WAR

British machines reached their objective, the Eindeckers came down on them.
Andrews had kept his men close to the two-seaters. When the Fokkers attacked
he turned and led the D.H.2's into them head-on. The Fokkers scattered. For
several moments there was a series of ill-defined chases taking place about the
sky. A few Eindeckers cleared out altogether, the rest withdrew, and the D.H.2's
returned to the two-seaters who were carrying on with the mission. There were
no losses to either side, and of course no victories, so the fight could be called
indecisive except that, from that moment, the grip of the Eindecker was broken.
From the first of July, Hawker instituted daily offensive
patrols, or patrols whose function was "to destroy German
aeroplanes on the German side of the front lines," in the
words of J. O. Andrews who was by this time a Captain.
Hawker himself flew on these offensive patrols as often as his
administrative duties would permit, but he flew as a member
rather than as the leader so as not to displace the regular
Hawker.
leader. Whoever led the patrol was acting C.O. in the air
regardless of his rank on the ground.
The offensive policy of the RFC was based on the premise
that the German air service would be rendered ineffectual if
all British flying were done on the German side of the lines.
Given a parity in quality and quantity of men and machines,
this was a fair elucidation. There was, however, a catch. The
Germans had introduced the Fokker D III, the Albatros D II,
and the Halberstadt D III, while the British were still flying
the D.H.2. The Fokker D III and the Halberstadt D III were
not brilliant machines, but they were a match for the D.H.2;
the Albatros was the equal of any machine at the Front (not
excluding the Spad whose ceiling and manoeuvrability it
matched and whose superior speed it offset by carrying two
guns instead of one.)
Boelcke's Jasta 2 took a heavy toll in the RFC in the fall of 1916. The
death of Boelcke, while a blow to the morale of his comrades and the Germans
generally, occurred after he had successfully launched his unit on its combat
career. In November, the month after Boelcke's death, Jasta 2 was led to 25 victories
in as many days by Leutnant Stephan Kirmaier who had succeeded to
Boelcke's command.
Fighting seemed daily to grow more intense, and on November 22, Captain
Andrews, by this time the only survivor besides Hawker of the original
shot down Kirmaier.
squadron,
The next day, November 23, 1916, broke clear and cold. Three men of No.
24 Squadron were flying an offensive patrol over Bapaume at about 11,000 feet.
Andrews was leading, Hawker was number two, Lieutenant R. H. M. S.
Saundby
was number three. It was just before two o'clock in the afternoon when Andrews
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of the author of
Col. T. M. Hawker