Adlerangriff. Mission 25: 13th August (1. Portsmouth 1430)

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Tyrone
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader
Posts: 369
Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 7:29 pm
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Re: Adlerangriff. Mission 25: 13th August (1. Portsmouth 143

Post by Tyrone » Sat Oct 04, 2014 3:24 pm

Squadron: No. 64 Squadron
Squadron Code: SH
Pilot Name: Tyrone
Type: Spitfire Ia 100 octane
Marking: T
Date: 13 Aug 1940 1430, Portsmouth
Base: Tangmere


Claims:
Confirmed: 0
Probable: 0
Damaged: o

Losses:
AC: landed battle damage
Pilot: ok

Midge
Posts: 421
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2014 9:25 pm
Location: Leeds- West Yorkshire-Great Britain

Re: Adlerangriff. Mission 25: 13th August (1. Portsmouth 143

Post by Midge » Sat Oct 04, 2014 7:19 pm

Squadron: No.615 "County of Surrey" Squadron
Squadron Code: KW
Pilot Name: Midge
Date: 13 August 1940
Time: 1400hrs
Base: Tangmere
Type: Hawker Hurricane [100oct]
Marking: C for Charlie
Serial Number: P2564

Another away day fixture today,Tangmere.It seems that the chaps down there were getting a bit of a pounding and the whole of good old Kenley wing were sent down to give some relief.
Today i was assigned to blue Flight as blue 3.C for"Mary" Charlie's flight controls had played up on the flight down ,but the borrowed fitters at Tangmere had assured me that that they had fixed the problem,and i spent the time while on standby trying to procure booze by way of contacts the Station had with the nearby Naval bases.
No.615 got the engine start order,and we pulled onto the runway pretty smartish.i did a final flight control check only to find the bloody rudder was sticking, after a quick word "Panta" leader i was told pulled off the runway and shut down the Merlin, in a very foul mood i started to walk back to dispersal looking for the fitters with murder in mind.What saved them from death,and me from the noose was the station adj running up to me offering one of Tangmeres few operational fully fueled/armed Hurricanes that he had ordered warmed up just in case.The poor chap had seen his squadrons decimated over the preceeding few days and wanted to make sure the Hun got fully repaid.
By the time i had found the spare aircraft and jumped in,the rest of "Panta" had took off,beat up the station and had disappeared into the blue.I got the order from the boss to roll straight onto the runway and take off.
Once up and the Hurricane fully trimed i set about trying to find "Panta",control gave me a course that would bring me just to east of the Isle of White, pushing the Hurricane for all it's worth i headed in the general direction.

Following the given heading i flew through a totally empty sky no enemy bombers,no snappers and most important no "panta",where were they?At last 10 mins along the track looking up i saw them around 2 miles ahead and 5/6000ft above me,informing the Squadron leader of my position i tried to catch up.
2 mins later "panta" were calling in contact reports,Ju88's with covering snappers,though i could spot damn all.Looking ahead i saw them,what seemed like the whole of the Hun airforce was bearing down on me,"where the bloody hell do i start with this lot" i thought.Picking a formation of Ju88's i flew head on spraying and praying through the centre of the whole lot getting hits on one,pulling up and right i set myself up for a attack from the rear,nearly within shooting range a stream of the nasty stuff shot past my right wing--dammnit a snapper.Pulling a hard right turn i looked back nothing couldn't see a thing Maintaining the turn and a shallow dive i kept eyes on my six,suddenly there it was a 109 he got a couple of hits on me i turned harder and he shot past me before going high. Chummy or chummies friend knew what they were doing,i dived and turned hopeing to drag the snappers low,the 109 made another attack but could not keep up with the turn and missed.Looking up i saw him climbing and heading for the Isle of White,i decided to follow but he had a height and energy advantage and soon disappeared.
Hearing over the RT of contacts near Southampton i headed there,i spotted a contact at around 5000ft --a Ju88,catching up i gave him a 3second burst into his left wing he flamed and went straight into the ground,i later learned that it had already been damaged by johnny.checking my fuel i found i was pretty low from all the hard pounding,and i decided to head home to Tangmere.Just east of the Isle of White a Hun bomber Shot past me left to right,another 3/4sec burst later he dived into the sea--scratch on more Ju88,again i found out that this Ju88 had already been damaged--this time by Biggles.
I made it to Tangmere with a couple of gallons to spare--to be greeted by a case of scotch--the day was getting better!

Claims:

Destroyed: --2 JU88's--mostly by Johnny and Biggles
Probs: non
Damaged: non

losses:

Aircraft: light moth damage
Pilot: fine[and getting finer on the scotch]
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Bonkin
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Re: Adlerangriff. Mission 25: 13th August (1. Portsmouth 143

Post by Bonkin » Sun Oct 05, 2014 12:08 pm

Squadron: No.501 "County of Gloucester" Squadron
Squadron code: "SD"
Pilot name: Flying Officer Bonkin
Date: 13th August 1940
Base: RAF Tangmere
Type: Hawker Hurricane Ia
Marking: "Z for Zebra"
Serial number: P3803

Synopsis
Scrambled to intercept multiple raiders. Damage a couple of Ju88’s and collided with a third. Parachuted to safety, landing without injury in the beer garden of the “Nags Head”. Don’t remember much after that.

Engine Start 1516
Brakes Off 1520
Brakes On ----
Engine Shutdown ----

Full Report
“I’ll hear no more of it Flying Officer” ranted the boss. “There’s a war on don’t you know?! We can’t have the core of 501 being posted off to some namby pamby squadron because some nincompoop in the Air Ministry has decreed that 111 Squadron needs replenishing with experienced pilots. Now get out of my office – how in the hell could you even possibly consider a request for posting?”

All the time he was talking he was looking at my faithful hound and not at me. I looked down at Nigsy. Nigsy looked at me. He was panting happily at my side and wagging his tail.

“Nil Time Flying Officer, Nil Time! Now off with you – we’ve just been called to readiness!”

As I hurried off to my waiting machine I couldn’t help but feel that this was more about Nigsy than it was me. Nigsy had become the unofficial mascot of 501 Squadron. He had been with me since our time in France after Teepee had lent me the money to get him – and like a true Hurricane pilot he had a certain distain for Spitfires.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to be posted anyway. It was just that 111 Squadron needed experienced pilots and here was the opportunity to perhaps get some more action and medals. I wasn’t too bothered but clearly the mere mention of the possibility was getting the boss overheated.

I patted Nigsy on the head, climbed into my trusty Hurricane and strapped in, waiting on the call to scramble. It wasn’t long before we were climbing into the blue at amazing speed and on a mission to dish out a pants down thrashing to the Hun.

My fearless numbers 2 and 3 were filled as usual by F/O Bunny and P/O Bully – demonstrating their exceptional flying skills by keeping excellent positions. As we approached the Southern tip of the Isle of Wight, the R/T exploded into sights of “Tally Ho” as we spotted a mass of Bosh machines heading our way.

I led Green Flight out to the starboard side and ordered full power and we blasted through the enemy machines with our incredible 303 browning’s blasting death and destruction to the hapless bombers and their crews.

Within moments I had one streaming and as I pulled up for a second attack I heard my No.3 announce that he collided and was having to bail. Clearly he had misjudged his convergence with the amazing speed of the Hurricane.

I pulled onto the tail of a 2nd Ju88 and gave it a blast of De-Wilde which set him streaming a mixture of coolant and oil, and as I pulled up over the top I could see 109’s diving on a fellow Hurricane which was about to give a Bosh bomber a belly full of lead. I called out a warning and then shouted at him to break but the Hurricane pilot was fearless in pressing home his attack.

I now dived at amazing speed for a third pass, determined to blow another enemy bomber out of the sky. As my guns raked the wings left to right and back again I pulled off too late from my attack and took the tail of the bomber clean off with my starboard wing. Blast I thought. The dirty rotter slowed down to make that happen!

I dropped out of the battle and realised that my incredible machine was not going to handle very well at slow speed. So with some sadness I pointed it towards the sea, radioed that I was bailing out and jumped.

As I floated down it became clear that fortune was on my side, for I landed in the beer garden of a certain “Nags Head”, where the patrons, who had been watching the whole thing from the ground, were only too happy to ply me with as many jugs of “Badgers Bollocks” as I could handle. And so it was that after several rounds and much frivolity with the buxom barmaids, that I decided to set fire to the piano. I think it was at this point that things turned a bit nasty because my last memory was of being carried out by the MPs who had courteously turned up to give me a lift back to base.

Claims
Destroyed: 1 x Ju88 (by collision)
Probable: 0
Damaged: 2 x Ju88s

Losses
Pilot: Hospitalised on Badgers Bollocks
A/C: Lost.
Last edited by Bonkin on Sun Oct 05, 2014 2:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Sabre
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Re: Adlerangriff. Mission 25: 13th August (1. Portsmouth 143

Post by Sabre » Sun Oct 05, 2014 1:04 pm

Squadron: No. 501 Squadron
Squadron Code: SD
Pilot Name: Sabre
Type: Hawker Hurricane Ia 100oct
Marking: S for Sugar
Date: 13 Aug 1940 1430, Portsmouth
Base: Tangmere
Serial: P3397

Synopsis:

Well here we are at readiness again, time seems to pass so slowly, a bit like waiting for a kettle to boil it always seems to take an absolute age. There's been the usual petty squabbling and mumbling about why some of the boys just can't quite get to grips with the cricket. Even had Flying Officer Teepee getting very exacerbated with my Flight Lead Pilot Officer Robo because he couldn't get to grips with the old LBW rule. To be honest I feign a bit of interest in the game as it seems all these southern boys seem to go on about; personally I like the feel of sticking my right boot through the old leather casey, us northerners don't mind getting dirty, none of this prancing around in white flannels. Can't imagine what the boys back home from the Whippet Racing would make of it all. After what seemed an eternity the RT banter just started to fade away as the nerves kicked in and then the call came, we were off and I was praying I'd live to see this green and pleasant field once more, I find it doesn't get easier despite the bravado on comms.

I'm flying as Gold 2 with PO Robo as Gold 1 and LAC Schmuck as Gold 3. The CO had us head down to the Isle of Wight area at about Angels 17 where Gold Leader spots a bunch of Hun Ju-88's at our 2 o'clock. Gold Leader calls for the section to "keep it tight" as the CO orders a head on attack. I powered up but the old girl spluttered a bit and I lost a little ground on Gold 1 and 2, so much for keeping it type (I'm certain that'll get mentioned in the bar). We headed in and I saw Gold 1 get good hits on one of the bombers setting him on fire. I couldn't get properly lined up for the head on so I climbed slightly to turn onto their six, I didn't see any 109's but Schmuk called that he'd been hit and he's was having to bail out.

Turning onto the six of the Ju-88's I hit the port side engine of one immediately setting him on fire and he dropped from the formation. I quickly adjusted and had a second bomber perfectly lined up, this time a short burst into the starboard engine sent another Ju-88 flaming to the ground. The bomber formation was decimated as 501 went about its work. The CO called for us to regroup and I was pleased that so many of us had survived. Another bomber formation was spotted heading south and we were off once more though this time enemy snappers were above us. I made my first pass and again set one on fire, he dropped away and it looked like he crashed into the sea. I climbed and turned for another pass, I was low on ammunition now and Gold Leader was calling for the remainder of 501 to call it a day and head home. However today was going to be my day, the nerves as they always do had gone completely and I was determined not to return with ammunition on the belts. As I was reducing altitude I noticed a straggling Ju-88 and dropped in behind him to let loose the remaining De Wilde. I managed a few hits causing light smoke from his port side engine before I was Winchester.

I turned and headed for home back at Tangmere sticking the old girl down just a couple of minutes before Gold 1. Delighted with the days work and even more delighted at how many of our boys made it back. The smile quickly wiped away as I jumped from the cockpit to greet PO Robo only to find the poor Schmuk hadn't made it. The nerves started their awful churning in my stomach once more.

Claims:
Destroyed: 3 x Ju-88
Probable:
Damaged: 1 x Ju-88

Losses:
Pilot: OK
Plane: OK
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Hollywood
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Location: Amsterdam

Re: Adlerangriff. Mission 25: 13th August (1. Portsmouth 143

Post by Hollywood » Sun Oct 05, 2014 7:02 pm

Squadron: No. 615
Squadron Code: KW
Pilot Name: Hollywood
Date: 13 Aug 1940 1430, Portsmouth
Base: Tangmere
Type: Hawker Hurricane Ia 100 Oct
Marking: F


claims: 1x Ju 88s damaged
pilot: ok
aircraft: ok
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Vranac
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Re: Adlerangriff. Mission 25: 13th August (1. Portsmouth 143

Post by Vranac » Sun Oct 05, 2014 7:22 pm

Squadron: No. 64
Squadron Code: SH
Pilot Name: Vranac
Date:Aug 13th 1940
Base: Tangmere
Type: Spitfire Ia
Marking: V

Covering our Hurricanes attacking bombers over The Isle of Wight. Picked up 109 which dived and climbed again with Redeye.We couldn't catch him, but he was turning back when we turned so we got to be careful. On a way back spotted one streaming 109 and gave him a short burst to warn him to land. He continued and Redeye finished him.
We spotted one group of bombers East of The Isle of Wight with four fighters above them. The closest one was 109 and I attacked him and gave him a good burst. He started pouring glycol. The second one tried to attack Redeye and I jumped on his six. Damaged his radiators also.
The first streaming one attacked me and got some hits into my wing and another was above us.
We carefully disengaged and landed in pair at Tangmere.


Claims:
Destroyed: none
Probable: 2 x Me 109
Damaged: 1 x Me 109

Losses:
Pilot: OK
Plane: some damage
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