June 9: Bertrix Sweep
Group was somewhat scattered in the afternoon, so elements made their way to Bertrix in relays after clearing out some jokers at Cerfontaine: bmbm/killax25, trimcz/zzyyxx, rambi and lesquire. Ingress was the standard SE to 4 km and east turn near Chilly, then left orbit over Bertrix. Previous to arriving I had the opportunity to slug a 109 flying low north of Montherme, seen scooting along on an opposite heading at my low 11. Finally flamed him northwest of Charleville after a high-speed chase, and proceeded to Bertrix. Several cons on runway.

After some milling about below, one, followed by four others, took off. I called "going in to west" and streaked down with killax in trail. The westbound con was nowhere to be seen, but the four others were spotted heading northwest as we blazed past. A quick zoom and roll to northeast brought us back to 2500 m in their rear hemisphere. The four cons were well spaced and travelling slowly, thence id'd as Stukas.

I nailed one and smoked another before breaking off the pass to maintain position, at which point I saw my first kill impact in the woods and the others go into a Lufbery below. At this point trimcz and rambi (I believe) arrived and some enjoyable yo-yo'ing was had. I scored one more confirmed kill and got strikes on the remaining two Stukas who shortly thereafter were despatched. At this juncture two 109s engaged and were brought down. Killax25 appears to have blacked out and augered in early in the fight, and I don't know what happened with rambi, but I and trimcz reformed over Bertrix later on.

I then chased a 110 well past Sedan before he augered in, and flamed a 109 west Bertrix before heading home. I engaged some bandits at Vireaux but the lag was horrible - I made my exit with some difficulty. Cruising home low, I was nearly bounced by a 109 near Cerfontaine, saved only by a timely six-check... the gremlin on my shoulder was working overtime there. I gave him a squirt for good measure and broke off to land, trimcz having landed shortly before me.

Signed: BMBM, CO 56th FG