Raine, of course your personal health and well-being come first, always. I'm not sure I'd be able to take such a commitment, since, as you could see, I often struggled to keep up with my pilot's shenanigans during my time here. I guess we'll see if someone is available to step up for next year. Thank you for this amazing experience that I hope I'll be able to enjoy again!
#4584530 - 11/05/2103:16 PMRe: Deep Immersion DiD campaign -- Player Instructions (UPDATED 28 Nov 2018)
[Re: Raine]
Journal of Captain Robert Fergus Drummond, DSO, DFC 32 Squadron, Royal Air Force Pronville, France
Part 22
"My machine guns raked the Fokker, shredding its wings."
On our second morning in bleak, rain-swept Pronville, I was dispatched with B Flight to once again attack the Hun aerodrome at Baiseaux. As we had not replenished our supply of Cooper bombs, this attack would consist of low-level strafing runs. The flight to the north was a bit of an adventure. We had a heavy cloud layer at 6000 feet. It forced us to fly in the rain and semidarkness below. The scene was made more ominous by blue jagged flashes of lightning all around. Our training had not informed us of the effect lightning would have on an aeroplane if we flew into one of these things. I don’t suppose it’s a good idea.
Baiseaux showed up just off to my left side and we began a long shallow dive. Unlike yesterday, there were no machines on the field and no sign of life anywhere about. We straggled out in a long follow-the-leader procession and took turns machine-gunning the German sheds. After three such passes, I fired a white Very light, which was our signal to regroup. A balloon loomed up after my right side and I put a fresh drum on the Lewis and had a go at it. After firing about a hundred rounds from both guns it fell in flames. We headed home.
I spent the rest of the morning with Bud Hale, Bogart Rogers, and one of our newer fellows named Acker, hammering together duckboards to serve as floors in our tents. We had a mess now in one of the nearby farmhouses that had been cleared by the Royal Engineers. The cook had come by a piglet and had put roast pork on the menu for dinner later, but he turned out bacon and eggs for lunch right now! I sat with Rogers and we mused about what might become of us after the war. I told him I really didn’t fancy going straight back to university in Canada and becoming a lawyer like my father. Perhaps I would try to stay in the RAF. Rogers suggested we’d all be out of work by Christmas if the war ended soon. By next year, he said, the RAF would consist of two Avros and a broken down RE8. He had plans to return to his native California, where he might finish his degree program at Stanford University. He was thinking about writing for motion pictures, perhaps a film story about war flying. We speculated about the possibility of buying a few aeroplanes from the government after the war and selling them to motion picture producers.
B Flight was back up later in the afternoon, a defensive patrol this time. We spotted some Rumplers high up over Avesgnes-le-Sec and gave chase. I emptied my Lewis and fired a hundred rounds of Vickers at one from long range and saw no effect. The Hun, however, fired one short burst in my direction and hit the engine cowling, an inner left strut, and my windscreen. As the enemy machine was already heading back over its own lines where it belonged, we let it go.
The captive balloon from the morning patrol was confirmed by Wing, number 32.
The next day, 4 November 1918, I led Hale and Zink across the lines east of Lille for a balloon strafe. This one was much easier than most. We suspected that the Huns had not had time to fully set up their anti-aircraft defences. I dived at the balloon directly and set it aflame on the first pass. Unfortunately, I had somehow managed to lose both Hale and Zink, and returned home alone. The others landed soon after. They had never found the target in the poor weather. My claim remained unconfirmed even after calls were made to our artillery regiments in the sector.
That afternoon Hale led us on a squadron show. This one was a DOP – a distant offensive patrol – fifteen miles over near Beloeil in Belgium. Close to the end of our allotted patrol time, a group of blue-grey Fokker biplanes made the mistake of attacking our A Flight. A Flight was about 2000 feet below and nearly a mile ahead of the rest of the squadron, so the Huns had fallen nicely into a trap. I got behind one of them and put two long bursts into his machine. The German pilot reacted by pulling his Fokker into a right-hand vertical bank. Something must have been damaged though, because the machine fell out of control and never recovered, smashing into a copse.
Seconds later I came within a foot or two of colliding with Ian Sommers from A Flight. As I pulled out of a panicked diving turn, the Hun that Sommers had been chasing did me the favour of pulling up directly in front of me. My machine guns raked the Fokker, shredding its wings. It tumbled out of control and fell into a field near a beautiful château with a long reflecting pond.
Both Fokkers were witnessed by Rogers, raising my bag to 34.
#4584531 - 11/05/2103:31 PMRe: Deep Immersion DiD campaign -- Player Instructions (UPDATED 28 Nov 2018)
[Re: Raine]
Raine, I am shocked and saddened to hear about your ALS diagnosis. I don't know what to say, except that you will be constantly in my thoughts and prayers. Even that sounds so trite and cliched.
I have much enjoyed your writing in the DiD threads. You have quite a talent for evoking the history and feel for the times, which I hope you will be able to continue for a very long time as science works on a cure for this very cruel disease.
I know it must be hard to keep your chin up right now, but always remember that you have a whole community of WWI flight sim enthusiasts who will be pulling for you!
Take care and let us know if there is anything we can do.
Sincerely,
Chris, aka BB.
“With Major Lawrence, mercy is a passion. With me it is merely good manners. You may judge which motive is the more reliable.”
#4584533 - 11/05/2103:41 PMRe: Deep Immersion DiD campaign -- Player Instructions (UPDATED 28 Nov 2018)
[Re: Raine]
Fullofit – I finally had a chance to watch your most recent videos. For a minute, it seemed like another Bruce Lee movie with the Spads coming after you one at the time despite their numbers. Just as that thought crossed my mind, the rest of the group arrived and things got very tense. I did not realise that one Spad had stalled. It looked instead like a René Fonck kill, one of those where you expend only five rounds in a head-on pass. Still, it reduced the odds against you and probably caused the other French pilots to check their fuel gauges. Nice job getting that last Spad to turn about and come back for a good spanking. Congratulations on the new bling!
#4584547 - 11/05/2106:11 PMRe: Deep Immersion DiD campaign -- Player Instructions (UPDATED 28 Nov 2018)
[Re: Raine]
George, I'm shocked and profoundly saddened. I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say that our hope is for years and years for you before it worsens. Cheers, Ted
We will remember them.
#4584553 - 11/05/2106:56 PMRe: Deep Immersion DiD campaign -- Player Instructions (UPDATED 28 Nov 2018)
[Re: Raine]
Quick plus 1 for everyone's responses to your news Raine.
I'm sorry if we're banging on about it but you are a valued member of this community and a friend to many of us. And a much, much better writer than I am.
I've been occupied elsewhere (life eh) but have been hoping for another DiD campaign. I'm in.
#4584560 - 11/05/2108:17 PMRe: Deep Immersion DiD campaign -- Player Instructions (UPDATED 28 Nov 2018)
[Re: Raine]
Well, I'm here on my honeymoon in Malta......but somethings take precedence! George, here's hoping for many more years flying and DIDs!
I'm definitely in!
"A great deal of an aeroplane could be holed without affecting its ability to fly. Wings and fuselage could be—and often were—pierced in 50 places, missing the occupants by inches (blissfully unaware of how close it had come until they returned to base). Then the sailmaker would carefully cover each hole with a square inch of Irish linen frayed at the edges and with a brushful of dope make our aircraft 'serviceable' again within an hour."
#4584563 - 11/05/2109:27 PMRe: Deep Immersion DiD campaign -- Player Instructions (UPDATED 28 Nov 2018)
[Re: Raine]
Raine, I’m absolutely devastated to learn of your condition. Please let us know you’ve been given a better prognosis than what can be found on the internet. I’ll keep my trigger fingers crossed for you. Speaking of which, the SPADs definitely got what they deserved from Klaus yesterday. Today it’s the Bréguets’ turn. Fergie is finally starting to make a dent in the German airplane supply. At this rate he’ll reach 50 by the end of the war. Congrats!
Kebab, congrats on surviving the war. Cheer up next one is already brewing, just wait 20 years.
Albert, congrats on getting hitched!
5 November, 1918 07:45 Montingen, Verdun Sector Jasta 18 Rittmeister Klaus Gustav Raben LO RAO AO PLM HHO EK1 EK2 Fokker D.VII 181 confirmed kills
The episode in which Klaus goes hunting for Bréguets.
The SPAD from the morning show and two from the afternoon have been confirmed. What’s even better was that Klaus was awarded the Order of Leopold. He didn’t even know such award existed. It would go nicely with his Blue Max, that’s for sure. Today was another friendly front line patrol near Lunéville. The Schwarm arrived over Nancy unopposed, but that’s when their quiet patrol took a turn. A flight of Bréguets met them head on. Klaus tangled with one of the beasts and had him on the run. Their battle took them from 3500 meters all the way down to the ground. The rear gunner kept Raben on his toes but in the end the bomber had to go down and down it went north of the city, digging one of the wings into the ground and collapsing.
Raben spotted more Bréguets circling the aerodrome at Manoncourt-en-Vermois. He approached one of them from behind without being spotted. His approach was too quick and he only had seconds to fire his Spandaus and swerve to avoid a collision. The rear gunner reacted instantly and made a few more holes in the Fokker. Klaus came for another run and sent the Bréguet down in flames after letting it have a long burst of his guns.
In the meantime new bombers arrived over the field and Klaus was ready. He cut across the enemy’s flightpath and attacked from below. He then went for another run and sent the enemy bomber down spinning out of control.
He was now ready to get back across the lines to his own side and safety. He was sure he was running low on ammo, but on his way back he spotted movement below and dove. It was a French bomber on his final approach to the airfield and would be particularly difficult to bring down this low above the mud. Nothing would stop Klaus from trying however. He swooped down behind and slightly below the enemy beast and opened fire. The rear gunner responded with his own barrage and hit the Fokker. Raben came around once more and flew as low as he dared to avoid more fire. He pulled up and fired again. This time smoke belched from the engine compartment and the large plane started to lose control. The rear gunner continued to fire and hit Raben’s machine. Thankfully without damaging anything critical. After Klaus made sure the enemy plane went down, he headed north and back to base.
"Take the cylinder out of my kidneys, The connecting rod out of my brain, my brain, From out of my arse take the camshaft, And assemble the engine again."
#4584575 - 11/06/2102:14 AMRe: Deep Immersion DiD campaign -- Player Instructions (UPDATED 28 Nov 2018)
[Re: Raine]
Cecil P Fawnsworth, DFC MC. .MM. WOFF Wound Stripe. Lt , Rfc, 54 Sqn Nov 5 , 1918.
11 Victory Confirmed 7 Unconfirmed 1 pending
I Say, Mixing it up with the Huns again. The Sgn was on Patrol and spotted 4 Fokkers flying parallel to us going in and out of clouds. The flight leader had us follow him in a climbing turn to starboard that has us cross their path. I followed the pack as we winged over and fell on them. My bloke split from the flight, but I caught him after many rds from my Vickers he just fell apart. The sqn claimed 3 e/a for 2 damaged. A good Bounce What ?
Last edited by carrick58; 11/06/2102:30 AM.
#4584601 - 11/06/2104:08 PMRe: Deep Immersion DiD campaign -- Player Instructions (UPDATED 28 Nov 2018)
[Re: Raine]
Joined: Nov 2014 Posts: 3,696Fullofit
Senior Member
6 November, 1918 08:45 Montingen, Verdun Sector Jasta 18 Rittmeister Klaus Gustav Raben LO RAO AO PLM HHO EK1 EK2 Fokker D.VII 183 confirmed kills
The episode in which the Bréguet goes belly up.
Two of the Bréguets have been confirmed. The rest went without being witnessed. The phone call to Jasta 18 had them intercepting enemy planes crossing the lines at Thiaucourt. Schwarm Zwei made excellent time to the frontlines. The Front was getting closer with each day. A disorganized formation of Bréguets loomed ahead and what’s more important, at a lower level. Klaus took a shot at one of them approaching head on. He continued straight on and left the bomber for his wingmen. Hopefully they can take care of it. Raben already was targeting another beast that was crossing his path. He fired at it and the bomber went on its back and stayed that way. This move would have worked if Klaus were lower than the Bréguet, which usually is the case, but not this time. Raben had the belly of the beast fully exposed and was now taking full advantage of it, pumping it full of lead. First, one of the wings broke off, then the second one. Klaus didn’t have to do anything else. The kill was his, but there was another Bréguet right behind looking to retaliate. With the enemy higher than the Fokker, Raben had difficulty getting on his tail. When he did, the beast was flying much higher and was more difficult to catch. The wind buffeting did not help with making any potshots either. In the end another Fokker swooped down and put the bomber out of its misery by setting it on fire. The sky has suddenly become calm once more.
The calm remained with the Schwarm for only a few minutes, when Klaus spotted the escort. “- Late, as usual.” He thought to himself and began tracking all four machines at the same time. The two in front attempted to go around the Fokkers, while the other pair went straight through. Klaus targeted the rearmost machine and sent a few volleys into it. The SPAD went into a dive and Raben was sure he would have to let him go if he wanted to stay with the main fight, but then the enemy plane levelled out and started to climb back up. Klaus followed. He had to hurry up - another SPAD was maneuvering to get on his tail. Klaus closed the distance rapidly and with two long bursts destroyed his target. He then turned quickly around to face the incoming foe. The two circled each other in a spiralling descent, through a bank of clouds, where the shear winds were pulling the Fokker apart. Klaus was glad to clear the clouds and continued his pursuit. With another few volleys he sent the enemy plane into a corkscrew from which the French pilot never recovered. Klaus gathered the rest of his Schwarm and directed them back to Montingen.
"Take the cylinder out of my kidneys, The connecting rod out of my brain, my brain, From out of my arse take the camshaft, And assemble the engine again."
#4584610 - 11/06/2105:34 PMRe: Deep Immersion DiD campaign -- Player Instructions (UPDATED 28 Nov 2018)
[Re: Raine]