March 6, 1917. The 4 members of B Flight, with me leading, are assigned to escort 5 RE8's (in March?) deep into Hun territory to bomb a rail head. A Flight is assigned to help but in the coming battle I am not sure how much help they were.
Crossing the front. So far so good.
Uh oh. About 10 miles behind the lines Jasta 11 arrives in Jasta strength. Off camera here is about half of Jasta 4. Well can't leave the RE's hanging in the breeze and I order the attack.
One Hun is persistent in his attempts to get at the RE's so I make for him. Well, well, my old Boss himself. He throws his crate around like a F-15 and the fight goes to low levels.
My shooting is good however and I best him. MvR, always making a big deal of everything, crashes into a wooden building on a Hun field and sets it on fire.
I think I lost my loyal wingman here to the intense ground fire but no time for tears and I try to catch up to the RE's.
Unfortunately most of Jasta 11 and 4 have also caught up to them. I think only one got back. Don't know about the bombing mission.
In a classic error I am so busy lining up the screen shot I don't notice a Jasta 4 Alb sliding onto my tail, literally about a 1/2 second after this shot was taken, and he promptly lights me up at point blank range.
Taking a page from Billy Bishops book I yank straight back on the stick, zoom up, and evade the filthy Hun. I manage to limp across the lines and, as my engine is losing power, manage a decent crash landing.
MvR is confirmed and I am now an Ace!