The bombers are actually Stukas, and they are a long way below us. Nowhere near high enough for a dive-bombing attack, I reckon. Also strange is their bombload - just the four underwing 50 Kilo jobs. Never seen those carried without also a 250 Kg one on the centreline crutch.
There look to be only six Stukas - you can just about make them out below my wing root, at the trailing edge.
The dive bombers collect some flak as they approach the airfield at Manston. Which they don't attack.
My attention is instead concentrated on a bunch of specks which appear at our own level, off to our right. They're coming our way. The RAF has arrived!
I turn into the Tommies and order them attacked. One of the boys in the second schwarm is already calling for help, a bit prematurely I fancy.
I dance around after one of the Hurricanes but can't get a bead on him. In my efforts to do so, I spin out violently, during an attempted steep-climbing right-hander. In the process, I'm hit hard! I regain control, but can only get away by pushing the stick directly forward, causing my vision to turn into a narrow red tunnel. At least I'm out of harm's way, for now!
My first chance of air combat and already I'm pretty well out of it! Not a good start!
But it's not just my dignity that has been damaged. My 109 has acquired some holes, my virtual self likewise. 'Bleeding profusely' the text display says - which I must have left on and therefore notice quickly, not like the last time this happened. Also unlike the last time, I can actually see some vague smears of blood,.
Options run through my mind - try to get back to France, bail out, force land, even land at Manston. I don't especially like any of these and as I'm in a bad mood, I decide to shoot up Manston, instead of land on it. I can't see any parked fighters, so I go for the line of hangars.
Starting with the nearest one, I walk my cannon and MG fire along the row. As I do so, I notice that there are some Spitfires parked in front of them, a bit further out than I was expecting. Actually, they should really be dispersed around the perimeter track and inside blast pens if available - someone is getting careless.
My condition isn't visibly getting worse, so I pull up and start to come around for another pass. Attacking an alerted target is a bit careless on my part, but I'm caught up in the excitement of the moment.
This time, I want to get one of those Spitfires!
I try to come in along the line of the parked fighters but mess it up and am lucky to get some hits on the nearest one.
I'd probably have called it a day and tried something else if the Spitfire had gone up in flames, but he doesn't, and I don't. By this time, the airfield defences have definitely woken up.
I put in another pass on what I think is the same fighter, but with my one hundred and twenty 2 cm rounds gone, my MGs fail to burn him.
One last effort, I tell myself, encouraged by the fact the nearest hangar has meanwhile gone up in smoke. A delayed result of my attack or someone else's work, I'm not entirely certain. But it's an encouraging spectacle. And this time, I'm better positioned for a firing pass along the line of the parked fighters.
This last run goes more or less as planned - until I make the mistake of looking left as I flash past the last of the hangars. I want to skim the trees on my way out to avoid the flak, so don't pull back sharply on the stick Instead, momentarily disoriented, I let the nose drop just a fraction, something touches the ground just outside the airfield boundary - and it's all over.
Would I have made it back if I hadn't hit the deck? Perhaps not, but now, I'll never know. I tell you what, though - I will definitely want to get more time on the 109 in quick combat before trying for another Luftwaffe career. Spinning out when attempting to dggfight those Hurricanes was fatal. Besides which, I should have been above them before the fight started. Next time, it will be different...
Well, looks like I'll be back here with a 109 campaign sooner than I expected. I had to create another Luftwaffe pilot to try out some stuff, and decided to go for broke and start a new campaign with him. Glad I did actually...so far, so good...
Starting here to-morrow.
Also planned to feature here - pilot standing by, but not yet operational - is another RAF campaign, based on 74 Squadron - the idea was to base it on another pilot memoir like the last one, Tom Neil's excellent 'Gun Button to Fire', but Hurricane outfit 249 Squadron isn't in the WotR orbat so 'Sailor' Malan's unit it will be, then. Watch this space!
I Gruppe Jagdgeschwader 26, Audembert, 10 July 1940 (campaign re-start)
Today, the Gruppe is putting up a dozen 109s for a high-level fighter sweep to the Thames Estuary, to cover anti-shipping operations in that area. The briefing only provides details of the first two four-aircraft elements that I'll be leading...
...but the full twelve are lined up on our grass airfield. The more the merrier, as far as I'm concerned.
I don't think I'll ever get to like the trees around the airfield, but I seem to be getting used to them.
We're soon forming up, as we begin the turn to the north that will take us out over the Channel...
...which is at its narrowest in this area - the weather being pretty clear, we can see the enemy coast by the time we're crossing the French one.
I begin the long climb up to our briefed altitude of about 5,000 metres - Kirchturm funf, in Luftwaffe radio parlance.
Our route takes us towards the North Foreland, which we will cross to reach our patrol area over the Thames Estuary.
We're clearly now in full view of the enemy, so from this point on, the sight-seeing stops and the serious business of war begins!
The boys are keeping up nicely. Whatever Tommy may throw at us this morning, we're ready for him.
First sign of trouble is flak coming up from below.It's quite accurate, so I take us a bit further out to sea, increase the power and gain a bit more height.
A look at the fuel gauge and a quick sweep of the other instruments shows all is well there.
Out to the west, I can see the Medway leading off from the Thames Estuary, which we are now crossing.
There's no sign of the enemy, of for that matter any of our bombers who might need our closer attention. Below, there's a sizeable bank of cloud...
...but at our level, it's still reasonably clear.
I throw in a few small changes of course the better to look around and down, but all seems clear. No shipping down there either, yet.
All at once, the situation changes. Enemy aircraft below and behind!
I push the throttle fully forward and reverse course quickly, but can't see them anywhere. Worse, I've drawn away from the others, who are now in a gaggle about a kilometre or more behind. I slow down and level off, so they can close up.
Suddenly, a squadron of Spitfires rushes into the gap and the fight is on!
I roll over and with plenty of bottom rudder, get the nose below the horizon, twisting around under the oncoming shower of Spitfires. Then up and around, but not too tightly. This not only clears my tail but gives me a nice view of a Tommy who's crossing from left to right.
He's going quite quickly so I max out the revs for a short while, to help me close the range faster. The Spitfire is in a gentle right-hander so I can cut the corner too.
I keep slightly below him, in the hope he won't see me...
...and let him have it when his wings nearly fill the ring on my reflector sight. My rounds crash into him...
But not that good a start. As I watch, the Tommy recovers and flies on. We seem to be alone in our little patch of the sky, so I go down after him. He sees me coming this time, and tries to escape in a turn.
But I close faster this time and let him have it again. His wings go level...
...and then the pilot bails out. No doubt this time!
The abandoned Spitfire noses down into a shallow dive. My tail is still clear so I pull up nearly alongside him. Just close enough to get a clear look at my victim.
It's not often a 109 gets to fly formation with a Spitfire!
Harried by some rather inaccurate flak, I turn around again to the north, where the fighting started. The radio is still alive with the usual calls, but less frantic now. One of the boys announces he is going home.
I'm tempted to do likewise, but I'm supposed to be in charge. So back north I go.
I continue my turn and check my fuel again. I'm over half full, so I can afford to carry on for a while yet. Meanwhile, another pilot reports heading for home.
I can see an aircraft ahead, some distance away and just below the horizon. But suddenly, an enemy is reported at eight o'clock!
I quickly tighten my turn rather than reversing it and there, up above, is what looks like a solitary Spitfire, nicely silhouetted. Even at this range, I fancy I can make out those distinctive elliptical wings.
Judicious use of full revs enables me to come up behind him. I must have used up a fair bit of the sixty rounds for each of my 2 cm cannon so this time I get a bit closer before letting fly.
The Englishman falls into a sideslip, slowing right down.
But he recovers into a slow, gentle right-hand turn, so another attack is necessary...
...after which I get a good view of him as I flash past. He makes no effort to go onto the offensive.
However, he won't go down or bail out, either. What is it going to take to nail this Tommy? Better shooting would help! Or more shooting, at any rate. So I come after him again.
After my next pass the Spitfire rolls over...
...right onto his back...
...but recovers again, and even seems able to gain a bit of height. This won't do! I close in again, determined to get him this time.
By the time I catch the Spitfire again, he's headed back out to sea. There seems to be no fight left in him. It's a shame to knock him down, but that's my job.
My next burst whacks into him and down he goes.
He levels out again but he's now trailing smoke and slowly losing what height he has left. Probably too low to bail out.
He makes no attampt to force land, either, and is still going down when he crosses the coast, going north.
The Spitfire hits the water in a gout of white foam and is gone.
I clear my tail and begin to swing around the North Foreland. Time to go home. Back over the land, some flak is bursting, low down. A faint grey smoke trail just like the one left by the Spitfire is just visible against the dark greem of a forest, also heading out to sea.
A few seconds later, the aircraft trailing smoke has also gone in. Whether ours or theirs I can't be sure of, but the flak bursts suggest it was one of my people.
Deciding that enough is enough, I call up the boys and order them to re-form, gaining height as I do so.
I make a wide sweep to the east of the headland, both to keep out of range of the flak I remember being active there, and to give the boys a chance to catch up - those who haven't already had to go home, or aren't going to.
Another check of my instruments shows all is well and that I've still got plenty of fuel for the trip home.
Two other 109s join me for the run home. For a while we're pursued by what I take to be a Spitfire, but I go to full power for a while and he gives up. I'm not in the mood to take any further chances, either with my own neck or those of my two comrades.
Soon, we're well on the way back across the cold, steely-blue waters of the English Channel.
Back at base, I find that we have two pilots missing and one definitely killed. It's been a tough battle, but far from one-sided - we're claiming no less than six Spitfires shot down, including my two.
With enemy pilots bailing out or force landing often able to rejoin the fray, even a two-to-one kill ratio in our favour won't be good enough. If we average three pilots lost in every fight, even replacements won't keep us going long. And the air campaign is only just beginning!
On resuming my campaign on the day before, the first sign that things were a bit awry was the message welcoming me back to I/JG26 - or is it I/JG51? No - I'm not sure where the latter came from, but I haven't transferred and am still with Jagdgeschwader 26 'Schlageter'.
Plans for a quiet lunch on the airfield were thereafter interrupted when we were tasked to cover a friendly convoy, just off the coast. Given that enemy bombers (or warships for that matter) are not active in this area in daylight if at all, this is a bit of a waste of time. Efforts to get the mission changed just resulted in being offered more of the same.
Orders are orders. I went through the motions, leading the eight 109s we could manage to the small convoy. Then back home again, so as not to waste too much petrol. Or miss too much lunch.
The next 'proper' mission is the following day, 11th July. We’re sent north on a fighter sweep, to cover bombers attacking shipping in the Thames Estuary. Familiar territory by now. Again, we can muster eight 109s, which is fine for a staffel, if not for a gruppe (which should routinely be able to put up two staffeln, for anything short of a maximum effort).
As before, our briefed routing takes up the east coast of Kent and over the North Foreland. I've levelled of after crossing the French coast outbound, when I realise there are other aircraft to our left front, higher up and heading the same way. It looks like a small group of bombers, maybe half a dozen.
They're not alone. Above them are three small groups of smaller specks - a close escort, about a dozen strong.
The bombers are heavily-laden Junkers 88s...
...while their escorts are 109s like our own, from I/JG 53 'Pik As', as it happens. There are rumours their leader, von Cranmon-Taubadel, has incurred Goering's displeasure over his choice of an 'insufficiently Aryan' bride. And talk of the unit being forced to paint out their Ace of Spades badge, in punishment. Which all seems a bit mean and nasty. Anyway these fellows are still proudly displaying their unit emblem, so perhaps it is just a rumour. Let's hope so.
I fancy my boys should be clearing the skies ahead of this raid, and start a full power climb towards them.
By the time I get close to their height, the English coast is in sight, but the bombers are barely visible, the fighters completely so.
Approaching the North Foreland, I lose sight of even the bombers, thanks to thick banks of cloud.
Still racing on, I suddenly come out into the clear - and there they all are, just ahead!
Sehr gut - we're back in business. Now to get in front and make sure there aren't any Tommies waiting for us, out over the Thames Estuary.
Hi 33lima. Just wanted to say, outstanding pictures and your AARs are always entertaining and full of details only a real UKer could include. I always enjoy your new reports so keep up the good work Mucker. Secret Squirrel keeps perusing that other BOB sim, Mums the word!, for a recent AAR continuation but it seems to be stuck in neutral as of present. Has Jerry run out of steam or possibly Air Marshall Dowding is on vacation? ? ? Or maybe The Queen just won't allow anymore simming time? Any info over there would be helpful Old Bean. Get Stuck In! Drive! see what i did there?
Hi 33lima. Just wanted to say, outstanding pictures and your AARs are always entertaining and full of details only a real UKer could include. I always enjoy your new reports so keep up the good work Mucker. Secret Squirrel keeps perusing that other BOB sim, Mums the word!, for a recent AAR continuation but it seems to be stuck in neutral as of present. Has Jerry run out of steam or possibly Air Marshall Dowding is on vacation? ? ? Or maybe The Queen just won't allow anymore simming time? Any info over there would be helpful Old Bean. Get Stuck In! Drive! see what i did there?
Thanks Guys! As for that 'other sim', I've been getting a bad pasting from the beastly Huns and perhaps hoping they will have gone away, if I haven't been around for a while! But I'll be back soon, as I'm keen to see more of Boreas's recent subtle texture improvements, including a mix of A and B Schemes for Hurricanes, as well as Spitfires - which can now also have the previously-absent red doped gunport patches, in six- or eight-patch varieties...
...although I am really relishing playing the sort of classic single player pilot campaign that's delivered so well by WotR.
Now then, where was I? Oh yes...The flak in the Manston-Ramsgate-Margate area is always keen to have a go; today is no exception. I get the distinct impression that those people down there really don't like us.
Initially, the barrage is concentrated on the close escort...
...leaving the bombers in the clear...
This doesn't last long, though. One of the Ju88s is hit and falls out of formation, streaming grey smoke. And then there were five!
We forge ahead of the raid, which is now under pretty heavy fire and will be lucky to avoid further losses, before it gets out of range over the Thames Estuary. I begin to edge out a bit to the east. If the bombers didn't have a close escort, I’d have moved across to their west, between them and the mainland. If the RAF shows up, they are least likely to come in from the North Sea. I think.
But the only Tommies I can make out are in the shipping we have presumably come here to sink, now visible far below. The bombers must have seen them too, for they’re heading straight for the ships.
I could have left the bombers and gone a–hunting. But they are such attractive bait that I decide that we’ve a better chance of catching some Tommies if we stay near them. Besides, I want to see what a shipping attack looks like. I won't have long to wait, as the bombers are running in on the targets, having spread out somewhat.
Relying mostly on my comrades to keep watch, I allow myself the luxury of following the progress of the attack. I see the bombers turning away...
...and thinking they must have dropped their loads, watch the convoy for signs of splashes or explosions. But nothing happens, except for a short string of impacts on the sea well to one side, from a mis-placed stick of bombs.
The Ju 88s continue to mill about, so it looks like they may be bombing individually. It’s hard to be sure, at this distance.
Suddenly, the RAF arrives. Enemy aircraft at two o’clock! Hurricanes, at least six of them.
I turn into them of course. The two formations come together and a dogfight quickly develops, the air-waves coming alive with the usual calls. I pick out a solitary Hurricane and go for him.
It’s only as I’m closing in that I realise that there’s another Tommy behind the first one, and that I have very nearly flown right in front of him.
I chop the throttle and swerve awkwardly at the last minute, trying to get behind the second fighter instead. All I can manage is a quick deflection shot as he slides across my nose. I apply the power again and pull up in a clumsy effort to barrel roll up and around him…
…but succeed only in stalling and spinning out. Recovering quickly, I come back up and latch onto another lone Hurricane, which may or may not be a different machine. After a burst of full combat power, I’m back up at the Hurricane’s level and beginning to close. I open fire about the time his wingspan fills the circle on my reflector sight.
My first burst misses, but I adjust my aim and the second one crashes into him. The Tommy dips a wing slightly but flies on. These Hurricanes are tough customers!
Suddenly, the pale grey pencil lines of multiple, closely-spaced smoke trails from tracers flash past my right wing. I’ve been caught from behind! I savagely flip my 109 onto her back and pull hard on the joystick.
Down and out I go, again, this time under control. By some miracle, I haven’t been hit. As a bonus, the Hurricane is no longer behind me. Instead, I’m soon coming up behind him. Or one of his friends – I’m not particular.
This time, I get in a bit closer, and make sure my tail stays clear. My index finger drops gently onto the trigger – fire!
Hits blossom on the Hurricane and I break away and watch for him to go down. But he shows no such intention, instead flying away towards the North Foreland. So I go after him again.
This time there's no messing about. The damaged fighter takes no evasive action. My rounds crash into him again and I get a brief glimpse of a parachute opening, just before it falls out of my line of sight – he’s bailed out!
The Hurricane's cockpit canopy seems to have slid forward again but he's finished, for sure.
I start a turn to clear my tail and cast one last glance at my victim. The abandoned fighter is losing height steadily. No need to waste any more time on that one.
I level out and pull up. Suddenly, another Hurricane swoops past above me.
The Hurricane circles menacingly around me several times, but I keep my nose pointing towards him as I spiral up. Before I can get near him, he clears off in the direction of some flak bursts.
When I've gained enough height I head over that way too, and by the time I get there, the same Hurricane is the only aircraft I can see. He mustn't have seen me coming because he flies close across my nose, and I quickly roll in behind him.
By this time I've no cannon ammo left, but I make good shooting with my nose-mounted MGs, which carry a lot more rounds per gun than the RAF fighters.
The Tommy tries to get out of my line of fire in a right-hand turn, but I get plenty of hits.
It's not enough though, so I end up chasing him about the sky and blasting him again when my sights come on. These Hurricanes seem to be able to soak up rifle calibre hits.
At one point the flak joins in on the Tommy's side, and he redoubles his efforts to get away.
He hasn't got the speed for it though and I'm soon closing in again.
After another couple of bursts, the Hurricane stops turning and starts to go down. Got him!
But no, not yet! He settles into a wide, gentry descending turn, trailing smoke but still apparently under control. Thoroughly irritated, I check my tail is clear, then come in fast for another pass.
In my anxiety to make this one the last, I keep firing and break away too late. My 109 lurches and starts to roll over. I've run into him!
My engine stops, saving me the bother of chopping the throttle. I'm mightily relieved that I can get out and even more so when my chute quickly pops open.
The Hurricane seems to have shrugged off the collision, though it is well peppered by my gunfire. There's no sign of the pilot - perhaps he's slumped down.
The RAF boys over at Manston are certainly getting a grandstand view of my aircraft's final plunge. I'm just glad that I'm not in it, but for me, the war is over.
But not quite! I'm informed that I have escaped and rejoined my unit! Perhaps I managed to evade capture and later steal an aircraft from nearby Manston!
After that, there's good news, and bad. The good news is that I've been awarded an EK2.
The bad news is that the unit has been decimated, with seven aircraft destroyed, one pilot killed and six others missing! How on earth did that happen? I have no idea.
If nothing else, I/JG26 now has a score to settle with the RAF!
Priceless!!! You maintain such an even keel in the face of utter distruction of your Squadron. I think Twinkles was menacing London that day, so in adding a great distraction for the boys which aided you in your escape. Rumor has it your guy stole a Gladiator from Manston and skimmed the waves back to France at full throttle, but was almost killed when the Hun AA opened up on him. It seems he put it down in a feild quickly and escaped with his life. At least, that is the rumor?