France - Chapter 5
Despite our early success against the Germans, the war was far from over. Each day there were reports of German fighters crossing the border. But not only had we to keep track of all these incursions, we also had to train the new crews that arrived from England.
Today I would lead a newcommer, Dave Jenkins, around. He was an eager young chap, ready to fight the Hun. I had to calm him down a bit during briefing, reminding him that there are bold pilots and old pilots, but never old bold pilots. If he wanted to survive the French skies he better stick to my side. I did not tell him that after only one victory, I still was not sure whether I was cut out of the right wood for this job.
As we flew a four point patrol around the base, we encountered “Freddy zee bomber pilot”. That was the nickname we had given to a German reconnaissance plane that visited our base at irregular intervals. The Germans always changed their arrival time, to prevent us from staging an ambush. But this time Jenkins and me got lucky. We were in the sky right as “Freddy” flew towards our base.
I ordered Jenkins to stay on my wing. We were approaching the bomber from behind but against the sun. The German gunners would spot us easily while we had to squint our eyes to see the bomber. So my plane was to pass the bomber on the left, fly ahead of it before turning towards it for a head on pass. This would put the sun in our back and blind the German pilot.
But as I passed the bomber to the left, at a safe distance, I spotted tracer fire streaking towards the bomber. Flames trailed behind the bomber, while tracers went back and forth between the bomber and the small dot trailing behind it.
That bloody Jenkins had disobeyed my orders and pressed on his own attack. But the fool forgot that the gunners could easily spot him. Furthermore he had attack the bomber in a level flight, presenting an even bigger and easier target to its gunners.
The stupid bastard managed to get his engine shot up. Remembering how I got stuck with a dying engine in mid flight during one of my first missions, I immediately ordered Jenkins to bug out and head for base. I decided to trail the bomber. He would probably fly straight towards his homebase so if could get a bearing we might guess the location of the lufwaffe base.
Trailing behind the bomber, I remembered the compass heading. Its left engine was spitting fire. Why that crew did not bail out I don't know. Where they so afraid of captivity?
The fire must have melted the wing structure because suddenly the wing tore of from the bomber. Immediately the rest of the aircraft violently spun around, diving straight towards the ground. The crew did not have single change, no parachutes appeared in the sky.
I decided to shorten my flight and try to catch up with Jenkins who was rushing back to base. But then a French pilot spoke over our frequency. Apparently he was in some kind of trouble, he was loosing fuel and some German fighters were chasing him. I answered his plea for help and turned towards his position. While his pursuers were chasing him, I started to chase them.
It turned out he had a group of Me-110 on his tail. Unlike the single engine Me-109 these fighters carried more fuel which allowed them to loiter longer in the French sky. And although their pilots might be fixated on their French prey, each Me-110 had a rear gunner which would spot me.
I ordered the French pilot to climb as fast as he could. This would force the Me-110 to climb steeply, all the while reducing their forward speed. This would allow me to build up more speed, reducing the time that I was within the rear gunner's range.
The rear plane's gunner had spotted me, but his fire sailed harmlessly above my head. I realized that these guys did not have belly guns. So I could slip underneath their belly, I could pump them full by just tilting up my nose.
I flew underneath the rear plane, pulled up the nose and shot at his belly. White vapor from the fuel tanks appear under the belly. Overshooting the Me-110, I rolled over its head, evading any counter fire from the rear gunner.
the Me-110 leader, remained oblivious of the fire his wingman drew. Using my excess speed I closed in on him too and started pumping fire into his tail.
The wing leader immediately pulled away, but that made him an even bigger target for me. I easily slipped into his turn and kept on pounding him.
His wingtanks caught fire, but I was not intended to give up, so I kept pulling the trigger, spraying lethal fire all over the German.
A huge explosion follow as the wing tanks erupted into a giant ball of fire. A burning piece of the engine was the largest part that plummeted to the ground.
Now I turned my attention to what I believed to be the last Me-110. Sliding behind its tail, I fired my last rounds, setting his engine ablaze. With my last bullets spend, I had to let the German escape.
Since we mostly flew in groups of three, I figured out that I had chased away all Germans. But as circled above our airfield, a rude call from ground control warned me that not all Germans were gone. They flew in two pairs, so one Me-110 had escaped and was now intent on avenging his comrades.
Without ammo I was utterly defenseless, my only hope was to lure the German into the range of our anti aircraft guns. “Shoot at the aircraft with two engines”, I yelled over the radio. Soon green tracers climbed from the ground towards the German fighter.
To my delight, the tracers converged on the Me-110, tearing it apart in a cloud of fire and metal.
With the danger gone, I could land safely at base. Next to the runway stood Jenkins Hurricane, white steam, blowing out of its exhausts. Jenkins stood next to it, with a big grin on its face. I clambered out of my cockpit and went straight to the cockey pilot.
“Jenkins, I can confirm you shot that bomber, but if you try to disobey my orders next time, I will personally shoot you myself out of the sky.” That wipe the grin of his face quickly enough.
The next morning, the AAA gun crews paraded a piece the Me-110 they shot, around the airfield. They got their first kill too. For me I had my second official kill and one probable. Slowly I started to gain confidence in my aerial gunnery skills.
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