Raine, dear oh dear. I do declare that the biggest danger on the Albatros isn’t that weak lower wing, but spontaneous engine fires. That’s a second case in only a few days. Good thing this occurs near an airfield with help near at hand. Hope Hans’ burns will heal without any infections.
Congrats on the latest victories. Vogel must be the leading ace of the Staffel by now.

Epower, what’s the deal with Oliver? Is he bulletproof? The lead seems to just bounce off of him. That is one superpower young Winningstad wouldn’t mind possessing. BTW, stop chasing the nurses, or their Matrons. Get the lead out and catch up, don’t you know there’s war on? And while you’re at it, try to bring some of those Huns down, won’t you?

MFair, Ainslie needs to be more vigilant. Those Huns don’t just hide in the sun. They could be anywhere as he painfully found out. Good thing he is a skilled pilot and can take care of himself. Congrats on more victories and a VC to boot! Well, well. That cowboy has a date with the King. Well done! Just survive long enough and don’t be late to your investiture. I’ll only say that much.

Ace, I have a feeling Mott doesn’t like aristocracy much, but it’s just a feeling.
Congrats on the confirmed DFW! And add to that those two Albs. Not bad for an aristocrat! (Plus he can drink with the best of them)

Carrick, looks like the right time to end up in a hospital. With all that activity in the air someone has to stay behind and entertain the nurses.


4 July, 1917 04:40
Ghistelles, Flanders Sector
Jasta 17
Offizierstellvertreter Zygmunt Dolf Hahn EK2
9 confirmed kills

The blisters on his burned hands had popped and puss still seeped into the bandages. After returning from Lazarett, Ziggy was greeted by Wolff who was glad his injuries were not serious enough to send him home. The C.O., Ltn. Wendler also welcomed him back and announced that Hahn has been awarded Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse for his bravery and heroic actions.
The hands felt raw and uncomfortable, especially in the thick layers of gauze wrappings, but otherwise he was ready to fly. More than eager after spending last four days holding his hands in the air. Wendler was apprehensive and allowed only one mission a day to start with.
This time it was a line patrol between friendly aerodromes of Erkegem-Oostkamp and Thielt. It was uneventful, but it tested Ziggy’s resolve as the wounds on his burned hands continued to ooze puss. Hahn continued to tell him self that tomorrow will be better.

.

Attention!



His Majesty King George V hereby confers the following honour:



A grateful people thank you for your service and loyalty.

.

.

Pursuant to Army Order 204, dated 6 July 1916, the following individual is hereby presented the Wounded Stripe:



Your King and Country thank you for your sacrifice and faithful service.

.

Fido Bedlow
Sgt, Rfc.

23rd Medical Unit
II Corp Hospital
3rd Army Bungalow 7,
Bed 9
Narbonne, France.


July 6, 1917.


The day nurse came by and had me rolled into a Physical therapy Class.

Lt. Ainslie Harris
Bruay
July 5, 1917

Harris was a fish out of water. Since his arrival at St. Omer he had been treated as some sort of celebrity. He thought it a little funny that the US had just celebrated its independence from the country that was now going to pin a medal on his chest! This whole da@#ned affair was a bit absurd to him. He had to admit though. It sure was nice being treated like a fancy pants for once in his life. His childhood had been hard. His mother had died when he was just a boy which just left himself and his father and brother on the small hard scrabble piece of dirt they called home. It wasn’t long before his father had took to drink and that’s when he and his brother had set off on their own. Leaving Montana they had decided to strike it rich in The gold fields of Colorado. They had worked long enough to make enough money to buy their own clam in a place called Cripple Creek but Ainslie soon tired of the constant toil. Always wanting to see the country he ended up in Texas where he hired on to drive a herd of cattle back to Montana. Once back in his home state he headed north into Canada where he signed up To go over seas as an ambulance driver. And now he stood on a field being presented the MC by the king of England himself! There were two others, a Canadian and Brit, next to him. He was last in line for his medal. As the King approached Ainslie gave his smartest salute as His Majesty presented him with his MC while someone read aloud the declaration. “Our country is grateful to yours for their help Lt.” He said as he shook Ainslie’s hand. “What do you need at the front to help win this war?” Ainslie did not hesitate. “Better machines Sir. Or Your Majesty. ......Dont really know how I’m supposed to address you.” The King chuckled. “They are coming Lt, 2 very good aeroplanes are coming. Some are already here.” “Thank you replied Ainslie. I’ll look forward to seeing some better ones at 40 squadron.”

Ainslie enjoyed the rest of his stay. Tomorrow he was heading back to Bruay. He felt a nervousness in his stomach at the thought of it.

Lou, thanks for the gong. Now if Ainslie can break the curse!

Congrats again to Harris on getting an MC pinned to his chest. We’re all waiting now for the Gong Fairy curse.

5 July, 1917 05:00
Ghistelles, Flanders Sector
Jasta 17
Offizierstellvertreter Zygmunt Dolf Hahn EK2
9 confirmed kills

Ziggy’s single mission of the day was to patrol over the friendly aerodrome at Varsenaere. Vzfw Schniedewind had to leave formation with engine problems, leaving the Schwarm one man short. Fortunately no enemy machines were encountered over the assigned area. Ltn Gros broke his landing gear during the landing, leaving him with a bump on the head from a sudden stop. It is estimated it will take three days to repair the damage. Same thing cannot be said about the bump on Leutnant’s head. Ziggy’s blisters, on the other hand, didn’t give him any trouble today.


(Artist's impression)

Fullofit, hope those blisters heal soon. Good to know they are not a hindrance to doing your duty.

U can Break the Bong Curse MFair just dont " Gallop " into a fire fight too quickly

Fullofit: Ziggy 's going fine...

MFair, Ziggy’s wounds have healed completely. It’s a miracle!
Good show with the King. Hopefully he’ll keep his promise and new planes (all two of them) will soon arrive at 40 Sqn.

Carrick, the Bong Curse? What do you think MFair is smoking?
I’m glad to see Fido is keeping in shape. It looks like it takes two strong ladies to keep him fit.

6 July, 1917 05:00 morning mission
Ghistelles, Flanders Sector
Jasta 17
Offizierstellvertreter Zygmunt Dolf Hahn EK2
9 confirmed kills

Jasta 17 was tasked with intercepting enemy planes en route to attack troop camp north of Rumbeke. Ziggy’s Schwarm arrived on scene just in time to join an expansive furball with one or two flights of Pups. The air was thick with them, buzzing around like mosquitoes. Hahn fancied swatting one of them to increase his tally. That was easier said than done. One of the Englanders stuck to Ziggy’s tail and was very persistent about it. No matter what he tried the Pup ended up on his rear. He could see all of his flight mates in similar position, so he couldn’t count on any help unless accidental. In the end the Sopwiths tired of chasing enemy planes over hostile ground and made a beeline to the safety of their own lines. That’s when it got interesting. The Britisher Ziggy was tangling with dove for the lines and Zygmunt followed. At the same time another Albatros gave chase, took over Ziggy in his rust bucket and shot down the enemy. It was Buckler in the faster machine. Oh, how Zygmunt wished to fly one of those D.V’s! Another Pup passed by, followed closely by an Albatros, who promptly shot the Englander down in flames. There were no more Pups in sight and it was time to return home.
Zygmunt was a witness to at least two Luftsiege, but was unable to get one of his own in his old and slow D.III. Every single member of his Schwarm that was flying D.V’s has claimed a Pup: Buckler, Becker, Schuster, Wolff, even Träger. When are the new machines coming!?

YouTube Link

Fullofit, wow! That was a real roundup. To bad your mates were stealing all your kill!

Carrick, Bong Curse? It’s been a while!

I know what’s on Carrick’s mind!

MFair, there's no point meeting a king if you can't ask for a present. Here's hoping you get better machines soon.

Fullofit, Ziggy deserves a better mount as well. Too bad his comrades keep breaking theirs.

Vogel is back tomorrow and in the meantime, Wollenberg has made another trip out of the country…

Gott strafe England! Memoirs of Fw Werner Edmund Wollenberg

Chapter 5

Hauptmann Kleine wasted no time in putting his mark on the Englandgeschwader. He inspected every flight with the thoroughness of a tax auditor and then, as if to establish the class of person he belonged to, he invited von Richthofen to lunch and to visit each field. In my imagination the great Kanone immediately saw how keen I was and invited me to join his special team. In reality, however, I saw him for less than five seconds from a distance of fifty metres.

We prepared relentlessly for another trip across the channel. The Navy gave it another try with their zeppelins but had little luck. Finally, on the evening of 3 July 1917, the news came down that we were bound for England once more. The English have recalled a top squadron from France especially to shoot us down so the Hauptmann planned to disappoint them. Two groups of three aircraft from Kasta 15 – my flight – would cross ahead of the others and fly down the channel towards London. But they were not to go all the way to the capital. Instead they had the job of bombing the Royal Navy barracks and workshops at Sheerness. This way the London defences would be alerted but would not have time to catch our Gothas. Our main striking force would head for Felixstowe and Harwich. But the best part of the plan was that I was to lead one of the two groups from Kasta 15.

At 6:45 a.m. on 4 July, we lifted off from Melle Gontrode. I banked left and came around in a broad circle to the north and west. The other two machines, piloted by Feldwebel Doge and Feldwebel Stark, followed a little behind. My plan was to climb slowly in a direct line toward Nieuport on the coast, from which point Leutnant Schwind would point me in the direction of Margate. I chose not to waste fuel by circling for height before departing for the coast. During the forty or fifty minute flight to the coast we had ample time to climb to 2500 metres. We had barely set course for Nieuport when Gefreiter Papenburg shook me by the shoulder and pointed over the side to my left. I banked and turned to see what had caught his attention. To my horror, a Gotha was falling in a slow flat spin. It disappeared under our wing before it hit the ground but I knew it was finished. Papenburg smacked his hands together to indicate a collision. Both the machines that were to accompany us were gone! There was nothing to do but climb to the west.

I was lost in thought as the coast passed beneath us and the open water of the Channel sparkled below the scattered clouds. We continued to climb now toward our intended altitude of 3700 metres. I beckoned Leutnant Schwind through the speaking tube. He crawled out of his pulpit and crouched beside me in the cockpit. “We are the only machine left,” I shouted. “When we get to the target I will drop to one thousand metres so that we can make every bomb count.” I saw that Leutnant Schwind was thinking of saying something but then he grimaced and nodded. He patted my shoulder and smiled before he returned to his office.

Fifteen minutes later the English coast came into view. A larger town appeared just to our left. Schwind pointed to it and pulled down his woollen face mask to mouth the word “Margate.” From there we picked up the south bank of the Thames estuary and followed it past the Isle of Shippey to Sheerness. As I had planned, I began a fairly steep descent. The English anti-aircraft fire was heavy but our dive through them off their aim. Eight or nine kilometres from our target we crossed into the built-up suburbs of Sheerness. Now Leutnant Schwind became my guide pointing with his gloved hand left or right to line us up with the target. He first loosed seven 50 kilogram bombs, and then let go the 100 kilo bombs. He finished up with seven more 50s for good luck. Now the enemy fire was very heavy and we even took some hits from machine guns on the ground. I climbed away and headed back towards Margate. The sky was empty of British machines. In the distance two Gothas from our other formation approached. Their job was easy. They had only to follow the smoke rising from our target.


" Schwind pointed to it and pulled down his woollen face mask to mouth the word 'Margate.'"

The return flight seemed unusually quick. We approached the French coast between Dunkirk and Nieuport and flew parallel to it until closer to the lines. Then we bled off our altitude over the final 70 kilometres of the journey. As soon as we touched down we all enquired about our comrades. By a miracle, both pilots were alive and not badly injured. Somehow the bombs on board the machines had not exploded. Unfortunately the other four crew members were all killed. The other flight landed nearly an hour after us. They confirmed that we had a hit the naval facilities very hard and they were able to conserve some of their bombs for the airfield at Eastchurch. I was delighted when I learned that Hauptmann Kleine would be visiting in the afternoon and wanted to congratulate our crew in person.


Homecoming

well done. U deserve a gong just for flying that thing.

I’ll second that motion!

MFair- "Or walk with Kings -- nor lose the common touch."
A long way from Cripple Creek for the Badger. What glory awaits I wonder?

Carrick- Your fellows are the Don Juan of the Western Front and it looks like Fido is fitting right in, the hound. Hope he gets better soon, but one never knows about a relapse that will keep him in those PT classes a bit longer.

Fullofit- Nice to see Ziggy back from hospital. I don't think I ever offered congrats for the EK. Well done. Tough group there in Jasta 17 when it comes to poaching.

Raine - Mein Gott. More bodily harm for poor Hans. Nice work there on that tripe. Fantastic screenshot. Random engine fire?! I didn't know about those. Yikes. Werner is back! I think you're about to get rather busy Hals und Beinbruch!

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, The Bong Curse and now The Hound Curse. Oh well, Fido will endeavor to persevere.

Nothing good comes from being Dogged

https://giphy.com/gifs/dog-animals-being-jerks-hamburglar-iqgHSDudH8oZa/fullscreen

Lt. Ainslie Harris
Bruay
July 7th, 1917

Harris had returned from St. Omer the evening before to a warm welcome. All wanted to know about the trip. He made the story as short as possible and answered all the question, if not to everyone’s satisfaction. When he returned to his hut he found Mannock who had returned from leave. “I reckon your my new bunk mate.” Stated Harris. “It would seem so” replied Mannock. Harris sat down on his cot. “Look here Partner. I think I owe you an apology.” Mannock looked at Harris without speaking. Harris continued “seems i was a bit harsh last time we spoke. I was not in the best of spirits.” Mannock waved his hand in dismissal, “think nothing of it. No offense taken. It’s easy to get out of sorts after one has been here a while.” Harris smiled and nodded. “Glad you feel that way.” There was a silent pause and Harris spoke again as he stretches out on his cot, “I’m beat Hoss, we will talk later.”

He had not slept well. A and B Flight were called out early for an intercept of EA near Loos. The day was clear and cloudless. If not for the war Harris would have been in heaven, or as close as he was going to be in this life. As they started their patrol around Loos, Harris spotted two aircraft heading west above them. At the same time he signalled and climbed the 2 aircraft turned back east, confirming what Harris thought. A few miles over the lines his flight caught up with the two bomber types. He and Keen took one as the other two focused on number 2. Harris made his first pass, then Keen. Harris made his second pass. He could see his bullets striking their target but nothing that would slow the EA down. He and Keen made 4 passes in succession and Keen finally sent it down in a spin. Harris pulled up studying the sky. All clear. He and Keen circled for 5 minutes before being joined by Cudmore. McScotch was not to be seen. He must have taken hits and went home. Harris was on his last drum and he knew at least half of it was gone. Keen should be in the same shape so he signalled a return to base. As the trio was crossing over into friendly territory, Keen, on the right, pulled up sharply and Harris followed immediately. 2 Albatros flashed by and as Harris turned he saw at least 4 more. Harris felt a lump In his throat as he pulled into a turning fight with 2. He was slowly gaining the advantage and fired a burst into the trailing machine. His gun went silent after a few rounds. He was out of ammunition. Both machines disengaged much to Harris’s relief and he saw the 4 machines of A Flight joining the fight. He turned his machine west. He felt his muscles relax. He was going to live through another one. He looked back to see another Albatros diving down from behind. He pulled up hard for a bluff. This Hun was not hesitating in the least. Next he knew he was in a hard twisting fight with a very good Hun. His only consolation was he was over his own lines now. As he was doing his best to stay out of the Albatros line of fire, his machine was riddled with a very good burst. His windscreen and compass exploded in front of him and something had hit his leg like a hammer. He dove the Nieuport as fast as he could. He could see the trenches and NML. He waited for the enemy to finish him off at any second. As the ground rushed up he pulled level and killed the engine. It was instinctive. The machine hit and bounced. “Don’t hit those stumps! Right! Nose down!” All these thoughts flashed through his head. Some old ruins passed on the right and the Nieuport came to an abrupt halt throwing Ainslie head forward. He was aware of people pulling him free but he was not much help in his dazed state. “Get him clear and away from here before they start shelling” he heard someone say.

He came to his senses while a medic applied a dressing to his upper left thigh wound. “How bad is it Doc?” Ainslie asked. The medic replied, “Oh it looks worse than it is. You should be good as new in a few weeks would be my guess.” Harris grimiest in pain as the medic tied off his dressing. “I’m done here Lt. Your on your way to the hospital!” Harris tried to grin and said, “seems to be a habit of mine!”

The Bong curse is alive and well Gents!

I wonder how the Bong Curse Began ?

https://giphy.com/gifs/elves-sdEkeWpiaGz0A/fullscreen

Oh no! Not good MFair, but the Badger lives yet. Literally a few weeks, like Raine and Hans-Dieter?

Carrick, you got that right. Galadriel was at least 10K years old by the time of the War of the Ring, so it's been some time methinks. What do we think the Hobbit's leaf actually was?