I've avoided it (at the expense of missing out on the Triplane) because it doesn't seem to have been common. The rivalry between Navy and Army can be intense sometimes. There is a procedure for it, at least today anyway.

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There was lot of activity already going on when Crabtree, B-flight's batman, woke Cadogan up.

"Sir, the squadron is moving to Flez today. I took the liberty of acquiring a boiled egg and tea for you."
"Where's Flez?" asked a bleary eyed West. "And why can't they tell us the day before we move?"
Crabtree set out West's breakfast on a small table beside the bed and began laying out West's clothes to pack them. West noticed that the other members of B flight were already eating their boiled eggs. Crabtree had let Cadogan sleep in, just a little.

"I understand that Flez is 20 miles away and a little west of St Quentin," replied Frank Hudson, one of the other B flight pilots. "I've looked at the map, and it's close to a tributary of the Somme. If we follow the Somme where it goes south from Peronne, and then look for a branch off heading east, we should find it easily enough."

"We are flying there then?" Cadogan levered the top of his egg away. Boiled hard, such is war.
"Oh yes, sir," enthused Crabtree. "It is a splendid day for flying and there are no combat duties today. We poor souls will have to travel by road, and I understand that the Germans made that difficult in their retreat, but the aeroplanes are to fly."


Packed and ready, Cadogan made his way through the hustle and bustle to Major Wagner. He saluted his commanding officer.
"Sir, I understand we are flying to Flez, but my Pup was shot up yesterday. Am I travelling with the trucks sir?"
"Good morning West. No, fly one of the spares. Your machine is being sent back to Candas for repairs anyway, so you might as well adopt a new one."

The DH2s of 24 Squadron were being wheeled out. Cadogan waved at Henry Wollett.
"Good luck Wollett! We're moving on to Flez."
"Funny thing," replied Wollett. "So are we."


---------

B1799 handled like a prize hunter, full of power and highly responsive to West's control input. He enjoyed the cross country journey to Flez. Mainly because there was no chance of enemy engagement. The two squadrons filled the air with machines.

The views were not the most picturesque that France can offer. They were flying over territory abandoned by the Germans in March. The Germans had had months to prepare and had taken every chance they could to inconvenience the advancing British. Roads had been blown up, buildings demolished. Even orchards had been cut down. "Not even an apple for Tommy come November," thought West.


Crater blocking the road at Athies, a village 2 miles from Flez.


The field at Flez was just that. Apparently the Germans had prepared it as a landing ground, so the old farmland was cleared of plough furrows. There had been no buildings, but when the aeroplanes began their descent, West saw gangs of Chinese labourers and the Royal Engineers working on Bessonau hangars and wooden barrack huts. There were some brown patches where craters had been filled in on the landing field, and West steered well clear of them.

It turned out that Flez was a hamlet with only 10 buildings, most of which were barns. There was a prize in the form of a - well, West hesitated to call it a Chateau, but it was a decent sized house and only slightly damaged. By the time the trucks arrived in the evening, West had rehearsed his case for making it the officer's quarters several times.



To his complete surprise, his request was granted. Later on, he decided that they already knew about the 'chateau.' With 40 commissioned officers to accommodate, West didn't get a room to himself, but at least he had a proper roof over his head.

West even had time to paint his initials on his new machine.



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Does anyone know any good maps for the area to the south of Lou's map? I'm right on the edge of it now. I do have a collection of French road maps to fall back on (bought for use in OFF, naturally) but they aren't as well suited to the job due to pesky modern road builders.




Thank you, but sshhhh! I'm hoping to get out of Bloody April alive!

Hi Rick, I'm sure I have broken with historical accuracy in transfering from RNAS to RFC. I don't believe it was ever done and probably not allowed in real life. An experienced officer would have to give up his commission and start over again not to mention that the RNAS was considered more prestigious an organization. Once the amalgamation of the services took place in 1918 it would have been a mute point.

The SE5 has more power and more instrumentation and generally very good cockpit visibility. It is also a good gun platform. All that being said it is not as good a turn fighter as the Pup but still quite adequate and is fast enough to run from any enemy.

Best Regards;

.

I am just heading out the door but will be back later to catch up completely on the latest adventures here. I am just popping in now because I saw Maeran's inquiry about a map for his new AO. Here is the link to my North Marne map:

WOFF North Marne Map

I am making slow progress on the southern half of the Marne and hope to have it available soon as well.

Happy navigating Maeran.

.

Raine, I enjoyed todadays morning report and mini history lesson!

Maeran, same for your reports. Love the historical pics!

lederhosen, Congrats on the promotion!
Damm, that poor Albatros is a mess! At first I thought the sheep were hungry and started munching on your planes tail section, then I saw all the bullet holes. Your lucky to have lived through that!

Robert, I was worried at around 8 min mark when Mushroom came up along side the DFW, but I guess you knew the rear gunner was kaput. Be careful around two seaters.

Olham, I must have sent in my survey, yesterday, after you acquired the chart info. My internet woes seem to be over so I'll go back to Sunday survey reporting.

Thank's very much Lou. That map is perfect!

Maeran, I'd like to lodge an official complaint that your excellent Cadogan saga and photos are preventing me from getting back to the work that pays me...

Well done!

Lederhosen -- outstanding picks, and congratulations on the promotion.

Hey guys, I'm glad to join in (again) and happy to be here. Please let me know if I made any mistakes in pilot creation or mission start. Thanks....

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Adam was one of the many Belgian Refugee who fled to England at the start of the War to the hospitality of the British nation. He was a textiles trader who inherited the business from his Father, Victor Solmon who had passed away when Adam was 15 year old.

Adam lived with his mother and sister in the immigrant neighborhoods of Birmingham. Against his mother's wishes, he joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves to help the war effort. He developed an interest in flying and eventually got commissioned in the Royal Navy. After pilot training, he joined Number 5 Squadron RNAS for his tour of duty in France.




April 22, 1917
No. 5 Sqn. RNAS
Petit-Synthe Aerodrome


On his first mission a crack in the fuel line prevented him from takeoff. He sat in front of his hanger waiting for the mechanic and cursing under his breath....



Later that afternoon, he had a chance to lead B flight east of Bethune for a contact patrol. The dense fog near the coast made navigation tricky. However, he managed to complete the mission without any enemy contact.

Dear sir.
We acknowledge receipt of your complaint of 22th April 2015. However it is the informed opinion of the publisher that one Cameron Fraser has done the same to us before and is likely to do so again.

As such, we feel it is not in the interests of any party to reduce the quality of our output. Indeed, with the number of edits I usually end up making, the opposite is more likely to be necessary.


Oldhat, welcome! I look forward to your adventures!

OldHat,Glad your back Sir.

Maeran,Congratulations on 75 hours.

LederhosenCongratulations on the promotion, too bad about the sheep and fence.

Robert,I hope you enjoy your new service.

Raine,Will the book be out soon! Fine writing Sir!

FS Lt. Herman Hamm
April 21, 1917

It was noon before Hamm's patrol set off to escort 6 RE's from Savy for Recon around Cambrai. Cloudy but otherwise a beautiful day. The flight of 5 Tripehounds started their climb to altitude over a wood Hamm had named the "three legged Bear" north of the aerodrome. At 6000' the Commander headed east southeast. Hamm looked all around for the escorts, as he had been, but did not see them.

"Maybe we will wait further on," he thought. As he saw the front lines ahead he wondered, "Did I miss them?" With a dip of the wings and look over the side he confirmed his thoughts. There were the 6 RE's in formation about 500' below. Over No Mans Land he glance up and to the right and Eyer was no where in sight. "Did he drop out?" "You missed the escorts, you missed on of your flight dropping out! You better cowboy up hoss or some Albatross is going to flame your butt!" Hamm thought. About that time Eyre showed back up, much to Hamm's relief.

Over the lines, Archie started and Hamm scanned the sky for EA. It was exhausting trying to fly on the verge of a stall to stay with the RE's, plus watching for EA and not colliding with one Hamm's own. Approaching Cambrai, Archie really gave the flight what for. It was heavy! They made their turn south west and back over the lines to the mouth of the Somme.

Back and forth, back and forth they went. Each time the Archie was worse. On the third pass approaching Cambrai, Hamm heard a loud "CLANK", before he could figure out what happened his engine dropped to almost nothing. Archie had done his engine in. Hamm fired a distress flare and turned west.

He had enough altitude and his engine was supplying a little power but he was coming down. His stomach was tight and when the trenches came into view he though it was the most beautiful sight he had seen! Then the engine quit completly! Thank God the Tripe has such a fantastic glide rate. Back over the lines at 1500' he spotted a friendly aerodrome and made for it. It was a perfect landing.

Calling his field he was told to get back immediately. The engine would have to be replaced and he was needed as soon as possible . He made it back to Bellevue that evening in time for dinner and a chat with his mate Aikpill who had had a flight with a dud engine and another with Richthofen's boys.

holy crap....thats over 500 pages of victory, pain and death thus far.

MFair, good description of the loss of orientation in mid-air.
Good that it also happened to real aces - but one can feel pretty useless sometimes, right?


I call that a good success for the "DiD Campaign Revival"!

Izzy There
Sgt, Rfc
23 Sqn
Flanders


22 Apr 18.

B Flight had a nasty little contest this morning. Dawn Patrol, the Sqn put up Nine Spad 7's B flight in low front position with me as tail end charlie. Spotted amid the clouds a flight of Albatross D-III,s. We had the high perch so dove in a corkscrew at the Huns. Bit rusty, but I got off a total of 66 rds maybe 2 hit then into a cloud out and out the other-side finding myself among 4 DFW,s. Lining up for a shot, I heard Taca Taca and took 11 hits in the wings. I Pushed the nose over and ran for it while a D-III banged away at my kite. Finally, managed to out-distance him and got back. A flight was to far back to engage.

Totals All back + mine damaged. Enemy a few holes


free upload pictures


images upload

I like the atmosphere of these reports and how well they portray the time period.

I've fallen a bit behind on reading all the influx of reports...so much to read, so little time....

First pic of you as "tail end Charlie" is a beauty, Carrick!
Seems you tangoed with Sebastian Festner from Jasta 11 - beware of that "wolf pack", boy!
But the SPAD should get you out of almost any calamity - if you only run perfectly.

MFair, Carrick, good reads. I know that feeling of suddenly waking up to a situation in-flight, MFair. First thought is "What else have I missed?"

Hi all, today is my first DiD day...

Hey, sounds good to me - your first front flight is now done!
Soon you will meet enemy scouts - then you'll get your "baptism of fire".
Be careful, Lecrop!

Lecrop -- welcome to the madness. I hope you'll find the DiD campaign as wonderful as the rest of us have. Fly to survive. Heroes become lawn darts too quickly.