Template:
(code here)Mission Date: 24th July 1940
Name:
Rank:
Unit:
Aircraft:
Markings:
Aerodrome: Marquise
Pilot Status: KIA / OK
Aircraft Status: Lost / Damaged
Victory Claims:
Time Place Aircraft Opponent Confirmed - - - - -
http://www.aircombatgroup.co.uk/forum/v ... =66&t=1169
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Mission Date: 24th July 1940
Name: Pitti
Rank: Major
Unit: Stab II./JG26
Aircraft: Bf 109 E-3
Markings: << + -
Aerodrome: Marquise
Pilot Status: OK
Aircraft Status: OK (slightly bent prob on landing due to parts from crashed airplanes lying on the runway)
Victory Claims:
Time | Place | Aircraft | Opponent | Confirmed |
1117 | Over the channel east of Deal | Hurricane | - | Yes (Wiesel) |
- DaHeld 1120 Hurricane
- Warjunkie 1140 Spitfire
It is the 24th July 1940, the sky is covered with clouds and our runway is wet and muddy due to the heavy rain last night. We, the II./JG26, were assigned to escort a group of Do-17 to their target, a ship convoy north of Manston.
At 1100 we took off but due to the muddy surface we had some take off accidents that caused a big delay because there were aircraft parts lying around on the runway. The three Schwärme of the 6. Staffel (me as leader of Schwarm 1, Hauptmann Trautloft as leader of Schwarm 2 and Oberfeldwebel Rook as leader of Schwarm 3) made contact with the bombers just of the coast of Dunkirk at 1113. Staffel 4. and 5. were following slightly behind.
I led the 6. Staffel into position up high over the bombers at about 5km while the bombers where flying at 3,5km. Only 2 minutes later, just over the middle of the channel on our way north to the ships, I spotted a formation of enemy fighters at our altitude directly ahead flying towards us. Hurricanes!
Most of the went down to attack the bombers but about 5 of them flew past us and turned in behind us. They had a slight advantage in energy since we were still in our climb to altitude.
To shook the Hurricanes off from our tails we dived down onto the Hurricanes that were sitting behind the bombers. Unfortunately the 2. and 3. didn't got away fast enough and had to fight the Hurricanes. I with my Schwarm continued our high speed dive onto the enemies below us. I placed myself behind a Hurricane which was just about to open fire on on of the Do-17 on the right side of the first wave of bombers. I opened fire from all my guns and saw pieces falling apart from the Hurricane while I climbed up again. The Hurricane was diving down like a stone, totally ripped up. This was at 1117 and the position was roughly east of Deal. My trusty wingman Unteroffizier Wiesel, who was on my 5 o'clock, witnessed this victory.
After climbing up over the bombers again we tried to get an overview of the situation. The bombers were under attack and there were many small dogfights around it. In the meantime a flight of Spitfires had joined the action as well.
We looked out for our second Rotte which was led by Hauptgefreiter DaHeld. We got separated during our attack on the Hurricanes. We found them back in the moment where DaHeld called out a loud "Horrido" over the radio. I saw him behind a burning Hurricane that dived straight down. This was at 1120.
The whole fighting area was now stretched and the bombers were mostly clear now. They already suffered some losses but where still on course to the target. I stayed above them with my Schwarm. Occasionally we dived down to chase enemy fighters off of the bombers. No final victories were noticed but at least we scared them off and showed our bombers that they can trust us.
After the bombers had dropped their bombs on the ships, they split up their formation in smaller flights and turned home. The sky looked clear of enemy fighters over the Manston bay, only the Flak tried to shoot us down. But due to the sick and low cloud cover it seems that they had problems to locate us and fired just random into the air.
At 1135 I gave orders to everyone to fly back home. In the same moment I received a call from 4./JG26 Staffelkapitän CoolHand that some of his pilots are engaged in a dogfight with Hurricanes above the coast at Deal. I looked around and spotted them far below us. We were flying at about 5km at this time and the dogfight took place at only 1km. I told them that I'm on my way down to help them and that they should hold out. I fired some shoots on one of the Hurricanes, causing it to break away and run home with streaming coolant. The other enemies turned away as well, the threat was gone. We climbed up again and headed home.
Suddenly we spotted a lone Spitfire far out on the sea, sneaking up behind 4 of our bombers. We gave full speed to attack this sucker. I got some good shoots on him. Unteroffizier Wiesel was a bit too fast and couldn't get into shooting postion. The Spitfire went into a steep climb and I turned around to set up another attack on him when I suddenly saw another 109 going into the Attack. It was Unteroffizier Warjunkie of the third Schwarm of the 6. Staffel. He finally finished the Spitfire off, so I grant this victory to him. This happend at 1140 far out on the sea on the high of Hellfire Corner.
At 1149 we landed back at Marquise. Unfortunately there were still some aircraft parts lying around in the mud on the runway which caused a slightly bent prob on my otherwise undamaged machine.