Dogfighters and Dangerous Skies

Transcription

1 Dogfighters and Dangerous Skies It is almost impossible to contemplate just how dangerous this activity really was. G. C. Syphers June 15, 2013

2 Dangerous skies over France. Royal Flying Corps Sopwith Camels vs. The Flying Circus, March A month later, the Royal Air Force was born. 2

3 Oswald Boelcke, who pioneered combat tactics and fighter organization. It was he who gave the neophyte Richtofen a start. Boelcke had 40 confirmed victories. His ten rules for air fighting were used by both sides and into WW2. One of these rules; Always try to have the sun behind you when first attacking became the basis of the RFC and RAF caution - Beware of the Hun in the Sun. With 40 victories, he was killed after a collision with a fellow Jasta pilot during maneuvers in a dogfight. The upper wing of his Albatros was destroyed. Boelcke died in October, Photographed here in early 1916, wearing Germany's highest award for valour, the Pour le Merite or The Blue Max at his throat. 3

4 Hermann Goring in He was a most proficient fighter pilot, with 22 victories in WW1. He was then an honourable man. He was awarded the Pour le Merite and took over command of The Flying Circus after Richtofen's death in After the 1923 "Beer Hall Putsch", where he was shot in the thigh, he became permanently addicted to morphine. His descent, thereafter, into becoming a horrible monster is well documented. 4

5 Richtofen's Jasta (Squadron) at Douai, France, The aircraft were so colourful and the paint schemes so varied, they were called The Flying Circus. Richtofen's all red Albatros D-III is second from the front, without the Iron Cross on the fuselage or tail. 5

6 Boelcke's Jasta, Albatros D.Va aircraft. Pilots Bassange, Kempf and Vallendor. The 180 hp Mercedes was a beautiful engine. The Jasta was named in Boelcke's honour after his death. 6

7 S.E.5a and Fokker D-VII fighters in tight dogfighting

8 French Ace, Charles Nungesser and his Nieuport, He scored 45 victories. Exceptionally brave, fearless and aggressive, he survived WW1 and was lost in the Atlantic, He had many crashes resulting from combat; breaking ribs, limbs and once, his jaw - he was often helped into and out of his aircraft whilst wearing plaster casts and heavy bandaging. On the fuselage of his aircraft he had painted his personal insignia. Skull and crossbones, candles and a coffin -on a black heart. Very macabre markings. 8

9 Ernst Udet was a gifted pilot with 62 confirmed victories. Few could match his aerobatics and natural flying skill. In June 1917, he met the French ace Guynemer in combat. For 10 minutes, they circled and tried everything to get the advantage over the other. Udet s guns jammed. Guynemer, seeing Udet using his fists on his guns realised his predicament. He saluted Udet and chivalrously turned and flew away. Between the wars he was a barnstormer, airshow stunt pilot and flew in many films. He flew under bridges, through hangars and did aerobatics with the engine and propeller stopped. Picking up a cloth with his wingtip was popular. It was Udet who pioneered the Junkers Ju.87 Stuka divebomber. In 1939 he was OIC aircraft production in the Luftwaffe. After being blamed by Hitler and Goring for the Luftwaffe's shortcomings - he shot himself. 9

10 Richtofen, the Red Baron and his Circus take-off at dawn

11 Werner Voss, Dogfighter supreme, about to fly his Fokker Dr Voss, with 48 victories, was a master of the tricky Tri-plane. In September 1917 he was shot down after taking on RFC 56 Squadron - alone -and six of their ace pilots. He holed all their aircraft and performed flick manoeuvres that the 56 Sqn. pilots described as "unbelievable and impossible". Voss had earlier shot down 22 aircraft in 21 days. 11

12 Georges Guynemer. A 1917 Postcard. 54 victories. Twice the winner of the Legion de Honneur, he was the most popular of the French Aces. When he fell in combat, in September 1917, neither he nor his aircraft was ever found. This was not uncommon with the massive shelling at the Front. He had flown 600 combat missions in two years, nearly all in Nieuport and SPAD aircraft. 12

13 Rene Fonck. France s top scoring fighter pilot. 75 confirmed kills, top scoring Allied ace. An extremely accurate marksman, he was unbelievably economical with ammunition. He once shot down a German fighter with seven rounds. He survived the war. He was a conceited and arrogant man. 13

14 The RFC's Edward Mannock, VC. 73 victories. He had a most unusual trait - he gave a number of his victories to novice pilots. Many consider him the Allied top scorer, but no one knows how many kills he gave away. A great tactician and leader. He and the Red Baron shared the same fate - shot down by soldier's gunfire after breaking their own strict rules and flying low over the Front. 14

15 James McCudden, VC. 57 victories. He was killed in July 1918 making the most basic mistake in flying - trying to turn back to the airfield, following an engine failure after take-off. It simply cannot be done - as they found out in

16 Werner Voss's 1917 Fokker Dr.1 (authentic livery, emblematical and rotary powered ), this replica is still flying at Old Rhinebeck aerodrome, New York State. 16

17 Dogfight in Nieuport takes on Fokker Tri-planes. 17

18 Sopwith Camel, an extremely manoeuvrable aircraft - dangerous in the hands of inexperienced pilots. The Camel appeared in RFC squadrons in July By Armistice Day, Camels had shot down 1294 enemy aircraft. 18

19 Sopwith Camel bursting a balloon, Arras, France, August The Germans gave balloon crews and pilots parachutes in The British Generals, Colonel Blimps and RAF nabobs said "NO" to issuing parachutes. Having a parachute could mean that a pilot might jump before really fighting - said they. The Germans also had oxygen bottles for high altitude fighters (such as the Fokker D-VII) in They had no masks - oxygen was administered by a device on the hose like the small end of a tobacco pipe which was held between the teeth Camels were built in WW1. 19

20 A line-up of SE5 aircraft. Australian Flying Corps, France, A total of 5205 S.E.5 and S.E.5a aircraft were constructed during WW1. 20

21 Australian Captain Robert Little, DSO and bar, DFC and bar, Croix de Guerre. 47 victories. Originally an RNAS pilot, he flew with the RFC and the RAF. He did not survive the war. In mid 1918, Little died over England - at night - attacking a Gotha bomber. He was blinded by searchlights and hit by machine gun fire from the Gotha. 21

22 Fokker Dr.1 tri-plane. An authentic replica, still flying in Germany. Manfred von Richtofen's livery, rotary powered. The last Fokker Dr.1 was destroyed in WW2, after a bombing raid demolished the museum in Berlin. 22

23 The Rittmeister (Ride master, a rank of a Cavalry Officer- the Baron started WW1 in the Cavalry) of The Flying Circus, Baron Manfred von Richtofen. Scion of a German aristocratic family, a patriot and a patient hunter (of boars and aircraft). He achieved 80 victories, many over the RFCs leading aces. Died 21st April, The newly formed RAF naturally tried to take credit and said pilot Roy Brown shot him down. The single lateral and upward chest wound that killed him showed the 303 bullet could not have come from behind. When tightly strapped in the cockpit, a pilot cannot turn his upper torso through 90 degrees to look backwards. He was shot down by groundfire from Australian troops. 23

24 William Avery "Billy" Bishop. Canadian. Shown here in his Nieuport aircraft. Credited with 72 victories. He was awarded the VC for a solo dawn raid on a German aerodrome in The Germans were warming up for take-off. Some became airborne, but Bishop quickly shot them down. Once he got onto the SE5a his score rate skyrocketed. He shot down 25 aircraft in 12 consecutive days. He died in

25 Lest We Forget their courage and sacrifice. "Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many. 25