This is from a multiplayer mission yesterday evening on the ATAG server with CloD+TF patches, played by Lasse, Nirvi and myself (and about 40 other players
)
June 1940, Merville airfield.With the
British Expeditionary Force trying to pull out of France the Luftwaffe is tasked with destroying the forces in the Dunkirk area. Our target is an allied airfield west of Dunkirk that supports the embarking operation.
While we start up our Ju-87s, check systems and roll into take-off position we can see a pair of Stukas already taking off and heading North. We can't contact them by radio, would have been nice to fly the attack in a 5-ship formation.
Lined up on the runway I gently increase the throttle and start rolling. With a 500kg bomb strapped under its belly the Ju-87 isn't exactly a racer, but once I've reached about 150 kph I start rotating and soon am climbing gently at take-off engine settings. After reaching 500m altitude I throttle down to 1.0 ATA and 2.000 RPM and start a climbing turn around the airfield to allow my squadmates to form up.
Lasse is in Position.
Quickly followed by Nirvi.
We climb to about 4.000m and head North towards the coast. Once over the coastline we turn west towards Dunkirk. We soon receive some light Flak fire, nothing too troubling but the black puffs of the explosions are like a beacon for enemy fighters. As the radio reports enemy formations ahead of us we start scanning the skies for
Tommies.
We spot a number of ships in the harbour and off-shore, but our target is the airfield. With the distance to target rapidly decreasing we form into an attack formation. Still no enemy fighters. Check bombs are armed.
Then we turn south. Moments later we're above our target. I cut the throttle, engage the dive brake, roll the Stuka on its back and start gently pulling on the stick until I'm lined up with my target, one of the large hangar buildings.
At 750m the dive bomb autopilot releases the bomb and pulls the aircraft out of the 80° dive. I almost black out from the g forces but manage to spot some fast-moving objects below me. At the same time the dreaded call "Achtung Spitfire!" comes over the radio from my wingmen.
There at least 4 enemy fighters in the area, 1 or 2 109 and a single Ju-87 from another flight. I glance over my shoulder and an instant later the large hanger in the center right gets destroyed in a giant explosion as my 500kg bomb detonates. Always seems like an eternity until those timed fuzes detonate.
Then british fighters are on me and all hell breaks lose!
We're fighting for our lifes, turning wildly trying to shake of the Hurricanes and Spitfires pouncing on us. These
Engländers sure seem a little mad at us for wrecking their tea party...
The Ju-87 is quite an agile aircraft though and by flying a mix of scissors and hard turns I manage to avoid serious damage. Nirvi reports he's hit badly. We could seriously need some 109 support now.
Then it happens. Just as I start to think I got away a Hurricane dives on me and opens fire. The terrible sound of bullet impacts. I turn my head and see my rear gunner slumping forward as the Hurricane roars by. My aileron controls are shot to hell. The water radiator is gone. I hardly have control over the aircraft.
Nirvi calls out he's crash landed, Lasse's still fighting. Somehow I manage to stabilize the Stuka and gently nudge it onto a southward course. The British fighters are suddenly gone. Can I make it back to base? I quick glance at the engine instruments tells me I can forget about that idea...
With the water cooler dead my engine temperature rises quickly. I don't have much time. I'm far too low to bail out. All I can to is try to keep the aircraft level and hope for a suitable piece of terrain right ahead to land. There's no way I can maneuver with this thing!
There goes the engine! Oh my, this is gonna get rough.
With no engine power and no aileron controls I glide down, trying to keep above stall speed and keep my wings level. Damn why are there so many trees? There, a hayfield! There's some terrible crack as the fixed gears are torn off then I'm crashing through the field. A slight spin, then my trusty Stuka comes to a stop.
Time to take a deep breath.