Per Ardua Ad Astra Dixie (allies) vs Swift BTR 43

[Dixie]

This is my AAR for the BTR 43 campaign vs Swift. I get to play as the Allies whilst Swift will be managing the defence of the Reich. Swift's experience will probably give him an advantage in the early turns, whilst my increasing force size will level the scores in later months.

In a similar vein to Cuttlefish's WitP AAR this one will focus on a small group of personnel as the war unfolds around them. In particular the focus will be on the ground crew tending one of the Lancasters assigned to 50 Squadron's 'B' Flight at RAF Skellingthorpe. Focusing on the ground crew will hopefully provide an interesting view of the war.

If I'm lucky one or two of my crews might make it as far as a full tour beating the odds and the Reaper...

I chose 50 Sqn and Skellingthorpe as the focus as I grew up where the airfield used to be. Although the site is now within the boundries of the city of Lincoln the area was mostly flat featurless fields during the 1940s. The outbreak of war and the expansion meant more airfields were needed and Lincolnshire became a mess of airfields packed close together. 50 Squadron moved into Skellingthorpe shortly after construction and remained there almost constantly from 1941 through to VE Day.

[Terminus]

Good Luck, Old Boy! Give Jerry what for!

[Dixie]

17th August 1943
Lancaster EE101, G-George
Pilot F/Sgt L. Phillips
50 Sqn, 'B' Flight
RAF Skellingthorpe

George sat in the bright August sunlight, newly arrived from the factory her crew considered themselves lucky to have her as theirs. Having just arrived from the OTU they were expecting to be given one of the older aircaft on the unit and were expecting George to be taken off them before they flew her in anger. The team of erks clambered all over her, pleased with their new present, despite what the aircrew thought everyone knew who the aircraft REALLY belonged to.

[Dixie]

And a quick run through of the planning for turn 1.

20% cloud over the low countries means I'm sending out plenty of smaller raids. 2 TAF is targetting radar sites throughout the day. It's a mixture of large groups of raids and several raids spread across a few hours to keep Swift guessing. Late afternoon has a couple of fighter sweeps hoping to bring the Luftwaffe to battle by making them think more FB attacks are inbound.
VIII AF lacks the fighter strength for any long distance penetrations in Germany, instead they are going to gain experience with a series of raids into the occuppied nations. Today is 300 bombers hitting the engine factory in east Paris.
The moonlight level is quite high tonight (24, a full moon is around 28) so Bomber Command are performing two relatively short haul missions. 1 Group are attacking the Amsterdam railyards whilst 3 Group are attacking Emden, an hour before form up time for these raids the LNSF and RCM Mosquitos are making a spoof raid on Mannheim supported by nightfighters in the stream. In addition intruder aircraft are patrolling airfield concentrations in Northern Germany.
In Italy there have been plenty of movements. Bombers have been moved from North Africa as have USAAF P-38 fighters. Spitfires have been moved from Malta closer to Sicily in order to be closer to the Italian mainland. A few targets have been chosen in Southern Italy whilst the Allied forces re-organise for Avalanche. 205 Group are sending their Wellington squadrons to Naples in the night. The long distances and less capable aircraft in theatre mean that night raids are going to be little more than a nuisance for the forseeable future.

[harley]

Whatever you do, never, ever tell us whether Sergeant Phillips is married or not, particularly if there's a child on the way. That sort of narrative is like putting a red uniform on someone in Star Trek. 

[Terminus]

[:D]

[Dixie]

ORIGINAL: harley

Whatever you do, never, ever tell us whether Sergeant Phillips is married or not, particularly if there's a child on the way. That sort of narrative is like putting a red uniform on someone in Star Trek. 

It's on a par with 'that aircraft is just one sortie away from retirement'...

[mikkey]

Cuttlefish's AAR is my favorite, good luck Dixie and good luck for all Skellingthorpe's boys

[Dixie]

18th August 1943
EE101, G-George
RAF Skellingthorpe
TARGET: Mantes Railyard, France

Although it's only 8.30am rumour is spreading amongst the aircrew at breakfast that ops are on tonight. Several miles away, far from the aircrew messes the rumour is quickly turning into hard fact. Nowhere is this more obvious than among the armourers who have already started preparing the dangerous load for the evening's work. The fact that there are no incendiaries points to a target outside Germany in the occupied countries, it also means heavier work rolling out the 500lb bombs sweating in the summer heat.
Away from the bomb dumps another indication of the target is there for those who know the signs. The giant Matador fuel bowsers, capable of fuelling a Lanc for a trip to Berlin or beyond, are refuelling a pair of aircraft each. A long range trip is clearly not on the cards. G-George has already been passed as serviceable after her daily inspections and is one of the first aircraft to be prepped.
Laying on the wing basking in the sun AC1 Arthur Smith has decided that this isn't such a bad way to fight a war, as long as the Flight Sergeant isn't about to yell at people. As the engine fitter for 'George' Arthur is responsible for keeping the four Merlins in working order as well as refuelling the aircaft, a pleasnt enough job in the summer but a horrible chore in the freezing winter months.

---
1300, Station Briefing Room
"Good afternoon gentlemen, the target for tonight are the railway yards at Mantes. You will be operating as a diversionary force with the rest of 5 Group. The Canadians are in action over the Ruhr so resistance over France is expected to be light. The raid will consist entirely of Lancasters, so if you see anything with two engines it's hostile and can safely be shot at" The briefing rolls on, mission altitudes, radio frequencies, target marking and all the other details that bring together the technology of modern warfare.

As a first operation, tonight's raid is an easy introduction to combat for Len Philips and his crew. French targets seldom have the heavy flak concentrations of the Ruhr or Germany's major cities, nor is the Luftwaffe likely to react as vigourosly to such an attack. The short flight times mean that navigation is easier with less time spent over water and should things come to the worst, a crew will have a good chance of landing amongst a friendly population.

[Dixie]

0330GMT 19th August 1943
RAF Skellingthorpe

'George's' crew clamber out of the rear fuselage door, happy to have completed their first op as a front line crew. They are surprised to see two of their regular ground crew on the dispersal ready to meet them, expecting the erks to be safely tucked up in bed. It is not uncommon for at least one of an aircraft's regular ground crew to be waiting when she lands. Some crew believe that it stems from an interest in their well-being, others think that the men on the ground want to feel part of the war effort. A third group, the more experienced crews, believe that it's because the ground crew want to make sure their aircraft is home safely and is put to bed after a hard night's work.

Arthur watches the crew chattering amongst themselves with a detached interest. His last crew came back from their first mission in such high spirits. They were still high on confidence for their second, and last, mission three days later. Until the crew have done several missions they will be little more than a passing interest. Happy that 'George' has been returned in a good condition Arthur returns to bed, work starts in a few hours and no-one wants to miss breakfast.

[davidjruss]

Dixie

I have just had a look at the OOB for 50 Sqn and your pilot does not appear on the roster.

How then are you going to know or decide if his plane and crew survive any missions ?

DavidR

[Dixie]

ORIGINAL: DavidR

Dixie

I have just had a look at the OOB for 50 Sqn and your pilot does not appear on the roster.

How then are you going to know or decide if his plane and crew survive any missions ?

DavidR

He's on my roster [:D] The plan long term is to keep my ground crew intact, with the aircrew acting more as a major supporting cast.

The game doesn't replace pilots when their tour is up and they cntinue to fly missions, so should Sgt Phillips and his crew beat the odds and complete a full tour (1 down, 29 to go) then they'll pass onto other duties. If this happens then 'Sgt Phillips' will instead represent the G-George which will be taken over by a new crew, if Phillips doesn't come back then neither will George and the process will be restarted with a new crew/aircraft. I'm hoping that both Phillips (and his successors) as well as George will beat the odds, maybe the Lanc will be one of the rare ones that reached the ton. So for now Sgt L. Phillips is a combination of the bomber crew and their bomber.

[davidjruss]

Dixie ,

I assume therefore that you are not using the OOB which came with the game as there are only 17 pilots shown in the game roster for 50 Sqn whilst you have 22 pilots shown in the attachment.

DavidR

[Hard Sarge]

a Number of his pilots are AI, not "real" pilots, the game will bring in pilots as the come in

if he has 22, he is short still, as are you if you have 17

also, the AI pilots should be random, so what he gets may not be what you get

[davidjruss]

Hard Sarge ,

Thank you for the information. Are you therefore saying that the number of pilots in a Squadron can be a randomised for each game started ?

DavidR

[Speedysteve]

Hi David,
 
More so that each squadron will have realistically named pilots that we knew flew in them. The 'others' that are added to the unit will either be realistic ones (due to arrive on x date) or randomly made up names by the AI......

[Dixie]

19th August 1943
2330 GMT
Lincoln High Street

Drunken singing preceeds a small cluster of men as the slowly weave their way along the near deserted streets of Lincoln. Unseasonally heavy cloud has allowed Len Phillips and his crew to celebrate an increasingly rare milestone, the birthday of one of their crew. At twenty-five years old flight engineer Iain Blake is the oldest member of the crew by some 5 years and has generally been looked on as a father figure to the rest of the crew since their meeting at OTU. Currently however he is trying to negotiate the tricky length of straight pavement that the group are sure will take them home. A short distance ahead the bomb aimer is leading the way, forging ahead at an impressive rate despite his advanced state of inebriation. Worried about loosing one of their number Len shouts after him;
"Jock lad, wait for us. You'll get lost if you steam on ahead like that."

"Dinnae fash yirsel skipper. I ken where I is gaun, which is more'n Ah can say 'bout that so called navvy-gaitor we's been lumbered with."

Several comments fly between Jock and the crew's navigator as they wend their way towards the MT for transport back to base. Aside from Iain none of the crew would openly admit that they were worried they wouldn't make their next birthday, let alone their 25th. For the rear gunner that particualr milestone is still seven years away, for Bert Williams it may as well be seventy years for his chances of making it that far are slim.

---

[Dixie]

20th August 1943
1900 GMT
“G-George” Dispersal
RAF Skellingthorpe

The air is still and quiet across the fields of Lincolnshire. The sun is sinking towards the horizon casting the last rays of light out to send long shadows reaching out from their owners. Basking in the last of the yellow light the Lancasters of 50 Sqn look like hunched monsters, ready to reach into the sky and unleash terror on German streets. Clusters of young men are gathered around each aircraft most are quiet and thoughtful, many are running through well rehearsed rituals that they know will bring them home safely. Less than an hour remains until the aircraft will leave the safety of their dispersals and waddle out towards the long runway pointing out towards an uncertain future.
The crew of ‘George’ haven’t had time to acquire the many rituals that their comrades follow, although a safe return will almost certainly lead to some new ones. Apprehension hangs heavy in the air for tonight’s target is Essen, a city buried amidst some of the heaviest flak defences in Europe. Ironically known as Happy Valley to Bomber Command the Ruhr is Germany’s economic powerhouse, a fact not lost on the German command who have vigorously defended the region in the past.
----------
Some 90 minutes later the last of the Lancasters briefly lines up on the runway and a green light flashes on freeing the aircraft to break it’s bonds with the earth. The roar of Merlins reached a crescendo as they power the 7 young men of George down the runway atop a mixture of high explosive and petrol. Like many on the station Arthur Smith is watching the crews head out on their way and wondering how many will be coming home.

[JeffroK]

Excellent Dixie,

I would like to see the crew of George fleshed out more, showing the variety of nationalties the RAF Squadrons flew with.

IMHO, the best Squadrons were those with a variety of Nationalities, rather than the "pure" Canadian/Australian etc units.

[Dixie]

11th Sept 1943

It's been a while since the last update, real life kind of managed to sneak up on me [:@] There are two options for the AAR now. Restart the 'story-telling' aspect of 'George' and her crew or switch to a stratecic type AAR covering the major actions of all nations. Any thoughts? Assuming anyone is actually reading this [:D]

P.S. Sgt Phillips and his crew won't be the focus of a renewed story. George pranged on landing after 4 missions leaving her crew in a hospital bed. I took notes for the replacement crew, but they got the chop on their first mission.