1917 Eagles Fall (28 page)

The night before I had decided on a new plan of attack. C Flight would lead with me in the middle, Freddie to port and Johnny to starboard. Alldardyce would tuck in behind me. We would fly above and in front of the other three flights. Ted would fly in the middle with Gordy to his right and Harry to his left. They would fly the same formation as my flight.  I had reasoned that it gave us the maximum firepower in the middle while giving flexibility and a reserve.  The rear aeroplane in each formation could deal with any attacks from the rear.

As we approached the front I saw the explosions from small arms and grenades as the Tommies and the Aussies tried to establish some sort of control. It had been a brutal six weeks but, mercifully, it had not cost as many casualties nor had it dragged on as long.

I was not expecting too many German aeroplanes; they had been in constant action over the past weeks.  I knew from my conversations with Josef that they suffered wear and tear just as much as we did. I was, therefore, surprised when I saw a formation of eight bombers being escorted by ten fighters. It looked as though they were heading for our guns.

We were at the same altitude and so I began to climb. I only needed to take us a thousand feet or so higher and that would give us a greater attack speed. I looked in my mirror and saw that Alldardyce was struggling.  The powerful Camels ate up the sky. I levelled out as the Germans saw us. Our smaller profile made us harder to see.  Richthofen had told me that. It gave us a few seconds advantage. It was the main reason I had chosen to fly ahead of the main formation.

The fighters climbed towards us. Again, our talk had enabled us to come up with a strategy for this situation. Harry would lead his flight down to engage with the bombers.  He would be outnumbered but he would have a superior bus.  We would, hopefully, outnumber the Germans.

I still could see their colours for they were head on but I could see that they were the Albatros D.III.  I hoped they would only see a flight of Pups.  They were in for a shock when the twin Vickers opened up on them. We were closing rapidly as we dived to meet them. The combined speed was approaching two hundred and forty miles an hour- a frightening speed which needed the quickest of reactions. I took in the fact that they did not appear to be the Flying Circus and then put the Red Baron from my mind.  I aimed the Camel at the leading Albatros. I saw a pennant fluttering from the rudder.  That was new but I suspected it meant a Staffelführer.

At two hundred yards I gave a short burst. I was slightly off but the beauty of the two Vickers meant that my bullets still hit him.  My smaller size and my speed meant that his bullets zipped harmlessly above the top wing.  That sometimes happened when you were firing at an enemy above you. The sound of the six Vickers as they ripped the air before us was breathtaking.  The German pilots were not expecting the torrent of bullets. As we approached them they tried to climb above us. I pulled hard on the stick.  Behind me I heard the Vickers of Alldardyce and Speight’s Lewis as the German I had hit was ripped apart by their bullets.

As I came around I saw the first Albatros tumbling to earth. I found myself on the tail of a surprised Albatros.  I fired again and my bullets stitched a wicked trail from the rudder along the fuselage.  The double line of bullets made a sizeable hole in the Albatros.  I took my fingers from the triggers and began to bank to starboard. I had hurt the German and he would have to run for home soon. He had no support.  Sure enough he, too, turned to starboard. The fact that I had kept up with him must have shocked him but when I opened fire as he crossed before me his shock ended. His body juddered as the .303 smashed into him and ended his young life.

I reversed my turn to see if there were any more Albatros fighters around.  I did not need to follow him down.  He was dead. As I completed my turn I saw that C Flight was alone in the sky.  Below us the Bristols were still engaged with the rest of the Jasta and the bombers. I began to descend to join them.  I knew that the rest of my flight would take station on me.

As we drew closer I saw that the Germans, who had survived, were heading east.  This time they would not outrun us.  We had more power and more speed. I banked to port and followed the Jasta. I was gaining on the rearmost fighter which twisted and turned to avoid me.  I fired very short bursts.  I was hitting him but not doing as much damage as I would have liked.  I decided to try a trick.  I dropped my nose so that he could no longer see me. I came up from beneath him.  Although my manoeuvre had allowed him to increase his lead I was still just two hundred yards behind him and he was no longer jinking. I waited until his aeroplane formed a cross in my sights and I fired a long burst.  The bullets tore into him and he began to descend, it was gentle at first but as his dead hands lost control it became a steep dive and it crashed into the ground.

Ahead I saw the airfield from which I had escaped. As the Germans were landing I flew along its length machine gunning the aeroplanes which were taxiing. I had no idea what damage I caused but then I ran out of ammunition and I banked and headed west. I saw that I was alone. I had outrun my flight. This time my journey back took just twenty minutes such was the difference in the Aviatik and the Camel.

My euphoria at the success of the mission was tempered when I saw the white coats around two of the Bristols.  We had taken casualties. I also saw Senior Flight Sergeant Lowery and his mechanics with a Bristol whose engine still smoked. We might have bested the fighters but they had left their mark.

Freddie and Johnny walked over to me when I climbed from the cockpit. “A wonderful aeroplane sir.  Very responsive.”

“It certainly is Freddie.  I think it helps that we flew the Pup first. Apparently some pilots flying the Sopwith Camel have crashed during training.  It is why they have delayed their use. I don’t think it is as easy to fly as the Bristol.”

“You have flown both sir, which one is the better?”

“No argument there, the Camel.”

Cecil Alldardyce and David Speight walked over to us having checked over their bus. “Any problems Lieutenant?”

“The Albatros we downed caught the propeller with some of those 9 mm.  We will need to get it replaced.” That was not a problem, we had two spares from the Pups. He coughed, “Er sir, do you want to claim half of the Albatros?  I mean it was badly shot up when Speight and I downed it.”

“Of course not.  That was a damned fine kill.” I saw the relief on both of their faces. “We all had one; well done chaps.”

“Er didn’t you down the one you chased over their lines sir?” Freddie had a cheeky look on his face.

“Oh yes.  I forgot about that one.”

We joined Gordy and Ted who were smoking on their way to the office. “Harry did well.  They downed three of the bombers.”

“Yes I think the Germans had a bloody nose there.”

Randolph and Archie were delighted with the result; just a couple of damaged Bristols and a couple of flesh wounds.  Not a bad return. Well done chaps.”

Bates was also pleased that I had returned unscathed and he had my two uniforms with the crowns sewn on. “I posted your letter to Miss Porter, too sir.” He hummed as he tidied my room. “The war is going a little better now eh sir? The young officers are full of high jinks.  It is good to see.”

It was good to see and the mess was, once again, a jolly place. I was the one who celebrated the least.  I knew that we had shot down many of the men who I had dined with and who had been so courteous to me. I felt guilty.  My crash landing behind the lines had changed my perspective on the war. I would still shoot down the enemy but I had seen their faces and that made a difference.

Even as we were celebrating the war was changing.  The French Army mutinied.  We had been on the brink of a breakthrough but the poor conditions endured by the French had led them to mutiny. And the French stopped fighting. In Russia an activist called Lenin had begun to stir up the Russian soldiers and the pressure in the east lessened.  Just when we might have gained the upper hand in the skies we found German reinforcements who were moved from the eastern front. The only resistance would be from the British and Commonwealth troops until the Americans made their way across the Atlantic and the French quelled their mutiny.

Luckily it took a few days for the news and the reinforcements to have an effect and we had a week of easy patrols across a front where the dying had ended, albeit temporarily. It enabled us to get the squadron up to strength with three more replacements and all of the Bristols repaired.

At the start of June I heard news of Bert.  It was not confirmed news but when a huge hill was detonated at Messines and ten thousand Germans killed after a year long excavation beneath the German lines, I knew that our Bert had to have been involved. My brother was still serving his country and I felt badly about his lack of recognition.  There was nothing glamorous about digging tunnels but he and his comrades had killed ten thousand men without loss.  That, to me, was worthy of note.

We found that the Germans had been reinforced at the end of the first week in June. We were patrolling close to Cambrai.  We had been given that sector as soon as the Arras Offensive had ended. Our new formation worked and we flew the same route; a north to south and east to west box. We now flew staggered formations which looked like a ladder.  C Flight was the top rung and A Flight the bottom. It worked because Harry’s gunners prevented us being surprised from beneath and our three faster aeroplanes would see an enemy first and be able to react aggressively and effectively.

We had just turned east to begin another leg of the patrol when I saw the ominous black crosses on the horizon. This time, however there were twenty four of them. We had met the first of the Jagdgeschwader which were the brainchild of Manfred Von Richthofen.  Four Jasta were put together to rid the skies of the RFC and we were the first target.

I immediately turned south east and began to climb. It gave us an advantage and it allowed me to see the formation the Germans were using. It appeared to be a variation on ours except that they had five in each formation. It meant they had symmetry in their attack. I would use that to our advantage.  If we kept our formation then I could take us between two of their flights.  The Bristols below had the ability to fight off an attack from the side; the Germans did not.

I looked for the red Albatros of Richthofen himself but I did not see it. I knew that he would not allow another to lead an attack. That gave me some hope that we might hold our own. This might not be Jasta 11 I knew that I could have led the squadron back home but the Australians and Canadians below us were watching.  How would it look to them if we fled without firing a shot?  They had marched through mud and wire not to mention bullets to reach their enemies.  The least that we could do was the same.

I cocked the Vickers and dipped the nose. I lined my bus up on the Albatros at the end of one of the flights. I had to run the gauntlet of the other members of the flight but they only had the briefest sight of me as I twisted and turned towards the line of German fighters and I bore a charmed life.  Their twin columns of death missed me. I opened fire at the same time as Freddie and Johnny. My target turned slightly to starboard to protect his wingman.  My bullets hit his struts and his wing.  His starboard wing dipped allowing Johnny to strike the underside of his engine.  It began to smoke. I banked to port. The turning circle of the Camel was as good as that of the Pup and I saw an Albatros on my left.  He was desperately trying to turn too but my guns were slowly coming around onto his tail. Speight gave him a burst with his Lewis from behind and I heard the bullets clank off the radiator. It also made him flick to starboard and that brought him into my sights.  I fired a burst and was rewarded by the sight of a shredded rudder.

He was a good pilot and he didn’t panic. Turns would be slower and so he tried a loop.  I pulled back on the stick to mirror him.  I had the advantage that I could turn easily at the top of the loop.  He would be able to turn too but it would be slower. What I had to do was to guess correctly. The problem was that there were many aeroplanes in a small part of the sky.  I dreaded to think of the problems that Ted and the Bristols would be having.

Rather than looping, my German opponent kept climbing. He was in for a shock if he thought that he could out climb a Camel. I realised that we were well above sixteen thousand feet when he decided to descend.  I was in a perfect position. I guessed he would head east.  It was a familiar German tactic. I also began to turn so that he came into my sights.  I had kept pace with him all the way up and he was not far ahead of me. As he turned I gave him a short burst to test the guns at such an altitude.  They were unaffected and my bullets hit his fuselage. He tried to twist away from me as we descended but his damaged rudder gave me an advantage. I kept turning with him and firing as he came into my sights. His Albatros was a tough aeroplane to destroy.  What came to my aid was the extra weight of my machine. The Camel is heavier than the Albatros and I began to gain on him as gravity came to my assistance. As I slid to port I fired at no more than fifty yards and the .303 rounds sliced though his fuselage and cut off his tail.  He began to spiral out of control as he plunged to earth.

I saved my bullets and circled around the doomed aeroplane.  I saw the pilot struggling with something.  He pulled out a bag and slipped two straps over his shoulders. He jumped from the doomed aeroplane! I wondered why he had chosen to die this way when I saw that it was something I had heard about, a parachute. As it billowed open I saw that it was like a giant umbrella and the pilot slowed as the canvas caught in the air. The pilot waved to me and I suddenly recognised him, it was Josef! I waved back and then pushed the stick forward to rejoin the war.

I could see dogfights below me but there were fewer aeroplanes. I had no idea how much ammunition I had left and so I conserved the little I had.  I saw two Albatros on Gordy’s tail.  He was twisting and turning but the Albatros was a lighter, nimbler aeroplane.  His gunner was doing a sterling job and keeping them at bay but I saw that one of them was trying to get beneath him.

I was descending like a stone and I pulled back on the stick to bring me closer to the lower Albatros. I saw the effect of his bullets as they thudded into the belly of the Bristol.  I opened fire at a hundred yards and then brought my nose up slightly.  I fired again.  My first bullets hit his tail, doing little damage but my second burst struck the fuselage and must have severed a control for it began to sideslip. I pulled up the nose again and fired my last ammunition into the belly of the Albatros. With fire from two directions the pilot banked and headed east.  Had I had more ammunition I could have finished both of them but as it was I had to join the rest of the squadron and head west. We had met the new formations and survived.  I did not know how many of us had done so but I counted at least eight aeroplanes heading west.

As we flew west I saw some of the downed aeroplanes. Lieutenants Hopkins and Dawson’s aeroplanes were wrecks and I counted four Albatros.  I knew that would not tell the whole story and there would be more casualties waiting at home.

This time most of the aeroplanes had suffered damage. Some of it was minor and would not require much attention but there were Bristols which had suffered serious damage to their engines.  Senior Flight Sergeant Lowery took me to look at Lieutenant Ferry’s bus.  “You see sir these steel jacketed jobs, they are being fired head on at the engine and the propeller. It is bad enough when they just fire one gun but two of them, especially if they both hit the same place are causing mayhem with the engines.”

“Thanks Flight.  I know you will do your best.”

I joined Archie and Randolph in the office. “I think I know why we are suffering so much damage to the Bristols, Archie. The pilots fly too straight when they attack the Albatros and the Fokker.  They are trying to keep a stable platform; I can see that but it means that they are giving the Germans the best shot at their engine.  It works the other way too.  I have managed to damage the engine and radiators of lots of their aeroplanes.”

“Well what is the solution?”

“Don’t fly head on! The Camels can because the three of us have worked out a technique to flick the nose up at the last moment. The Camel is like the Pup; it is a nimble little bugger and is very responsive.  I have flown the Bristol and it is more sluggish. If we fly obliquely, as though the gunner is going to fire at them, and then turn at the last minute we can still hit them and not risk having our engines damaged.”

Archie took out the models we had and he gave them to me.  “Show me! I see pictures easier than hear words.  I can visualise it better this way.” I showed him with the model aeroplanes.  “I get you now.” He took out his pipe and filled it.  “Right how do we do this? We both know that if we fly towards the Germans they will make it a head on attack.”

“Then we use the Camels as camouflage. We use our ladder formation and when the Germans are committed then Gordy and Ted take their flights away from the centre so that they can turn and attack from the side.”

“That puts all of the pressure on you and Harry.  I know you can walk on water, Bill and you have the Camels but Harry flies the Bristol.  He will be flying head on.”

“And he dives when the Germans fire and then loops.  Senior Flight Sergeant Lowery told me it is the bullets coming directly into the engine that are the problem.  They almost bore a hole in the engine. Coming from above they are unlikely to strike the same place twice and they won’t hit the propeller as easily either.”

“Get Gordy, Harry and Ted in here.  Explain your plan and we will try it tomorrow.”

Gordy nodded and mouthed his thanks as they came in.  I could see that they were both shaken up. Ted lit a cigarette and I saw that his hands were shaking. The loss of his pilots had upset him. “Two young lads, Bill.  They were bairns.  I am not even certain that young Roger Hopkins had even started shaving.”

I began to clean out the bowl of my pipe. “We were against two Jastas of Albatros aeroplanes. If it is anyone’s fault it is mine. If we had run away from them then none would have died.”

Gordy nodded, “But that isn’t why we are here is it? If we all ran away then we would lose the war and all the sacrifices so far would have been in vain.”

Archie poured us all a whisky. “Let’s take the positives out of this. We knocked down Albatros aeroplanes today.  They did not have the best of it and we lost fewer pilots than any other squadron.  I reckon that is cause for celebration.”

“I can’t celebrate losing two young pilots, sir.”

“You are right, Ted, and I phrased it badly.  Listen to Bill.  He has some ideas how we can minimise damage to the Bristols and casualties.”

Ted actually smiled.  “Then I am all ears!”

I took the three of them through what I had just told Archie and Randolph. Because they had been flying more recently than Archie they had far more questions for me and they helped me to think things through a little better.

When I had satisfied them all Harry asked, “Where does this leave Cecil Alldardyce?”

“How do you mean?”

“The rest of us will not have to fly directly at the Hun but he will because he will be following you and he is not as agile as a Camel.”

“That is a good point. He can join one of the other flights.” I turned to Archie, “But I reckon we need a full flight of Camels. Six Camels could do some serious damage to the German formations.”

“You are right.  I’ll get on to the General,” he chuckled, ”although you are the flavour of the month at the moment, Bill. Perhaps you should ring him.”

The following morning when we reached our patrol area there was an anti-climax.  There were no Germans in the air. We used the time wisely and our new pilots were assimilated into our formations.

After I had given my report I said, “I don’t like this. If the Hun weren’t close to Cambrai where were they? When I was their prisoner they went out each day.  Their work ethic won’t allow them to take time off.  Where were they?”

The answer came when Randolph telephoned his cousin, James. The German formations had attacked a French airfield further south and destroyed ten Spads. Another of the Jagdgeschwader had attacked a mixed squadron of Gunbuses and Bristols further north and shot down or damaged six of them.

“We could have stopped them.”

“Bill, you can’t do it all on your own.  We are just one squadron.  What would you do?  Fly up and down the front until you met them?  Take this as a compliment.  They are attacking easier targets and that isn’t us!”

However we were fated not to meet with the Jagdgeschwader of Richthofen that month. In the second week of June we were moved north to be closer to the Ypres sector. We were told to leave a skeleton crew at the airfield for we would be returning there in August or September. As we packed our bags Bates worked out the reason.

“It will be another offensive sir. Remember that news we heard about the hill at Messines?  I know that is close to Ypres.  I served there in 1915. That will be the prelude to an attack. What this squadron has shown is that it knows how to support infantry even when the enemy are superior. I am afraid 41 Squadron will be the little boy with his finger in the dyke.”