I'm not long back in the Ops Room before I'm offered, and accept, another chance to fly - this time, with 234 Squadron, at the point it's about to take off.
The squadron's Spitfires are lined up on the grass at Warmwell, engines running and ready to go; I'm in AZ-K.



I test the flying controls and, when the aircraft in front start rolling, release the brakes and open the throttle. Once airborne, I raise the undercart and climb a little to gain a bit of separation for the section I'm leading. Isolated patches of very low cloud are scudding along.



I slide Green Section out to the right of the others as they begin a slow climb to the east. Our target, as I know from the Ops Room, is a sizeable raid believed headed for the big port of Southampton.



As we gain height, I drift back over towards the rest of the squadron. RAF fighter undersurfaces varied a lot over the course of the Battle, ours being typical for mid-August - Sky, with no underwing roundels yet. Up top ,our Dark Green and Dark Earth aka sand and spinach is in the B Scheme pattern; BoB2 doesn't represent the mirrror-image A Scheme.



Rather than fly on in real time, I do what I often do in other sims, and jump or 'warp' ahead. In BoB2 this is done by time accelerating from the map view. I seem to recall this being reported as liable to separate you from the rest of your squadron but despite doing it twice, one 'next waypoint' at a time, I don't have any problems today. I come out the second time to see the enemy is still a long way off. Part of the raid is withdrawing roughly south, down Southampton Water, away from the port. The Ack Ack people have been doing their level best and a dense pattern of bursts marks the Huns' line of retreat. Further south and farther away, another patch of bursts marks the presence of more Huns, whose aircraft are too distant to make out, even as specks.



After closing for a while, I use the BoB2 menus to call up the raid on the R/T. Acknowledging my report, the boss orders us to pick our own targets. All I can see is bombers and I curve in towards them - Heinkels, by the cut of their jibs. The gunners down below have stopped firing at them but these Huns are now being attacked by other RAF fighters. The enemy formation looks small and a bit ragged, like they've already taken some casualties.



I abort my first pass to stay out of the way of other fighters, likely including my own squadron-mates, who are enthusiastically attacking the Heinkels from astern. Happily, there's still no sign of escorts. The Hun bombers begin a turn across my nose from right to left. This allows me to cut across their turn and make my own pass.



I hit the Heinkel on the outside left of the formation and take some hits in my starboard wing. I've hit my target in the same general area, but he's not going down just yet and maintains his turn with the others.



I make a wide circuit behind the bombers to clear my tail and make sure everything is still working. Which it is. By the time I have come around behind the Huns again, they are somw way off and heading south-east, over the Isle of Wight. And still under attack.



Closing in again, I pick a Heinkel, out to left of the main bunch, who's leaving a faint grey trail. I think he's the one I attacked earlier; he and I have unfinished business. The only fighters I can see are the ones still getting stuck into the other bombers.



I run in behind my chosen target, snapping out short bursts aimed between wing root and one engine. This time, I make no mistake. Sparks from my hits fly and bits fall off the Hun, who seems to go up in smoke, although he is merely hidden briefly from view by it.



At this point, I realise there are some 109s just ahead and above, to my right, who are being chased by some of our fighters.



I'm happy to leave them to it and slide across to the right, towards the main body of Heinkels, which is still under attack. One bomber, which could be my victim, is going diagonally down and at least one other Heinkel is smoking.



I attack the Hun on the extreme right and leave him smoking, but am hit hard by return fire and to cap it all, finally run out of ammunition.



Time to go home! I break away, reduce the throttle and slide back the canopy, in case I decide I should get out. My kite needs a fair bit of left stick to keep her level, but my trusty Merlin is still running smoothly and I reckon that this time, I can get home without ramming the scenery.



One Heinkel 111 probably destroyed and another damaged, I make it. Not a bad day's work, and I quit the mission at that point. As it happens, I've got one more battle to fight before dusk ends the fighting for 13th August. Although the RAF didn't know it at the time, that date was Adlertag to the Germans, the start of serious operations against our airfields and other defences. It's certainly been a busy day in BoB2.