Horrido! - A.A.R. from Schlacht Gruppe4 -

[hblair]

A big Horrido from SchlachtGruppe4/SG4!

Here is an A.A.R from our squadron for Tuesday 10/17...

Our squadron gathered at A19 for takeoff as A16 and A17 were unflyable. Our first sortie roster consisted of hblair, wlfgng, stsanta, furious, ede, LJKSparv, and trell. We rolled with the usual confusion associated with a scenario. I wasn't going to make the same mistake I had made one week ago tonight. I was going to have plenty of altitude when I met the enemy. We had decided to stay closer to the western end of Sicily than we did last week too. after climbing for 10-15 minutes we were over the A16 area with 30,000ft in our Focke Wulfe 190's. We had been eyeing some blobs on the dar to the west and had come to the conclusion that the bombers were likely in the same sector as the escort fighters. We proceded west, and came to realize that if we were going to interecpt the contacts to the west, we would have to head further west to meet them, as our DT's were already spent and fuel was becoming an issue.

As we entered the same sector as the enemy contacts, we kept our eyes peeled. I heard santa on roger wilco say he had vis on some dots, being at 30k, I naturally looked down for them, but couldnt see them, thats because they were slightly higher than we were. I told the boys to hit WEP, that we had probably run into the damn escorts again, just like last week. We tried to WEP through and curve back northeast towards A17. But as the enemy planes turned out to be P38's they would have none of that. they started catching up to the guys in the rear of our flight. One of them had to turn and fight. I asked santa to turn and help the two guys as the rest of us WEPed to A17 to try to refuel. Ede was able to kill 1 P38 on the way to A17. The P38's killed two of our pilots and dogged us all the way back.

I realized that if we all dove into A17 to refuel, the P38's would simply CAP the field and kill us as we tried to reup. I told the remaining pilots to go ahead and refuel, and stsanta and I would try to keep the P38's busy. we ended up getting into one of the hardest fought dogfights I've ever been into. When your'e in a scenario ya give it a little more effort than in the old Main Arena. Anyways, stsanta disposed of 1 of the 5 P38's that had been dogging us. It wasn't long til, we were engaged with the rest of them right on the water just north of A17. We were on roger wilco, practicing wingman tactics with great success. stsanta disposed of another P38 (2). Then I shot down the other 2 as a couple of our refueled and ready 190's arrived on the scene to help mop up. We had successfully disposed of 5 P38's that had come in with altitude and advantage.

We refueled at A17 and reupped with discod joining us. It was apparent to us that the allies were bombing A1. We grabbed about 15,000 ft and headed west to A1. After a long flight we found a lone B26 co-altitude over the field getting ready to do business. I'm sure he was feeling pretty lonely as our flight of 190's put the grim reaper to him. It appeared that we had caught him before he dropped his bombs, because the field looked untouched, and the B26 dropped a large salvo on his way earthward, exploding harmlessly a few miles from our our airfield.

SchlachtGruppe4 then landed at A1 and retired for the evening.

We had inflicted 5 fighter kills, 1 bomber kill, and 3 assists collectively. we suffered 2 pilots killed in action.

hblair,
CO SchlachtGruppe4
 
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<===<The ASSASSINS>===>
          assassins@aceshighcs.com  
   hblair@cybrtyme.com        

[This message has been edited by hblair (edited 10-17-2000).]

[Hangtime]

Yep.. I got into the tail of that lone b26; just as he got whacked.   Everywhere I looked was a 190. Damn; they wuz like flies in a butchers shop in August.  

Our b17's; well escorted, had already proceeded to the training area west of a1; and destroyed the place. That p38 group managed to hold you guys well off from our B17's, and they performed their prime function well enuff; tho it woulda been nice to get a few back. Yha bums.  

Malta; as always, turned into a meatgrinder; our typhies and spits put up a heluva fight, and managed once again to hold the fort.

Thanks Zig and Cavey; a great little practice and we were somewhat less confused. Also; once again; we were hugely understrength; with only that one light p38 squadron; 2 p47's (total) and less than one full Spit and typhie squad. We only had ONE B26 up.. and yah killed it; you bums.  

Salute all who flew... and see yah all again this comming Saturday. Was great fun!~  

Hang


 

[discod]

Great re-cap hblair!  It sure was fun!  Hopefully I'll make it on time next time  

[hblair]

 

Damn; they wuz like flies in a butchers shop in August.

LOL! Funny stuff hang.

It's having good natured adversaries like you that makes these games fun. You guys can take a little ribbing without getting all hot and pissed off. Wish we had more like that over here on the Luftwaffe side.

 

[newguy]

ok, this is my AAR clipped out of my post in the general area, at the request of hblair. I was flying in the p38 group, providing a cap in an area for the buffs

>We started off well, dispersing a large group of 190s (we had 6 p38s) at around 30k. Then we chased them back to Italy and picked a few off. Then bad stuff happened. Rob, who had been hit earlier crashed tryin to land. We then saw some really low 190s and went after them. Problem was, not all of us went, splitting us up (I think this was a problem due to the fact that not all of us had rw, my wingie being one of them). I foolishly went to the deck after a 190. I musta been going too fast, cause my plane felt real sluggish as I tried to turn with him. I had a couple good looks, but couldnt land a shot. JC had come down to save my butt, but he was unable to finish the deal with the 190 either. Good evasives whoever you were, we were about 50 feet off the drink going around 50!. This was about the time the 190s buddy, StSanta, shows up. Either he or the other 190 pinged me up pretty good, causing damage to a flap, and an aerlon causing the plane to react even more sluggishly. I could have run at this point but JC was still in the mix, so I turned back and aimed for the high 190. Another mistake on my part, as I was not nearly fast enough. StSanta easily went over me and swooped down for the kill. I was too low when I bailed, and my body was torn and swallowed by the sea.<

That was my report to Westy who missed the frame. I am not sure about what happened to the rest of my mates as we got badly separated. Maybe they could post their AAR's?
Again <S> to StSanta, and especially hblair for one heck of a fight. That was an adrenaline rush, seeing those whitecaps so close. I will NOT get that low on Saturday. I learnt my lesson  

newguy
The Wrecking Crew

[StSanta]

Helluva fight newguy <S!>

Aw, our tranining area demolished? Not good.

Hangtime, we were tasked with protecting A16, not A1  . Nevertheless, were were those B-17s? Dinnae see any B-17's the entire flight. Did they take off an hour after the fighters or did they take a whole different route?



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StSanta
9./JG 54 "Grünherz"

[LLv34_Camouflage]

When I arrived to the arena the fighting had already started.  I instantly noticed that there was no-one defending A1, so I took off in my trusty G-2.  Dogftr walked in and I took him as my wingie.  I told him that we're going to be in deep s**t in just a few moments: I saw the sector counters show a large enemy formation approaching from the south.  We were the only axis pilots in the area.

We tried to grab as much alt as we could, but when we saw the dots, they were atleast 5k above us.  There were 3 P47s and 4 B17s.  We never got within icon range of the bombers, but I saw the four engines and red tails.  Then the jugs came in - we dodged, dragged, dodged, dragged.  Eventually Dogftr got hit and was forced to bail.  I dove towards A1 but the enemies didn't follow, they stayed S of A1.  

I headed west since I had lost sight of the B17s.  My hunch prooved correct, I found them bombing the training facitility at maybe 25-30k.  I was under 20k then and didn't even get within icon range when I was jumped by the P47's again.  I didn't last very long - my left wing got hit after a few passes and I had to bail.

As I walked back into the tower I noticed a C47 circling S of A1.  I hurried to the radio room and called hblair's A-5's to come there asap.  Just as the 190s arrived, the C47 was shot down by the fields acks.  The lonely B26 blew up seconds later.

The B17s had fled the scene earlier.


JG 27 "Afrika" results:

Camo: no kills, Bailed out.
Dogftr: no kills, Bailed out.


Was strat turned off from the arena, since it didn't show any damage to the training factory?  Or is the factory owned by another country maybe?

What happened at Malta?


Axis CO - Camo


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Camouflage
XO, Lentolaivue 34
 www.muodos.fi/LLv34

Brewster into AH!

"The really good pilots use their superior judgement to keep them out of situations
where they might be required to demonstrate their superior skill."

[jcy19]

well ill just pick up where newguy started. it was unlucky that rob got hit as he was my wingman and couldnt get to him on time. after a long chase into unfriendly ground, i noticed the 38 group was a little spread out. i could here some saying" there is 1 on the deck im going down to get him" and i was thinking to myself  "this aint good". well when i finnally saw what was going on i noticed that bug(our flight lead) was smoking and going down.i then saw newguy engaged with a 190 and notice another off to my right and slightly higher. i decided to go on down a little to give newguy some support, hoping we could kill the 190 he was engaged with before the other 1 came in. well as you all know by now that didnt happen. i came in to hot and overshot the 190 fighting with newguy. i then looped to find the 2nd 190 inin.(stsanta i think). i then proceeded to engae the 2nd 190 but he was very slippery with some very nice siccors, and again i was to hot to engage and overshot.everything after that was blurry alot of screaming on Rw and various other mahem. i saw a 38 go down  i was screaming we need to bug out, i got pingeg up and lost an engine. i was really trying to bug out at this time but saw another 38 engaged with 2 190s one 190 on me still. so i said screw it im not leaving a squadie to die. so i reversed and the died. i <S> the 2 first 190s that we engaged on the deck never have fought such slippery and well flown planes. was a blast and i now know what not to do in a 38. (did i even ping anyone).

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jcy19  |||AirWolves||

[oboe]

I was lucky enough to bag an FW190 and RTB.  I was the only 38 to do both, however.  After our initial high alt furball with the 190s, which I thought we handled very well, they broke and ran for Malta.  We pursued.  I was a little faster than the rest of the guys, having accidentally punched off both DTs instead of just one as ordered (live and learn - so that's how you use "salvo" with DTs).  Anyway, I managed to catch a straggler and destroy him.  He didn't have a prayer - I closed to with 400 yds and let him have a concentrated burst and that was all for him.   Then I called out another low straggler, and that was when we all started getting too low.  We were over Malta by now, and the 190s had revved and were engaging.  I knew I was lower on fuel that everybody else, so after a couple passes I was squawking bingo fuel and that I needed to break off and RTB.  I wasn't sure if I could make it back, and didn't want to ran out of gas and ditch.  It's important to RTB in this scenario.  As I was egressing though, the radio chatter got more and more disturbing.  I could hear my buddies getting caught low and downed.  I wanted to rev and fight, but I knew the odds were against us by now, and my fuel situation was critical.  I dropped revs and manifold pressure to the minimum, and kept a wary eye out for any chasers.  I regained A7 and refueled in time to try to provide egress escort for the Forts from A1.  Never got a vector from ground control, though, so I flew all the way to A1 and back looking for friends without luck.  Returned to A7 and landed safely.

It sucks to run out in the middle of a fight, and then lose your whole flight.  I have a better idea of the 38's fuel consumption now, and think I could've loitered a little longer and maybe helped someone egress the fight.  It might've helped get one more guy back safe.  We just got too separated and dragged low.  Turned out to be a recipe for disaster.

         

[sling322]

Well we would have had at least 2 more b17s on that raid, but our CO Sunchaser got discoed due to very stormy weather in the West Houston area.  I, on the other hand, need to remind myself not to answer the door during a mission.  I had to leave the computer for a minute or two to answer the door and returned to find my buff in a steep dive....apparently I forgot to set the autopilot when I got up.  Well, needless to say, I ripped off my wings and had to bail over friendly territory.  The group took off from A12 and headed northwest up the coast of North Africa then turned northward out across the Med.  We made landfall just south of A1 and turned west to find the target which was the training facility.  We located the target and began our bomb run at about 26k-27k altitude.  All 4 bombers dropped on target inflicting heavy damage.  We then turned to 180 and began running south toward friendly territory.  All bombers made it home safely with the help of our escort who engaged a couple of enemies over A1 who never really were a threat because of our altitude advantage.  Overall it was a successful mission.  Sunchaser will have the final numbers of how many barracks were destroyed at the training facility.  

6 bombers took off
1 lost to disco
1 lost to pilot error

4 bombed target and rtb safely

[-ammo-]

I know that Frenchy will have a more in detail AAR but will givve this one for the P-47 group.


With only four of us we launched in P-47D-25's from A6. Our mission tonight was close escort for the 5  (maybe 4) B-17's sortied under sunchasers lead. frenchy and FL, apache, RA, and myself. Apache came late but rendevoued over the MED.. Another entry  , ezdoc showed up while  we were engaged over A1. We met the bombers just to the east of A8 where we had achieved an altitude of 32K+. Due to a distraction our flight leader was slightly delayed but no matter he caught up soon. we stayed with the buffs to the target area ( the training complex just south west of A1) where indeed we encountered a small force of 2 ME109's. At this point it was just FL Frenchy, Apache, and ammo. The 109's were considerably lower and we were given the go ahead by Frenchy to engage the 109's. Apache and I swooped to an altitude of 23K where the 109s were and engaged. Not long after Frenchy himself engaged and we basically controlled the battle with a series of boom and zoom attacks. The LW pilots put up  a valiant effort but we overwhelmed them nevertheless. The first to go  down was with a series of snapshots from our P-47's which destroyed the 109. The Kill was awarded to ammo  but the 109 had lead from several p-47's in its fuselage. the pilot (dogftr) managed to bail and it is assumed he lived. During the battle FL Frenchy received a few hits which he took a minor injury. Frenchy managed to to take his AC back to friendly territory and ditched. Meanwhile Frenchy ordered us to stay with the bombers and apache, ammo, and ezdoc regrouped. At this point the Buffs were free at their present altitude to do their job. The last opposition, the remaining 109, was at a low altitude. We considered it a target of opportunity. We engaged it in textbook manner and over whelmed the 109. He lost  a wing form a solid snapshot from apache and ammo's P-47's. the kill was awarded to ammo with assist given to apache.  Something strange happened with ezdoc, it is not clear at this point what may have happened and needs to be investigated. Apache and ammo rtb's along with the bombers to A6 safely.
 
A great day for the 345th FG. Sadly I forgot to initiate the camera
 
ammo

[Dowding]

I expect Manedew will post the AAR for the typhoon squadron as a whole, but here's my flight and fight. Hope you don't mind Manedew  .

I was late in getting into the arena and was ordered to up in a tiffy loaded for a possible jabo/intercept mission. I was able to meet Manedew, Vosper and SwoopUK 1/2 between A9 and Malta at about 13k, before flying on to Malta in formation. Upon reaching the island, we turned North to intercept a large contact over Sicily.

As we passed the coast we spotted a formation of aircraft (7 or more) which were found to be unescorted Ju88s. I gleefully jettisoned the rockets as the flight split into two with me following Manedew in, thinking that it would be a shame to break up such a well-formed group of aircraft. Ah well - a gentle turn brought us onto an intercept course and we dived to gain speed. Our first pass left two aircraft damaged, one with fuel and smoke belching from the stricken Ju88. Unfortunately, Manadew was unluckily hit in the vertical stab. and was soon tumbling out of control. Meanwhile, Vosper had made a kill.

I extended slightly and headed back to the now fragmenting Ju88 flight. I picked out the aircraft that Manedew had damaged, which had fuel pouring from its fuselage. Seeing me heading for him, the pilot made a hard left turn, which I followed, before opening up at 400 yrds with my hispanos. The fuel leak was joined by a destroyed engine as the ju88 lost a wing, and plummeted in flames to earth.

By this point, the three remaining tiffies were pretty separated, and we decided to withdraw due to lack of fuel. This was fortunate, as we were soon pursued by four high cons. They did not follow, so we decided to rearm and refuel at Malta. Unfortunately, SwoopUK had been wounded and sadly expired from his wounds on final approach. A sudden gust of wind flipped Vosper's plane on the runway as I taxied to be serviced.

As I got back into the air, a battle was raging above me, and by the time I could engage, the Axis fighters were severely outnumbered. I made a high speed run at a couple of 109s, but inflicted no damage. Unfortunately, one of the 109s had picked me up and succeeded in taking out one of my precious hispanos. Fortunately, he was picked off by the other allied pilots and I could disengage.

A pair of Ju88s had succeeded in making it to Malta and had dropped some of their bombs before I could get there. They split up and I cautiously attacked one Ju88 (making several hits for no visible damage), before the rest of the tiffy squadron came on the scene. On my final pass, my wing was shot off and my engine killed and I bailed.

Thanks for a great scenario guys and thanks to Manedew for letting me fly with him. <S>

BTW - could someone who was in the ju88 squad let me know what happened to their flight? Cheers.

[StSanta]

JCY, that fight with you and newguy was the best one I've had in ages!

Man, you were all over me. After getting first one shot at newguy, disabling him somewhat, and then another, I found you on my six, as if glued there. I desperately threw in *everything* I had, and really haven't flown as good as I did there I think. I was able to get nose-too-nose and xtend, but then another P-38 went for a HO, and I barrel rolled. Which enabled you to close. This time you were even MORE ssticky, and ya got some .50's in on me. Nose to nose again, a big crack as your 20mm hit home. I am so accustomed not to take HO's that I didn't even think about firing (this was not a HO though).

After that, the SECOND P-38 came in again. I screamned and yelled in panic on RW - I think my squaddies were getting bored with me. "Coming coming. HELP HE*S ALL OVER ME! "on the way" F¤%&# GET here, I can't shake him!"

Fortunately I produced an overshot and our reinforcements arrived.

Man, that was intense. Up high, you had us. Down low, the A5 shines.

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StSanta
9./JG 54 "Grünherz"

[Sunchaser]

346th Bombardment Squadron(H) Report:

Seven B17Gs took off from A12 with orders to return to the target aborted in Saturdays mission, the training base Southwest of A1.

The pilots were:

Sunchaser: power failure relegated me to a gun position in the Lead B17 early in the mission

Pollock1: assumed lead and took Squadron to target and returned to base at A6.

Sling 322: Answered the door and fell out, finished mission as gunner.

SCGreyBeard: led 2nd element and held excellent position with same.

RPGBuck: flew number 3 to SCGB and completed mission.

Kriy: Took off number 2 to SCGB but I believe aborted (discoed) about 10 minutes into the mission and was not seen again.

Skipper: Took off number four to SCGB and completed the mission.

After the power failures, discos and fallingout of ones airplane were complete there were 4 B17s left.

These B17s were well covered during the mission by P47s flown by Ammo and Apache and, I learned later, Frenchy.

We had a scare approaching A1 for our turn into the target when Bandits were called at 2 o'clock low but these were effectively engaged by the escorts and were never a threat to the mission from that point on.

The damage assessment recon plane never made it to target {Strat diasabled??) so visual confirmation of hits from gunners is all we have.

Reported Damage:
4 anti aircraft gun positions
43 Grunt training Destroyed.

Well flown 346th!

I will take this opportunity to say
 THANK YOU ESCORTS!

There is no way bombers will survive great losses without dedicated escort.

The fact that the reported bandits were well below the bombers in no way lessened their threat to us.

Had they been allowed to climb without interference there is a good chance we would have lost some of our bomber force.

Flying escort is not the best duty but you may rest assured it is the most appreciated.

Sunchaser




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When did they put this thing in here and WTF is it for?