The Fellowship of the Wing

[AAC_Maj. Hubbabubba]

~S~All

For this last mission of 2012, Minuteman thought that a general gathering would be nice. So we formed at Coltishall;



Remarkably, this procedure went rather well; only one or two collisions to report. Not so long ago, this nice line-up on the runway would have taken the entire time of the mission by itself! The tail, barely visible on the right, is Minuteman's B-17. The long shadows reveal that take-off will be at dusk. I had my doubts about bombing the Fatherland in day lights. Take-off was done "all at once" on Minuteman's command;



...and I almost rear-ended our CO!!! But he zigged and I zagged, so all went well. It was a good occasion for a picture that I was not to let go to waste! Again, note; no balls of fire. Decidedly, bomber training is paying-off. After circling around, I ended-up being "Charlie Six", so it was time to gather the herd;

[AAC_Maj. Hubbabubba]

Under Minuteman's lead, we all turned East, leaving the English coast behind us pretty soon;



It wasn't long before the majority of the flock formed a nicely knitted defensive box;



Any jagdflieger tempted to attack us would be better off with one of our stragglers. I know I would...

[AAC_Maj. Hubbabubba]

By the time we reached our target, Messerschmidt's training facilities at Münster, all the guys had peeled-off with the notable exceptions of Minuteman, Limy, and yours truly. But we were decided to make the most of it. I was designated "lead bombardier" as we turned 180° for our final approach. Unfortunately, the overcast kept obliterating the ground and, as the search lights started piercing the cloud cover, I couldn't see a thing. Fortunately, Limy and Minuteman were able to locate the target and I decided to drop my bombs on their lead. Padlocking between the two, I finally saw Minuteman dropping his stick and turned gently my own "fort" in his direction and decided that I would do a "blind" bombing by trying to get my eggs in the same nest.

The following animation was taken from the perspective of my last bomb (A key);



All images, with the exception of the last one, are taken looking South. The first frame is from 20,000 feet, the bombing altitude. The last frame is taken looking North as the last bomb is exploding, barely missing the tarmac.

[AAC_Maj. Hubbabubba]

I must say that I was agreeably surprised. Not only did my "Willy Nelly" drop was on target, but it mingled with my companions' own drop! Just to be sure, I went back to assess damages. Approaching from the South going North, my perspective was pretty much the same as the last frame of the preceding animation. The crater of my last bomb is clearly visible just passed the tarmac, but all my other bombs were smack on!



We can clearly see that a bomb, not one of mine, has registered a direct hit on the nearest hangar on the right while near-misses and hits are disfiguring the place. In real life, near-missed like that would have blown walls and roofs like a house of cards in a hurricane. The second shot, is even more revealing;



If you look closely, you will notice that the farthest impact is in the river just at the end of the longest runway on the left. If we trace a line between this crater and the crater of my last bomb, the impact zone covers roughly an ellipse centered along this line. In any debriefing, this is what we call precision bombing. I only wonder how the place would have looked like with seven of us...



But assessment would have to wait the return at the base; time to egress or, simply put, shove-off!

[AAC_Maj. Hubbabubba]

Limy parted from us a few minutes after the bombing. Minuteman and I decided to shorten the flight plan by "cutting the corners" between two waypoints. This is then that we came over this;



Apparently, black-out measures are not always strictly applied. Both of us were intrigued by this "Las Vegas im Fatherland". Curiosity got me diving to see what it was all about.



It's Achmer! We visited the place in daylight a couple of months ago (see alliedaircorps.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=screenshots&action=display&thread=575).

But, as Allied Armies are getting closer to the heart of the Third Reich, Deelen is now open for business and is our second home away from home. This is Minuteman bathing in the last light of the dusk, and justly pointing out that night has not set in... yet.



To all AAC members and participants all over the Earth, let me wish you and your families and friends Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, in the hope of seeing you back in 2013 happy, peaceful, and, over all, in good health.