Mission 16: August 24th 1940

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Robo
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Mission 16: August 24th 1940

Post by Robo » Sun Jan 20, 2013 2:46 pm

24th August 1940
Mission 16 (Sat 19/01/13):
Duration: 56 minutes
Home Airfield: RAF Gravesend
Aircraft: SD-X, Hurricane Mk.I

Joining in with the good old No.501 Squadron at Gravesend at least! The Czech Squad was taking a week off at Catterick and it was only me and Sgt. Valec who flew our Hurricanes over to SE London. We had a nice night out at 'The White Hart' with S/Ldr Osprey and the rest of the 501 chaps. We got nicely battered in the end with various sorts of liquers. I vaguely remember Kups and Meaks making a bet about who was gonna drink more shots of the green stuff. I remembered that event only in the morning, as they both had these greenish streaks on the chests of their uniforms when they appered in the briefing room. Everybody thought that was hilarious except for S/Ldr Osprey. He wasn't in a good mood at all, but he has been woken up earlier that day and was briefed about something big going on on the other side of the bloody Channel. So readiness it was. Then a vicious phone call at 11:30 and off we went. Six of us climbing and attempting meet-up with the silly jockeys of the No.64 Squadron. There they are, showing off and doing all sorts of stupid stuff (and dangerous), diving down on us and climbing back again. Why did the FC gave Spitfires to these bloody midgets God knows. Anyway, after climbing up to some Angels 17 we were heading to North Foreland where enemy activity was reported. Lots of contacts around Manston and Deal area, and some bombers too, but we never saw them. I was leading my pair with Sgt. Valec slightly to the starboard side of the formation away from these crazy Spitfires when we noticed the 3 or four dots on our 2 o'clock co-alt are actually Germans. We gave the position over R/T and I went full power to the attack. This was at at least angels 22 and my Hurricane came to life up there. The 109s were turning towards the bigger group and I don't think they have seen us coming. One machine turned away from me so I was able to close in fast and got him a good squirt at convergence distance - the Hun was shaking on the impact of my .303 rounds and within a second, a massive streak of smoke and fire and in he went. Maintaining our speed and altitude, we turned towards the main group and made sure we were not followed by that poor chaps wingman. It was at that point when I found that my R/T was not working at all. I could not cooperate with the rest of the group and after watched Sgt. Valec attacking another 109 and mouling him badly, I climbed away from the action and was very careful. I attacked one 109 but missed as my speed was too high and my controls got stuck completely. Lucky sod that was. The dogfight seemed to go lower and lower and drifting more to the south. I did not join the lower layers as there were two 110 at at least Angels 18 cooperating. I almost got behind one when the other guy turned to me head-on and forced me to break away. Not bad. Then a 109 crossed my path, climbing. I got my SD-X in a shallow dive and got him a long burst from above and behind - tracers found the engine and then the cockpit. I am sure I killed the pilot as the machine got numb in that very second, pieces of shattered perspex flew past me and I swear I've seen the bloody head of the Hun dangling in the cockpit as I passed the wreck. I realised I was on my own so I flew west back to London / Gravesend area. One 109 was following me and shooting from what must have been at least 800 yards. To my surprise one bullet hole appeared right in the tip of my starboard wing. I did not hesistate and kept diving towards London. He lost me in there, but he was a good shot for sure. I landed at Gravesend and parked rigt behind Sgt. Valec. He was not happy about me disappearing from him but I explained there was a flaw with my poor radio. He claimed one destroyed and two damaged. Not a bad day at all. Shame we did ot find the bombers but I am sure that fat prick Goering will hear about what we did to his boys.

Claims: 2x Bf 109 destroyed

Pilot - ok
Plane - bullet hole in the starboard wing

Meaker
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Re: Mission 16: August 24th 1940

Post by Meaker » Sun Jan 20, 2013 4:51 pm

Form 540
Mission No:16(19.01.2013)
Date:24th August 1940
Airfield:RAF Gravesend
A/C:Hurricane MkI (100oct) SD-G 'George'

After being rudely awakened by the station adjutant and nursing a sore head from last nights shenanigans I made my way to the briefing room with the other lads and sat very quietly in a corner as the guvnor gave us the heads up on todays flight.

We all then took up our positions in our deck chairs in the morning's sun and got back to our game of chess,some of the chaps were playing cricket with some old beer crate as stumps and a home made cricket bat,they're pretty resourceful lot here at 501.This blissful peace was soon broken by the station bell clanging away and we ran to our aircraft in good heart.It was great to have F/L Robo flying with us again,seems he's been away far too long.We all took off in unison and very soon we were flying over the Thames Estuary heading southwards.At Angels 13 I got the Merlin rumbles and dropped my RPM down to 2900 to counter act this,we must have got up to Angels 21 when over my head I could hear the ominus sounds of two Daimler-Benz engines screaming across the sky.

At first I just watched them to see what direction they were taking and then took evasive action as they moved in behind me,I threw my kite down in a sharp right hand bank,and then aggressivley threw it to the left barrell rolling I went,but the bastards got me and I realised my time was up.Damage to my kite was beyond saving and I once again stepped outside for some fresh air!........something was not right,my Irvin chute was all tangled and it failed to deploy.........the rest I can't remember.

Aircraft:written off
Pilot:cold and wet!

Kupsised
Posts: 78
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Re: Mission 16: August 24th 1940

Post by Kupsised » Sun Jan 20, 2013 8:27 pm

Mission No:16(19.01.2013)
Date:24th August 1940
Airfield:RAF Gravesend
A/C:Hurricane MkI (100oct) SD-A

We took off from Gravesend as all one group and loitered around for our topcover to come in. The Spits turned up and decided to do some aerobatics which meant we had to spread our formation out a bit to avoid getting hit - we'd had a taste of their aerobatic skills the day before and didn't fancy risking anything! They then started to bounce us, making it very difficult to tell friend from foe and meaning we had to spend most of our time watching contacts on our six rather than doing anything productive. This meant some 109's did manage to slip by and, in the process, we lost LAC Meaker, but quickly got stuck in. I managed to maintain formation with SAC Bully for the most part, engaging multiple 109's, but they were all too high or too fast for us. Eventually I got seperated and ended up engaged with a 110. I dragged him down, forcing him to turn and lose energy, and just when I was about to go for the kill some Spitfires from 64 turned up, jumped the queue and downed him pretty sharpish. A bit miffed that I'd spent all that time dragging him down only to have him stolen, I was still pleased to watch him go in. I'll happily confirm that kill for whoever it was in 64 who got him. I then climbed up and got engaged with a 109. He stupidly decided to try and turn with me and again I dragged him down. He was right in my sights and my finger was closing on the trigger when, yet again, 64 jumped right between me and him, a dangerous move that almost ended up in me shooting them down and narrowly avoided a collision. Once again they brought him down, though I at least managed to get a few rounds in in the last seconds before he bailed, so I'm going to count that as a shared. I had a quick look as the Spitfire as I pulled past and noticed it was Bounder! with one other Spit, so I'll confirm that 109, but would recommend caution next time since it could have been him, or both of us, going in if it'd been a split second later or he'd misjudged. I then pulled away towards Manston, climbing up, when suddenly the cockpit was covered in oil and my engine started screaming. My temps were fine, but I realised that I'd left the boost cut out open for almost the entire fight and etirely forgotten about it. I put down at Manston still in one piece and still holding together, not mentioning the error to the ground crew. I think I might have got away with it.

Claims: 109, shared with Bounder! of 64 sq.
Plane: In need of a new engine, but otherwise unscathed
Pilot: OK

Bounder
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Location: Notts UK

Re: Mission 16: August 24th 1940

Post by Bounder » Mon Jan 21, 2013 1:57 am

Mission No:16(19.01.2013)
Date:24th August 1940
Airfield:RAF Kenley
A/C: Spitfire 2a; SH-B

64 fielded 7 Spitfires today from Kenley, we split into two groups: myself, Gromic and Yranac as red section; Nitrous, Looky, Tyrone and Binkitone as pink section. We got airborne and vectored toward Gravesend to meet up with 501 at angels 10. We arrived at Gravesend to find the skies strangely empty, looking down toward the sorry excuse for a cesspit beneath, we could see that 501 were just getting airborne, no doubt late out of bed ;) We circled above Gravesend patiently and eventually headed out with the Hurricanes once they were up at around angels 10, climbing east toward Manston.

Arriving over Manston we were ordered to head out in front of 501. We climbed a couple of thousand feet above and encountered 109s coming in from the east. I spotted two 109s and attacked one from his six, getting a good 3 second burst into him, he vented oil and radiator fluids and dropped out of the sky, going in over the sea (claim 109 destroyed). Over RT I could hear that the fight had descended down to low altitude, with members of 64 and others engaged with 109s low over Manston and the bay. I descended and quickly picked up another 109 over the bay at around angels 5 - I dropped onto him and scored a good burst into his fuselage and left wing. Then over R/T I heard someone yell break... I broke but the call was to another pilot, the skies were clear except for my fleeing 109. Spinning back around I could see my 109 diving away in the direction of France and chose not to pursue (claim 109 damaged). Then I spotted a Hurricane in a fight with a 109, the Hurricane was following the 109 and seemed in command and so I perched ontop to watch his six. However, the 109 began twisting, turning and climbing and appeared to pull away and lose the pursuing Hurricane in a scizzor manoeuvre. With the aircraft separating and the advantage slipping from the Hurricane, I dove in and fired at the slow 109 as he attempted to manoeuvre onto the Hurricane. I scored good hits into the 109, rupturing both his radiators. The 109 lurched and dropped back down, and I returned to my perch above, watching the Hurricane re-agress the 109 and sending it into the drink (claim 109 destroyed - partial). With Home Chain reporting enemy aircraft now in the Dover area, I vectored south in the direction of flack. However, on arrival I could not spot any further enemy contacts. The raid seemed to be over and with no enemy contacts being reported over England I began my vector back to base (server mission ended before I could land). Regrettably I did not see any enemy bombers but understand from R/T that they did make a foray in the Manston area.

Claim: 2 109s destroyed (1 full claim, 1 partial - shared with a Hurricane pilot of 501), plus 1 further 109 damaged.
Plane: Spitfire 2a; SH-B: no damage received, unable to land due to server end.
Pilot: OK
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Re: Mission 16: August 24th 1940

Post by Dickie » Mon Jan 21, 2013 1:15 pm

Mission No: 16(19.01.2013)
Date: 24th August 1940
Airfield: RAF Gravesend
A/C: Hurricane MkI (100oct) SD-K L2329

With the tiredness and fatigue taking it's toll I sent the chaps to London for some R&R. Due to a stray Hun bomb the trains weren't running so we had to spend it in the White Hart. F/O Robo had returned from training up a new Czech outfit in the ways of the RAF, like herding cats he described it to me in the pub, but apparently highly experienced and keen to get some Huns in these modern British machines. The lads deserved a good session but things got out of hand as some were are as badly behaved at drinking as they are at staying in formation and it wasn't long before some of the junior pilots had moved from beer to shorts. Come the morning they were feeling the effects and I had to tear a strip off SAC Kupsised and LAC Meaker for turning up on duty with a disgraced uniform, I wasn't pleased a jot and told them to get themselves new shirts immediately. AVM Park was touring again in his personal Hurricane, a fine choice, and I'd heard a rumour he was in Sector D so I wanted us to look on the ball if he showed up unannounced.
Outside dispersal again, hangovers were raging and the chaps were enjoying the rest in the sun, some had set up a wicket and I was asked to bowl for the Officers. Being tired my line was short and newly promoted Sgt Hawes took advantage, hitting my delivery through the covers for four runs. Trouble was it went straight into one of the sheds and tonked one of the Hurricanes in the side window, shattering perspex everywhere. Sgt 'Chiefy' Pilkington was working on the old girl at the time and came out to me in a rage shouting it was bad enough Jerry giving him damaged kites without our own chaps doing it! I had to slip him a small bottle of whiskey to prevent him reporting it all to the AOC, and shorts are not cheap!

Come 11.30 and the dispersal hut telephone rang, we were ordered to our kites and to prepare to scramble. We were held back on the runway though as we were told to wait for those maniacs from No.64 squadron who were supposed to give us cover. I am of the view we don't need it, they are more of a hazard than the Germans, but orders were orders. We must have been parked there for an age and it was bloody hot, we were all joking about how No.64 probably couldn't find there way here and flown off in the wrong direction! Then the break on the R/T "Freema to Mandrel, we're 10 miles west of you, angels 6, ETA 2 minutes". "Copy that Freema, thank you". Funny that they are quick to the pub but not to the front. Off we went and heading east climbing to 17kft past Eastchurch. Control advised Hun were all over the place so we kept a close watch, but some idiots in No.64 decided it was a good time to practice their bounces by using us as targets causing some alarm bells at the tail of my group. "Steady Freema, do tell your chaps to knock it off" I said to F/L Gromic, their commander.

Upon entering North Foreland we spotted a group at 2OC angels 18, I ordered the Spitfires in whilst we stayed on course. F/L Robo had clearly been influenced in the aggression of the Czech chaps and decided to jump ahead with his fellow countryman Sgt Valec - Czech on the R/T and an explosion 3 miles south, then F/L Robo returned to the group. How could I tear him off for getting one for No.501, I decided to let that one go. Then we found Hun, or rather they found us as LAC Meaker got tailed by a 109. He sustained damage and had to jump out but was OK. The fight broke out, I tailed a pair of Me110's 4kft below and dived in with Siddich in tow. Firing a long burst I hit him in the engines and he dived stright down for home, I decided not to follow as too many Huns were around already. I claim this Me110 as damaged. Next I latched onto a yellow nosed bastard in a left hand climb and fired another long burst and he turned tightly to evade, I was faster and the G-force loaded onto my body, I tensed up and put my feet on top of the rudder to hold on further and fire for longer. I witnessed strikes to the fuselage, canopy and engine causing widespread damage. He appeared to stop moving as I gained on him and as I flew past I could see blood on the glass and he was leaning to the side. I had probably given him fatal wounds, he fell away from 18kft and I didn't see him again. I claim this Me109 as probable. I was alone by now, Siddich had found his own Me110 and was teaching him a lesson. Over Deal I headed East and a Me109 flew past me without spotting me so I gave chase. I closed him down and had a perfect deflection, one ring, no, one and a half. I fired from his 4OC and his machine rocked violently as Brownings did their work. Thick black smoke belched from the engine compartment as a fire started, the E/A increasingly nosed forwards into a steep dive, the fire growing steadily. I followed him for 2kft because I needed to be sure, even though I was with this Jerry. I thought I had killed him but thankfully the canopy popped and a body was blasted out in the slipstream then his canopy opened. LAC Darkshadow exclaimed on the R/T what a glorious sight I had made of him, he is my confirmation of this claim. Low on ammunition I headed north in a shallow dive having heard that a few chaps were in a scrape over Manston airfield but I made the error of not checking about myself first, especially having made a such scene with the Me109. Firstly I saw tracers whip past and then some bangs into my airframe and the control column went slack - a sure sign to go over the side but I couldn't roll her over this time. I unplugged the R/T and oxygen cabled, undid my harness, then pulled back the canopy and was sucked out. With Jerries around I decided to drop a few thousand before pulling the cord and I held onto the ring - we pay sixpence for those and the RAF will be sure to send me a bill if I lost mine. I landed lightly on the coast a few miles north of Deal and L2329 landed more heavily directly into the drink. I was swiftly met by a keen Home Guardsman who was firing at me, fortunately badly! I shouted at him - "stop shooting you clot, I'm RAF" at which point he apologised and I got a lift via the Army to RAF Manston where I met up with my old pal Al Deere from No.54 squadron. He'd been in the same scrape and told me how he'd bagged a Hun Dornier but used up one of his nine lives the lucky chap! Then we talked over a pint about the virtues of the Spitfire and Hurricane versus the Me109

Claims
1x Me109 confirmed
1x Me109 Probable
1x Me110 Damaged

Losses
1x Hurricane I

Vranac
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Re: Mission 16: August 24th 1940

Post by Vranac » Mon Jan 21, 2013 9:46 pm

Mission No.16 (19.01.2013)
Date:24th August 1940
Airfield:RAF Kenley
A/C: Spitfire IIa; SH-V

We took off from Kenley and vectored toward Gravesend to meet up with 501.Then we climbed together toward Manston
and then 109s were reported.
I spotted one diving on hurries so I followed him but that one was fast indeed.I pulled the tit and closed radiator a bit
and started gainig on him.
He noticed me but continued his attacks on hurries passing by.Finally I got little closer and gave him a good burst and noticed black smoke from his engine.He tried to dive away but I hit him one more time and then another Spitfire and Hurricane appeared and started shooting
so I left him and climbed again on 14000 ft.
I was looking arround for any contacts but it seemed that battle was over.

Claims: 109 shared
Pilot: ok
Plane: ok
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