German Mission 3C - German artillery spotting goes wrong

Summary

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Narrative

Synopsis

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Lieutenant Everard Member of the Rifles peered through his binoculars. To his rear, the sun was setting, casting long shadows across no-man’s land. The trenches of both sides were becoming quieter. He kept his head low, conscious of the ever-present risk of snipers.

There it was...directly in front of him...the wreckage, still smouldering, of the Hun two-seater. There was no sign of life – just two still, slumped figures. “Damn” he thought.

The day had had highs and lows.

It started badly with breakfast, and got worse when the German guns had started. Fortunately the fire, although heavy, was inaccurate, and they – cowering in their defences – had taken no casualties. The ominous sound of aero engines warned them that, if their fears were realised, the Germans had artillery spotter planes up. He had hauled two riflemen, and a Lewis gun, up out of the dugout, keen to have a pop at any Germans.

And there they were...a bright pink scout and a camouflaged two-seater. Both were cruising between the fluffy clouds, frustratingly well out of range of the Lewis gun. The shell bursts began to march towards them...

Suddenly, from the west, three British scouts had appeared, plunging down from on high towards the Germans. A swirling low-level dogfight had ensued, punctuated with the rattle of machine guns. The artillery fire and sniping across the trenches had seemed to diminish, as if both sides were watching this aerial contest.

His gunners managed to get an occasional burst off at the aircraft, with little effect. The battle had seemed even. Then smoke began to issue from the German two-seater. It faltered, stalled, and crashed between the trenches. This seemed to mark the end of the battle for the brightly painted pink German scout; it turned and, lowering its nose, headed home. The British scouts, obviously elated by their victory, waggled their wings and headed westward, no doubt to a good meal and warm beds.

“Bloodly flyers” thought Everard. Once the sun had fully set, he had to take a patrol into no-man’s land to check out the downed two-seater. “Poor bloody infantry...” he muttered, stepping down into the mud at the bottom of the trench and splashing along towards the dugout to rouse his men for the evening’s entertainment.

Ian

German

Prestige: Big fat 0.

Individual skills to be added to squadron page.

British

Name	Rank	Player	Normal aircraft	Type	Skills	Kills
Francis "Franny" Tickler	2nd Lieutenant	Ian	Doris	Camel	Cannot Be Tailed
Rick Rannock	2nd Lieutenant	Mike	Emily	Camel	Die Roll Add
Nigel "Nancy" Gripham-Titely	2nd Lieutenant	Jef	Faith	Camel	Manoeuvre

Trenches, two light archie.

Prestige: Boche 2-seater pranged +30

Individual skills to be added to squadron page.