16th October. Frontline CAP and CAS

After fierce fighting in the Buzancy/Mouzon region, allied forces were counterattacking strongly. 19 Squadron lifted from Reims in order to provide Close Air Support to the ground troops, myself and Sqd Leader MJ Dixon taking Hurricane IIc Fighter bombers, with support from Spitfires flown by P/O Dezey, Grp Cpt Public and F/O Hinkel flying in a french marked P40.

Ground to Air comms were sadly lacking, but reports were filtering in from the town of a heavy axis air presence, with several 109s reported along with Heinkel/Ju87 bombers and heavy fighter support in the form of 110's.

As the CAS section entered the airspace over the town, Hinkel was shot down by a 109F4. As myself and MJ dropped our bombs on the town, MJ reported a 109 on his six. I turned my Hurri around and headed towards him, and as MJ broke expertly to the south the 109 followed him round, presenting his lower section to me. I fired a short burst of 20mm cannon, hitting the 09 and causing two streams of glycol to pour from the engine area. As the 09 broke off his pursuit he attempted to go vertical, perhaps not realising I was in a hurricane and was able to easily cut inside his turn and finish about 200yds to his beam.

As he ran for the safety of his pack, I fired a long burst and observed his tail disintegrate, the 09 crashing into the deck north of the town.

Low on ammo, myself and MJ returned to Reims to re-arm.

By this time, the 09s had the upper hand, so we re-upped in Spits and reformed over Val de Vesle.

09s were swarming high over Warmeriville looking to cut the air supply coming from reims, so we gained altitude and began to sweep north. After about 40 minutes of cat and mouse, the 09s had pulled back to Bertrix, the town had been retaken and we continued our patrol over Mouzon, Carignan and Sedan. At this point I had a comms failure and RTB'd, leaving the Flight with MJ.

A Second sortie over Mouzon was fruitless. An attempt at an attack on the St Truiden forward base was foiled, although several times 19 RAF tried to contact ground forces to aid them, so we decamped to Brussels to help out with the Oostmalle defence.

Again CAS was called for, myself and F/Sgt Acroyer bringing Hurricane IIc's, with CAP on hand from Dezey, MJ and Hinkel. Speedy had comms issues and had to RTB (and was subsequently grounded for the rest of the night).

Again heavy axis air presence was reported over town, myself and Acroyer dropping our bombs on the enemy forward base whilst MJ's flight held off to the west. Enemy bombers and fighters were all around, Acroyer shooting down a 111, before I managed to get a long burst on an 09 that was chasing another aircraft north of town, the 09 exploding in a satisfying burst of yellow fire.

The dogfight went on, 09s and 110's harrassing and delaying our RTB, but we managed to fight our way out, the 19 RAF CAP scoring several kills, Hinkel in particular downing several enemy aircraft.

Total kills: 4 ground targets, 12 enemy aircraft
Total Losses: 3 aircraft lost to enemy action.

A good night for 19 Squadron, well done chaps!

Lifting off as number 2 Hurricane in Squadron Leader Skipper's ground attack section, we headed to the town Buzancy at an altitude of some 8 - 10 thousand feet, peeling off individually to drop our bombs on the enemy Army base in the south of town - Skip attacking first with me following some 10 seconds later.

Diving down on the army base at a steep angle I dropped both of my bombs just infront of the Vehicle garrage - noting a group of German soldiers heading for cover just as my bombs were released - after which I flew to the west at low altitude, hearing Skipper tell me to check my six as I reached the outskirts of town, seeing a lone Bf109 giving chase, with Skipper turning onto his tail to assist me, as such I broke and was easily able to shake the 109 loose, as by then he had more pressing issues to worry about, as Skipper fired bursts of cannon at his rear end, eventually destroying the enemy by removing his tail with fire from his 20mm cannons.

We then returned to base and re-equipped with Spitfires, noting almost immediately that there were enemy aircraft inbound to the airfield at aproximately 10,000 feet - as such Skipper, Dezey and Hinkel gave chase - attacking a lone 109 that then broke to the east, whilst I - being the last to take-off, attempted to climb up to join the battle to the east of me - spotting a high contact approaching the rest of my flight from the east, which I saw dive down on the tail member of the flight - Hinkel, whom I instructed to break, but who was unfortunately destroyed in flames before being able to evade the attack of the high enemy fighter.

We then disengaged from the higher altitude 109s, of which there were three or more in total, heading west and then south in order to gain altitude and return with even odds, returning to find - however, that the 109s had by then themselves disengaged, and were nowhere to be found - as such we continued our operation, flying up to Mouzon in order to engage the enemy, with Skip, myself and Speedy making up the high section and Dezey, Hinkel and Public making up the low section, diving down over the combat zones to engage low altitude Stukas, whilst we in the high section maintained a top cover above them.

The high section then turned towards the enemy Airfield of Bertrix, and lowered to an altitude of some 12 - 15,000 feet in search of lower altitude snappers - at which point I spotted a contact to the west of us some 4000 feet lower, positioning myself above and behind the contact before diving down to attack - identifying the contact as a Bf109 and smoking his engine with a bounce from behind (despite the Skipper alerting the 109 to our presence by flying straight past him head on whilst I was making my dive!) I then circled around for a second pass on the hun 109 - firing a short burst into his engine which destroyed his propeller, followed by both Skip and Hinkel, who also decided to shoot at the 109 just to make sure.

We then lost contact with Skip, who we later discovered had R/T problems, as such lead of the flight fell to me - just as a flight of high altitude 109s decided to show up some 6 - 7000 feet higher than our own flight, looking to pick us off one by one!

After some attempts by the enemy to drag us and bag us, in the usual style - I shepherded the rest of the flight to the west, trying to keep them together as much as possible (despite their best efforts to fly in random directions I might add!) eventually signalling to return to base at Berry, once we had lost contact with the 109s.

We then flew an uneventful escort mission to St Truiden, with myself, Dezey and Hinkel flying fighter cover to Skip and Acroyer in their Hurricane IIcs, however we did not run into any enemy aircraft, and so returned to base after the ground attack sortie was completed.

Lastly, we again flew an escort mission for Skip and Acroyer, this time to the town of Oostmalle, which was coming under very heavy enemy air attack - as such we set up to the west of town, in order to clear the tails of our bomber pilots as they returned to base after their bomb runs - this didn't last long, however, as enemy fighter activity was not as heavy as expected, as such Skip and Acroyer decided to remain over Oostmalle to conduct strafing runs and attack enemy bombers - as such we dove down over town to assist them, getting into a number of dogfights, with myself shooting down two Bf110 heavy fighters before running low on ammunition, whilst Dezey attempted to chase around a 109 that seemed to be getting on his nerves, before we were forced to return to base due to low ammunition, after which we were grounded due to a sudden onset of heavy fog over the Aerodrome.

" after which we were grounded due to a sudden onset of heavy fog over the Aerodrome. "

lol

I wake up with my tongue wedged in a wine bottle, and a feeling of being late for an appointment. No recollection of how I ended up in this hayloft, and although the young lady asleep beside me is quite attractive, I've no idea what her name is, or where we met. I quietly gather my boots, brush the straw off my uniform and depart the area. Getting my bearings, I flag down a passing lorry and get a lift to the airfield.

I am definitely late, the other revetments are empty of squadron planes. I ignore the leers of my ground crew and motion for them to prepare the aircraft. Once in the cockpit, I can hear the radio. It's the squadron leader, inquiring about the progress of my repairs? I look at the ground crew, and they're all grinning like the Forty Thieves.

Their leader, a dark haired gypsy type, shrugs. "I told him your aircraft was not yet ready to fly, monsieur."

"Because the pilot was passed out in a barn somewhere," I sigh.

"I may have forgotten to mention that," he smiles, "so perhaps the commandante got the wrong impression."

"You are a bad man," I smile, handing him a fistful of francs. "Take this money and put in the poor box, the next time you take confession."

I press the starter, and my Hurricane roars to life. The sound of the prop revving drowns out their laughter, and I taxi onto the field. I press the mic button and report, "Ready to lift, skipper!".

A few minutes later, I'm winging along with the rest of the squadron, a pair of five hundred pound bombs under my wings. The squadron leader is also in a Hurribomber, but the rest of the squad is covering us in Spitfires. It's a comforting sight, since the radio is alive with reports of heavy enemy air activity over the target.

Today we are attacking an enemy firebase, which the Jerries are using to support their drive west. I can see many aircraft over town, swirling and firing at each other. Skip and I circle around the southern edge of the fight and approach the target from the east. The idea is to drop our bombs and then beat feet west to Antwerp. With luck, we'll attract a few 109s and the rest of the squadron will pounce on them.

Skip drops his bombs on target, reporting no major antiaircraft fire at the firebase. As I wing over to start my attack run, Skip reports that he is engaging a low 109. A split second later, I see a large silhouette at the top of my windscreen. An enemy bomber is making a run on the town from low altitude, and he is almost perfectly aligned with my own aircraft. I have no time to drop the bombs, so I simply pull up and convert my steep dive into a more shallow one. The HE-111 disappears below the nose, and I squeeze a long burst of cannon shells into his path. A moment later I am rewarded with the sight of explosions, flame and debris as the bomber flies directly through my gun fire. He flips over and plummets to the ground. Just like that, I have my first kill of the campaign.

I report the kill and check my six. All clear, and I circle around to the north to regain my altitude, since I still have eggs that need to be dropped. As I approach 5000 feet, I am startled to see a black silhouette coming towards me, nearly head on. As it grows in size, I realize it is another big bomber, who intends to ram me or force me to evade. My crosshairs are already above him, so I bank and apply opposite rudder. The heavily laden Hurricane slides downhill to my left. His tracers pass overhead and to the right, harmless. My cannon shells, however, pass through his cockpit and the wing root, igniting the inboard engine. He disappears from my view and I push the nose over to recover my airspeed. It occurs to me that I have engaged two aircraft without yet having jettisoned my ordnance. Skip will not be amused. I check six, all clear, and I see the bomber crashing to earth below me. My second kill of the campaign, and I try not to sound like a rookie as I report it on the squad push.

I orient myself to the original target, check my six and line up so I can egress west. I wheel over and dive, dropping the bombs on either side of the enemy tents as I roll out and extend. A few moments later, I see a 109 passing by, flying straight and level. The squadron leader says something on the radio, but I'm already trying to line up the gun sight. As I start shooting, the 109 literally explodes! I fly through the debris cloud. A faint plink on my aircraft means I may have hit something, but everything appears to be fine.

"Sorry about that, Acroyer, I asked if you were engaging him," says my squadron leader. "When you didn't answer, I went ahead and shot him down."

I realize that I didn't blow up the 109 after all. Skip must have been passing directly beneath me in pursuit of the 109, and his cannon fire is what shredded the enemy fighter, not mine. Happy that I didn't embarrass myself by claiming a third kill on the squadron channel, I fall in with Skip and we head back to the airfield under cover of the rest of our squadron. Apparently the enemy has been having a rough time of it since we arrived, and they are not interested in chasing a pair of hurricanes.

Setting up for my landing, I can't tell if the wobble is the result of aircraft damage or last night's debauchery. When I try to deploy the landing gear, I have my answer. I manage to get the plane down in one piece, sliding it gently in on the belly. Ali Baba and his gang rush over with fire extinguishers in hand, but I wave to show I'm OK. I grin and hold up two fingers for them to see. They all cheer, then pry my canopy open and help me out.

As they clap me on the back, it occurs to me that it has been a good day...I only wish I could remember the night before.

Pics or it didnt happen acroyer :p

Which I had something to report about...oh well

Public001 wrote:Pics or it didnt happen acroyer :p

Which I had something to report about...oh well

Actually I haven't figured out where the screenshots go, when I hit Shift+Prt Scrn....

nice AAR Acroyer! try Users>My Documents>Battleground Europe

My country is a warzone. Those dirty sausages invaded us and I still can t believe this happend. I have been fighting for a long time now to try and push them back. The Belgian airforce was no match for the luftwaffe. Outdated equipement. Not enough pilots. When the British came to our aide ( god bless their king ), I joined the RAF. I could not be more happy when I heard I was assigned to 19 squadron. They have spitfires and great pilots.
For 2 weeks now they give me a special assignment. I have to use the lend-lease P40 to get used to the plane in order to teach some frenchies ( my British friends are calling them frogs) how to use them as I can speak a good amount of French.
The P40 is heavier, slower and does not climb as good as the spitfire. But it has good armor, fire power and diving ability.
Everything is in French in this plane. This makes communication with my squad extremely difficult. I have to calculate everything from the metric system to the emperial system. Also due to lower speed and climbing ability I can t fly that good in close formation.

We started the day with some close air support with escorting elements over the town of Mouzon. We encountered some yellow noses ( messerschmit 109 ) at higher altidute. After some evasing maneuvers we were able to loose them and we made an RTB for refueling. We went up again but the 109 s were still around and they made a quick bounce on us. Sadly We saw them to late and they managed to score some hits on my P40. Flames quickly started to come out of my engine and I was forced to jump. Some nice farmer agreed to drive me back to base and I quickly went up in the air again in a new P40. Again over Mouzon area we received word from ground forces that there were some stukas harrasing them over beauaring. We diverted in that directing and arrived in time. My wingman shouted Stuka low over town. I dove down and flamed him on my first pass. I pulled up a bit and turned towards town again. I saw a
2nd stuka going for its attack run and quickly got behind him. As he made an allmost vertical climb after dropping his bombs a fired a 4 seconds burst that totaly obliterated him. Those .50 guns really tear trough armor.
As all went quick we were called to support our attack on Sint Truiden. We did some patrolling as our Hurri bombers attacked there forward base. No enemy airforces showed up and the missing ended with just being a waste of fuel.
As we were in the air over Sint Truiden, radio messages were comming in that the town of Oostalle was under heavy bomber attack.
When we arrived to town there was combat everywhere. Some other RAF squades had allready arrived and had a tough time to stay alive. 19 RAF dove in the help. On my first pass I saw a 109. A few bursts later I saw him go down. The tail section comming off from the main body.
When I started to gain altitude again a heinkel show up going for a bomb run on Oostmalle. A 3 sec burst into his right engine set it ablaze and I saw the crew jumping out. Out of nowhere a 109 came to my tail. A quick maneuver avoided his fire and he overshot me, bullets going right over my cockpit. As he overshot I came on his 6 and after a shot dogfight he ended up going down in flames. Ammo was getting low and engine overheating. On the radio I hear our flight was RTB for ammo and fuel so I knew I had to disengage. A Messerschmit 110 arrived to the scene and started engaging me. As the rest of the squad allready going home I was left alone so I had no choice to engage the 110. The pilot was clearly very fresh and inexperience as I quickly managed to get on his tail and shooting off his left wing. Allmost no ammo left I went back to base. yet my troubles were not over. another 109 showed up and put some big holes in in my left wing and fuselage. As some more spitfires arrived to the seen the 109 fled and I managed to get limp back to the Antwerp airfield with a tally of 4 planes shot down. Allmost night time and the fighting over Oostmalle was calming down. one last flight to the hot zone. Arrived in town to find another lone heinkel which must have been seperated from his main group. A 5 second burst into the right engine set it on fire and the heinkel crashed north of Oostalle in a big ball of fire.
After an long and exhausting day I climbed out of the cockpit and went to the bar to celebrate my 7 kills for this day. Maybe I will get a medal who knows. A little drunk from the great belgian beer ( happy that the jerrys did not bomb our brewery s) I fell into a deep sleep knewing the next day the fighting will be renewed.

great report hink, thanks. Was a good night.

hinkel1 wrote:. When the British came to our aide ( god bless their king ), I joined the RAF. I could not be more happy when I heard I was assigned to 19 squadron. They have spitfires and great pilots.

That sort of talk will get you everywhere!

Fantastic AARs gentlemen, I enjoyed reading all of them!