A map of the battle area for us. Our home base was a1, the airfield at Rangoon.
After-Action Report
5/14/2011
by Brooke, GL, 135 Sqn.
This was a scenario that ran in the multiplayer on-line air-combat simulation Aces High.
I was the Group Leader (GL) of 135 Sqn, an RAF fighter group. We were flying Hurricane I's.
A map of the battle area for us. Our home base was a1, the airfield at Rangoon.
135 Sqn ready for our dawn takeoff in our Hurricane I's. From left to right in our group: yarbles, c4159, TBear, prono, MikeyD, Amsoil, me (Brooke), Sharky, Twizzty, 4brkfast, airbull, Klingan, BlueMoon, and boo. t = 0:00
We were ordered to patrol southwest of Rangoon. We patrolled for about an hour, then there were reports of Betties sighted in 8.12.3, southeast of Rangoon. We raced toward Rangoon to lend a hand. By the time we got there, the enemy bombers were away from Rangoon, but well swarmed by allied fighters. There were a fair number of enemy fighters still around, although they were quickly hugely outnumbered as more allied fighters came in. I made runs at a few Ki-45's (Bf 110C-4b used as the Ki-45). As one of them was trying to egress south, I had barely enough altitude to chase him down.
I pour on the .303 rounds. It takes a lot of them, but eventually I shoot off his wing. t=1:10
After that fight, we formed up and started to head to our patrol S and SW of Rangoon, but before we got too far, more Betties showed up. Our Hurr I's were only a little faster than Betties, so we couldn't chase them down very quickly and mostly had to hope that we were positioned in an area that the Betties were flying through. Also, the Betty has a 20 mm tail gun -- very deadly. I tried not just to fly up the tail of the Betty on my attack run, but without much speed advantage on the Betty and with 303's as our guns (which aren't very lethal), I'd get about one or two passes from high deflections, then I'd be down to tail chasing.
One of my attack runs on a G4M1 Betty bomber. The bomber is shedding some debris from my gunfire, but his gunner has shot a hole in my engine, causing me to start spewing oil and smoke. t=1:24
After numerous attack runs, the Betty finally catches on fire, and I dive away as quickly as I can.
We were out over water SE of Rangoon. When I turned back because of my engine damage, it took me in a direction away from any other allied fighters, which continued to chase Betties. I headed back NW, but unfortunately once I was well off by myself, three Zeros spotted me and gave chase. I called out on the radio and dove for speed, but my engine gave out shortly thereafter, and the Zeros chased me down.
One of the Zeros blowing my wing off as I jink around with my engine dead. t=1:28
I took off on my second life and joined up with the rest of 135 Sqn to protect just S of Rangoon. We patrolled for about an hour, then a swarm of enemy fighters was called out well N of Rangoon, and it pressed in toward Rangoon. When it was close to Rangoon, we went in to help. What I saw, at the southern side of the fight, were mostly allied planes, but there were some high Zeros above, making runs on them, so I went after one of those.
Looking out of my cockpit toward the fight N of A1. The black dots are aircraft in a big dogfight. 4brkfast is heading in, too. t=2:24
Putting a good burst of .303 into an A6M5b Zero in the melee. t=2:30
I stick to the Zero, hammering away at him. By now, there aren't many enemies visible, and a lot of 135 Sqn pilots coming to make sure this Zero doesn't get away. From left to right: TBear, airbull, Amsoil, Klingan, me, Snefens, 4brkfast, Sharky, mosca1, and Twizzty. t=2:30
Shortly thereafter, reports came in of enemy bombers just west of Rangoon. We hurried back to Rangoon. As I went in, I saw a few high-altitude Zeros headed toward us. I pressed on, and they dove after other allied fighters.
I see the bombers (black dots in formation, middle of picture) and a bunch of allied fighters (including Twizzty from our group) going in to attack. I am banking right as I just saw two Zeros go after airbull and am heading his way. Rangoon targets are visible below. t=2:35
The two attacking Zeros made a pass toward airbull, but then dove out. I turned back toward the bombers, but it took a prolonged tail chase to catch them. The bombers were all shot down before 135 Sqn could close for any shots, and there weren't any enemy fighters that I saw thereafter.
I shot down a Ki-45 (Bf 110C-4b), G4M1, and A6M5b. I was shot down once.
Overall, 135 Sqn killed 26 aircraft and got 29 assists. Good work, guys!
Also, it was great fun flying in 135 Sqn with a bunch of British guys. It added substantially to the immersion! :)
-- Brooke, GL, 135 Sqn