flying we had had so far and visibility was clear. We could see clear to the rear of the German trenches. I took us up high. I saw a grey snake moving towards the front. It looked like German troops. “Flight Sergeant Hutton, can you see any Hun about?”
He did his job scrupulously. “No sir.”
“Signal the troops on the ground that there is a column of German soldiers marching to the front. Tell them we are going to attack them and then repeat to the others.”
“Sir!”
I headed east. They would see us but we would be ten little dots high in the sky. I cocked my Lewis. I still could not change the magazine despite Doc Brennan’s exercise ball. I was recovering far slower than I used to.
“All done, sir. Captain Sharp’s gunner said A flight will climb above us.”
Charlie was really on fire these days. By having his five aeroplanes above us we would have protection as well as the option of a second attack. I could see that it looked like a regiment below us. They had the new German helmet we had heard about. They were fresh troops. That, in itself was ominous.
“Ready, Lumpy?”
“Sir!”
I pushed the stick forward and we dived. The engine being behind us seemed to make less noise than those with an engine in front and we dived a couple of thousand feet before the soldiers seemed to react. By then it was too late. They could make the ditches but that was all. I emptied the magazine down the ditch which ran along the side of the road. Lumpy fired obliquely at the other side. At that speed we were over and through the thousand or so men and climbing as their small arms fire ineffectually tried to hit us.
I banked to starboard, partly to head home and partly to see the effect of the attack. I saw bodies littering the road. Had we had bombs then we could have destroyed the whole column, there was little point in using Hutton’s Mills bombs; the Germans would have aeroplanes heading for us now.
I kept the two flights low as we ate up the ground back to the airfield. It was good practice for it kept you on edge and your reactions became faster. Fast reactions made for better pilots.
The men were elated when we landed and that elation lasted right until dinner. However when Major Leach and Captain Marshall arrived late with very serious expressions on their faces then we knew that something was wrong.
“Gentlemen, there is a new German squadron at the front. They are all the new Albatros D.IIIs and they are brightly coloured. They all have red on them and their leader has a totally red aeroplane.”
One of the new chaps shouted, “Well they should be easy to spot, what!”
“Tell that to the six pilots and crews of the FE 2Bs of 28 Squadron because they were all either shot down or forced to land behind enemy lines!”
Chapter 7
Our war changed the next day. We learned that the new squadron was Jasta 11. I have no idea how we discovered that save that there must have been British spies working behind the German lines. We also heard that the squadron leader was someone called Baron Manfred Von Richthofen. His name became increasingly familiar as the year went on. We gathered that he liked to publicise himself. Surprisingly we learned much about him through German newspapers for, unlike us, the Germans publicised their heroes. We liked to keep them hidden. Everyone knew the generals and their names but the likes of Lanoe Hawker and Albert Ball were only known within the small world of the RFC.
Major Leach held an emergency briefing. “From now on we patrol as a squadron. Until now the Gunbus has proved to be tougher than any other aeroplane we have. Six aeroplanes destroyed by six Albatros and no losses is a serious state of affairs. We cannot assume that our luck will hold”
“But sir how can we do our job?” Johnny Holt was always acutely aware of our responsibility to the troops on the ground. “The foot sloggers have worse odds and take greater
He did his job scrupulously. “No sir.”
“Signal the troops on the ground that there is a column of German soldiers marching to the front. Tell them we are going to attack them and then repeat to the others.”
“Sir!”
I headed east. They would see us but we would be ten little dots high in the sky. I cocked my Lewis. I still could not change the magazine despite Doc Brennan’s exercise ball. I was recovering far slower than I used to.
“All done, sir. Captain Sharp’s gunner said A flight will climb above us.”
Charlie was really on fire these days. By having his five aeroplanes above us we would have protection as well as the option of a second attack. I could see that it looked like a regiment below us. They had the new German helmet we had heard about. They were fresh troops. That, in itself was ominous.
“Ready, Lumpy?”
“Sir!”
I pushed the stick forward and we dived. The engine being behind us seemed to make less noise than those with an engine in front and we dived a couple of thousand feet before the soldiers seemed to react. By then it was too late. They could make the ditches but that was all. I emptied the magazine down the ditch which ran along the side of the road. Lumpy fired obliquely at the other side. At that speed we were over and through the thousand or so men and climbing as their small arms fire ineffectually tried to hit us.
I banked to starboard, partly to head home and partly to see the effect of the attack. I saw bodies littering the road. Had we had bombs then we could have destroyed the whole column, there was little point in using Hutton’s Mills bombs; the Germans would have aeroplanes heading for us now.
I kept the two flights low as we ate up the ground back to the airfield. It was good practice for it kept you on edge and your reactions became faster. Fast reactions made for better pilots.
The men were elated when we landed and that elation lasted right until dinner. However when Major Leach and Captain Marshall arrived late with very serious expressions on their faces then we knew that something was wrong.
“Gentlemen, there is a new German squadron at the front. They are all the new Albatros D.IIIs and they are brightly coloured. They all have red on them and their leader has a totally red aeroplane.”
One of the new chaps shouted, “Well they should be easy to spot, what!”
“Tell that to the six pilots and crews of the FE 2Bs of 28 Squadron because they were all either shot down or forced to land behind enemy lines!”
Chapter 7
Our war changed the next day. We learned that the new squadron was Jasta 11. I have no idea how we discovered that save that there must have been British spies working behind the German lines. We also heard that the squadron leader was someone called Baron Manfred Von Richthofen. His name became increasingly familiar as the year went on. We gathered that he liked to publicise himself. Surprisingly we learned much about him through German newspapers for, unlike us, the Germans publicised their heroes. We liked to keep them hidden. Everyone knew the generals and their names but the likes of Lanoe Hawker and Albert Ball were only known within the small world of the RFC.
Major Leach held an emergency briefing. “From now on we patrol as a squadron. Until now the Gunbus has proved to be tougher than any other aeroplane we have. Six aeroplanes destroyed by six Albatros and no losses is a serious state of affairs. We cannot assume that our luck will hold”
“But sir how can we do our job?” Johnny Holt was always acutely aware of our responsibility to the troops on the ground. “The foot sloggers have worse odds and take greater
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