Albert Earl Godfrey

21 Apr 1917 @ 04h01 Attack on Vimy Junction

This mission was on hold for four days. Apr 17th to 20th had been washouts due to heavy weather and rain. The weather broke a little so it was back on schedule for the morning. HQ was anxious to hit all the rail depots since the intelligence indicated a Hun buildup of supplies and troops coming to the front. “A” and “B” flights were tasked to do as much damage as possible with their Le Prieur ordinance.

The CO indicated that the wind was at 8 kn from the north and that there would be towering cumulous from 3,000 to 10,000 ft with breaks, so conditions were not socked in. There was hope that skies would be clear enough over the rail depot to identify it before coming down under the prevailing cloud cover.

The Nieuports were only filled to 60% fuel in order to keep them light and agile for the mission.

Godfrey lead “B” flight, accompanied by Clinton on wing, Scott, Molesworth and Young. Their task was to hit the railyard first while “A” flight lead by Bishop and his crew of Caldwell, Horn and Pope, were to provide top cover.

The flights took off at 04h00, pretty much in the dark. They formed up north of the field at 04h14, and having attained an altitude of 4,500 ft., they set out directly east towards the front lines just north of Thelus. They arrived there in good time at 04h21 having decended to 3,400 ft in order to make out the terrain below. They passed over Oppy and were soon able to make out Vimy junction at 04h28. Godfrey brought the flight just under the cloud cover and they began their attack on the junction at 04h30. Godfrey’s rockets all hit the second locomotive shed shredding it’s roof and igniting it’s contents.
Clinton was right behind him but failed to hit anything significant. Scott, Molesworth and Young did some minor damage to office and housing facilities.

Godfrey having loosed all his ordinance, climbed out scanning the skies for any Hun interlopers that might have designs on spoiling the party. There were none above, but Godfrey noted two craft moving, in the vicinity of Douai airfield at 04h32. It appeared as though there might be some aircraft taking off but it was too far away to determine if they were scouts or two seaters. He took it upon himself to investigate and upon arriving near the field he moved in on the tail of the last of three craft low down near the field. It had not been possible to determine if they were taking off or landing and he approached the trailing craft quickly in the very low light. Closing in he had just been able to identify the craft as a two seater when it’s gunner began to fire. Godfrey began a hail of fire at the craft in self defense while jockeying to make himself less of a target. He was lucky, as the two seater began to lose control and crashed below, no doubt a luck shot that hit the pilot.

Godfrey pulled up, and headed back to the railyard, satisfied that the enemy craft were two seaters and therefore unlikely to bother his flight’s activities.
Arriving back at the railyard, Godfrey fired off a flare to reform and they all began to form up for the return to Filescamp. Once formed up they headed towards Etrun airfield as it was evident to Godfrey that his engine was loosing some power and Scott was weaving somewhat and looking like he was in trouble.

As they approached the Lens – Arras road, Godfrey’s engine sputtered and died.
They were back over the lines and so in safe territory but there was no place to put down the N23 except directly on the road. Godfrey shut off the fuel cock and turned off the magneto while lining up with the road going north, and set it down gently. She had a hard bounce and then came to a stop quickly pulling a quarter spin to port before settling in. Godfrey could hear the hum of the N23 engines above likely heading to Etrun. He hoped that Scott would make it and that he was not badly hurt.

A convoy coming along the road stopped to assist Godfrey and a Lance sergeant attached to 1 Can Div HQ, was assigned to escort him back to Etrun.

They arrived at Etrun at approximately 11h00. Godfrey headed directly to the RO office, reported in, identified his claim of a DFW C.V. and that he needed a recovery vehicle to bring his N23 back from the Lens – Arras road.

He learned that Scott had made it to Etrun with a light wound but his craft was destroyed upon attempting to land and Young’s N23 had suffered light damage. All other pilots had landed safely. Godfrey was relieved to hear the good news. The R.O. went on to say that an OP had reported back that little significant damage had been done to the railyard and that he expected the mission would likely have to be repeated.

Godfrey just shook his head, saluted, and headed to the mess for a hot tea, some nourishment, and to rejoin his crew.

I say, that's not very sporting shooting them while they are landing.

Here is the status report on last week's activities. Stljeffbb, sorry but I had to lose the umlauts because EXCEL didn't seem to like them.

Robert, don't listen to this crazy talk. The cut-throat enemy will do the same to you in the blink of an eye.

Banjoman, thanks for your continued support of this thread. I look forward to the stats every week.


22 April, 1917 St. Pol-sur-Mer 9 RNAS Headquarters

A young man of a short stature walked into the office and saluted smartly. Two officers were sitting already inside, a secretary and an empty chair waiting for him. There was only one window looking out onto the airfield. A strange smell hung in the air that reminded him of something he couldn't put his finger on.
"At ease Flight Lieutenant Gunn. Please do sit down" He heard the voice of his Commanding Officer Fawcett. Gunn took the seat.
"Flight Lieutenant, I want you to repeat the report you've submitted to me for the Naval Intelligence Officer Farrah present here. He is interested in the German pilot you've mentioned."
"The chap with the thing on his plane?" Brian Gunn was pretty sure of the answer.
"That's correct, Flight Lieutenant." Fawcett confirmed.
"Well," Gunn begun "the afternoon patrol over the lines started at 14:35. I was part of A-flight led by Flight Commander Allan Aston. 'Boots' was there too..."
"Boots?" Farrah was not familiar with 9 RNAS pilot names.
"Yes, Captain Oliver Le Boutillier. B-flight consisted of Flight Lieutenant Jimmy Lehman, Flight Sub-Lieutenant Harold Stackard and led by Flight Commander Fred Banbury."
"Ah yes, good old Fred! Go on then."
"We started our patrol near Ypres and proceeded south to Menen, where we encountered a flight of 3 red and blue Albatrosses at 9,000 feet." Gunn continued.
"That's Jasta 18. We've had nothing but trouble from them." Farrah interjected.
"Right, we had altitude advantage, so we swooped down on them in our Pups and I raked the starboard wing of one of them with my Vickers.



That was the one with the white band across the fuselage and some kind of doodle on it. It looked like a naked girl with her hair on fire, except it was green."
Fawcett was revolted by the imagery. "Those Huns are shameless. If one of my pilots painted something like that on one of my planes I'd have him hauled under the keel of a tugboat!"
"There was also another plane with just a plain white band."
"That's Grieffenhagen, their commanding officer."
"And one with a narrow dark band."
"That would be von Bülow-Bothkamp, their best ace."
"There was also one with a white axe."
"This one I'm not sure of, but I think it's Strähle."
"Well, after our initial pass they scattered all around. Allan and 'Boots' went after the chap with the doodle, while 'the axe' and 'the white band' came after me.



I was holding my own against those two, but I could see 'Boots' was having a tough fight and eventually he was damaged by the devil with the nude lass, but was able to dive and get away."
"Yes, it'll take two days to repair his crate but at least he's all in one piece." Fawcett confirmed.
Gunn continued, "I was still dealing with the pair on my tail when I saw that same Hun shoot down Flight Commander Aston. I could not help him."




"Nasty business, the Australians are still scooping him out of the wreckage. Poor sod!" Fawcett responded.
"The two Krauts finally tired of chasing after me and disengaged, but I was in no shape to chase after them. My Pup was shot to pieces. Meanwhile, B-flight arrived on scene and went on the offensive. Flight Commander Banbury attacked the chap with the doodle. He was hopping mad after seeing Aston go down and tried as hard as he could to pay him back.




They kept circling Aston's smoking crater, God rest his soul, but eventually the rest of Huns showed up. First, the other white band, then two more from the other flight, who were dragged into this while chasing Jimmy. That is Flight Lieutenant Jimmy Lehman of B-flight."
"Where was Flight Sub-Lieutenant Stackard in all of this?" Fawcett asked, noticing the other member of B-flight missing from Gunn's report.
"Sir, Harold had to turn back with engine problem early on. That's the second time this week." Flight Lieutenant Gunn responded and continued his report.



"Well, when all the other Albatrosses showed up, we were outnumbered and Fred ... I mean Flight Commander Banbury gave the signal to return to base. We all did just that, while still being chased by the Germans, except Lehman who got tangled into a turning fight with that menace of a Hun."
"That Hun with the lady?" Asked Farrah.
"Yes, the very same." Gunn confirmed. "This was a very close quarter battle with their wingtips missing each other by mere inches.




We were moving further away from this fight and couldn't follow it anymore. I assume the Hun brought Flight Lieutenant Lehman down.



That is all I know, Sirs."
"Jimmy is in the hospital, out for a few weeks. That will be all Flight Lieutenant Gunn. Thank you, you may go." Fawcett dismissed him. The two officers watched him salute and leave the room in silence.
"So, what do we know of this new Ace?" Fawcett turned to Farrah.
"Well, our spy tells us he was recently released from a hospital ..."
"You mean, we almost had him? By Jove!" Fawcett interrupted.
"Yes, he was hit by a Nieuport jockey a few weeks back. His name is Aldi Schwarzkopf and he is a Hauptmann in Jasta 18 stationed at Halluin."
Fawcett looked very pensive: "What are we going to do about that one? My boys are no match for these highly trained devils."
"Not to worry, old chap." Farrah knew exactly what to do. "We'll put such a high bounty on his head that even the Baron himself won't be able to resist it."
"Jolly good!" Fawcett sprung to his feet and hooked his thumbs on his belt. "I'll go give my lads the good news. Cheerio!" He walked out of he room.
Farrah reclined in his chair and lit up a cigarette. Another productive day at the "office". The smoke filled his lungs. It felt good.

Well, I just couldn't resist, having come all the way to the Douai airfield from the railyard on the possibility that there were scouts taking off. Once I got there in the low light and close in, I knew they were DFW's landing, but what the hell. they were shooting at me!!

Gee, I only shot down one! I let the other two land safely! I think that is pretty fair!

Fullofit, judging by your report, "the game is a foot" as Sherlock would say! Can't wait for the next episode!

Robert, next episode coming up, as requested.

(I'm surprised you didn't comment on the names of the two officers.)

23 April,1917 Halluin
Jasta 18

The call came through to scramble immediately. There were sightings of enemy machines near Lens. Aldi led his flight directly over the lines toward the intercept point. Schwarm Eins flew alongside 1200 m on his port side to cast as wide of a net as possible without losing sight of each other. Upon arrival, they've begun a search pattern. It didn't take long to locate their query north-east of the city. The Flak gave the enemy away as always.



Two 2c's came out of the clouds below them with no escort whatsoever. Aldi gave order to attack and dove on the observation machines with the entire Schwarm in tow. As he picked up speed he aimed for the lumbering crate on the right. They haven't spotted them yet. He raked the enemy machine, pulled up and came for another pass, but the large bird stood on the port-side wing and begun to spiral down counterclockwise. Aldi followed it in shallow dive expecting a ruse, but the two-seater kept on falling. Schwarzkopf levelled out and followed the B.E. with his eyes only. It only took a few more seconds. The crash site was marked by a large cloud of smoke and dust, which from above looked like a great mushroom. Aldi begun to climb again expecting the other 2c to have already been dealt with, but to his surprise the rest of his Schwarm was still at it.



It reminded Aldi of a wounded beast with damage all around. It was bleeding but refused to go down. The Schwarm kept attacking and Schwarzkopf was reluctant to join in.



It would take a moment of lost concentration to end this simple job with a tragedy. He stayed away.



Finally someone rammed one of the wings with their undercarriage and the two-seater spiralled down to the ground. Aldi gathered his scouts into a formation and returned home cutting through the thick clouds. He claimed the BE-2c, but did not join in the celebration. The letter from Käte carefully put away in his left breast pocket was burning a hole in his hart.

Farrah Fawcett....Dah!!

@Banjoman...ha ha, no worries! WOFF:UE does not like umlauts either!

-----------------------------------

Antön Otersdorf
Jasta 32
April 1917
Morchingen Aerodrome
Alsace Front

21 April 1917. Two missions today...in the morning, we were assigned to aerodrome defense. A good day to fly, but no enemies sighted.



Our second mission in the afternoon was a journey to the front.



One other aeroplane did cross our path. It was someone from our squadron, but I'm not sure whom. Whoever they were they were by themselves.







Otherwise, no enemies sighted.





--------------------------

Regards,

Jeff

Fantastic stories, screenies as vids Gents! Carrick, I have to make sure I do not have a mouthful of coffee before opening your posts.

Edgar Everheart
Flight Commander
8RNAS
Auchel,

We have been doing lots of Railyard and airfield strikes. Not the most pleasant assignments. The last one almost saw the end of Edgar. While attacking a Hun aerodrome, coming out of his last pass Edgar felt and heard a loud bang on his starboard side. Edgar did not know if he had collided with something or what but his machine was falling to starboard at low altitude. His lower wing plane was in tatters! Stick hard left, hard left rudder and we might straighten out before we hit those trees. He barely made it over the trees and started climbing west. Oh great! now me engine is smoking. Luckily he met no enemy on his was back and just over the lines when his engine quit he was headed straight for a road. Luck was with him today. Badly shaken by the incident he put in for leave and was granted 5 days of rest.

Hey Gents, can I ask for your suggestions? I've been flying both of my pilots for almost two years now and I am completely out of ideas for stories. I need some suggestions from our literary giants as to how to proceed. Should I just start giving descriptions of my flights without any attempt at a narrative or should I just wait until something comes to me? Any suggestions or helpful tips will be greatly appreciated.

Glad you clarified that Banjoman. "Literary giants" leaves me out of the equation! I don't think there is anything lacking in your stories. Maybe go into the strain of command and combat? Or you can do like me and just give up trying to hash out a story and just hit a highlight until something comes to you as you say.

Don't sell yourself too short, my friend. You have spun some mighty fine tales in your time.

Banjoman: Dont beat up on yourself, I have read and enjoyed your storytelling.

Helmut von Hammer
Jasta 4, JG 1.
Marcke, Flamders.


Aug 21, 1917.


Finally, back in the fight. An ADJ ran thru the morning Mess yelling Alarm . We ran to our warming machines playing follow the leader in the scattered rain showers. Over Memen we circled looking for enemy a/c , but it was not to be. RTB cold, and wet.

If you're getting stuck for ideas just make up a detail about your character. It doesn't have to be anything big, he might have a limp, he might be left handed or perhaps he doesn't like cheese.

Then ask yourself why he has a limp/is left handed/doesn't like cheese? From there you'll start putting layers of behaviour together that develop into more substantial ideas. Start small, build up.

Lederhosen, glad to see you are back, we've been missing you.

Banjoman, surprised to see you at a loss. You've done some great stuff. The Great War was a time of social change. More than ever before, people were exposed to the full cross-section of society. Landed gentry served alongside newly-minted officers who would have been lucky to get a job below stairs back home. Canadians and Australians, described in the mess as the "coloured troops," built a national identity. The factory hand flew with Freiherr von Whatever. Women were out of the kitchen and parlour. So I think a constantly rewarding theme is the newfound social mobility of this period. Pick a social background -- rich kid, poor kid -- and explain his route to the cockpit. If stuck, find the most obscure period biography and steal liberally.

Remember that squadron life was more than flying. You can interact with villagers, the farmer who owns the shed next door, the infantry in the neighbourhood, the reporter who visits, etc. There were secondary duties: training lectures, supply runs, summary trials, church parades, visiting dignitaries. There were sports and competitions (more on the British side, I believe).

Research the historical aces you fly with. Their histories may give you ideas.

And don't hesitate to PM. I'd like nothing more than to help whip up a back-story with you!

Cheers,

George

Thanks everybody for the ideas, just a bad case of writer's block. I've been with these two fellows for so long that it is easy for the ideas to dry up, but you've given me some good fodder to chew on.