Originally Posted by Rain Man
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B-17 #4 – Red, White, and Blew by You
Pilot Lattimer (13)
Copilot go bo (13)
Bombardier KCJohnny (13)
Navigator Redcoats58 (13)
Engineer voyager (13)
Radio Op. munkey (13)
Tail Gunner TheFly (13)
Ball Turret Gunner cdcox (13)
Right Waist Gunner tk13 (1)
Left Waist Gunner Nightfyre (1)
Target: St. Nazaire’s u-boats
Mid-formation horizontally, low vertically (high vulnerability)
Distance: 6 zones
Zone 1 Out: Britain
No enemy
Zone 2 Out: English Channel
No enemy
Zone 3 Out: Western Channel
2 Me110s are driven off by fighters
Zone 4 Out: France
3 Fw190s attack – 1 is driven off by fighters
Kcjohnny fires, misses
Redcoats58 fires, misses
Thefly fires, misses
Voyager fires, hits Fw190
2 Fws miss, break off attack
Fw scores 2 hits
-superficial damage to #3 wing
-radio room – munkey suffers a serious wound to the stomach
Fw circles, attacks again
Redcoats58 fires, misses
Voyager fires, misses
Thefly fires, misses
Fw misses, breaks off attack
1 Fw190 attacks
Thefly fires, misses
Nightfyre fires, misses
Voyager fires, misses
Fw misses, breaks off attack
Zone 5 Out: France – out of fighter range
2 Fw190s, 1 Me109, 1 Me110 attack
Cdcox fires, misses
Nightfyre fires, misses
Thefly fires, damages Me110
Kcjohnny fires, misses
Redcoats58 fires, misses
Voyager fires, damages Me109
2 Fws, 2 Mes miss, break off attack
Zone 6 Out: France (Entering Target Zone)
1 Me109 attacks
Thefly fires, damages Me109
Redcoats58 fires, kills the same Me109 in a huge ball of fire
Kcjohnny fires, misses
5 Fw190s attack
Kcjohnny fires, misses
Redcoats58 fires, misses
Voyager fires, hits Fw190
Thefly fires, misses
Nightfyre fires, misses
Tk13 fires, misses
Red, White, and Blew by You enters a rare vortex of bad luck, as all five attacking planes score hits!
Fw scores 1 hit
-superficial damage to nose
Fw scores 1 hit
-superficial damage to bomb bay
Fw scores 6 hits
-waist – port waist gun is knocked out
-superificial damage to port wing
-superficial damage to #2 engine
-#1 engine is hit in the oil tank, and bursts into flames. Go bo hits the engine’s fire extinguisher, and it appears that the fire is going to be under control. However, the engine seizes.
-starboard wing flap is destroyed
-superficial damage to starboard wing
Fw scores 1 hit
-superficial damage to pilot compartment
Fw scores 3 hits
-superficial damage to tail
-waist – the ball turret takes a hit, and cdcox sustains a light wound to the left upper back
-#3 engine is hit, and explodes!
In the blink of an eye, Red, White, and Blew By You is doomed. The plane goes into a flat spin, plummeting downward with two engines out and fires in both wings. Lattimer and go bo yell to bail out, but there’s too much noise to hear, and the bailout alarm isn’t working.
Engineer voyager (13) and Tail Gunner TheFly (13) are the first to bail out. They float down directly into the middle of a small village, and Germans are waiting. They have no choice but to surrender immediately.
Bombardier KCJohnny (13), Left Waist Gunner Nightfyre (1), and Radio Op. munkey (13) hook up on the ground after they hit the ground. The trio works together and stealthily heads north, hiding during the day and traveling at night. For 8 days they make good time, but it gets more difficult as they reach the north coast. At the coast, they confer and, lacking any Underground contacts, decide that their only choice is to steal a boat. They hatch a plan, but on the way to their dock of choice, have the bad luck of encountering a German patrol head on. No chance. They surrender, and their story of being downed fliers is not believed. Stood up against a wall, they are informally executed without a trial.
Right Waist Gunner tk13 (1) bails out, and lands alone. Not sure of his location, he picks a direction and walks straight into a squad of Germans who are looking for him.
Pilot Lattimer (13) jumps out into the clear blue sky, and lands softly, with the barking of German Shepherds not far away. He’s off like a shot, and makes it almost ten miles before the dogs and their handlers catch up to him, exhausted and out of luck.
Navigator Redcoats58 (13) was trapped in the nose until he had the good fortune to be thrown through the plexiglass. Stunned and seriously injured, he instinctively managed to open his parachute, but is found unconscious 11 hours later by a German patrol. Off to the stalag.
Copilot go bo (13) at first attempted to go back and let the crew know to bail out, but found himself pinned against a bulkhead by the centrifugal force of the spin. Stuck inside the plane, he inched himself out inch by inch, the g forces rising. At the waist, the open hatch beckons, and he eventually makes it there and is sucked out. Pulling his cord, he floats downward, coming to a quiet landing on a roadway. Immediately, a German soldier appears, and out of instinct, go bo pulls out his survival pistol and fires. The German drops, a fatal shot to the neck spurting blood. Go bo looks around. Nobody else is around. Dragging the dead man into a copse of trees, go bo emerges ten minutes later wearing a German uniform. From that point on, he’s a German soldier, using his scrip to buy a train ticket to Monaco, and then making his way to the Swiss border. A week later, he shows up back in camp sporting a new wristwatch and some mighty fine chocolate for the bar ladies.
Ball Turret Gunner cdcox (13) is the last to bail out, having to put on his parachute during the spin. He dives out the door, noticing go bo inching along when it’s too late to help, and floats downward. A German halftrack awaits to take him to his new home for the next two years.
Aftereffects
Red, White, and Blew By You becomes a statistic, and will fly no more.
Eligible for next mission
Pilot go bo (13), promoted
Copilot XXX
Bombardier XXX
Navigator XXX
Engineer XXX
Radio Op. XXX
Tail Gunner XXX
Ball Turret Gunner XXX
Right Waist Gunner XXX
Left Waist Gunner XXX
Just like that, the second-most experienced crew in the squadron is gone. RIP, RWaBbY.
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