Built by the Halberstädter Flugzeugwerke, Göring’s D.II offered speed and climbing ability that was only slightly better than the Fokker Eindecker’s. But the Halberstadt was powered by a stationary engine, versus a rotary engine with its inherent torque considerations, and was manoeuvrable and strong, with very good diving ability.¹¹ In the hands of an aggressive pilot such as Hermann Göring, the Halberstadt was a good air fighting weapon.

Frustrating Air Combat Results

Fast paced events on Saturday, 15 July 1916, convinced Göring that he had scored his third aerial victory overall and his first in a fighter aeroplane. While flying the new Halberstadt over Marre Ridge, a natural defensive barrier for Fort de Marre, a smaller fortification less than seven kilometres northwest of Verdun, Göring spotted a Voisin Gitterrumpf [lattice fuselage] aeroplane. This was a common German description for French and British aeroplanes in which the rear-engined fuselage was connected to the tail surfaces by wooden longerons that were reinforced by bracing wires. As Göring knew from his early successes over Farman and Caudron aircraft of that configuration, the socalled ‘lattice fuselage’ aircraft gave their crews excellent visibility and, with the fuselages placed ahead of the engines, a wide firing arc for their machine guns. But he had defeated them before and he felt triumphant about this morning flight. Upon returning to his airfield, he reported encounters with three French aircraft in just over an hour:

‘1)	8:15 a.m. aerial combat with Voisin over Marre Ridge. After discharging approximately 500 rounds, I saw it plunge into the clouds. I do not know where it went. Observer was already dead (apparently hit by one of the first shots).
‘2)	9:00 a.m. aerial combat with Caudron, which fled. At the same time saw five [other] lattice tails.
‘3)	9:10 a.m. a Nieuport attacked me from above. I turned away.’12

After expending so much ammunition on the Voisin, Göring was not in a position to fight the diminutive but rugged Nieuport. The Halberstadt’s 120-hp Mercedes stationary engine could easily outpace the Nieuport’s 80-hp Gnôme (or Le Rhône) rotary engine¹³ and Göring wisely declined this invitation to an aerial combat in which he was in danger of running out of ammunition.

Often, confirming aerial victories was a difficult task. Other members of Göring’s patrol could verify what they had witnessed, but the best, most often accepted accounts came from German ground forces, which had no vested interest in a fighter pilot’s success or the lack thereof. Fighter pilots, generally very eager to add to their scores of defeated enemy aircraft, often drove to crash sites within their own lines, seeking proof of their handiwork or telephoned frontline artillery and infantry units, looking for witnesses to their achievements. Hence, Göring must have been very happy when, the following day, FAA 203 received a telephone message from the commander for heavy artillery of the 7th Reserve Corps, who must have recognised his aeroplane and reported: ‘[A]t about 9 a.m., Leutnant Göring attacked a French biplane over the Marre Ridge and forced it to land.’¹⁴

Despite that testimony, Göring was denied credit for a claim that may have been tenuous, at best. French records show no loss of aircraft or airmen at the time and in the area in question.¹⁵

That frustration only drove Göring to make greater efforts to shoot down enemy aircraft. He maintained contact with his FFA 25 comrades and, always a ‘talker’, he expounded on his work, which became focused on French Nieuport biplanes, which he wanted so much to engage (as long as he had a full load of ammunition). Many German pilots of the time wanted to fight with the Nieuport 11, which ‘had a fine rate of climb and was very manoeuvrable’,¹⁶ but the Nieuports’ popularity came with a certain price when they became targets of special interest, as Kulenkampff related on 20 July: ‘The Nieuports, they are the delicate ones, have also become considerably more cautious. Göring storms about vigorously among these worthy [opponents] in his single-seater …’¹⁷

Two days later, evidence of Göring’s tenacity came via another telephoned message from the commander for heavy artillery of the 7th Reserve Corps. At this point, Göring had no distinctive markings on his Halberstadt, so it must be assumed that he had alerted the 7th Reserve Corps staff that he would be operating over their positions, as their message was very clear: ‘Leutnant Göring had four aerial combats [and] two French biplanes were chased away…’¹⁸

On Sunday, 23 July, two FAA 203 single-seat aircraft were sent eastward to Metz,¹⁹ where their pilots – Leutnants Hermann Göring and the now fully recovered Bruno Loerzer²⁰ – were assigned to defend the city against air attacks. Located at the confluence of the Moselle and Seille rivers and some fifty-five kilometres east of Verdun, Metz was then a major city in the Lorraine territory that Germany gained after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. At the beginning of World War I, Metz became one of four Festungs-Städte [fortress cities] that were slated to receive aeroplanes, airships and anti-aircraft batteries to fend off anticipated enemy air raids. Metz was assigned Festungs-Flieger-Abteilung 2 [Fortress Flying Section 2], which became Feldflieger-Abteilung 71 [Field Flying Section 71],²¹ but did not receive all of the aeroplanes promised²² and therefore had to draw on resources from frontline units for its aerial defence.

The following day, 24 July, Kulenkampff kept his family apprised of Göring’s progress by writing:

‘Göring flies a new single-seat biplane, which is somewhat similar to the French Nieuport, but is better. It climbs as high as you want it to, which means to the limit of being able to breathe, for at 4,500 [metres] one must gasp for air, especially when one works a lot in aerial combat.’²³

That day, Göring reported encounters with French aircraft during three different flights in the vicinity of his airfield at Jametz, north of Verdun, and the embattled city itself. From his initial report, the incidents seem routine. Only the day’s final flight, from 6:20 to 8:00 p.m., produced ‘three aerial combats against Nieuport and two-seat Caudrons – both chased off’.²⁴ Yet, he filed a victory claim that had to be tactfully deflected by Feldflugchef Hermann von der Lieth-Thomsen, so as to not discourage the eager young Göring. Indeed, Thomsen waited until he could confirm a subsequent air combat triumph, as noted in his 9 August 1916 response to the claims for both victories submitted via the Stabsoffizier der Flieger [staff officer for aviation] for the 5th Army, Hauptmann Wilhelm Haehnelt:

‘I regret that I am not in a position to confirm the aeroplane [claimed to be] shot down on 24 July by Leutnant Göring. The downing of a biplane by … Göring on 30 July is confirmed as his third aerial victory.

‘I convey to Leutnant Göring my particular appreciation for his brave and unhesitating daring during the attacks on 24 and 30 July.’²⁵

Göring’s Third Victory

The combat report for Göring’s third victory does not appear in any known holdings of German air combat documents. However, a report by General der Infanterie Adolf von Oven, governor of the fortress of Metz, was accepted as proof of Göring’s success in defending his city that day:

‘On 30 July at 10:30 a.m. Leutnant Göring attacked five aeroplanes from an enemy formation over La Côte. West of the Moselle [river] he brought one of the enemy aeroplanes – a two-engine Caudron – crashing down. The remaining enemy aeroplanes flew back over [to their own] lines. I convey to Leutnant Göring my complete appreciation and my thanks for his repeatedly outstanding conduct here.’