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9 players, Western Front, N.28's vs. Albatrosses
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| Douglas Campbell in his Nieuport 28 |
On May 27, 1918, Lt. Douglas Campbell and Lt. John Wentworth
of the US 94th Aero squadron went on a voluntary patrol. They climbed to a "fairly high altitude" inside American lines and
watched the front for anti-aircraft bursts.
Following a series of smoky white explosions, Campbell and Wentworth found
five Albatrosses - with black wings and orange bodies that prompted Doug to call them "yellow jackets" - staggered in echelon
over the lines.
Campbell dove at the uppermost German and fired, but the Alb
slipped into a spin before he was hit. Campbell dared not follow him down through the enemy formation, but zoomed up
and found two of the other Albatrosses heading back toward German trenches. Campbell closed the gap and was near firing range
when "the rear one turns over on his back in a pretty renversement and dives," Doug wrote to his family the next Monday. "I
guess I'm supposed to follow him, so the other one can turn and dive on me, but I'll just keep chasing the one that's left
and see what happens." Campbell waited until he was within 50 meters before pressing the triggers. His tracers were hitting
the Albatros when he noticed two more American Nieuports joining the fight. Campbell figured it was time to climb above the
fight and get a "comprehensive view of the situation."
He saw four Albatrosses heading eastward with three Nieuports
in hot pursuit, but what of the fifth German? Moments later he realized what had happened. German engineers had tried
unsuccessfully for two years to keep the Albatros' wings stable during hard dives. But the leading edge of the lower plane
tended to break loose, ripping the wings in what often turned out to be a fatal disaster. Campbell watched a pair of wings
fluttered down over No Man's Land... the damaged Albatros had tried to dive away, his fighter breaking up under the stress.
A few days later word came from the French 8th Armee,
confirming Campbell's fourth victory. He would survive the war with a total of six.
- 9 players
- Monday, May 27, 1918, 8:05 am
- 5 Albatros DVa's, 2 at 11,300 feet side by side, 3 at 11,600
feet in V formation, all facing west
- 4 Nieuport 28's, 2 at 11,200 feet and 10 squares to the south
of the Germans, and 2 at 12,000 and 5 squares in front of the Germans facing east
- wind and clouds are random
- location over the front
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