date: 8/8/2004
pilot: Brooke, I/JG26
Tangled with lots of Hurricanes over England, got lost in the fog, tangled with more Spits and Hurris, returned to base, tangled with more Spits while escorting a lone bomber formation, returned to base, formed up with rest of I/JG26, we found ships in channel, which Ju87's divebombed, tangled with more Spits and Hurris, back to base.
I/JG26 consisted of VolsCAF as FL, OddCAF as 2nd in command, Schaden, Dace, TBolt, and Brooke.
We took off from A46 and headed SW to get altitude. After a bit, we NW toward A3. We were at about 23-25k upon nearing England.
As we crossed over the coast, some of the guys saw one or two Spits below us. I didn't see them, although I looked. I don't know how you guys deal with the visibility at higher altitudes. For me, it is like flying through soup. I can see icons when very close (probably less than 3k), but outside of that, I lose visibility. I can't see the horizon, and I can't see the ground unless I am looking straight under me. For me, it is like IFR conditions, and I can't without looking at my artificial horizon even tell what attitude my plane is in. My hat is off to you guys who can fly in that stuff without apparent big problems.
At that point, I was wondering why everyone was not flying in a straight direction. I figured there might be enemies around, but didn't see any. I thought it might be flak (which was reaching up to 25k at least). Anyway, I stuck with people mostly at that point, and we as a group continued W then NW toward A3.
Shortly thereafter, I spotted lots of bogies at our 12 o'clock. It turned out to be a large group of Hurricanes (12 of them) many at an altitude slightly above us. I called it out and positioned myself so that I wouldn't get swarmed. I went after some once I got a position I liked, danced around a bit, stayed fast and high, playing it safe, but soon lost the rest of I/JG26 in that damned fog. All I could see after a bit was Hurris, so I disengaged and started looking for the rest of the folks.
I called on the radio and heard some others were a sector W of me. I started flying over there but came across some friendlies that looked like a bomber formation to me. I called and got permission to escort them. I flew for a bit until I got into mic range with them and asked if they were bombers and what the target was -- I wasn't close enough to be able to tell for sure by eye yet. They said they were 110's that had already dropped on their targets and were now looking for bombers to escort. I called in my status and was ordered to A46 to join the rest of the group.
At this point, I was over A6. I headed E and started to head through yet another flak barrage. I'd flown through a couple of them already, with so many fields around and ack reaching up to 25k. I did my usual gentle evasives as I went through it. This time, I did get one hit, although it only put a whole in my canopy as far as I could tell -- no systems were damaged.
It was about this point that the fog cleared significantly. I don't know if I was finally in an area without as much or if the weather changed abruptly -- but I could finally see ground more than just directly under me, and I could see more of a horizon to help me know what attitude my plane was in without my artificial horizon. What a relief (although, as I could now see enemies better, they could now see me better, too).
As I headed back toward A46, I came across a lone formation of Ju88's, flown by 68Daemon. Two bogies were pursuing, so I decided to investigate and escort a bit if needed. As I got close, I saw the two bogies were a Spit and Hurri, so I continued in to support. I saw another Spit as I got closer. 68Daemon either got the Spit or it broke off. The other Spit was too low to engage, and the Hurri was coming on Daemon's tail. As I closed in for the shot, about 800 out, Daemon put the final touches on the Hurri and shot it down.
I continued to cover Daemon for a bit (near A7 then A11, evading ack here and there) until my fuel was low enough that I had to return to base.
As I flew back, while I was crossing near A6, I ran into high bogies and didn't engage, so was not sure if they were friendlies or not. As I crossed over the channel, I saw some other LW groups returning to base. I flew to and landed at A46.
Schaden had lived through the furball with the Hurris and was at A46 waiting for me. The others were in Ju87's that had already taken off. Scheden and I took off after rearming and refueling to escort the others.
As we headed toward 12,9,5 and joined up with the Ju87's, I saw bogies at 3 o'clock. Schaden and I vectored to intercept and see what they were. They turned out to be two Spits, so we called it out and engaged. They dove in on our Ju87's, but the Ju87's were aggressive, and Schaden and I were on them, too. After a bit, I got on one Spit and stayed on him until he was down. At one point, he made a diving pass on a Ju87, and at least 3 Ju87's rolled and dove in on his tail, chasing him. :) I got some minor hits on him and then the coup de grace, shooting off his right wing, but Schaden, I think, got the kill. Schaden or someone else at about the same time got the other Spit. In the end, some of the Ju87's had lost their bombs, but not all, and we hadn't lost even one Ju87. Not bad! Good work, guys!
The Ju87's without bombs were ordered back to A44 (closest base) to rearm, and the rest of us were to stay in 12,9,5. But Vols quickly decided just to rearm everyone rather than just some. Schaden and I did need cannon rounds, too.
We all went back to A44, rearmed, and took off. When we were in 12,9,6, new orders came in to scout for and hit shipping in the channel. We thought shipping would be more likely at dock or close to the shore of England, so Schaden and I got the orders to climb toward the coast (so we weren't sitting ducks for enemy fighters), then scout SW along the coast, while the Ju87's would scout farther out to sea. We would cover more territory that way and have added safety.
I followed Schaden, and he headed toward V84. We didn't go very far when we spotted bogies at our 9 o'clock. Schaden and I went to check and then Schaden very quickly thereafter saw ships down below. He called them out in 12,10,3, and I echoed the call on general channel. We continued on to see the bogies, who were close, as friendlies. Vols and the rest of the guys in Ju87's spotted the fleet about that time, too. They got a more accurate fix on position and called the fleet at 12,10,1 heading 090 degrees, unless there were other ships at 12,10,3 and that was a separate sighting. It was a CV, cruiser, 4 dd's.
I echoed the position on the general channel several times, flew over toward the ships to provide support for the Ju87's, and about the time we reached the fleet, more bogies showed up. They turned out to be a Spit and Hurri. The Ju87's attacked the fleet, the enemy fighters attacked the Ju87's, and Schaden and I attacked the enemy fighters. As I made my first pass on the enemy fighters, more Hurris and Spits showed up, making it about 9 enemy fighters in total, with ack from the ships, so we had to be careful where we fought.
The Ju87's got hits on the CV, and it was burning, but the enemy fighters or ack started to put down the Ju87's. At one point, a Spit got on Vols' tail. I chased, but I couldn't get there in time, and the Spit got Vols. There were several enemies on my tail at this point, and I extended. At about that time, most or all Ju87's reported being down, so I decided to go into a fast climb but not reverse right away.
A Hurri stayed on me. After gaining a good bit of altitude, I reversed and got some hits on him, but not much. I flew very conservatively with him, extending, climbing, reversing for a pass, working to drag him toward France. After a bit, Teuffle in his 109 showed up to help. The Hurri and I were much higher than Teuffle, so on one reverse, I let the Hurri get closer, than dove hard, pulling him down under Teuffle. Teuffle got on him and stayed on him, and I did a series of high-speed passes. I was a too conservative for a while, keeping too much energy, but eventually, I got into it more aggressively, allowing Teuffle to do some drags and get some alt. I broke the guy off Tueffle a couple of times, and Teuffle shot him down. Good work, Teuffle! He returned to base after that, and I continued to scout.
I wanted to go see if I could find any remnants of the fleet for scouting purposes or find friendlies under attack whom I could assist. I flew W and ran into Charge who was fighting a Hurri. I went in to help, and Charge disengaged, probably to return to base. I stayed on the Hurri, harassing him as he headed on the deck toward England. Again, I was very conservative, keeping my speed and my ammo. In this one on one, the Hurri would do a break turn every time I closed to within 600, and with me keeping up lots and lots of speed, I didn't get that many hits on him. He was pretty good at evading and good at getting right back on course to the English coast after each pass. I got some hits on him, but nothing that great. As we neared the coast, I saw high bogies ahead and broke off.
I continued on then to scout for the fleet, to see if it was still up. I came across some low bogies and found a Spit and Hurri low. I didn't engage. I continued in the direction they were flying as that was the direction I wanted to scout for the fleet. After a little bit, there were more bogies, and another Spit came diving and then a Hurri, both from an altitude above me, but not in that great an angle for intercept. Then more Hurri's and Spits came in, then some more, making about 8-10 total. Fortunately, none of them had the best angle on me to chase me down, and I had been level at full throttle for a while with a good amount of speed. One Spit was able to get on my tail and close to about 1.5k and stay there. That was in 12,10,6 or so. I headed toward France and kept a look out for ships, and he eventually broke off.
About that time, the call for all LW to return to base came in, so I continued on to France and landed at A44.
Check of logs shows that I got 1 kill and 1 assist on this frame. The kill was the Spit I shot the wing off, with Schaden, Dace, and Odd getting an assist on it. The assist was the fight with the Hurricane I hit, which Teuffle then shot down.