my flight. Cocking my Vickers we began to descend towards the enemy formation. They would target the Bristols. They knew that we would not be using cameras. I felt sorry for the pilots and gunners of the Bristols. They were like the bait and they would have to take whatever punishment was dished out.
The Germans used a different tactic that day. They used two squadrons. One came for us while the other flew low and attacked the Bristols. We approached each other in our two totally different formations. Once again I would be the focus of the German fire and I wondered when my luck would run out. When would I face a German pilot with the nerve to wait until the last minute and shred my propeller? It was not that day. The pilot of the Albatros who faced me was not a leader. I saw that he was struggling to maintain a straight line. That was the nerves. It told me he was a young pilot or a new pilot at least.
I used my usual trick of inviting the shot by lifting my nose slightly and then, as I jerked it straight back down, firing a hopeful burst. It worked. The young pilot fired as I lifted my nose and the bullets screamed over my head. My bullets smacked into the struts and the wires of his wings. Once again fortune smiled on me. I saw one of the wires severed. It would unnerve the pilot as he heard the twang and the port side of his aeroplane would be less stable. I moved my stick a little to starboard and Nat Hazell gave him a burst too. He made the mistake of pulling back on his stick and Lieutenant Hazell had another kill as his bullets stitched a line along the fuselage. The aeroplane continued in its loop. The pilot was dead.
I continued my bank to the right and it brought me alarmingly close to the next Albatros. I took a snap shot and my bullets rattled off the engine. I had to jerk my nose up and I felt bullets striking my fuselage. All that I could see were wings with black crosses. I had led my flight into the heart of the enemy. This would normally be fatal but the Camel was so manoeuvrable that I knew I could use its impressive handling to wrest the advantage back. I kept pulling on the stick. I felt the force of the wind as my Camel fought me but it kept coming around. We were a small target and we were moving very quickly. The mechanics had done a superb job. The hard part about pulling such a loop was keeping your orientation. I do not know why but I always found it easy. The pilots who followed me just had to keep on my tail.
I saw an Albatros below me as I came down. He was a perfect cross in my sights. At less than a hundred yards I pulled my triggers. Every bullet struck home. The pilot disappeared in a sea of blood. Such was the power of the twin Vickers that I saw daylight beneath his body as the bullets punched a hole in his fuselage. He was so close that my Camel almost collided with his tail. I came underneath him and found myself behind his leader. I fired again and his tail took many hits. I was in danger of ramming him and I pulled to starboard. I saw bullets strike his Albatros from the guns of Lieutenant Fall who was behind me. He began to spiral to earth.
I saw that Jack and I had lost the others. We were almost alone now. My loop had lost most of my flight and the Germans. I levelled out and checked the sky. The formations had disintegrated. I saw individual pilots chasing each other around the sky. To the west I saw the Bristols as they headed home with the precious photographs. I started to circle. Jack and I would wait for the other Camels to rejoin us and I would keep the last of my ammunition in case they needed help.
One by one they returned. I was like a mother hen counting her chicks. We formed a circle. We would soon have to return home. One was missing. Nat had not come back. I radioed that one of my flight was missing and headed home. Perhaps, like Lieutenant Carpenter he had been forced down and he would rejoin us.
We were
The Germans used a different tactic that day. They used two squadrons. One came for us while the other flew low and attacked the Bristols. We approached each other in our two totally different formations. Once again I would be the focus of the German fire and I wondered when my luck would run out. When would I face a German pilot with the nerve to wait until the last minute and shred my propeller? It was not that day. The pilot of the Albatros who faced me was not a leader. I saw that he was struggling to maintain a straight line. That was the nerves. It told me he was a young pilot or a new pilot at least.
I used my usual trick of inviting the shot by lifting my nose slightly and then, as I jerked it straight back down, firing a hopeful burst. It worked. The young pilot fired as I lifted my nose and the bullets screamed over my head. My bullets smacked into the struts and the wires of his wings. Once again fortune smiled on me. I saw one of the wires severed. It would unnerve the pilot as he heard the twang and the port side of his aeroplane would be less stable. I moved my stick a little to starboard and Nat Hazell gave him a burst too. He made the mistake of pulling back on his stick and Lieutenant Hazell had another kill as his bullets stitched a line along the fuselage. The aeroplane continued in its loop. The pilot was dead.
I continued my bank to the right and it brought me alarmingly close to the next Albatros. I took a snap shot and my bullets rattled off the engine. I had to jerk my nose up and I felt bullets striking my fuselage. All that I could see were wings with black crosses. I had led my flight into the heart of the enemy. This would normally be fatal but the Camel was so manoeuvrable that I knew I could use its impressive handling to wrest the advantage back. I kept pulling on the stick. I felt the force of the wind as my Camel fought me but it kept coming around. We were a small target and we were moving very quickly. The mechanics had done a superb job. The hard part about pulling such a loop was keeping your orientation. I do not know why but I always found it easy. The pilots who followed me just had to keep on my tail.
I saw an Albatros below me as I came down. He was a perfect cross in my sights. At less than a hundred yards I pulled my triggers. Every bullet struck home. The pilot disappeared in a sea of blood. Such was the power of the twin Vickers that I saw daylight beneath his body as the bullets punched a hole in his fuselage. He was so close that my Camel almost collided with his tail. I came underneath him and found myself behind his leader. I fired again and his tail took many hits. I was in danger of ramming him and I pulled to starboard. I saw bullets strike his Albatros from the guns of Lieutenant Fall who was behind me. He began to spiral to earth.
I saw that Jack and I had lost the others. We were almost alone now. My loop had lost most of my flight and the Germans. I levelled out and checked the sky. The formations had disintegrated. I saw individual pilots chasing each other around the sky. To the west I saw the Bristols as they headed home with the precious photographs. I started to circle. Jack and I would wait for the other Camels to rejoin us and I would keep the last of my ammunition in case they needed help.
One by one they returned. I was like a mother hen counting her chicks. We formed a circle. We would soon have to return home. One was missing. Nat had not come back. I radioed that one of my flight was missing and headed home. Perhaps, like Lieutenant Carpenter he had been forced down and he would rejoin us.
We were
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