Standoff

15 October 1915 Lt. Nighy watched the artillerymen laying out the linen strips to form a letter on the ground – ‘L’; they were ready to fire. Quickly he tapped the wireless: ‘G-G-G’, and a puff of smoke told him the first gun had shot. He looked to the right, where his target lay behind

1/288 Scale

Like many at this time of year I’ve got some leave to use up, so I was off on Friday and got some work done on the new 1/288 planes. Today I got the decals on, so I thought I’d take a few photos. I really like these models, they are small enough to not

New toys for Betancourt ’15

Much as I love Tumbling Dice’s 1/600 aircraft, when it comes to smaller WW1 types they do lack the ‘presence’ of later, bigger planes. Add to this my future plan for a really obscure air war (Paraguay, 1922) in which I will have no choice but to use 3D printed ‘planes, I thought I’d take

Attrition

Sunday 3rd October 1915 Major Sommer banged his fists on his desk, “Gott im Himmel!”, he shouted, “How am I to support the infantry without any damn planes?” Major Friedrich, the General’s aide-de-camp, remained impassive, “It looks like Betancourt will not be the centre of the offensive after all, Gerhart”, he said, brushing an imaginary

Knights Errant of the Sky

“Every flight is romance, every record is an epic. They are the knight errants of this war.” British Prime Minister David Lloyd George Friday, 1st October 1915 Lt. Edward Crouch tried hard to focus, the sound of the archie, the anti-aircraft artillery, seemed every moment to be getting closer. He stared through the viewfinder of

The Prodigal Returns

Unteroffizier Adolf Claus hastily buttoned his tunic as he ran along the trench. He was a big man, and despised running, but the sentry’s tone had been urgent. He rounded the corner, where the sentry had indicated. Sure enough, there was a man caked in mud, sat on a crate and calmly smoking a cigarette

Fokker Scourge? My arse!

Lt. Jager coaxed the Albatros off the ground, already he could see the British aeroplane going around for a second pass and he felt utterly helpless and alone. When he’d landed in the tiny field on the Allied side of the lines he’d turned to wish the agent he was carrying good luck, but already

A Fresh Start

Lt. Carruthers watched the little monoplane ahead with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension, already it had completed half a turn to port and he knew it would soon be back behind them. He felt a slap on his shoulder and turned to see Captain Downs gesturing, “We’re getting the Hell out of here, boyo”,

Tea and Medals

Thursday 19th August, 1915 F/Sgt. Illingworth, adrenaline and fear coursing through his veins as they were, couldn’t help but smile. Again Lt. Williams had brought the F.B.5 round into a perfect firing position, this time on the unfamiliar little monoplane’s tail, and all the while he could catch Williams’ deep bass singing over the sound

A Scottish Airman foresees his Death

Wednesday 18th August, 1915 “Keep you’re bloody eyes peeled, sergeant!” Captain Flyte strained to see over his shoulder; the Albatros was behind them now, its rear gunner firing at the gunbus. Sgt. Vickers hadn’t even been able to shoot as the German biplane had twisted out of their grasp. “Hell’s bells”, Flyte muttered. He was