54 Sqdrn. 'B' Flight - End of Day Report - April 14, 1917

Mission 52: Trench Strafing

Trench Strafing (+59)
One Allied Aircrew Slightly Wounded (-10)
Two Undamaged Aircraft using Advanced Landing Field (-4)
Mission Offset (-10)
+35 VP's

Mission 53: Balloon Bursting

Two Balloons Damaged (+10)
One Allied Aircrew Slightly Wounded (-10)
Mission Offset (-20)
-20 VP's

Mission 54: Long Reconnaissance

No Usable Plate (-20)
Two Allied Aircrew Seriously Wounded (-40)
One Allied Two-Seater w/ Minor Damage (-5)
One Allied Two-Seater Badly Damaged (-10)
-75 VP's

Mission 55: Twilight Patrol

Patrolled 5 Hexes (+10)
Trench Strafing (+24)
+34 VP's

Victories

None Today
To Date: 4 Aircraft and 9 Balloons

Casualties

Two Seriously Wounded (2Lt Hamilton, Sgt Steele)
Two Slightly Wounded (Lt Grün, 2Lt Milford)

Replacements

One Two-Seater Pilot
One SPAD VII
Denied:
Two Scout Pilots (temp)
One Observer

Ratings Changes

2Lt Kerneels-Pépin FR +1
Sgt Hill PS +1

Victory Point Totals

-26 Today
-42 To Date

54 Sqdrn. 'B' Flight - Twilight Patrol - 14 April, 1917.

Sir:

With 2Lt Clark's example in mind, I volunteered for this evening's Twilight Patrol. Keeping a close eye on both the sun and the clouds, I made my way very slowly toward the lines near Arras. By the time I reached them, the rain in which I'd started had stopped, and the sky had cleared to the lightest cloud. It was, however, truly twilight, so I turned and flew southward over the trenches, waving to our troops and strafing the Germans.

As I neared Mercatel, the cloud disappeared entirely and visibility became unlimited. With 2Lt Clark still in mind, I cut my patrol short and headed for home. The Germans had other ideas, though, and four Halberstadt D3s dove on me as I passed over the town. The odds made it difficult for me to line up a shot, as it was all I could do to keep out of four gunsights. Eventually I managed to cut one off from the rest and fire on it, unfortunately to no effect. The Germans broke off shortly thereafter.

While I was occupied with the Halberstadts, the clouds had been creeping back. I decided to continue my patrol and returned to the lines, making my way southward as before.

Approaching Bapaume, which was to be the end of my run along the lines, I was startled to see bullet holes open up in the fabric of my wings, and an all-red Albatros D3 flash past! At tree-top level, I flew low behind a slight ridge until I was sure I was alone again. This did not seem likely to inspire our troops, so I returned to the lines, waving and strafing (and clearing a jam), until I reached the planned limit of my patrol.

One of our machine gun emplacements north of Bapaume was a bit trigger-happy, but I dodged their bullets and returned to Corbie, where it was still raining.

(signed) 2nd Lieutenant Gerald Carson-Jeffries
B Flight, No. 54 Sqdn RFC
April 14, 1917

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Victory Points

Patrolled 5 Hexes +10
Trench Strafing +24

Total +34

54 Sqdrn. 'B' Flight - Long Reconnaissance - 14 April, 1917.

Zone B

Sir:

2Lt Hamilton decided that two observers could expose plates twice as fast as one, and so would spend less time at dangerously low altitude. Therefore, he had me accompany him to the same objective he had photographed yesterday. Sgt Hill was my pilot, and Sgt Steele flew for the Lieutenant again. Like yesterday, the distance to our objective made an escort from No 54 Sqdn impossible.

We climbed rapidly to 20,000 feet through thunderstorms that did not abate until I judged we were over Beaumont. Mist covered our objective when we arrive, so the Lieutenant signalled that we were to circle until it lifted. After about 15 minutes, the mist turned to a light rain, and we descended to 7000 feet to expose our first plate. There was no Archie, but the mist rolled back after we'd each exposed that one plate, so we climbed to 17,000 feet and circled for another five minutes until the rain returned. This time we each exposed two plates before the mist closed in again, but the Lieutenant thought a total of six plates would be sufficient, and he signalled a turn for home.

A calculation while we climbed showed me that all petrol burned while circling and climbing had put Corbie out of our range. The Lieutenant must have made the same calculation, as he had us level off at 14,000 feet instead of the usual 20,000, and signalled our new destination to be the Mercatel Advanced Landing Field.

Ironically, the mist changed back to rain as soon as we levelled off. I thought we'd made it when we began to descend toward the Advanced Landing Field, but at 11,000 feet we were intercepted by six (!) Halberstadt D3s. The Lieutenant and I kept up a steady defensive fire. Hill and Steele did their best to position us, but nothing they did could change our dire petrol situation. Eventually, we just had to dive through the rain and hope there was a suitable landing spot beneath us. Hill set us down fine, but Steele cracked up badly. He and the Lieutenant were both taken to the Casualty Clearing Station. Needless to say, all the plates were ruined.

(signed) Sgt Christopher Barnes
No. 5 Sqdn RFC
April 14, 1917

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Victory Points

No Usable Plate -20
Two Allied Aircrew Seriously Wounded (Hamilton, Steele) -40
One Allied Two-Seater Badly Damaged (Steele) -10
One Allied Two-Seater w/ Minor Damage (Hill) -5

Total -75

54 Sqdrn. 'B' Flight - Trench Strafing - 14 April, 1917.

Zone B

Sir:

I led Lt Grün and 2Lts Carson-Jeffries, Milford, and Kerneels-Pépin on a low-level attack on enemy trench lines between Arras and Mercatel this morning. 2Lt Perry remained at base as HQ has not provided sufficient aircraft for my flight.

Skies were cloudy when we took off. I had the flight circle for a few minutes southwest of Arras to give the cloud coverage a chance to increase. The wait was worthwhile, and we reached the trenches under a solid overcast. Methodically making our way south, all was going smoothly at first (although I did need to clear a stoppage in my own gun once). As we approached Mercatel, however, Milford was hit by ground fire, wounding him slightly. He was able to continue, but shortly after that both he and Kerneels-Pépin began having engine trouble.

I decided to end the operation, and the flight escorted Milford and Kerneels-Pépin to the Mercatel Advanced Landing Field. It was raining by the time they landed, and the rest of us proceeded to Corbie in rain with occasional snow showers.

(signed) Captain Matthew Edeline
B Flight Leader, No. 54 Sqdn RFC
April 14, 1917

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Victory Points

Trench Strafing +59
One Allied Aircrew Slightly Wounded (Milford) -10
Two Undamaged Aircraft using Advanced Landing Field (Milford, Kerneels-Pépin) -4
Mission Offset -10

Total +35

April 14 ASSIGNMENTS

WEATHER: (2) Fine but cold - cloud increasing later (AM 4- / PM 15+)

“B” Flight No. 19 Sqdrn: (13) Dawn Patrol, Balloon Bursting (AM), Defensive Line Patrol, Bombing Raid

“B” Flight No.54 Sqdrn: (34) Long Recon., Trench Strafing, Balloon Bursting

Reports due Dec. 6.