Diary of a Luftwaffe Pilot

First Kill

August 25th, 1941

It was a bright day. Perfect for flying. We had a scheduled mission for the day. Escorting Heinkel 111s to their objective. I was still Mey's wingman. I taxied my Messerschmitt behind him on the runway and took off with the Staffel. As soon as I was in the air, I formed up on Mey's wing.
"Alright, remember, the mission is to protect the bombers at all costs. Do NOT stray away from them. Engage enemy fighters only if necessary. You know the drill.", as usual, Mey repeated the missiok objectives on the radio.
We met the bombers about 10 minutes later and crossed into enemy lines. It was mostly a quiet trip, until a group of Soviet Yak-1s appeared nearby.
"Soviet fighters!"
"Alright, stay alert, do not engage yet. Wait until they are closer, if they choose to engage the bombers, of course."
The whole Staffel stayed alert. For a moment, it seems like they were going to ignore us, until the group turned sharply to us.
"I think they're going to intercept the bombers."
Mey ordered us to dive down on the Yaks on his signal. We had the altitude advantage, afterall.
After awhile, the signal came, just as the Yaks neared the bombers. I dived down at once, unfortunately, I couldn't get a Yak in my sights before overshooting. I immediately pushed my stick to the right and circled around. I saw a Yak on my left and I turned towards it. It was too concentrated on the bombers to notice me. I got nearer and nearer before letting out a burst. The shots hit the target in the fuselage and soon, the Yak began spinning downwards uncontrolably.
"I GOT HIM! WOOHOO!"
I yelled on the radio as hard as I can. I began targetting another Yak, tailing a Heinkel. But the Heinkel gunners were accurate, and after awhile, the Yak exploded.
After the Heinkels dropped their bombs over the target, we flew back to the airfield, victorious.
I landed second last, as always. We headed towards the debriefing room and, to my surprise, Mey congratulated me. I was surprised because Mey seldom talked much on the ground.