posted 11-29- 02:33 AM
I fire up the engines on my lancaster. As they roar to life I see Hawker and Mad Dog ahead of me waiting for clearance to take off. First Hawker's plane drones by then Mad Dog's. My turn! I make a rookie mistake and throw the throttle full open.. the wind catches my tail and thats all it takes to send my lancaster spinning around in a circle on the runway. NOT a good start. I get lined up and away, hopelessly behind Hawker. Looking around frantically I can't find Mad Dog. Dog? I radio. "Dog here.. takeoff problems". By now I can barely see Hawker and our escort of Spitfires. I radio a request to regroup and we head back for Mad Dog who is just lifting off as we return. Together again, I see our escort has disappeared. Not good ! I pick out a speck on the horizon that slowly forms into the shape of a Fw190.. Not good ! Hawker and I radio out 6 calls as the determined kraut (later found to call himself "Mk10" for unknown reasons) took turns buzzing us. Each time we would break hard and he would over-shoot.. lower lower lower. Mad Dog crackles over the radio "proceeding to target".. at least one of us will live to complete the mission.
As the fight descends I run out of altitude and have no choice but to flatten out and hug the waves. The whole fight my tailgunner squeezes off burst after burst. Again hearing the chatter of the tailgunner I can do nothing but fly low and wait for the end. BOOOM. Looking back I see the 190 disappear in a black cloud. Success ! Hawker still with me we proceed to climb back up and cross the channel when we are AGAIN jumped by another 190. The turret gunner swears he saw "LUNY" painted on the cowling. This is no crazy man. He roars past me and dives on Hawker who is still low. With no escort in sight I decide to return the favour and do what I can. The next thing I know Hawker, Luny and I are chasing each other around in a circle, my top turret and Hawker's tailgun firing round after round. Eventually my turret gunner calls that hes out of ammo. Hawker and I begin scissoring back and forth each bomber's tailgunner covering the other. Around this time Mad Dawg has returned from his bombing run and Luny decides a quick escape would be prudent. Nothing like the astonishing sight of seeing three lancasters firing away with front turrets hot on the 6 of a damaged 190 ! At this point I realize I'm still carrying my full bomb load so I break off chase to drop them. Hawker and Mad Dog continue on to finish of our "prey".
The most amazing thing is, when we returned home not a single lancaster had been damaged !
TS
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posted 11-29- 02:33 AM
posted 11-29- 03:06 PM
