Adlerangriff. Mission 26: 13th August (2)

[Pitti]

Code: Select all

Mission Date: 00-00-0000 0000-0000

Name: 
Rank: 
Unit: 
Aircraft:
Markings: 
Aerodrome: 
Status:
Victory Claims:[table]
[tr][td][b]Time[/b][/td][td][b]Place[/b][/td][td][b]Aircraft[/b][/td][td][b]Opponent[/b][/td][td][b]Confirmed[/b][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]-[/td][td]-[/td][td]-[/td][td]-[/td][td]-[/td][/tr]
[/table]

Mission Date: 13-08-1940 1640-1743

Name: Pitti
Rank: Major
Unit: Stab II./JG26
Aircraft: Bf 109 E-3
Markings: <<+-
Aerodrome: Marquise East
Status: RTB. Single bullet hole in the left side of the fuselage
Victory Claims:

Time	Place	Aircraft	Opponent	Confirmed
1735	Channel - South East Dungeness	Spitfire	No. 64	yes - Trautloft

The Gruppe received the task to escort two Stuka formations. One formation was to bomb Maidestone airfield and the other one Rochester airfield. Since both formation were to take different routes to the targets, I splitted the Gruppe up. 4th Staffel had to fly ahead and clear out the Maidestone Rochster area for the arriving Stukas. 5th Staffel had to escort the first wave of Stukas from Boulougne to Maidestone. And the 6th Staffel had to escort the other Stuka group from Calais to Rochester. I was flying with the 6th Staffel which was led by Stafelkapitän Wiesel.

We took off at 1640, met up in time with the Stukas and crossed the English coast at Dover at 1654. From there on the Stukas flew straight north, then around Eastchuch to attack the target from north to south.
At 1658 we spotted a Squadron of Hurricanes in the area of Manston. We successfully drew them off the Stukas. The Hurricanes didn't seem to be really motivated.
After this short disturbance, everything was quite. The Stukas hit the airfield really hard at 1715 and then flew back south on low altitude. No enemies around.

But when we were almost half across the channel, east of Dungeness, we were suddenly attacked by some Spitfires. On was closing in on my six o'clock from above and hit my 109 on the left side of the fuselage (only one single shot, I noticed after landing). I dived towards the Stukas and pulled up right behind them so that there rear gunners could give the Spitfire a nice welcome. My plan worked out. All rear gunners opened fire which made the Spitfire turn away.
I climbed up to get an overview of the situations. About 4 or 5 Spitfires were around in small dogfights. I turned to help my comrades out. I followed a Spitfire in a climbed. He must have noticed me because suddenly he tried to pull away but stalled right in front of my. I put a god burst from all my weapons directly into the cockpit which was pointing right to me. The Spitfire dropped down into the channel like a stone. The pilot didn't bail out, I think I've killed him. The victory happend at 1735 and was witnessed by Hauptmann Trautloft.

Slowly we managed to get rid of the Spitfires and flew back to our airfield. I landed at 1743.

[Von Archie]

Name: Archie
Rank:
Unit: 4./JG26
Aircraft: BF 109E4
Markings: White 7
Aerodrome: Marquise East
Status: RTB Marquise East

Not much to report, but I did leave my right aileron in Kent.

[Wiesel]

Mission Date: 13-08-1940 1630-1742

Name: Wiesel
Rank: Leutnant
Unit: 6./JG26
Aircraft: Bf-109 E3
Markings: Brown 4
Aerodrome: Marquise East
Status: Pilot ok. A/C damaged. / RTB
Victory Claims:

Time	Place	Aircraft	Opponent	Confirmed
-	-	-	-	-

Good mission. Escorted our Stukas to Rochester airfield where they dropped their payload and left the airfield in a total mess. Before that, we encountered three Hurricanes in the Manston area which were shot down or forced to leave us. We only lost two Stukas before the bombing. On the way back I failed to shoot down a lonely Hurricane which didn't see me and only damaged his wing.
Further south over the channel, the Stukas and we were attacked by Spitfires. In the upcoming dogfight, we damaged a lot of them and my plane got hits also. My water radiator was damaged and I had to climb hard. Shortly before the french coast, the engine died. I had enough hight to glide back to Marquise East. I had a good and safe dead stick landing. My mechanics are working overtime to fill the .303 holes and replace the water radiator.
On the way back to base, I was escorted by DaHeld. He ensured that the f*cking Spitfires didn't shoot at me while I have a dead engine a second time.

[Trautloft]

Mission Date:13-08-1940 1630-1742

Name: Trautloft
Rank: Hauptmann
Unit: 6.JG26
Aircraft: BF-109 E3
Markings: Brown 8
Aerodrome: Marquise East
Pilot Status: OK
Aircraft Status: RTB
Victory Claims:
Time Place Aircraft Opponent Confirmed
- near Manstone, Hurricane, no Confirmed

[Grey]

Name: Grey
Rank: Uf
Unit: 5th
Aircraft: Bf-109E1
Markings: 1
Aerodrome: Marquise
Status: OK
Victory Claims:

Time	Place	Aircraft	Opponent	Confirmed
-	St Mary's Bay	Spitfire	No.64	Artreides- Boyezee

This morning I had a meeting with Albert Kesselring concerning the new painting on our aircraft, I had the idea of painting the wing tips yellow for better recognition, but this was revoked as we had to open our eyes better. So coming back to Audembert air base after the talk, I didn’t feel much like flying . But there was no choice, general oberst Galland told me the German pilot flies until he dies..

In the dispersal the captain ordered me to fly as leader for the 2nd schwarm, That wasn’t a good feeling as I have the live of 3 young men in my hands now. But this is not the time nor the place for sentimental emotions and I had a duty to fore fill. Again we had to do a silly mission escorting the Ju’s over the channel for the 8th time this week. So there we went to our aircraft, the mechanic was already waiting at the wrong crate… Where is my E3 I wondered, when I asked this to him what was going on, he didn’t know. As I need my 20 mil to get a victory I’d considered this as a bad token. Strap me in and next time wear a shirt you farmer I ordered the Saxon bluntly! His eyes were filled with confusion.

The 1st schwarm with the captain were already waiting on the runway when we taxied in, all went smoothly, took off, in formation and so on. Then Stig came over the R/T asking why on earth I was following the captain and his bunch the whole time, I replied that this was a test case, the plan was to stay as a larger group as the Brits had shown me earlier in the war, where I was attacked by so many and so few at the same time and place. The plan was good my schwarm members mumbled. Once over the target area, some guys from the 26th were in a fight with some Hurricanes, I didn’t want to mix in the fight cause I didn’t feel like wasting my ammo on a crate that sooner or later was going drop out of the sky out of itself anyway. The boys handled them well and took ‘em all down. Still no loses on the Ju’s! When I asked my schwarm for a status report there was no answer, could it be 2 of my guys were in that collision I’d witnessed earlier? Then Dub came in and a sigh of relieve followed, he was heading home with some minor technical difficulties.

So I’d reported this to the captain and he’d ordered me to rendezvous over Dungeness to give support to the 6th staffel
This went smoothly, but now my hands started to tremble, I’ve known the captain for a while as he is a Prussian same as I, I couldn’t help thinking I could lose my face here. The captain as his wingmen are the aces of the war, how was I going to keep up with these virtuosi? We’d hooked up with the bombers again, in a fraction of an Eye we saw Spitfires going in for the bombers, the captain didn’t hesitate, get them away from those bomber he yelled over the R/T, his wingman Boyezee filled the Brit with Krupps-metal, but he couldn’t keep up with his turn and the captain took over, more hits!! As the captain couldn’t keep up with his turn neither, it was my time to finish him off, just as he was doing some evasive maneuvers over the waves I’d send him to kingdom come. As I flew over the ditching Spitfire I’d recognized the pilot as a guy I’ve been chasing for a long time that goes by the name of Nitrous, I could see the fear in his face passing by, so it was him!

So it was regrouping time again with the Ju’s as we came closer I’d spotted another Spitfire. Boy they have an nest out here I said over the R/T, hope this goes well.. Shut up and do your duties as a Prussian Soldier like your father did at the battle of the Somme, the captain replied, Jawoll Herr captain was my last stupid remark off the day. Then the captain came back over the R/T;’' I’ve got some bad news for you Grey!; Boyezee and me are out of ammo, Boyezee is RTB and so you’re on your own now, but I’ll keep him busy so you can regain energy as I go into a turn with him.'' This plan worked, A dance with 3 fighters commenced. The captain stayed on his tail, so I had the chance of getting my energy the whole time and fill the Brit with Krupps-metal. But it was here where I missed those 20 mils, and the end of the battle the Tommie’s wings were like French cheese, In the final run I’d spotted blood splatters all over his canopy, this crate had markings with SH-M or W, so I asked the captain to disengage. No I’m ordering you!!! We’re getting away to far behind from the Ju’s with your sorry ass skills, you better have some more ammo left, or it won’t be your best day ever he replied… yes sir, Bingo, Winchester RTB. On our approach we did a victory roll over the runway, Boyezee was still there along with many other pilots. I’d shared my rations with my mechanic as it is the custom. A victory drink was in order, just a short one cause only an hour later we were already in the dispersal for the next mission.

[Villiers]

13-08-1940 1630-1742

Name: Villiers
Rank: Gefreiter
Unit: 4./JG26
Aircraft: Bf-109 E-4
Markings: White 5
Aerodrome: Marquise East
Status: Pilot killed and aircraft at the bottom of the channel.
Victory Claims: none

Took off, about 3 minutes in (launcher crash) FUUUUUUUUU. Uninstalled the windows update joined back in got to about halfway to Maidstone and dived on a hurricane no hits headed back to the English coast and started going back towards France heard the stukas were being engaged and dove down only to dive onto a spitfire and try and pull out the way but it was too late..

[DaHeld]

Mission Date: 13-08-1940 1640-1750

Name: DaHeld
Rank: Uffz.
Unit: 6./JG 26
Aircraft: Bf 109E-3
Markings: Brown 12 + -
Aerodrome: Marquise East
Status: RTB. Three holes in the fuselage
Victory Claims: Nil

Todays mission was rather uneventful for the 1st Schwarm. We escorted the bombers and encountered some Hurricanes of 501 Squadron west of Sandwich. They attacked the Bombers, but we drove them off. Only two Stukas of the Group we protected were shot down. We did not meet any more E/A. The Bombers hit their target unmolested and went back to France in a straight line.

Mid-channel We were bounced by a gaggle of spitfires. One got on my tail and hit me before I dove away, but the guy hit only sheeting. I lost sight of him immediately and climbed to altitude. Then I continued my journey home and landed safely (after a go-around...)

[Atreides]

Mission Date: 13th august 1940 1630-1750

Name: Atreides
Rank: Oberleutnant
Unit: 5./JG26
Aircraft: Bf109 E1
Markings: Black 3
Aerodrome: Hydrequent (Marquise East)
Status: RTB.

Victory Claims:

Time	Place	Aircraft	Opponent	Confirmed
1715	Near Maidstone	Hurricane	KW-A	Yes. Joined kill with Boyezee and Esri (Mid air collision with Hurricane)
1733	Over St. Mary's Bay	Spitfire	SH-S	Yes. Joined kill with Boyezee, Grey and a 4th 109 (probably Wolf). Spitfire forced to splash
1740	Over St. Mary's Bay	Spitfire	SH-M (probably)	Heavily damaged him together with Grey

<- No joint kills in the LW. Discuss who gets the victory and put it accordingly into the report. Only one person claims the victory in the table. The otheres write it in the synopsis if they want to. No probables either in the LW, you claim the victory or you don't. Nothing in between.

I don't know who put this comment here in red but this shared claiming didn't seem to be a problem previously. Sometimes it's hard to say who did the essential damage and downing those 2 planes was a team effort, which I thought I had put accurately and honestly in the table. When Caesar was killed they also couldn't point to 1 single person as the perpetrator.
However we had a good time that misison with great teamwork and dogfights. That's what really matters so I have no problem giving all the credit to the others to get this out of the way - Atreides.

See here: http://www.aircombatgroup.co.uk/forum/v ... =66&t=1192
It's in rule 3 and repeated it in the LW forums, and repeated on TS.....but people still do it I don't know why
Osprey

After a very quick and successful takeoff the 5th Staffel joined with the Stuka's near Boulogne and headed towards Britain. The target for this evening was Maidstone. The British had gotten a pounding today and we were doubtful they could manage to get up in force again. Adlertag was going as planned.

As we saw the evening sun over England we took some time to enjoy the sight of the actual quite nice English countryside. In the meantime we of course kept our focus on the Stuka's and got to Maidstone without opposition. The 6th Staffel reported engaging Hurricanes over Canterbury but after the Stuka's had heavily damaged Maidstone we also got into a dogfight with Hurricanes. Apparently the RAF wasn't beaten yet.

The 1st Schwarm, as usual Esri, Boyezee and me, all got hits on a Hurricane (KW-A) and managed to outmaneuver it. Esri and I in the end got him in a crossfire. Sadly Esri got target fixated and he midair-collided with him. A shame, especially since the Hurricane was as good as dead anyhow.

Most of the Stuka's meanwhile managed to get away while we kept the Hurricane's busy. Once all 3 Schwarms of the 5th had finished their engagements we headed back to the southern coast and reformed over Lymphne to provide cover to other planes if needed. Here the last undamaged 109 of the 2nd Schwarm, Grey, joined Boyezee and me in the 1st Schwarm. Once the final wave of Stuka's crossed over the coast towards France we also left England.

Suddenly over St. Mary's bay the Stuka's were attacked by a Spitfire (SH-S). Grey, Boyezee, another unknown 109 and I got a lot of hits on him and managed to force him to ditch his plane. Immediately afterwards we noticed another Spitfire (SH-M) behind the Stuka's. At the same time the 3rd Schwarm reported being in a dogfight with even more Spitfire's. Suddenly we had the chance to do great damage to the RAF closer to our own turf. A great strategic mistake by them. Had they thought about it they must've realized that their reserves can't stand big losses, and a Spitfire lost in a dogfight over the Channel can't be recovered like over land.

Boyezee had gotten damaged and had to RTB. Grey and I heavily damaged the Spitfire. For the first time this campaign I actually ran out of ammo in an E1. Still being over St. Mary's bay, Grey and I decided to leave the Spitfire to avoid being caught isolated by his squadron-mates.

We headed home and managed to safely land at Hydrequent were Boyezee was already waiting with some beers. The Stuka's mostly got through unscathed after heavily damaging their targets and we managed to inflict heavy losses on the RAF at the cost of relatively few of ours. Adlertag has been a great success. Maybe those ships in our harbors can soon be used to invade the British isles successfully which would be for the first time since the battle of Hastings 1066 and the Glorious Revolution in 1688.

[Bubi]

Mission Date: 13-08-1940 1640-1743

Name: Bubi
Rank: \\\///
Unit: II./5 JG26
Aircraft: Bf 109 E-1
Markings: <o+- (Black 10)
Aerodrome: Hydrequent (Marquise East)
Status: RTB - technical (computer froze)

Victory Claims:

Time	Place	Aircraft	Opponent	Confirmed
17:40ish	Mid Channel over Stukas	Spitfire	No.64	Artreides - Krass

AAR Pictorial Narrative:
3rd Scharm starting and taxi behind 1st and 2nd


Lined up ready for Staffel takeoff


Escorting our charges, JU-87 Stuka formation


More zig-zagging and 1st Schwarm in view over head


Checking on my schwarm Lee, Krass, StaryMurk


More escort zigging


My Schwarm calls out INDIANS! and the chase is on


Stukas begin their dives over RAF base (small dots in my right window)


Looking over the wing for some A2G battle assessment


I managed to damage but not confirm kill this Hurri


Our 3rd schwarm finds the returning Stukas to find the other schwarms already engaged with Spits


A higher up Spit critically wounds a 109 as Im clearing Krass and Lees tails


Chasing a spit and a wingman overshooting his cover, but I managed not to shoot or hit him and continued to press the Spit


After several hi G turns and twists, I manage to damage and then force this chap for a swim


All in all, it was a good Sortie and mission. Our 3rd Schwarm in the 5th managed to get all hands home. Stary had to RTB and land with damaged control surfaces, Lee landed and bent a few things, Krass landed OK and I got a kill but had a technical RTB due to a Launcher freeze. Overall, the LW got most of the Stukas home and only a few casualties. Havent flown the Me109E1 in a while, and was plesantly pleased that when properly flown, could turn with the Hurris and Spits for a few turns. Still, getting down on the deck is the Spit/Hurries sand box and must be respected. I was content with my first command of the 3rd Schwarm in FlyBys absence whilst he was on the Love Boat off the Amerikas.

[Lee]

Mission Date: 13-08-1940 1640-1743

Name: Lee
Rank: Hauptgefreiter
Unit: 5./JG26
Aircraft: BF-109 E1
Markings: Black -+4
Aerodrome: Marquise East
Status: RTB , Pilot OK Aircraft needs new horizontal stabilizer and new propeller blades
Victory Claims:

Time	Place	Aircraft	Opponent	Confirmed
-	-	-	-	-

Nothing to report , We got jumped , I got separated , spent the remainder of the mission doing 2 things :
1) Trying to survive
2) Trying to re form with Schwarm
Moderately successful at both .
All in all , I was as effective to the Schwarm as a paper clip this mission .
Got my horizontal stabilizer ripped to shreds , which effected my landing (hence propeller blades need replacement )