Nightfighter Command v6: Sortie 2

 

The second sortie for F/Sgt Walker and Sgt Jones followed on the night of the 10th May 1941, with light rain, a moderate breeze of 13kts, clear conditions and a full moon, although the cloud cover was still 10/10, making it easier for the enemy to evade. Take off went smoothly once again and the crew were vectored by an experienced GCI to a position near Sherborne in Dorset, heading on the Portland loop for the op. The first contact was a He-111, which Sgt Jones successfully picked up on his AI set, expertly vectoring F/Sgt Walker onto a 5 o'clock interception at close range. F/Sgt Walker spotted the bomber and let rip with four seconds of 20mm cannon fire, tearing into the tail of the Heinkel but only causing light damage. 

The Beaufighter now disappeared into the night, preventing the bomber crew from spotting the night fighter or evading, although they were now ready for the next attack. Sgt Jones now brought the aircraft into a 9'oclock intercept, then smoothly guided F/Sgt Walker into a perfect 6 o'clock position, from which he was able to spot the bomber and open fire. Another four second burst caused a critical hit, one on the starboard wing, and two on the crew, the pilot hit in the right arm with splinters and the navigator killed by a direct hit from a cannon shell. The shocked and bloodied crew were in no state to spot the night fighter, which quickly throttled back to reload, although the tail gunner did glimpse the night fighter as it pulled away but failed to hit with his burst of defensive fire. 

Sgt Jones now struggled to reload the cannon magazines but managed to lock them in place, ready to start the approach from the 6 o'clock position from which F/Sgt Walker was shadowing the stricken bomber. The night fighter moved in for the kill. with a four second burst of 20mm shells at close range which completely shredded the tail of the He-111, sending it spinning out of control. Only two parachutes were spotted by Sgt Jones, as the enemy radio operator and waist gunner baled out, the pilot struggling to keep the bomber aloft to allow his surviving crew to escape. The He-111 was claimed as a confirmed kill by F/Sgt Walker but, as there was no confirmation from the observer corps, he was only given a probable (the enemy crew believed they had been hit by flak, as the only witness to the night fighter attack was the tail gunner who had been KIA).

The GCI now vectored the night fighter toward a new contact, another He-111 but this one proved to be a much tougher customer. Despite several attempts to get into position, Sgt Jones failed to pin down the bomber as it twisted and turned to evade detection. His headaches were exacerbated by an equipment failure, with a loose electrical connection making it hard to communicate with the GCI, the static fading her voice and making it difficult to hear instructions. Finally, over Portland Sgt Jones and F/Sgt Walker managed to get into a 3 o'clock position at close range undetected by the bomber crew, opening fire only to have a cannon jam, losing a round and forcing them to pull back to clear the breech and remove the casing. The flash from the jammed round allowed the bomber crew to spot the night fighter and the pilot immediately pulled the aircraft into a steep corkscrew to evade the enemy attack.

Despite the best efforts of the bomber pilot, the chase continued and the night fighter crew eventually got into position for a final attack, this time from a perfect 6 o'clock approach but with only three seconds of ammunition left with which to shoot down the He-111. A burst of fire hit the pilot, who was lightly wounded in the right leg by flying splinters, the ventral gunner who was also lightly wounded but in the right arm, and the starboard engine, which the pilot managed to shut down and feather before it caught fire. Cursing their luck, F/Sgt Walker now pulled away and set a course for Middle Wallop, where he made another bumpy landing although once again without damage to the aircraft or Sgt Jones, although there was much blue language over the intercom. His temper improved a lot, however, when he was given a Mention in Dispatches for his skilled handling of the AI interception and his ability to overcome mechanical problems with a cool head.

I really enjoyed this game, although the second interception did drag on a bit due to bad dice rolls by the AI op, and thought the crew did pretty well only let down by their equipment and some poor dice rolling at critical moments. The award of an MID to Sgt Jones was well deserved, as he not only made a couple of very good interceptions, he also managed to reload and unjam the cannon quickly, then coped with dodgy GCI comms as though everything was business as usual. F/Sgt Walker does need to sort out his landings, however, as the oiks are getting fed up with the work that they have to do on the oleo legs. The crew really should have had a confirmed kill for the first bomber but I rolled a 1 and there was very little I could do to explain that away. Better luck next time perhaps?