I had to wait a couple of days to writhe this AAR. I had to wait for the sting to wear off...
The Gun Fighters were tasked with doing an early fighter sweep to pop the defensive CAP at A-61. Viper, of the 325th Checker Tails, and Attack group lead, dispatched 3 of his bombers to snap to target with us as a diversion. We launched, and all snapped to target. The bombers were Tree-Top NOE, and the Gun Fighters broke into two wings, A 40/60 split. Wing 1, the light wing, would level at 10 K, while wing 2, the heavy wing would continue to climb to 20K. Thus stacked we went into target, Wing 1 leading the way 2 keypads ahead.
The objective was to pop the CAP at 61 and drag it South West and low, clearing the skies for the 325th to do a clean bomb run 15 minutes later. All went to plan until first contact at T+17. Wing 1 encountered a scout, who must have been screaming his head off because his buddies came fast. Wing 1 anchored the fight to the South West as planned, and 2 minutes later Wing 2 showed up with 10K of alt to support them. That's when things went to hell.
Just as wing 2, the wing I was leading, got into the area, we encounter a gaggle of 109's at 22K! We were outnumbered 3 to 1 and the ensuing fight was short for me. I was so focused on Strategic and Area Situational Awareness, that I let slip my Tactical SA and was shot down by a 109 that had maneuvered onto my six within 45 seconds of the first merge. I was also the first one down.
I tried to call plays from my chute, but the fight quickly moved outside of icon range. So I accepted a call, and became a gunner for one of the NOE strike bombers. That dispatch lasted all of 2 minutes, as the bomber was a single, over the NME base, and already being chased by 6 109's! But our plan had succeeded. All the fighters appeared to be below 4 K and to the South West of the base!
5 minutes later I joined one of the planes in the 325th main strike group as another gunner. Much to my chagrin I quickly realized that they were WAY out of position! They were supposed to follow the Gun Fighters by 15 minutes and hit by T+35. But they were 2 whole sectors north of the target! Viper took his guys on a circuitous route to the target. I found out later that his group had encountered fighters over the channel and were pushed out of position. As such, the window of opportunity The Gun Fighters had created slowly closed. By T+60, when the 325th were on their bomb run, in their sites, and over the target, the defenders of A-61 had climbed back up to alt, and boy did they find us!
We were 2 minutes from drop when 6 109's came in from 4 O’clock. Followed 15 seconds later by another 4 from 11 O’clock. I watched as the group from 4 O-Clock came sweeping in from high 4. Then they each picked a different box of buffs and parked behind it. I figure that the Germans must have captured a B-25 to practice with, because they knew were my stops were! The 109 that picked my plane was able to sit back there, just below my gun-deflection stop, and hammer away at my box. Here I was, surrounded by NME fighters, my pilot on the bomb run and unable to maneuver, no escort to clear our six, and I had the best view in the game to watch myself get shot down for the third time in the same FSO!
I was a bit frustrated, and at the time disgusted. But I realized that Viper got dealt a crappy hand and did the best he could with it.
So, <<< Salute >>> to the guys who defended A-61. It was definitely a German Victory over that base!
