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Mission Date 01/12/44 402nd FS - Fighter Sweep, Zulpich Sector 485th FS - Road & Rail Strike, Cologne 410th BG - Road & Rail Strike, Zulpich Debrief: 370th FG 402nd FS: (Courtesy of Capt. Sean O'Sullivan) Upon ingress to the patrol area at angels 12, Red 3 spotted four bandits below us still within the frontline, N/W of Nettersheim. Red flight immediately dropped down to trail the E/A, now confirmed as 262s, with White flight providing top cover. Whilst the four 262s were duly dispatched by Red flight, White flight spotted and engaged a formation of six Ju 88s higher and to the North of Nettersheim. Red flight re-grouped with White flight who had already got plenty stuck in to jerry and assisted in bringing down all E/A. With the squadron reformed, we headed North to continue our patrol of the front-line, checking in with Snowdrop along the way. On the return leg heading 160', bogies were spotted to the East near the 410th target area of Zülpich, although upon closer inspection these turned out to be escort P-38s so we headed back to the Southern patrol point. Eagle-eyed Red 3 once again spotted a pair of low flying 262s N/E of Nettersheim that were duly taken care of by Red flight. With the squadron now brought down low, we looked for ground targets of opportunity to attack (Red 3 and 4 still had their bombs). After a number of successful attacks on Howitzers and AAA, with ammo running low, we headed 250' to recover at Florennes. Well flown gents, good teamwork all round and a decent tally of E/A destroyed, crucially to no losses on our side. Group COs note: 11 kills total, no losses, an excellent result for both the squadron and the new Captain's debut. Also a fitting retort to the Luftwaffe should they have felt some satisfaction at the misfortune they caused us previously. Well done 402nd! 485th FS: (Courtesy of Maj. Mick Payne-Less) Well done 485th, in the face of ridiculous amounts of AAA we managed to bag a very respectable haul of ground targets in Koln. Unfortunately we lost 1st Lt Luke Rox due to both engines being hit by AAA. His replacement will be with us forthwith. Sadly we also lost Funflak to high speed topsoil contamination. Congratulations to Capt Fenton Rea for a huge individual haul of 10+ AAA batteries, enough to keep any “intruder” running for some time. No enemy aircraft spotted which was just as well given the amount of lead in the air over the target. I would like to work on improving our coordination when attacking such a well defended target in an effort to avoid further losses chaps. A more thorough briefing and attack plan would help, coupled with better situational comms between pairs. This is something all of us need to work on, not least of all myself. A big thank you to our P51 escort for taking at least some of the AAA heat from us. Group COs note: Well done indeed to cause such casualties amongst the enemy in the face of fierce resistance 485th; it's what we've come to expect from you hard charging bastards. The losses were unfortunately inevitable given the weight of fire brought against you, but Group HQ are glad to see that you are not resting on your laurels and are actively seeking out areas to improve and become even more lethal. We mourn the loss of the experienced 1st Lt. Rox, so recently promoted too and the new blood we held so much hope for, 2nd Lt. Lou Keyberstad. 410th BG TBC...

Salute Due to the lack of roads on the standard map in the area I plan to use for this series, I have had to improvise by plotting a route using the ground "road" colour that passes for a route on the map (and not a texture like a proper road). Before I start building scenarios around this route, I need to make sure it is drivable (hills not too steep etc). I would therefore like to ask for volunteers to test the route and to record their findings on the form I will provide. It may be that you will say, for example between points D - F, it is too steep a hill for the tanks to climb or the drop is to much. In which case I will need to re-route. If you could use F11 (or whatever you have for free external) to possibly suggest an alternative if you encounter such a scenario, that would be much appreciated. If you have some time to spare and would like to help please let me know. Cheers Friar

Wait, you want us to drive through yellow snow??