They became 'aces', the pilots who had shot down five or more of the enemy. Ronald Adam was the luckiest of the trio who had fought that day in the skies above St.
NOTES
CHAPTER TWO
John Doyle: A Day too Late
And at that moment, a red very light bent in the sky from one of the "Four". We were now below the "Fours" level, because the Fokkers were still climbing up to them.
CHAPTER THREE
Richthofen’s Last Victory
Then began a merry waltz; roll round, up and down to the staccato machine-gun fire of other fighters. The body of the car burned in the air, the remains were thrown to the ground northeast of Villers-Bretonneux.'.
CHAPTER FOUR
Bourlon Wood 1917
Boddy later wrote: 'Above the gaunt broken trees of the forest itself the scene was indescribable. I crashed between two trees in the northeast corner of the woods and broke both my thighs, one of which was completely crushed by the engine.
CHAPTER FIVE
Max Immelmann: The Eagle of Lille
In the early spring of 1915, the losses suffered by the German reconnaissance aircraft of the Feldflieger Abteilung were of some concern to the German command. Questions were asked in the British Parliament about the contempt of the German fighters and the term 'Fokker Scourge' was coined.
CHAPTER SIX
Decoys
Lewis was 'kept busy', as he rotated from one Lewis gun to another, one firing forward and the other back across the top face of the FE. The latter necessitated Lewis standing in an extremely precarious position, leaning his back against the forward gun, the rim of the nacelle reaching only to the back of his knees.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Larry Bowen: A Gallant American
Irwin's flight, including Johnny Speaks, joined the fight and Irwin shot down one of the Fokkers in flames. Molyneux and Johnny Speaks went down at 230 mph to attack one of the enemy fighters separated from its companions.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Master Falls
The Albatros zoomed to the right and collided with another, which was also diving at Knight. Erwin Böhme then scored 12 victories with the Jasta until he was placed under command of Jasta 29 on July 2, 1917.
CHAPTER NINE
Bond of 40
I saw a good part of the line, although I was mostly trying to keep my place in the formation. It has started to thunder and we are all happy.' The chaplain of 40 Squadron was the much-loved Father Keymer, referred to by Bond in his letters as 'The Odd Man'. Damn good...absolutely topping. The others came in intermittently and he got past the commander and everyone by welcoming them.
One of the two-seaters attacked Bond, but suddenly all three took off to the east. The next day, 22 July, Bond took his plane on the second squadron patrol of the day. The same haze hung over the ground as the previous evening, but the increasing heat of the sun dispelled it.
CHAPTER TEN
Werner Voss
He was away from the front for the rest of the month; during which the. After one of his victories, a group of his fellow pilots went to the scene of the crash. Many men, new to the Jasta, actually thought he was one of them and addressed him in the usual manner and language of the men.
Circumstances came together that would culminate in one of the epic battles of the first war in the air. McCudden dived on the tail of the triple from the right, Rhys Davids from the left. Cronyn abandoned the fight and nursed his badly damaged machine back to the safety of the British lines.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Six in a Day
The fighting in the air followed this general pattern for the next three days as the German forces continued their advance. I fired a short burst at close range and the enemy machine fell to pieces in the air. DFW in the morning, which had escaped by virtue of Trollope's stoppage of arms, was.
On the morning of March 28, the German forces began a series of attacks in the Arras area. In the fierce fighting, Trollope first shot down a Fokker Triplane, followed by an Albatross in flames. I was heading west for about 15 seconds just then 3 EA came out of the clouds and came for me and in the first burst my pulse was almost blown off.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Above the Somme
After about 30 laps, a large cloud of blue haze came out of the gondola in front of the pilot. These also opened fire on the DH2 at long range and Rees returned their fire, targeting the center of the formation in an attempt to disperse it. As he approached the lower enemy machine manned by Staffelführer, Leutnant Zimmerman and his pilot, Leutnant Ernst Wendler, it banked sharply and dropped a bomb, after which Zimmerman opened fire on the DH2 from long range.
After pulling out his drum, Rees pulled out his pistol, but in his haste he dropped it and it fell at the front of the gondola, at his feet. Seeing that the leader of the German formation was now flying east towards his own lines, Rees gave chase again. After living in retirement in the Bahamas, he enlisted in the RAF as a volunteer at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, but was already one by the age of fifty-five.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Terror in the Night
When I took one of the biggest fires, I was able to assess my speed and my drift. When he stopped in the doorway of the log cabin that served as the officer's mess, all eyes were on him. A French-built high-wing monoplane, the Morane was fitted with a Lewis gun mounted in front of the pilot's cockpit.
It established that Rex was given a drink while the gas tanks of the Morane were being refilled. The next morning, thousands of people turned up to pay their last respects to the first airman to bring down one of the dreaded and hated Zeppelins. When the police were finally forced to close the iron gates of the cemetery, thousands more lined the path to the grave.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The Falcon of Feltre
Frank Linke-Crawford was born on August 18, 1893 in Krafau (today Krakau in Poland) as the son of k.u.k. After passing out from officer school, Linke-Crawford was posted to the newly formed Fleigerkompagnie 22 (Flik 22) commanded by Hauptmann Losoncsy, for observation and bombing operations. Successful in these duties, Linke-Crawford was awarded his observer badge and the Military Service Cross 3rd Class.
After completing his pilot training, Linke-Crawford was posted to Flik 12 as Chefpilot, in effect deputy to the commanding officer, Hauptmann Arpad Gruber. On the morning of 10 May, Linke-Crawford scored his first victories since taking command of the Flik, shooting down a Bristol F.2B of Z Flight of 34 Squadron over Levico, killing Lieutenants J B Guthrie and HV Thornton. The plane was completely burnt, with the exception of the ailerons.' The Falcon of Feltre was dead.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
In Italian Skies
Nevertheless, he continued to work with the squadron until the middle of the month, when he was posted to the Home Establishment as an instructor. Barker and four Camels from No. 66 Squadron returned the next day and destroyed another bridge, but seven bridges in the lower reaches of the river were still intact. Barker shot down one LVG, and he and May worked together to destroy another.
Although it was now clear that the end of the war was in sight, Barker was anxious to get one more chance to fly fighters. Barker threw the Snipe into an evasive spin for 2,000 feet, but after pulling out he found himself in the middle of a large Fokker formation. He dived for the safety of the British front lines, flying under another formation of enemy fighters.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Josef Kiss: An Officer and a Gentleman
Over the next few months, this formidable triumvirate would earn the Flik 55J the Kaiser Staffel - the Emperor's Squadron. Kiss was now one of the most successful and highly decorated pilots of the Dual Monarchy - he was awarded three gold and four silver medals for gallantry - but he was still only an Offizierstellvetreter, an NCO. Climbing over the airfield to gain altitude, the trio then flew to join a flight commanded by Linke-Crawford of Flik 60Js, based at Feltre aerodrome, probably the target of the Italian bombers.
On the other side of the lines, three Sopwith Camels of 66 Squadron had taken off from their airfield at San Pietro-in-Gu on a No. 14 offensive patrol. While the enemy pilots were trying to shoot down the Kasza, their attention was completely occupied, Kiss and Kirjak taking advantage of the more powerful 200hp line engines of their Oeffag-built Albatros D.III, which were given them a magnification superior to that of Camels. , would zoom in, stop turning and attack the Camels from behind. The dead pilot's head was so badly mutilated by the engine in the crash that he could not be identified, but a list of decorations on his tunic confirmed that he was Josef Kiss.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The Ordeal of Alan Winslow
This legal formality observed, as now members of the French army, they were issued uniforms, and on July 10th were sent to the great training airfield at Avord. Returning at dusk after escorting a bombing raid, the wheels of his Nieuport scout struck a high-tension cable at the edge of the field. There, on the wings of the neighboring plane, instead of the red, white and blue cockades of the French Air Service, was the German insignia - two large black Maltese crosses.'.
When Winslow climbed back to 6,000 feet and arrived at the scene of the battle, he was just in time to see Campbell's adversary go down in flames. On their way, they came across a crowd of people - soldiers and civilians - surrounding one of the enemy pilots. The remains of the enemy machine brought down by Campbell were, in Winslow's words, 'but a charred wreck, like the sacrifice of a great beast.' The pilot was thrown from his machine and suffered severe burns on his hands face and feet and one of his legs was broken.
When the enemy pilot managed to regain control of Hanover, he descended to the level of the American Nieuport. His only advantage was that he had a lot of height and was confident that he could glide the damaged Spad to the safety of the allied ranks.
