MERLIN v GRIFFON, 7 January 1949

Briefing: On 7 January, Canadian John McElroy and American "Slick" Goodlin took off for an afternoon patrol. After almost half an hour, they spotted three columns of smoke in the distance. Closing in to investigate, they saw Spitfires strafing the Israeli convoy. Momentarily, they lost sight of them, then as they began to orbit the convoy one pair appeared almost right in front of them.

Map: Ground Terrain (OTR)
Aircraft: Israeli:Two Spitfire 16E
British:Four Spitfire 18E
(equivalent to Mk XIVe)

Set Up: Set up using the TMG. The weather is Clear. The British are the Defender. Although treated as one formation, they begin with one pair at altitude 9.0 and the other pair at altitude 12.0. Each turn they perform a half-climb. The Israelis are at altitude 16.0. Set them up as though they have already spotted the British, although initially neither has spotted the other and both must make Sighting die rolls (the Israelis do so as the first action of the Attacker's movement phase). The Israelis only drift one square every second turn.

Prior to spotting the British, the Israeli move randomly across the TMG. Roll the die; on an even roll, they move one square clockwise and one band inwards; on an odd roll, they move one square clockwise and one band outwards. There are two exceptions to the latter: (1) they never move from the TMG other than due to drift, so they instead end their move after moving clockwise and (2) if they do drift off, the next turn they automatically re-enter the same arc as their first move, and the die roll only determines the direction of their subsequent move.

The British are not expecting any opposition, and certainly not Spitfires! The have a -2 to sighting to reflect their poor lookout. They do not get the automatic sight on a 10 (they do see them, but assume they are friendly).

Game Length: 20 turns

Rules of Engagement:
1. Combat Set-up If combat is initiated in the Center Box or A-Band, only the closest British pair (in altitude) is set up according to the parameters of that band. The other pair sets up according to the parameters of the next band out, but all four must face the same direction. Both British pairs must Zoom Climb, and are at Climb Speed, on Turn 1. Otherwise, set up combat normally.
2. Ammunition: The British have already used 3 shots each strafing the convoy.
3. Cockpit Visibility: Neither side has the cut-down rear fuselage and bubble cockpit version of their respective marks. 4. Pilot Quality:McElroy is a Veteran-Ace-Hero-Crack Shot. Slick is a Gifted Veteran. The British are generated on the "Average" table.

Variants:
1. Add a P-51D flown by Lee Sinclair (Veteran) to the Israelis.

Debriefing: The enemy Spitfires were 3,000 feet below them at 12 o'clock. McElroy and Slick put their noses down and their targets obligingly climbed in front of them. McElroy downed his target, then saw a Spitfire to his left steeply diving away, trailing a banner of smoke. Looking around, he couldn't see Slick, but saw another Spitfire off to his right. This one didn't have the Israeli's distinctive red-and-white striped rudder, so McElroy shot this one down too. McElroy called Slick, who joined up with him over the burning convoy, and they headed home. McElroy hadn't noticed any markings on the Spitfires, but Slick had. McElroy couldn't believe it when he was told they were British. What were the British doing four miles behind the lines, strafing an Israeli column?

The RAF's 208 squadron lost five Spitfires - one to ground fire, and two each to McElroy and Slick. The British claimed that they were on a "peaceful reconnaissance mission" and were attacked without provocation, which the Israelis denied.

Designer's Notes: The source is The Israeli Air Force Story by Murray Rubenstein and Richard Goldman, which includes McElroy's account of the encounter. This source lacks objectivity (to put it mildly!), so I have attempted to simply follow this account in setting up the combat and not to dwell on the rights or wrongs of McElroy's actions. McElroy was ex-RAF, a WWII ace with 10 confirmed and eight probable victories for which he had received the DFC and Bar, and I assume he would not fire on his former colleagues without good reason. He states that he was flying for Israel, and these aircraft were attacking Israelis, therefore it was his job to bring them down.
Apart from his WWII experience, McElroy was one of three Mahal pilots who, between them, accounted for one-third of the Chel Ha'Avir victories in the 1948 war, hence his high rating. "Slick" Goodlin was a USAF test pilot, and Lee Sinclair, who was going to fly with them in a P-51D before it was declared unservicable, was an ex-RAF Wing Commander.

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Merlin v Griffon [#2]
Version History:
1.0 Initial Version