The following day, Sunday, 29 April 1917, there was no doubt that Göring scored Jasta 26’s only victory for the day, a Nieuport brought down near Ramicourt, some ten kilometres southwest of the Staffel’s airfield at Bohain. To validate his claim, his combat report contained allegedly complete information about the downed aeroplane and the identity of its captured British pilot. Following his third patrol of the day, Göring wrote:

‘About 7:45 p.m. [I had an] aerial combat over Ramicourt with a Nieuport single-seat fighter. I shot it down. [The pilot] tried to land southwest of Ramicourt. [The aeroplane] tumbled over on landing. The pilot, Lieutenant Flescher [sic] was severely wounded by a richochet shot to the lower calf.

‘As I flew at 100 metres’ altitude to Bohain, a second enemy single-seater came down from above, pursued by an Albatros. The Englishman attacked me shortly and hit my [aileron cable]. He himself was then pursued by an Albatros and forced to land. I could not observe any further developments since I had to fly without lateral control, which demanded my entire attention. The [captured] Nieuport bore the serial number 2745 (17bis) Engine number 2813 Type 9B.’⁴³

Göring brought down Flight Sub-Lieutenant Albert H.V. Fletcher,⁴⁴ a twenty-three-year-old South African, who was taken prisoner at the crash site of his Nieuport 17bis (serial number N.3192) of 6 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service. However, no British Nieuport ever bore the serial number 2745, as indicated in the combat report.⁴⁵ Göring duly received official credit for his sixth aerial victory.⁴⁶

Göring’s Seventh Victory

Existing documentation does not include a copy of the combat report for Göring’s next victory, an Airco D.H.4 two-seat reconnaissance and bomber aeroplane he shot down on the afternoon of Thursday, 10 May 1917. While that event was reasonably fresh in his mind, however, he wrote at length about it – with typical dramatic flair – for an anthology of German airmen’s experiences that was published in 1923. Göring recalled: