Bloody April - 1917 is a campaign game from Terry Goodchild’s ‘Wings over France’ rules for solitaire play of WWI aerial combat during the Battle of Arras. Like all the combat of the war the offensive took a terrible toll, but in the air the Allied losses were especially heavy compared to those of Germany. This campaign attempts to recreate that bloody month . . .

ASSIGNMENTS & REPORTS


To the Men of the Amiens Sector:

We are about to undertake a great offensive. It will prove to be a challenge for all of you and your aircraft. Because of the defensive nature of the Hun air strategy we must take the battle to him, which we will do with the utmost vigor. Remember always our primary responsibility is to provide assistance to the ground forces; this is the highest priority, and to do so, we must do everything possible to protect our reconnaissance and observation aircraft. Set forth and do battle knowing that with you are the confidence and heart-felt appreciation of a grateful nation.
Colonel J.B. Wagner-Stowe DSO
Commanding Officer, Amiens Sector

Wednesday, 2 June 2010

54 Sqdrn. 'B' Flight - Trench Strafing - April 8, 1917

Zone B

Sir:

As 2Lt Carson-Jeffries had not yet returned to B Flt, I led the rest of the flight (Clark, Barrington, Glenn, and Stramel) to strafe enemy trenches between Arras and Mercatel. Barrington's engine began acting up shortly after take-off, and he returned to Corbie on his own.

We arrived over the front near Arras without incident, and slowly began working our way south. Two Albatros D3s and one D2 attacked us as we were making our third strafing run. I cut two of them off from the rest of our flight, and all three Albatroses broke off before damage was taken by either side.

Our fourth pass over the German lines was interrupted by two Albatros D2s accompanied by the infamous all-red D3. I drove one of the D2s off as soon as combat was joined, then drove off the other shortly thereafter. Another Albatros D3 and a Halberstadt D3 dove into the fight, with the Albatros attacking me and damaging my controls. Clark's engine was the worse from an encounter with von Richthofen, so we were fortunate that the Germans did not persist much longer.

Stramel and Glenn escorted Clark and I to the Mercatel Advanced Landing Field. I've been notified that they made it back to the aerodrome safely, finding that Barrington had arrived quite a bit earlier.

(signed) Lieutenant Wolfgang Grün
"B" Flight, No. 54 Sqdn RFC
April 8, 1917

****************
Victory Points
Trench Strafing +31
Two Allied Scouts Damaged/Aborted (Grün, Clark) -6
Mission Offset -10
Total +15
Posted by at
Labels: ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)