Over succeeding days other members of FFA 25 wanted to be a part of the aerial triumph or at least to gain some experience flying over the battlefront. Thus, during the early afternoon of Saturday, 26 February, Göring flew with Rittmeister Kirchhoff in the observer’s seat and Assistent-Artz [assistant physician] Dr. Gimbel in one of the gunners’ stations. Apparently, the zeal to be in combat overshadowed the physician’s commitment to the medical profession’s precept ‘first, do no harm’. In any event, the flight was unchallenged.¹³

For the next two weeks, Göring and his observer, Julius Graf [Count] von Schaesberg, the scion of a landed aristocratic family from the Kingdom of Württemberg, flew mostly short-range reconnaissance missions to track the progress of German ground forces.¹⁴ Their flight on the early afternoon of Saturday, 13 March 1916, was without incident. But that was not the case with the FFA 25 crew of twenty-three-year-old Leutnant der Reserve Ludwig Kienlin and his observer, Oberleutnant Franz Freiherr [Baron] von Linden, age twenty-five, who were shot down and killed in an air fight with a French Maurice Farman two-seater near Chattancourt, a few kilometres northwest of Verdun. The French crewmen, Sergent Hott and Sous-lieutenant Naudeau of Escadrille MF 228, were credited with their first aerial victories.¹⁵

The following morning, Schaesberg avenged his comrade’s death by shooting down a French aeroplane. The day began with a German ground assault against Le Mort Homme [Dead Man’s Hill], an important high spot west of the Meuse river and Verdun. A few hours later, Göring flew his AEG G.II over contested territory on the east side of the river, where they were attacked by a trio of French Caudron G.4 two-engine two-seat aeroplanes. Schaesberg’s combat report described the encounter:

‘Aerial combat with three French big combat aeroplanes (Caudrons): After about fifteen minutes of fighting I was able to down one of these enemy aeroplanes, which, suddenly approaching from the frontlines, tried to cut us off. In a steep glide the Caudron flew back toward the French lines. The left engine was burning. Leutnant Göring pursued [it] in a dive and thereby forced the enemy aeroplane to land within our lines (southeast edge of Haumont Forest). We circled several times at fifty metres altitude over the landed opponent until its capture by speedily approaching [ground] personnel. [At] 12 o’clock [we made an] intermediate landing in Jametz and [made an] immediate report about the incident by telephone.’¹⁶

Göring’s Second Victory

After examining the Caudron on the ground, Schaesberg also noted in his report that the French aeroplane had taken twelve hits and that the two crew men appeared to be uninjured. The downed French aeroplane was listed first as FFA 25’s tenth aerial victory. Then, following the custom of the time, victory was also shared equally by Schaesberg, Göring and gunner Boje¹⁷ – even though Göring, piloting the big AEG, was unarmed and, thus, had not fired a shot. It is listed in all of his service records as ‘his’ second aerial victory.

Back on the ground and quick to recognise an opportunity for personal recognition, Göring went directly from his aeroplane to Stenay airfield’s motor pool, where he requisitioned a car and driver to take him to the Caudron landing site. After a cursory examination of ‘his’ prize, Göring directed the captured French aircrew – Sergent Gaston Depèche and Sous-Lieutenant Georges Theremin of Escadrille C 6 – into the car and had them driven to the airfield. Göring often carried a small personal camera with him and, at Stenay, he arranged for one of his friends to photograph his triumphant arrival. He had photos taken of Schaesberg and himself with the two French flyers sitting in the car’s backseat, but the ‘choice view’ showed only Göring and the Frenchmen about to step out of the car and be welcomed by General der Infanterie [equal to a U.S. lieutenant general] Hans von Zwehl of the 5th Army staff. No doubt, Göring would have preferred to have Crown Prince Wilhelm in the photo or the 5th Army Chief of Staff, General Konstantin Schmidt von Knobelsdorf, but General von Zwehl was in overall charge of daily operations during the siege of Verdun and enjoyed considerable prestige.