Mission 7: Big Week II - Black Monday

One day has passed since the opening of Big Week, and the 33rd is tasked once again - this time in escorting a Group of bombers from the 390th BG as they begin their return journey from over the Reich. Maj Franks takes the lead of his squadron for this mission, taking a total of six P-38s airborne.

Blue Flight:

Maj Franks, Vet

2Lt Graham, Reg

White Flight:

1Lt James, Reg

2Lt Hawkins, Reg

2Lt Lawrence, Reg

1Lt Holcomb, TA

The weather is clear as the 38s soar away from England, enroute to their rendezvous with the B-17s. Over Belgium, Holcomb notices a flux on his oil pressure indicator. Understanding his situation, he radios Franks and turns for home. James reforms his blue flight into a three-ship Vic formation and follows behind Franks' pair. 

They link up with the bombers successfully and climb above them to their escort positions. Not long after their rendezvous, they spot black dots on the horizon. The black dots climb and maneuver to the bombers' 12 o'clock and begin to close in. James IDs them as German fighters, two four-ships of Me 110s and a two- and a three-ship of Me 109s. It appears that the German fighters are closing for a head on attack of the bombers until one of the 110 formations splits off, rounding for the B-17s rear - closing for a rocket attack.

The attackers form up

James pulls his formation around to take on the rocket-laden 110s, though he draws the attention of one the 109 flight leads. The 109s dive on James' three-ship, but they miss and fall away from the P-38s, their formation broken. James' flight continues their pursuit of the 110s.

The P-38s close on the attackers

Franks and Graham climb to get above the approaching 109s. As one of the 109s approaches beneath them, Franks cranks his ship into a hard dive attack on the 109. The maneuver is so sudden that Graham misses the moment and loses sight of his flight lead. Franks' fire flashes around the 109 who evades hard to the right. Watching the P-38 fly past him, the 109 dives after his attacker, cannons thumping. Franks pulls hard on the yoke to shake the 109 and the two aircraft spiral down, each trying to get on the tail of the other. The 109 is able to pull behind Franks and put cannon rounds into the cockpit, leaving holes in his canopy. Low to the ground, Franks uses ground clutter to disappear from his pursuers sights and races low to the ground back towards the B-17s.

Franks and the 109 spiral ever lower

Meanwhile up at altitude, James leads his flight in pursuit of the rocket-armed attackers, getting firmly on their tail. The 110s continue their course towards the B-17s relying on their tail gunners to keep them safe. Their gunnery is ineffective and James' flight sticks firmly on their six. The pilots of the 110s fire their rockets into the bomber box, but they all pass away harmlessly. Clearly someone tampered with their fuses...

James and his wingman, Hawkins, both open up on the 110s in their sights, tracer fire surrounding their targets. The 110s survive only by breaking formation and maneuvering hard to avoid the machine gun fire from their rear. The lead 110 breaks into the B-17 fire zone and draws immense machinegun fire from the B-17s' multiple .50 cals. His wing collapses under the fire and the 110 ace and his gunner manage to bail from the stricken aircraft.

James' flight pursuing the rocket-laden Me 110s

Having lost one of his wingmen, Hawkins, in their fire on the 110s, James leads Lawrence, his remaining wingman, in their continued pursuit of the 110s. James opens fire on one of the separated 110s, observing strikes flash on the attacker's wings, followed by a stream of leaking fuel. James fires again - this time the 110 explodes in flight. The pilot is thrown clear in the blast but with a shredded chute, plummets toward his death. 

James' fire causes a fuel leak in the Me 110

James and Lawrence continue their pursuit...

...and finish off the damaged 110

Witnessing this horror, James is left with a split second to yank his P-38 away from the burning 110 debris. He yanks hard up and to the left - too hard as his left wing stalls and he loses control of his aircraft, separating him from Lawrence.

Two 109s who had climbed for a dive on James and Lawrence now push their fighters over in pursuit of the out-of-control P-38. They easily establish themselves on his six, firing a combination of machinegun and cannon fire. James, trying to regain control of his spinning P-38, watches holes rip into his right wing and his canopy, and desperately wrestles his fighter out of its dive.

Two 109s pursue James' spinning P-38

Lawrence spots his endangered flight lead and the two 109s in hot pursuit. He cranks his P-38 hard left and into a steep dive after James' pursuers. With the 109s focused on James, Lawrence slides onto their six and prepares to fire.

Moments before he pulls the trigger, canon rounds smash into Lawrence's #1 engine as a unseen 109 flashes past his canopy. His shot thrown off, he watches the 109 to his front fire a canon burst into his flight lead, James' P-38 exploding under the barrage. No chute was observed.

James' P-38 explodes

His flight lead presumed dead and his own ship leaking oil, Lawrence breaks off the pursuit with a sudden dive, shakes his pursuer in the ground clutter, and breaks for home.

Meanwhile, the other group of Me 110s set up for their head on attack of the bomber box, along with their escorting 109s. The B-17s close fast with the head-to-head messerschmitts, and at such speed the German fighters and attackers all miss their target. On top of missing, two of the greener pilots jam their guns in their wild firing. They scream through the B-17 formation, harmlessly.

The attackers pass through the bomber box, head-to-head

The 110s pass behind the B-17s and foolishly circle around for a rear attack on another squadron of Fortresses. Lining up for rear aspect shots, the Me 110s are subjected to the full assault of concentrated turret crossfire of a bomber box. The lead 110 draws so much fire that he loses and aileron and a rudder, and limps his stricken ship home. One of his greener flight-mates vanishes in a ball of flame as his fuel ignites under the pressure of .50 cal fire. The explosion rocks the B-17 at the rear of the formation, and the pilot loses control of his bomber as it drifts out of formation.

The Me 110s to the rear of the bomber box - a reckless maneuver

The 110s pay the price

One of the B-17G drifts out of formation

As the air battle degrades into multiple individual combats, Graham and Hawkins, each separated from their flights, seek individual targets. Graham makes a forward deflection shot on an Me 110 but his rounds go wide. Maintaining his momentum, he makes a diving pass on a Me 109 beneath him. Again, his shots go wide. Clearly today is not his day.

Worse off is Hawkins. He finds a 109 on his tail and struggles to shake him. The first bout of machine gun and cannon fire go over his canopy, but the second burst forces him to jerk his aircraft down and left. Graham, recognizing Hawkins' dire situation, makes a nose-to-no pass with Hawkins and the 109, hoping to fire a quick burst into the messerschmitt's front. The high closure speed results in Graham missing his shot, who makes a climbing turn to reattack.

Graham's nose-to-nose with the 109 tailing Hawkins

As Graham's P-38 screams past them, the tailing 109 puts one final burst into Hawkins. His wing seperates from the aircraft and half of his empennage splits off, and his aircraft begins plummeting to the ground. Unable to pull himself out of the seat with the overwhelming G-forces, Hawkins is never able to bail out of his stricken craft. Graham watches, horrified, for a chute, but never sees one. He climbs, turns, and heads for the Channel.

Hawkins goes down

Still at altitude, the bombers lumber forward, now without their fighter escort. Still, their gunners remain an effective deterrent, especially while in formation. One 110 attempts a side attack on a group of B-17s, but is likewise riddled with machinegun fire from the bellies and sides of the Flying Fortresses. The 110s engine catches on fire, which quickly spreads to his wing. Consumed with putting out the fire by way of dive, the 110 crew fail to bail out before the fire spreads to their fuel tanks. They meet a fiery death.

Another 110 attempts a dive attack on the lone B-17 that had drifted from the formation. During the dive, the pilot pulls the trigger, but his cannons jam. The B-17 pilot opens the throttle and begins racing back towards the safety of his fellows. With this final defeat, the 110s decide to count their losses and return to base.

On more Me 110 experiences the effective crossfire of a bomber box

Well below the egressing attackers, Franks screams westward at treetop height, believing he lost his pursuer. To his distress, the ace 109 again appears in his cockpit mirror. Low on altitude with a 109 on his six, Franks' options seem limited. The 109 pilot pulls the trigger, but to no effect. In their spiral dogfight from altitude to low level, it appears the 109 pilot used up all of his ammo. The 109 flies abeam to Franks, waggles his wings, and breaks for home. Franks likewise makes a beeline for home.

The 109 on Franks tail just as he realizes he's out of ammo

Back at Kings Cliffe, Maj Hull and 1Lt Holcomb watch as the P-38s stagger back. Counting the returning fighters, they realize they're returning two aircraft short. Both James and Hawkins, original squadron members, were killed. Lawrence, streaming oil out of his #2 engine makes a rough landing, banging himself up in the process and ruining the aircraft. Two pilots killed and three aircraft lost, this has not been a stellar day for the 33rd. They managed to keep the fighters mostly at bay and the bombers passed through unscathed, but the 33rd paid a heavy price with only one kill to their name.

James and Hawkins were both awarded a Purple Heart posthumously, and James' Air Medal would likewise be sent home to his family. On a brighter note, Price who was presumed dead, made his way back to the squadron! He had spent about a week being shuffled along from one resistance cell to the next until he was finally brought back to Great Britain. In the final count, the Dragons are at a total of eight pilots (though Laurence will have to sit out a bit while his wounds mend) and six aircraft. Fortunately, Holcomb, having returned early for oil pressure indications, was able to have a heart to heart with the maintenance officer. The officer feels his reputation is on the line by sending out an unreliable aircraft, and he promises to do everything he can to replenish their total P-38 numbers.

Despite the losses, this was a fun game! Its hard to watch characters pass on that have been part of the campaign for a while, but that's what creates a compelling narrative. One can only imagine how Holcomb must feel, having RTB'd while just over Belgium! I apologize for the pace of games on the blog - I've been swamped with work and fatherhood, but hopefully I'll get a few more posts up in the near future. I'm considering using John Legan's "Platoon Forward" to try out a cooperative Chain of Command experience with my wife. We'll see!

Caleb