TWO FOR ONE, 26 February 1944
Briefing (solitaire): Flight Lieutenant Charles Scherf, an Australian serving with the Canadian 418 Squadron in the RAF, took off on a day "Ranger" patrol with Flight Lieutenant Cleveland to criss-cross Central France. The pair began by strafing an airfield, Scherf destroying a pair of Ju52s and Cleveland a He177 on the ground. They moved on to their next target airfield at Dole (near Dijon), and on arrival were surprised to spot an approaching He111Z, towing two Go242 gliders in line astern.
| Map: | Ground Terrain (ASP) |
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| Aircraft:
| Allied: | Two Mosquito FB MkVI
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| | Axis: | One He111Z
Two Gotha Go242B-1 gliders
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Set Up: The He111Z starts in hex 2945, facing W, altitude 2.0, speed 3.0, wings level. The Mosquitos start in 4430 and 4631, facing SE, altitude 0.5, speed 6.0, wings level.
Game Length: 20 turns
Rules of Engagement:
1. He111Z Flight: Use the random Flight table for the He111Z (and for any released gliders).
2. Gliders: Use any aircraft counter, generic side up, to represent the two gliders. One starts in the same hex as the He111Z, the other in the hex behind. As long as they are being towed, they simply follow the maneuvers of the tug (turning in the same hexes). They are "jettisoned," like ordnance, on any roll of '10' on the Random Flight table. They then maneuver independently according to the Random Flight table. The He111Z is limited to a max level speed of 3.0 if towing both, 3.5 if one is released.
3. Ammo: Both Mosquitos have used 4 shots of ammo of both cannon and MG.
4. Pilot Quality: Scherf is a Veteran-Crack Shot, Cleveland a Veteran.
Variants:
1. For a two-player game, add a single escorting fighter of any type desired appropriate to the timeframe, starting within two hexes of the He111Z, with any bank angle, facing within 60 degrees, and at altitude 3.0. [This variant will require Over the Reich]
2. Reduce the game length to 15 turns.
Debriefing: Scherf completely misjudged his climb due to the slow speed of the Heinkel and overshot, but was able to observe Cleveland's attack. Cleveland opened fire and closed from 300m to 50m when the rearmost tow broke. He nearly collided with the glider which pitched up abruptly when the towing strain was released. The glider stalled, and Scherf saw it crash into a house below. Re-positioned, Scherf fired a brief burst at the second Gotha as it slipped its tow, and his two second burst of cannon and MGs completely disintegrated it. He then fired a burst at "the monstrosity" as he later referred to it, setting the Heinkel's starboard engine alight. Cleveland followed up with another attack, then Scherf again with his MGs only, having exhausted his cannon ammo. Cleveland had fired ten seconds worth of cannon ammo into the Heinkel, as well as that fired by Scherf, and yet despite "the fact that three engines were burning, and bits of wreckage flying everywhere, it seemed to take a very long time before it started a slow spiral into the ground."
This happened on Scherf's 34th operation, and his last official one with 418. Posted to a staff job, he made occasional "visits" to his old squadron, and in fact destroyed more aircraft on these trips than he had while officially serving with them! These adventures ended when he was posted back to Australia in July 1944. In between leaving 418 and returning to Australia, Squadron Leader Charles Scherf was awarded the DFC and Bar and the DSO, and his final official tally was 13.5 destroyed in the air, 10 on the ground, and seven damaged.
He survived the war, but it still took its toll on this young man from country New South Wales. The grandson of German migrants, he confided to his sister that he was tormented by the memories of the Germans he had killed, and also of the friends he had lost. His drinking increased, and when driving he sped recklessly along the country roads. On 13 July 1949 the inevitable occured when he was killed in a car accident, a victim of the war as surely as if he had been lost in his Mosquito.
Designer's Notes:The source is Six Aces by Lex MacAulay, which recounts the careers of six varied RAAF aces (hence the title!). This incident is also covered in one other source, which recounts it slightly differently (one of the gliders lands in a field and is destroyed there). The He111Z was a rare aircraft - two pre-production and ten production aircraft being the entire complement - and initially served on the Eastern front. On first reading this account I was a little sceptical, but the encounter was apparently caught on camera-gun film and officially recorded as a shared kill. When lodging their claims, the squadron had enterprisingly asked higher authority that, as the target clearly had two fuselages and was thus really two aircraft, the pilots should be awarded a full kill each, rather than a half-share!. Even more amazing, a fellow member of 418 (City of Edmonton) Squadron, Don MacFayden, also destroyed a He111Z near Dijon on 2 May 1944, an incredible co-incidence considering the small number of these aircraft built!
| Scenario List
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| Scenario 12
Blue Patrol
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| Scenario 14
Chasing Squirts
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Version History:
1.0 Initial Version
1.1 Removed my abbreviated Glider ADC (actual ADC now available from Uncle Ted's Homebrew Hangar).