Brooke (Group Leader) and some of I/JG3 in their beautiful FW 190A-8's -- 38,000 ft. over St. Malo, hunting for enemy bombers.
Brooke (Group Leader) and some of I/JG3 in their beautiful FW 190A-8's -- 38,000
ft. over St. Malo, hunting for enemy bombers.
I/JG3 comes across some enemy fighters (in this case, P-47D Thunderbolts). The
bogies below YES and STICK seem too spread out and sparse to be a bomber stream.
I/JG3 tangles a bit with the fighters to keep them from interfering with I/JG3
as it hunts for bombers. Brooke does a pass or two, then continues to hunt.
However, after tangling with enemy fighters, Brooke is now at about 30,000 rather
than 38,000 ft.
Later, near Laval, some higher P-38J Lightnings dive in. YES is working to break
them off Brooke's tail -- thank you, YES! -- but high escort is trouble for
FW 190's. Shortly after this, a P-47D joins the party, and Brooke and YES are
both trying to get clear.
Yoj and his boys arrive, clearing Brooke and YES. Thanks, guys!
After being cleared, Brooke scouts around and finds a bomber stream, B-17G Flying
Fortresses heading to Tours. Brooke shadows them, sending out accurate reports
(enemy position, numbers, heading, altitude) over the radio. Then he dives in
for an attack.
Brooke fires on the trailing B-17, doing a slashing side attack. P-38 and P-47
escorts are coming in from the rear of the bomber stream.
Brooke pours the shots into the B-17. The rest of the bomber stream is visible
to the front.
The B-17 explodes as Brooke flies past. Brooke gets the kill.
After his pass, Brooke pulls up into an off-angle zoom climb to check for pursuit
and to check if any members of I/JG3 are engaged by the trailing escort and
in need of help.
Brooke decides that he is in a good position to make a run at some of the escort
and does so, to keep it cleared away from the bombers.
Then a higher P-38J comes in, and Brooke runs for it. His decision to make some
attacks on trailing escort was not a wise one after all. He should have just
continued in the direction of the bomber stream.
As Brooke flees pursuit, he flies near Tours and can see some of the bomb damage
(black smoke rising from an industrial sector to the right of his right wing).
Brooke evades pursuit by diving fast enough to stay in front of the P-38 and
by rolling and jinking to throw off shots. The P-38 breaks off after a while,
and Brooke catches back up to bombers near Laval. Brooke finds a damaged B-17G
straggler and P-47D escort. He dives on the B-17 and opens fire, blowing past
the P-47 at over 400 knots.
Brooke puts a long burst of cannon and machinegun hits into the B-17. Debris
streams back from the stricken bomber.
A view of Brooke's attack run from near the B-17's upper turret. Debris and
smoke streams back from the B-17. The P-47 escort is visible to the right.
A view as Brooke flashes by the B-17 at over 400 knots. The bomber is trailing
debris and smoke. Both its outside engines are out. Brooke takes hits from gunners
as he zooms past, but his FW 190 seems OK afterward.
Although Brooke noticed it only once he was past the B-17, a higher P-47D escort
is able to dive in. Brooke puts his FW 190 into a steep dive to get out of the
area as quickly as possible. The B-17 that Brooke attacked is to the right in
the picture, with the P-47 escort from the previous picture just in front of
it and turning to follow Brooke. The rest of the bomber stream is visible as
bogies in the left of the picture. There are other bogies up high that could
be escort.
Only the P-47 that dove in is able to stay with Brooke as he dives out of the
area. Brooke stays in a fast dive and jinks and rolls to throw off the P-47's
shots as it closes. As it gets very close, Brooke takes some hits from its gunfire
and then initiates a rolling-scissors fight with the P-47. The FW 190 is the
best-rolling plane in the air, better than the P-47. This is a picture during
the rolling scissors.
After a series of scissors moves, Brooke is able to turn the tables on the P-47
and get on its tail.
However, before Brooke can saddle up for a shot, he sees two P-38J's diving
in. Brooke disengages from the P-47 and runs for it. This is bad, as Brooke
is starting his exit on the deck at 175 knots.
Brooke accelerates along at treetop level, watching the P-38's close and the
P-47 turn back around and start chasing, too. Brooke thinks he is doomed, but
luck smiles upon him. He happens to fly under ^KLR and Buff1 and his boys, who
are heading the other way. They engage the P-38's and P-47, and Brooke gets
away. He sends a "thank you" on the radio. That was close! Brooke
moves off to search for more bombers. After a while, he still doesn't find any
and returns back to base to land.
Brooke ends part 2, frame 1 with 2 kills on B-17's (the second one he attacked eventually was shot down, and Brooke got the kill), 0 assists, and returned to base.
by Brooke P. Anderson
e-mail: brooke@electraforge.com
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