S3 Series

Upon receiving notice of Axis armour advancing against Tobruk from the area of El Adem (F42), Desert Air Force fighters scrambled from Gambut airfield (F61) and headed west at low altitude to support the beleaguered troops trapped in the Fortress. As a result of some mapping errors (inflight map shows F42 as El Adem while the game generated labels show F41 as El Adem), the allied fighters were a delayed few moments, but fairly rapidly located the axis troops spread out in attack formations. Initially no Luftwaffe opposition was encountered, with several Spitfire fighter-bombers and Hurricane MkIID "Flying Can Openers" leaping to the attack while others climbed to the west seeking LW fighters. The much vaunted "Can Openers" were a disappointment as their 37mm cannon seemed ineffective against German armour. However, RAF bombs were successful and took out Afrika Korps armour while strafing attacks mauled the softer-skinned trucks and AAA vehicles.
The first LW aircraft were spotted west of El Adem (F41) diving down on the RAF fighter-bombers. A keen young Canuck spotted a pair of 109s and dove down behind the trailer of the pair. Apparently unseen, he fired from below and behind, turning the 109 into flaming wreckage. First blood for the Desert Air Force. The unwary Luftwaffe pilot managed to bail out, but was captured by the fighting Scots of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders.
Tobruk's deadly batteries of AAA joined the fight, shooting down two more 109s. However, Axis AAA was not slouch either, with a Spitfire crashing to earth near Al Adem. The battle turning into a general melee, with RAF aircraft, ammunition expended, landing at Tobruk airfield (F54) to re-arm and re-fuel. Suicidal attacks by Bf110s against the Tobruk garrison proved ineffective.

The numbers: (phenix's S6 database remains under repair)
Squads Represented:
RCAF: muzz--, -deak-, yukone
352nd: juice=, =wilz=, redsgt, crhtwo
4th: coolon, jedijc, WLDBIL
23rd: grumpy, -splt-, slpsht
AE: okdoc
DR: mikenz

Allied:
Seven unique pilots, 56 sorties. Six pilots KIA, two POW.
24 sorties in the Spit Vc. Three Bf-109Es, 1 Bf109F and 1 Bf110C-4 shot down. Five aircraft lost, 2 to AAA
26 sorties in the Spit Vb. Two Bf-109Es, four Bf-109Fs and two Bf110C-4s shot down. Two aircraft lost.
Bombing and strafing attacks destroyed 39 enemy trucks, 25 enemy tanks and 4 AAA half-tracks, as well as 6 fixed AAA positions at F42.
Top allied A-A scorer was crhtwo, shooting down 2 Bf109Es, a Bf109F and a Bf110C and destroying 4 enemy GVs without losing an aircraft.

Axis:
Eight unique pilots, 27 sorties. Thirteen pilots KIA, three POW.
15 sorties in the Bf109F-4. 1 P-40E and 2 Spit Vcs shot down. Eight aircraft lost, 1 to AAA
7 sorties in the Bf109E. No kills. Six aircraft lost, 1 to AAA.
4 sorties in the Bf110C-4. No kills. All four aircraft lost, 1 to AAA.
Bombing attacks destroyed 2 fixed AAA positions and a palm tree on the south shore of Tobruk harbour.

Frame 1 an Allied victory, but will those same pilots be as successful flying Axis in Frame 2?

Frame 2 set-up identical to frame 1, but with all pilots switching sides. S3 Forum access will remain unchanged for pre-frame planning.
RCAF, 352nd and 23 VRAF to fly Axis (gold).
Everyone else to fly Allied (green).

See you next Sunday, 22 May 2022, for the last S3 frame of the 2021/2022 season.

Nice write up and frame summary Muzz. Thanks for organizing the frame!