Unit operated under the callsign Anvil and was tasked with an Offensive Fighter Sweep between Monschau and Dupemfeld. I lead the flight with P/O 'Bemmo' Bayles flying as my wingman. Upon approaching the area after approximately 15 min, we spotted a group of bandits on deck engaging ground troops in the vicinity of Monschau. We engaged the bandits as fast as we could but could not take a clear shot on the first pass. With the element of surprise gone, I decided to regain some Angels above the area and realized a Fw-190 was tracking us. I commanded P/O 'Bemmo' Bayles to maintain a shallow climb and positioned myself on the bandit's six o'clock and with a quick burst, damaged his radiator. He attempted to split S as I got closer but I managed to squeeze a few more rounds in before he completed his evasive maneuver but the damage was too much on his airframe and it looked like he lost control of his aircraft and went straight to the ground. After that quick engagement, we regrouped just south of the position, only to find another bandit attacking us. This time a Me-109. Once again, the enemy had his eyes on P/O 'Bemmo' Bayles and completely neglected his tail during the sandwich maneuver. I approached even closer than what I did with the Fw-190 and hit the enemy hard on the first pass. He disengaged to the right and soon after bailed out. We, once again, regrouped south of the target and began our usual climb to regain some additional SA but during the climb were notified by ground control of enemy contacts about 5 km from our position. We moved to the area as soon as we could and spotted a dogfight taking place on the deck. We dove into the fight but my wingman lost me during the approach. With a amazing deflection shot, I took the Me-109 down. Upon regrouping again, I realized I had pushed my engine a bit too much and decided to order the flight to RTB. F/Lt 'Riksen' Richards |
