boelcke would not be happy.. I was pleasantly surprised when he calmly told me that it better not happen again and to go get some rest, I was leading the afternoon patrol. I walked to the Chateau wondering why he was assigning me as lead when I screwed up and missed a patrol. I decided not to dwell on it and get some sleep, maybe clear up some of the fog in my head.
It was around1030 when I awoke, feeling somewhat better. I figured I’d better go ahead and get dressed so I could at least get a bite or two before the mission.
When I got to the briefing tent it was empty save for Hauptmann Boelcke. I asked, “Where is everyone else Herr Hauptmann?” “There is no one else,” he replied, “You will go out alone today, perhaps next time you will be more punctual!”
So there I was. With the British gearing up for an offensive and the RFC out in force, I’m going up alone! Somehow I had the feeling that today wasn’t going to be my day. I felt a cold chill run up and down my spine that just seemed to get worse as I approached my Albatros. When I got to it Willi,Fritz, and Manfred already had it ready to go, so I climbed into the cockpit. Mixture, full rich,check! Magneto on. Check! Contact! Willi pulled on the propeller and the Mercedes roared to life. After a few minutes I pushed the throttle forward and took off across the aerodrome. After circling the field a couple of times I turned and headed toward the front at around 2500 meters.
As I flew along my thoughts returned to the night before and the fun we had drinking, singing songs, and flirting with the local women. I had to bring my mind back to the present or else I just might not make it back to do it again. The flight to the front was uneventful save for the aggravating flak. Was it my imagination, or was their aim getting better?
I had flown about ten kilometers into enemy territory when I spotted four specks about 700meters below me so I thought I’d take a closer look. BE2s, four of them heading toward the front. I thought, “Maybe my day will be better than I suspected.” It was then that I saw four more specks above and behind them. Nieuport 17s! Well that’s that!,I thought to myself. There was no way I was going up against four Nieuports alone. Not in this lifetime. I may be crazy but I’m not stupid, so I ducked into a nearby cloud before they spotted me.
I started a lazy turn to head back toward the Front and home when I spotted four more specks below. Four more BE2s! They must be planning something big because there sure are a lot of British planes in the air. I looked around to see if there were any escorts and saw one Bristol Scout trailing them above and behind. This was just too good to be true! I put my Albatros into a shallow climb and followed, taking care to keep myself between them and the sun at my back.
By the time I had acquired the most optimum attack position, we had crossed back over the lines and I was now in friendly territory. I was satisfied that there were no other escorts save for the lone Bristol Scout, so I pressed my attack. I nosed over and dove on the Bristol. When I was about 150 meters from him I fired a long burst into his fuselage and he dove away trailing a little smoke. I continued down toward the BE2s, who apparently hadn’t seen nor heard the commotion with the Bristol. I closed on “Tail end Charlie” and fired a long burst and he immediately burst into flames and fell in a long swooping turn toward the earth. I dove underneath and bank around to come up below and behind the second BE2. After a couple of long bursts, he too was headed for oblivion. I kicked left rudder and the third BE was in my sights so I peppered him with a few bursts and he followed the first two. By this time I was almost on top of my home aerodrome when I realized that it was what they were sent here to bomb! I got the last BE in my sights and pulled the trigger. I fired about 20 rounds into him and then………….nothing! I was out of ammunition! That twenty round burst must have killed the observer because no return fire was evident. I waved to the remaining BE pilot and dove away.
I had almost forgotten about the Bristol and wondered where he went as I didn’t see him crash. About the time I thought of him, I saw tracers off my starboard side! I wheeled around, looked behind me and there he was! And me with dry guns! I pushed the throttle to the firewall and headed for my aerodrome. If he follows me there at this altitude, he’s a goner for sure. The ground gunners will make Swiss cheese of him if he does. He wisely banked away and headed for home still trailing a light plume of smoke.
I circled the field and landed, very pleased with myself for having downed three aircraft. Herr Boelcke was quite happy with me also. Maybe he’ll allow me to really lead a flight tomorrow.
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