Always good to hear from you. Sometimes I wonder if it happened as much as it does in the game. Or maybe I'm just afraid of going down behind enemy lines through no fault of my own. Then again I read several books of accounts in my work on the '100 Years' thread, and a lot of them didn't make it back. Fortunately that was a good way to get captured, which meant you didn't get killed.

Thanks for checking in, especially when it's on my thread. :sunny:

27 April 1915

Bailleul Town
Dugan Vystavel writes: "0608: Artillery Spot over the trenches between Bethune and Lens. Lt Griffiths leading. 1 hour 43 minutes.
1321: Scouting Mission over a balloon north of Lille. Lt Griffiths leading. While we were climbing for altitude Lt Griffiths disappeared. I continued on the mission alone. They keep hinting that we should attack this balloon. I consulted Capt Shaw, and he was willing. We dropped through the clouds and circled the balloon. The carbine was totally ineffective, as was their Archie. Their machine guns, however, put several bullets into our aeroplane. Fortunately none of them hit the engine or petrol tank. When we returned home it was raining. All we got for our efforts was a lecture on not getting our machine shot up. 1 hour 50 minutes

Warmeriville
Odis Först writes: "0640: Long-distance Scouting Mission over a factory about two-thirds of the way to Paris. Ltn Müller leading, Ltn Soltau and myself in support. 3 hours 37 minutes.

Senard
Noel Kay writes: "0841: Photo Mission over Charleville. No DCA, no trouble at all. 1 hour 45 minutes."

Gonneham
Corrigan Aujla writes: "It's raining again."

Saint-Pol-Sur-Mer
Filimor Hance writes: "It's still raining."

Bertincourt
Lennart Altendorf writes: "Raining again."

Finally promoted to 2nd Lieutenant after 117 or so hours of flight time. Still flying Moraine Saulnier L type in Flanders and it's now June 11, 1915. I don't seem to ever get cancelled for bad weather and the missions are moving to more bombing runs on Hun airfields.

The game does have the occasional cancellation, but I modify my own outcomes with die rolls. I've read about how severe that winter was. I've been following Oswald Boelcke's letters home, and it's hard to believe how much they didn't fly that winter. The game doesn't come close.

28 April 1915

Warmeriville
Odis Forst writes: "0424: Nothing happening today, but it is absolutely beautiful out, so Ltn Soltau led Ltn Müller and me on a check-flight over to Martincourt and Stenay and back. 2 hours 53 minutes."

Saint-Pol-sur-Mer
Filimor Hance writes: "05:03: Scouting Mission over Paaschendale, S/Lt Derobert leading. Nothing to see. 1 hour 45 minutes."

Bertincourt
Lennart Altendorf writes: "0503: Special Mission today. Led Vfws Leffers and Fricke on a Scouting Mission south of Arras. We scouted enemy positions, wrote them down and flew down to 100 metres and dropped them over local headquarters. On the way home we took note of our own troops’ positions for report to the General Headquarters. 1 hour 55 minutes."

Senard
Noel Kay writes: "1040: Patrol up and down the lines from Sillery to Varennes-en-Argonne. 1 hour 42 minutes."

Gonneham
Corrigan Aujla writes: "1040: Patrol up and down the lines from Sillery to Varennes-en-Argonne. 1 hour 42 minutes."

Bailleul Town
Dugan Vystavel writes "It's raining again."

29 April 1915

Bailleul Town
Dugan Vystavel writes: "0500: Led Lt Aldaine on a Scouting Mission over the lines west of Lens. Very cloudy. Heavy German artillery barrage on our boys. The are using that and the weather to build up behind that area. We could see a lot of vehicles and tents, and some extra guns. 1 hour 45 minutes.
1220: Fred Aldaine and me together again to Bomb an enemy airfield. Weather still miserable. 1 hour 28 minutes.

Saint-Pol-sur-Mer
Filimor Hance writes: "0607: Defensive Patrol over Abeele. Lt de Flassieux leading. Horrible weather. 1 hour 13 minutes.

Gonneham
Corrigan Aujla writes: "0619: Led Sgt Burr on a Scouting Mission over the front lines near Paaschendale. Overcast weather, dodged a couple of rain showers. Nothing of importance going on. 1 hour 49 minutes.
1034: Led Sgt Alford on a Scouting Mission over a balloon position north of Lens. They’ve been after us to attack the balloons for a while now. I couldn’t resist. We dove down to attack. I was too far away and Capt Williamson didn’t bother to fire. Alford managed to pull up very close, and Lt Harrity got off a good burst. I was amazed when the thing actually collapsed into a ball of flame! I circled once to make sure, and headed home. We had taken off into gloomy, cloud-filled skies, and by the time we were done it was pouring rain. I made it home alright, but without any sign of Alford and Harrity. I filed my report, saying that they should get all the credit as we hadn’t even fired a shot. It turns out that they came down somewhere near Givenchy. Whether they took a burst of Archie, suffered engine problems or just got lost in the rain and mist we’ll never know. What we do know is that we lost two good men today. At least they’ll have garnered a victory between them before they left us. Tonight we drink to Sgt Nicholas Alford and Lt Andrew Harrity.

Senard
Noel Kay writes: "Raining today."

Warmeriville
Odis Forst writes: "Heavy rains sweeping through."

Bertincourt
Lennart Altendorf writes: "Another storm is upon us."

30 April 1915

Bertincourt
Lennart Altendorf writes: :0504: Photo Mission over the trenches south of Arras. Vfw Leffers in support. 2 hours 6 minutes.

Bailleul Town
Dugan Vystavel writes: "0619: Scouting Mission over the trenches east of Ypres. Lt Weller leading. 1 hour 30 minutes.
1320: Artillery Spotting over the lines west of Lens, Lt Lehman leading. We had just reached altitude and were turning south toward the target area when Lt Lehman’s engine caught fire. We followed him west toward home but then his BE flipped over and plunged 6,000 feet all the way to the ground with no attempt to pull out. We marked the place where they came down and headed back to Bailleul Town, which was only four miles away. We fired a red flare as we crossed the field and landed. After making our report. Captain Shaw asked Major Lewis if he wanted us to resume the mission. The major said we both seemed pretty shaken up, which was to be expected, and he had three crews sitting around waiting for an assignment. We’ll be taking tomorrow off as well. In Memoriam Captain James McTavish and Lieutenant Edgar Lehman. 51 minutes.

Senard
Noel Kay writes: "We are still drowning."

Gonneham
Corrigan Aujla writes: "This infernal rain has us under its thumb again."


Warmeriville
Odis Forst writes: "The storm isn't over yet."

Saint-Pol-sur-Mer
Filimor Hance writes: "It's raining again."

1 May 1915

Saint-Pol-sur-Mer
Filimor Hance writes: "0426: Offensive Patrol over Ghistelles. Adj Barault leading. 1 hour 45 minutes."

Gonneham:
Corrigan Aujla writes: "0501: Photo-Recce over the lines west of Lens. Lt Murray leading. 1 hour 17 minutes.
1318: Directing Artillery at the same place we photographed this morning. Sgt Adlam supporting. 1 hour 29 minutes."

Bailleul Town
Dugan Vystavel writes: "Our day off today has suddenly turned into a 5-day pass. We packed our bags and Capt Shaw found us a ride into Bailleul. He also found us a room for the night, and then we proceeded to see the sights. There’s not much to see, but we took our time and took it all in. It was nice just to walk around doing nothing but enjoying the crisp spring weather. After a nice dinner at a small cafe we found our way back to the tiny hotel and made our plans for tomorrow."

Senard
Noel Kay writes: "There seems to be no end in sight for this storm hanging over our region."

Warmeriville
Odis Forst writes: "We are still suffering under this never-ending rain."

Bertincourt
Lennart Altendorf writes: "The pattern continues - one day of flying, one day of rain. This is our day of rain."

We've been clearing out my parents house this past week and I picked up the photo of my maternal grandfather from WWI. I don't think he flew but it's pretty cool nonetheless.
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...921/E2XqCj.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/dQltSn.jpg

2 May 1915

Warmeriville
Odis Först writes: "0507: Solo Check Flight, up to Vaux-les-Rubigny, over to Thin-le Moutier, down to Thugny and back to Warmeriville. Lovely day after all this rain. 1 hour 18 minutes.
1331: Long-distance Reconnaissance over a factory at Château-Thierry. Ltn Lehnert leading. 2 hours 52 minutes.

Gonneham
Corrigan Aujla writes: "0549: Scouting Mission north to Bapaume. Lt Murray leading. 1 hour 13 minutes.
1442: Bombed the German airfield at Phalempin. Lt Harvey-Kelly leading. 1 hour 19 minutes.

Senard
Noel Kay writes: "1601: After three days of rain we’re flying again. Line patrol over Varennes-en-Argonne. 1 hour 34 minutes."

Bailleul
Dugan Vystavel writes: "Pouring rain today. Not much to do in Bailleul. We sat around our little hotel for most of the morning. Supplied ourselves with umbrellas and found a nice little cafe recommended by our hotelier. We then explored some shops and found a great restaurant up an alley that seemed to go nowhere. They also featured a small review with dancing girls and all. Considering that it’s such a quiet, small town Bailleul had more to offer than we had first thought.

Saint-Pol-sur-Mer
Filimor Hance writes: "Once again it's raining.

Bertincourt
Lennart Altendorf writes: "The rain is still with us."

3 May 1915

Bertincourt
Lennart Altendorf writes: "0502: Assigned Counter-Battery direction with Hptm Simon leading. Once again climbing for altitude my engine failed. I made it safely back to Bertincourt, but the plane nosed over on the field when we ran into a thick patch of mud. It took a truck to pull it out. 45 minutes."

Saint-Pol-sur-Mer
Filimor Hance writes: "0506: Line patrol over trenches near Paaschendale. Adj Barault leading. 1 hour 43 minutes."

Senard
Noel Kay writes: "0753: Scouting Mission over Charleville and Sedan. 2 hours 28 minutes."

Warmeriville
Odis Först writes: "0808: Counter-Battery Direction over the trenches south of Bruyères-et-Montbérault. Vfw Lehnert leading, Gefr Brauneck and me supporting. 1 hour 56 minutes."

Lumbres
Dugan Vystavel writes: "Lovely day today. Capt Shaw managed to hire a car, and we had a lovely country drive from Bailleul through Saint-Omer to Lumbres. The drive took us just over two hours and we had a nice lunch in Lumbres. We then drove up to our old stomping grounds at the large Saint-Omer facility. We found our instructors at the Photography School and met a few others. They invited us to stay there but we already had a hotel in Lumbres, so after a few hours’ visit we were back in town in time for dinner and a cinema. First was Charlie Chaplin’s latest, ‘A Jitney Elopement’, and then the feature, ‘The Italian’, with George Bebar. All-in-all a great day."

Gonneham
Corrigan Aujla writes: "Raining again."

4 May 1915

Saint-Pol-sur-Mer
Filimor Hance writes: "0607: Offensive Patrol over Ghistelles. Lt de Flassieux leading. Very cloudy. 1 hour 40 minutes."

Boulogne-sur-Mer
Dugan Vystavel writes:
Some clouds, but nice. We drove from Lumbres over to Boulogne-sur-Mer. Again the drive was only about two hours. Boulogne is large enough to qualify as a small city, and there is a lot to do here. They have a nice shopping district with a lot of restaurants. Lunch and dinner were less a matter of finding a place but rather a matter of choosing from the dozens available. In the afternoon we explored the shopping and took in the sights. This evening we found a fine restaurant with a great revue. The dancing girls were spectacular and then there was a play. I don’t remember too much about it as the variety of liquors was also very fine. Tomorrow’s plans will have to wait for tomorrow."

Senard
Noel Kay writes: "The rain is again our companion."

Gonneham: "It's still raining."

Warmeriville
Odis Först writes: "The rain has returned."

Bertincourt
Lennart Altendorf writes: "One day of flying and the rain is back again. A miserable snowy winter is turning into a miserable rainy spring."