Chapter 1

The Air War Becomes More Serious

In the first part of this two-part series, covering 1914-1916, we ended 1916 as the massive Somme offensive had finally petered out and the German fighter force had established their Jagdstaffeln. It will be remembered that in the initial stages of the First World War fighter aeroplanes such as the Fokker Eindeckers, had been distributed in twos and threes amongst the two-seat observation and bombing abteilungen, for protection. In between such protection sorties, the more aggressive young pilots had flown their fast little scouts to engage Allied machines that were either ranging artillery fire over the front lines, or flying into German-held territory to observe or bomb.

Two of these pilots had been Oswald Boelcke and Max Immelmann, and both had been the first airmen to receive the coveted Orden Pour le Mérite, Germany’s highest bravery award. Immelmann had been killed in June 1916 and Boelcke in October, but Boelcke had persuaded ‘higher authority’ to gather the fighters into a number of single units – Jagdstaffeln – shortened to the word Jasta.

By this time there were dozens of eager young pilots clambering to become Jasta pilots, and emulate the achievements of men such as Boelcke, Immelmann, Wintgens and Berthold. They also sought the recognition these early aces had achieved, as well as high awards from the various German states who all seemed compelled to lavish medals and orders on these new heroes of the skies.

It was not, however, any form of guarantee of a long life, and many of the early aces had already fallen. By January 1917 the three living top-scoring aces were Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen with eighteen victories, LeutnantWilhelm Frankl, with fourteen and Leutnant Walter Höhndorf with twelve. The winter weather had curtailed aerial activity to some extent, but the spring was coming, and the Jasta pilots were waiting.

On the British side, the DH.2 and FE.8 pusher-type fighters that had helped overcome the Fokker menace were about to be phased out, replaced by tractorengined machines, there being no need to have engines behind the pilot now that interrupter gears had been invented. The poor BE.12s too were ordered away from the front by no less a personage than General Hugh Trenchard, head of the RFC. December 1916 saw the first Sopwith Pups arrive in France, nimble little single-seat fighters with a single Vickers gun firing through the propeller, and in January 1917 came a newer type of fighting reconnaissance aeroplane, another Sopwith design, the unusually named 1½ Strutter, so called because of its unusual arrangement of the central bracing that supported the upper wing. It too carried a single Vickers gun for the pilot atop the forward fuselage, and also a moveable Lewis gun mounted on a Scarff ring in the rear cockpit. The Strutter could generally handle itself when scrapping with German fighters, and was also used for both short and long reconnaissance missions. The big FE.2bs and 2ds were still very much in evidence and were not attacked without care and attention by the German pilots.

Fighters with the Royal Naval Air Service had for some months been helping to support their RFC comrades, several squadrons taking turns to move down from the North Sea coast area to support the hard-pressed British front. They too had begun to equip with Pups, and Strutters, but were also using French Nieuport Scouts, as the RFC had also been flying. Among the high-scoring British pilots still alive as 1917 began were the mercurial Albert Ball, with thirty-one victories, although he was back in England at this time. E. O. Grenfell had eight, J. O. Andrews seven and S. H. Long, six; J. D. Latta, had five although he was no longer in France. In the RNAS, R. S. Dallas had claimed six, including two flying the new Sopwith Triplane that this Australian was trialling in France. However, the best results went to his fellow Australian, S. J. Goble, who had scored eight by this time, flying Nieuports and Pups. In fact he scored the Pup’s first kill in the war, downing a German two-seater on 24 September 1916, which brought him the Distinguished Service Cross.

On the French Front, their fighter aircraft were the Nieuport Scout and Spad VII. Georges Guynemer and Charles Nungesser were the two leading lights, with twenty-five and twenty-one victories. In addition, Guynemer had been credited with four probables.

The French system of crediting aerial victories was, on the face of it, more stringent than the RFC’s. Unless an enemy aircraft was seen to crash – and be witnessed by two other sources – it was only noted as probably destroyed and not included in the pilot’s score of victories. Similarly, an opponent who was only seen to spin away out of sight, or into cloud, was also only noted as a probable. An enemy in flames, or where the pilot jumped out, also had to be verified by witnesses. The British system of course added probable victories (recorded as ‘out of control’) to a pilot’s overall score. The French system could not have been always as stringent as it might seem, but it was the system. Early French aces still alive as 1917 began were:

René Dorme	17 (and 6 probables)
Alfred Heurtaux	16 (and 3 probables)
Jean Navarre	12 (before seriously wounded, 17 Jun 1916)
Andre Chainet	10 (no longer at the Front)
Albert Deullin	10
Marcel Vialet	9
Jean Chaput	8
Paul Sauvage	8 (and 4 probables; killed 7 Jan 1917)
Paul Tarascon	8
Georges Flachaire	7
Jean Casale	6
Lucien Jailler	6
Victor Sayaret	6
Joseph de Bonnefoy	5

To this list must be added Gervais Raoul Lufbery, French by birth but adopted by America due to having an American father. Born in 1885, at Chamalières, central France, he ran away from home when aged 17 in order to travel the world, even travelling to the USA in 1906, where, after joining the army, he spent two years on active duty in the Philippines. He saw his first aeroplane in Cochin China in 1910, then, making the acquaintance of a French pilot, Marc Poupe, in 1912, began to travel with him as a mechanic. Not long after the war began Poupe was killed and, having returned to France with him, Lufbery had to join the French Foreign Legion due to his US status. His desire to fly led him to becoming a pilot, and when the Escadrille Lafayette was formed from American volunteers, he joined them. By the end of 1916 he had shot down six German aircraft, the unit’s top ace.

The French had also begun to group escadrilles together, starting in October 1916 with Groupe de Combat 11, followed by GC12. There is no suggestion that each escadrille within these groupings acted together: it was more a grouping for administration and ease of command. Further Groupes de Combat followed during 1917.

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So, as 1917 began, the air war, although stalled by the weather, was about to erupt in earnest. Enough had been learnt during 1916, especially following the Somme battles. The new German Jasta pilots were busily training on their new biplane fighters, the Albatros D.I and D.II, Fokker D.I and D.II, that had begun to appear in late 1916 and the LFG Roland D.II that would arrive in the spring. Meantime, the Halberstadt D.II had all but gone from the front, and the Fokker biplanes were also being replaced by Albatros Scouts.

Also in the spring the RFC would receive its first squadron of Bristol F.2a twoseat reconnaissance fighters. This was 48 Squadron, which arrived in March; its senior flight commander was Captain William Leefe Robinson VC, famous for having shot down a German airship over London.

During the first weeks of 1917 there had been some thirty Jastas created and formed, many ready for action. Compared to British or French squadrons they had fewer pilots and aircraft, but the aircraft were mostly Albatros D.II or D.III fighters, with a few Fokker or Halberstadt biplanes that were more than capable of inflicting serious damage on most of the Allied aircraft now at the front. Although Jasta 2 had lost its formidable leader, Oswald Boelcke, Oberleutnant Stefan Kirmaier had taken over but he too had been killed in November by J. O. Andrews of 24 Squadron who had been in the fight when Boelcke had died. As a mark of respect, Jasta 2 had become known as Jasta Boelcke. Hauptmann Franz Walz was now its Staffelführer .

However, the Jasta had lost one of its leading lights, Manfred von Richthofen, in January 1917. He had been promoted to lead Jasta 11, and under his leadership it was to become the second highest scoring Jasta in the German Air Service. Jasta 11 had not scored any victories by this time, but the Baron changed this on 23 January, claiming his own seventeenth kill.

 

It is not always appreciated that the Sopwith Aviation Company built aeroplanes for the Royal Naval Air Service and only later did the RFC begin to order their aircraft. Both the two-seat Sopwith 1½ Strutter and the Sopwith Pup began their service lives in 1916 and by 1917 were used in large numbers by both services. Both were nice to fly. The Strutter pilots had a single Vickers gun atop the forward section of the fuselage, while the observer in the rear cockpit had a drum-fed Lewis gun, mounted on a Scarff ring that enabled it to be swung in various directions. The observer also had extra drums in his cockpit. One can see a gun-sight on the pilot’s gun and his windscreen has a leather reinforced edge to avoid facial damage in a forced landing. This particular machine was used by 43 Squadron, and was brought down by OfStv Edmund Nathanael of Jasta 5 on 28 April 1917, his twelfth victory, its crew being captured.

The Sopwith Pup became the standard fighter for both the RNAS and RFC and was once described as a nice ‘club machine’, meaning it had few vices and did not give its pilot too much trouble. It too had just one single belt-fed Vickers gun for its pilot. This picture of the prototype, 3691, was taken at the Dunkirk Air Depot in May 1916. It then flew with several RNAS units in France including 1 Naval Squadron, where F/Sub-Lt S. J. Goble claimed a German two-seater ‘out of control’ in September.

Sopwith Pup A626, of 8 Naval Squadron, shot down by Lt Friedrich Mallinckrodt of Jasta 6 on 4 January 1917, for his second victory. He is seen here with his leather flying coat. Severely wounded in April 1917 with Jasta 20, he survived the war as a test pilot, but was killed during the Second World War. He had achieved six victories, although he was wounded on five occasions.

Lt E. O. Grenfell had achieved eight victories by the end of 1916 flying Morane Scouts with 1 Squadron and Nieuports with 60. Circling his last victim, brought down inside Allied lines on 11 December, he crashed and broke a leg. Later he commanded 23 Squadron, was awarded the AFC, and ended the war with the MC. Post-war he won the DFC. He is seen here sitting in front of a French Caudron.

Lt R. S. Dallas DSC ended 1916 with six victories flying with the RNAS. In 1917 he gained sixteen more, mostly with 1 Naval Squadron. From Queensland, Australia, he was among the top-scoring Aussies of the First World War, although sadly he did not survive the conflict. Reggie Dallas received a DSO and a Bar to his DSC, and is here standing in front of a Nieuport 11. He was variously known as Reggie, Stan and ‘Breguet’.

The prototype Sopwith Triplane (N500) in which Dallas scored two victories while testing the type for operational evaluation. The Triplane saw considerable service during 1917, and its three-wing design was noted by the Dutch aircraft designer, Anthony Fokker, which led to him building the famed Fokker Dr.I Triplane for the German Air Service.

Another Australian in the RNAS was F/Sub-Lt S. J. Goble, from Victoria. By the end of 1916 he had achieved eight victories and been awarded the DSC and later a DSO. His combat successes came whilst flying both the Nieuport Scout and the Sopwith Pup machines. He later rose to air vicemarshal in the RAAF.

Captain J. O. Andrews of 24 Squadron came from Lancashire and served in the Royal Scots before joining the RFC. Flying the DH.2 he scored seven victories by the end of 1916 and in 1917, with 66 Squadron on Pups, shot down a further five German aircraft. He was awarded the MC and Bar, followed by a DSO. He ended the war commanding a Sopwith Camel squadron, retiring from the RAF as an air vice-marshal.

John Andrews seated in his Sopwith Pup, B1703, in which he claimed his last three victories while with 66 Squadron. The picture was taken at Vert Galant aerodrome, France.

Lt Charles Nungesser flew with Escadrille N65 in 1916 and by the end of that year had twenty victories in air combat. He had won the Médaille Militaire with the army and became a Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur. He would more than double this score by the summer of 1918. However, he suffered a number of wounds and injuries during his service, but also received the British Military Cross, the Croix De Guerre (eventually with twenty-eight Palmes and two Étoiles (stars)), and the American DSC. He is seated in a Nieuport Scout with his famous personal insignia of a black heart, edged in white, a coffin, two candlesticks, and a skull and crossbones (funereal symbols, to be seen in many old churches).

René Dorme ended 1916 with seventeen victories flying with one of the Storke Group, Escadrille N3. When the war began he had been with the French artillery in North Africa, but immediately requested pilot training as he returned to France. He continued to score in 1917, his total reaching twenty-three by mid-May, but was killed in action on the 25th, shot down by Heinrich Kroll of Jasta 9 for his fifth victory. Dorme recorded more than a dozen probables.

Heinrich Kroll of Jasta 9 shot down Dorme on 25 May 1917 for his fifth victory. In July he took command of Jasta 24, raising his score to 33 by August 1918 when a wound ended his combat career. He received the Pour le Mérite in March 1918.

Lt Jean Chaput, of N57, had a victory score of eight by the end of 1916. He would down more in 1917 and 1918 before falling in combat in May 1918. Paris-born Chaput had earlier been in the army but transferred to aviation when war began.

It was not just the Germans who had postcards of their heroes. Here Adjutant Andre Chainat is depicted by the photographer N. Manuel, in his ‘Les As’ series. Seriously wounded after his eleventh victory, he did not return to combat flying. He flew with N3, depicted in this picture by the Stork emblem above his medals. These medals are the Legion d’Honneur, Médaille Militaire and the Croix de Guerre, showing eight Palmes and two Étoiles.

Three early French aces, Alfred Heurtaux, Georges Flachaire and Marcel Vialet of the Storke Group. Heurtaux had sixteen victories by the end of 1916 and downed five more before being badly wounded in May 1917. Flachaire ended 1916 with seven victories and gained one more in 1917 before being sent to America as part of the French Military Aviation Mission. Vialet ended his combat career in December 1916 with nine victories.

Four more stalwart Storke Group pilots. Mathieu Tenant de la Tour had eight victories in 1916, one more in 1917, but was killed in a flying accident in December 1917. Alfred Heurtaux, Albert Deullin, ten victories by the end of 1916, raised his total to twenty by May 1918; he was killed in a flying accident in 1923. Georges Guynemer, again showing the N3 Stork emblem

One of the Spad VII fighters used by Guynemer. Again we see the Stork emblem of Escadrille N3. Each escadrille in the group carried a Stork emblem, but in different designs. Beneath the exhaust pipe is written Vieux Charles, the name carried on all of his Nieuport and Spad aircraft. The number ‘2’ is in red. Note the RNAS Sopwith Triplane in the background.

The top ace and French hero of the Escadrille Lafayette, Roual Lufbery. His decorations are the Legion d’Honneur, Médaille Militaire, and Croix de Guerre with four Palmes. Usually the award of a Palme denoted a mention in French communiqués for some feat of distinction.

Lt Walter Höhndorff flew mostly with Kek Vaux in 1916 (Kampfeinsitzerkommando, based at Vaux airfield). Awarded the Pour le Mérite in July, he joined two of the new Jastas, 1 and 4, bringing his score to twelve. Later he took command of Jasta 14 but was killed testing an AEG D.I, which he had helped design, on 5 September.

Wilhelm Frankl ended 1916 with fifteen victories, having earlier flown Fokker Eindeckers before going to the new Jasta 4. Awarded the Pour le Mérite in August, he brought his score to twenty in early April 1917, including four on the 6th, before falling in combat with 48 Squadron’s BF.2a fighters on 8 April.

The ‘Eagles’ of von Richthofen’s Jasta 11 in 1917. L to R: Wolfgang Plüschow, Constantin Kempf, Georg von Hantlemann, Kurt Wolff, Karl Effers, von Richthofen, brother Lothar von Richthofen, Hans Hintsch, Otto Brauneck, Leutnant Matthof, and Karl Allmenröder.

Another Frenchman who would end the war with nineteen victories was Henri Hay de Slade, who saw action with N86 in 1917-18 and as commander of Spa159 in 1918. He began the war in the army but learned to fly in 1916. He died in 1979, aged 86.

The German victory cup, presented to an airman upon achieving his first victory in air combat.

Ray Collishaw’s Triplane which he used with 10 Naval in 1917, and in which he scored eighteen victories. His was named Black Maria, a name written just below the cockpit.

Once the Sopwith Triplane was phased out, the RNAS squadrons used the Sopwith Camel. This picture is of Fred Banbury’s B6230; he flew in 9 Naval, and in this aircraft accounted for five of his eleven victories. This Canadian died on the day the RAF was formed, 1 April 1918, crashing shortly after take-off, possibly due to a heart attack.

Four stalwarts of 3 Naval, Ed Pierce (9), Edwin Hayne (15), Art Whealy (27) and Harold Beamish (11). All survived the war, although Hayne, a South African, died in a flying accident in April 1919. Pierce came from England, Whealy from Canada, and Beamish from New Zealand.

Another successful RNAS pilot was Harold Stackard, who flew with 9 Naval in 1917, achieving fifteen victories. Despite his record he was not decorated and became an instructor in 1918. Born in Norwich, he was living in North London in 1914. He died in 1949.

Belgian ace Willy Coppens at the start of his career, seated in a Nieuport Scout. The insignia, in blue, is the insignia of 1ère Escadrille. He did not begin to score victories until he flew Hanriot HD.1 fighters with 9ème Escadrille from March 1918.

An exceptional British ace was Captain Philip Fullard DSO MC and Bar. Flying Nieuport Scouts with No. 1 Squadron he achieved forty victories between May and November 1917. His career was ended by breaking a leg in a football match. The American on the right is Captain Earl ‘Win’ Spencer Jr, a US Navy aviator, husband to Wallis Simpson, who married the Duke of Windsor in 1936. Fullard died in 1984.

Joseph Veltjens was another ace who began service with the army prior to moving to aviation in late 1915. Via the two-seater route, he eventually made fighter pilot in March 1917, going to Jasta 14. In August he transferred to Jasta 18 and later Jasta 15. With nine victories by the end of 1917, this rose to thirty-five by October 1918, and had brought him the Blue Max and other high awards. In the Second World War he attained the rank of Oberst (colonel) but was killed in October 1943. He was travelling in a Ju52 transport aircraft that was shot down by Yugoslav partisans and he was killed. He was known as ‘Seppl’.

Kurt Erwin Wüsthoff joined the army aged sixteen and learned to fly but was too young for front-line duty and so became an instructor. In 1915 he flew bombers in Bulgaria, Rumania and Greece before finally getting to France as a fighter pilot, with Jasta 4. By November 1917 he had scored twenty-six victories, adding one more in March 1918. He was awarded the Blue Max and assigned to the staff of JGI. Given command of Jasta 15 he was shot down and taken prisoner on 17 June. In July 1926 he was badly injured in a crash in Dresden and died five days later.