It's the late afternoon of 1 April 1917 and I'm about to start the second mission of my new Jasta 11 campaign in the aptly-named
Wings over Flanders Fields - Between Heaven and Hell II, which is a significant all-round improvement on previous versions and runs just as well on my very ordinary PC. I'm leading a patrol of six Albatros D.III V-strutters. Our task is to patrol the front lines opposite Cambrai, south of our airfield at Douai.
This time I decided to apply one of the available Jasta 11 skins, rather than use the default - I can't recall the pilot's name but it's an attractive and distinctive candy-striped, red-tailed job.
We take off into a cloudless blue sky...
...but I'm rudely interrupted by the rattle of enemy machine-guns and the smoke trails of tracers zip past my machine. We've been jumped! I break hard right and manage to catch only a few hits.
I give the order to counterattack, evade my attacker with a few careful turns at low level, then curve back towards the air fight which is already in full swing.
The next few minutes are a bit of a blur. I manage to get off some rounds at fleeting targets, which I've realised are Englishmen in Nieuport single-seaters - N.17s, probably.
The boys seem to have their measure and I regain a little height then look for an opening.
It comes when one of the Nieuports gets away from a pursuing Albatros at tree-top level.
The Nieuport pulls up and his speed falls away, causing my diving attack to overshoot after I've only got off a few rounds.
A glance above and behind shows things still seem to be going our way.
My second attack on my own target sends him crashing into the ground, although I'm conscious somebody else was shooting at him too. Never mind, one less enemy to threaten us, that's what matters!
The Nieuport's wreck burns, so it won't have ended well for the pilot. The cows in the next field seem entirely unconcerned, though.
Right, time to get back into the fight!
...to be continued!