Early German Aces of World War I

100 Pages·2006·35.23 MB·English

by  Greg Vanwyngarden

GREGVANWYNGARDEN
hashadalifelonginterest
inWorldWar1aviation,and
hasbeenparticularlyactive
indecipheringthecolours
andmarkingsthatdecorated
thevariousGermanfighters
flownbytheleadingaces.
Thisishissixthbookfor
Osprey,andheiscurrently
workingontheAviationElite
Unitsvolumechroniclingthe
exploitsofJasta IBoe/cke'.
HARRYDEMPSEYhas
beenpassionateabout
WorldWar1aviationfor
over30years,resultingin
hisproductionofsomeof
themosttechnicallyaccurate
artworkonthesubjectfor
Osprey'sAircraftoftheAces
series.Hehasillustrated
alltheWorldWar1titlesin
Osprey'sever-growingrange
ofbest-sellingaviationtitles.
OSPREY AIRCRAFT OF THE ACES • 73
Early German Aces
of World War 1

SERIES EDITOR: TONY HOLMES
OSPREY AIRCRAFT OF THE ACES • 73
Early German Aces
of World War 1
Greg VanWyngarden
FrontCover FirstpublishedinGreatBritainin2006byOspreyPublishing
Onthemorningof26October1915, MidlandHouse,WestWay, Botley,Oxford,OX2OPH
VickersFB5'Gunbus'5462from
443ParkAvenueSouth,NewYork,NY, 10016,USA
No11Sqn,RoyalFlyingCorps(RFC),
tookoffonareconnaissancepatrol E-mail:[email protected]
fromCambraitoperonne.Theunit
wasinthemidstoftransferringto ©2006OspreyPublishingLimited
anewlandingground,andflight
commanderCaptCCDarleywas
flyingwiththepartiallytrained2lt Allrightsreserved.Apartfromanyfairdealingforthepurposeofprivatestudy,
RJSladeashisobserver.TheFB5 research, criticismorreview,aspermittedundertheCopyright,Designand
crossedthelinesthreemilessouth PatentsAct 1988,nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedina
ofArras.Unbeknownsttothecrew,
retrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,
theywerebeingstalkedbyltndR
MaxImmelmannofFeldflieger electrical,chemical,mechanical,optical,photocopying, recordingorotherwise
Abteilung62,alreadyfamousas withoutpriorwrittenpermission.Allenquiriesshouldbeaddressedtothe
oneofGermany'sbestexponents publisher.
ofthenewFokkerEindeckerfighter,
equippedwitharevolutionary
ISBN 13:978 1841769974
synchronisedmachinegunthat
firedthroughthearcoftherotating CIPDataforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
propeller.Immelmannwrote;
'1tookoffat0930hrson26
EditedbyTonyHolmes
October.Ihadjustclimbedto
3500metreswhenIsawanenemy PagedesignbyTonyTruscott
airmanflyoverthelinesbyArras CoverArtworkbyMarkPostlethwaite
andmakeforCambrai.Ilethimfly
AircraftProfilesHarryDempsey
oneastwardforawhile,thenItook
LineArtworkbyMarkStyling
upthepursuit,hidingbehindhistail
allthetime.Ifollowedhimforabout IndexbyAlanThatcher
aquarterofanhourinthisfashion. OriginatedbyPPSGrasmere,Leeds, UK
Myfingerswereitchingtoshoot, PrintedandboundinChinathroughBookbuilders
butIcontrolledmyselfandwithheld TypesetinAdobeGaramondandUnivers
myfireuntilIwaswithin60metres
ofhim.Icouldplainlyseethe 07 08 09 10 11 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
observerinthefrontseatpeering
outdownwards. ForacatalogueofallbookspublishedbyOspreypleasecontact:
'''Knack-Knack-Knack''went
mygun.Fiftyrounds,andthena NORTHAMERICA
longflameshotoutofhisengine.
OspreyDirect,c/oRandomHouseDistributionCenter,
Another50roundsatthepilot.
400HahnRoad,Westminster,MD21157
Nowhisfatewassealed.Hewent
downinwidespiralstoland. E-mail:[email protected]
'Almosteverybulletofmyfirst
ALLOTHERREGIONS
serieswenthome.Elevator,rudder,
OspreyDirectUK,P.O.Box140Wellingborough,Northants,NN82FA,UK
wings,engine,tankandcontrol
wireswereshotup.Thepilothad E-mail:[email protected]
abulletintherightupperarm.I www.ospreypublishing.com
hadalsoshothisrightthumbaway.
Themachinehadreceived40hits.
Theobserverwasunwounded.His
machinegunwasinperfectworking woundedpilotbeforehewastaken TitlepageSpread
order,buthehadnotfiredasingle toafieldhospital.The'Gunbus'had ObitKurtStudent,commander
shot,socompletewasthesurpriseI becameanotherexampleofwhat oftheFokkerstaffelofAOK3,takes
hadsprungonhim.' somediscouragedRFCairmen offfromleffincourtairfieldinhis
Darleymanagedtolandhis werecalling'Fokkerfodder'.Itwas FokkerEIIIinthisevocativeview.
crippled'pusher'nearEcoustSt confirmedasthefifthvictoryfor Studentscoredsixvictoriesin
MeinbehindtheGermanlines. Immelmann,whowaswellonhis WorldWar1,threeofthemina
Aerialwarfarewasstillinits waytoearninghisnicknameofder FokkerEindecker.InWorldWar2
innocentinfancy,andairmenon AdlervonLille(theEagleofLille). hewascommanderoftheGerman
bothsidesfrequentlyextended Immelmannandotherslikehim paratroopforces
chivalrouscourtesiestocaptured wereenteringaperiodofaerial
opponents.Immelmannlanded supremacywhichsomewouldcall
neartheriddledBritishaircraftand the'FokkerScourge'(Coverartwork
renderedwhataidhecouldtothe byMarkPostlethwaite)
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
BIRTH OF THE FLYING GUN 6
CHAPTER TWO
IFOKKER SCOURGE' 25
CHAPTER THREE
THE TIDE TURNS 57
CHAPTER FOUR
JAGDSI'AFFEI.N TAKE FLIGHT 70
APPENDICES 89
COLOUR PLATES COMMENTARY 89
INDEX 96
5
UJ BIRTH OF THE
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W hen Germany entered World War 1 in August 1914, its
young air service - the Fliegertruppe - was equipped
primarilywithtwo-seateraircraftwhosepurposewasentirely
thatofreconnaissance.OneFeldfliegerAbteilung(fieldaviationunit)was
allottedtoeveryoneoftheeightArmyHeadquarters,andonetoeachof
the25 regularCorps HQsaswell. In thewar's initialmonths, theskies
wererelativelyempty,andencounterswithhostileaircraftwererare.This
was just as well, for German two-seaters were unarmed, save for the
occasionalrevolversandriflescarriedbytheaircrew.
Byearly 1915, as the trenchlines beganto solidifyandaerial activity
intensified near the frontlines, meetings between aeroplanes from
opposite sides gradually increased. By that time a number ofAllied
'pusher' aircraft were armed with light machine guns ofthe Hotchkiss
or superb Lewis variety, and German crew members consequently
upgraded their own armament with carbines and even the occasional
captured Allied machine gun. There had initially been no German
model ofa machine gun light enough for aerial use, and although
examples ofthe new Parabellum LMG14 and the Bergmann LMG
slowly began to reach aviation units in early 1915, numbers remained
insufficientforwidespreadfitment to aircraftin thefrontline.
ByApril 1915 the first examples ofthe new C type ofGerman two
seater, armed with a Parabellum gun in the rear cockpit and powered
by engines of 150 to 180 horsepower, made their appearance at the
front in the form ofthe Albatros C I. This was soon followed by the
LVG C I and C II. These sturdy, powerful aircraft were fitted with a
rotatable turret for the observer's machine gun, which became the
standardconfigurationfor German two-seatersforsometime to come.
TheAviatik C I reached the front circa September 1915, and oddly
enough had the observer and his machine gun in the front cockpit.
These machines provided aggressive aircrews with an increased
offensive potential, and a number offuture fighter aces would obtain
their first victories in C types. A different approach produced twin
engined and pusher machines which had the observers placed in the
forward cockpit ofthe nacelle, allowing them to fire the machine gun
directly ahead. The most notable ofthese were the twin-boom pusher
AgoC Iandthetwin-enginedAEG G types, bothofwhichweretested
asviableoptionsfor air-fightingin thelatterhalfof1915.
Ofcourse, the most efficient way offiring a machine gun from an
aircraftwouldbe to fix itinplaceso thatitfired forward directlyalong
the line of flight. If this was mounted in a tractor aeroplane, it
naturallypresentedtheproblemofhowto fire theweapon through the
rotating propeller blades without destroying them. Various solutions
6 had been proposed for some time in different countries. As early as
15 July 1913, a patent was granted to engineer Franz Schneider for a OJ
synchronisation device that permitted a machine gun to fire between ::0
---i
therapidlyspinningpropellerblades. I
o
Schneiderwas aSwiss citizenwho hadleft the FrenchNieuportfirm -n
toworkfor Luftverkehrs Gesellschaft (LVG) inGermany- hehadalso ---i
I
m
been responsible for developing the rotating gun turret installed on
-n
C type aeroplanes. Incredibly, full details ofhis patentwere published I-<
in the German periodical Flugsport in September 1914. Schneider Z
GJ
patented the idea butwas turned down by the Prussian War Ministry
GJ
when he attempted to requisition a machine gun to begin practical C
Z
development.!t was left to the pressures ofwar to lead to German
initiationofthesynchronisedmachinegunconcept.
In France, aircraft designer Raymond Saulnier had also been
experimenting with synchronisation since the spring of 1914.
Difficultieswith his device ledhim to abandon the ideaand insteadfit
metal deflector wedges to the aircraft's propeller to allow the gun to
fire through the spinningairscrew. Saulnierhad been forced to endhis
experimentationwhenwarbrokeout.
In December 1914, however, the famous pre-war aviator Roland
Garros- nowareconnaissancepilotwithEscadrilleMS26- visited the
Morane-Saulnier works and picked up the development of the
armoured propeller ideawhere Saulnier had left off. Garros eventually
had a workable installation fitted to his Morane-Saulnier type L, and
history was made on 1 April 1915 when he shot down a German
aeroplanewithhisnewdevice.
Two morevictories followed rapidlyon 15 and 18April, buton the
latter date Garros was downed by ground fire. He succeeded in
burning his aircraft before being taken prisoner, but the gun and
armoured propeller remained intact and were now in enemy hands. AnthonyHGFokkerisseenwith
theaircraftthatbroughthimfame
Almost immediately the German authorities made plans to replicate
theFokkerEindecker,withits
thedevicefor useonits machines. synchronisedmachinegun.This
At this point the brilliant and flamboyant Dutch aircraft designer aircraftisanEIIpoweredbythe
100hpnine-cylinderOberurselUI.
Anthony Fokker enters the story. In 1914 he had brought out his
MostlikelythisisthefirstEII(Wk
FokkerM F, an aircraft closelymodelled on the Morane-Saulnier type
Nr257),whichFokkertooktothe
G shoulder-wingedmonoplane. Fokker's aeroplanewas no mere copy, frontasademonstrationmachine
however, for he incorporated a
steel-tube fuselage and improved
flight characteristics to produce a
finely balanced and superior
machine.
The monoplane was produced
in twoversions byFokker's factory
in Schwerin, namely the M 5K
(military designation A I) with a
wingspan of8.95 metres, and the
M 5L (A II) with a longer span of
10.9 metres. Both designs were
powered by the Oberursel U 0
rotary engine of80 hp, which was
a licence-built copy ofthe seven
cylinder Gnome. TheAI andA II 7
L.U were produced in small quantities for the Fliegertruppe to serve as
Z
o 'cavalry' aircraft, orlighttwo-seatreconnaissanceaeroplanes.
0:::: As the eminent historian Peter M Grosz has revealed, the deputy
.L....U..
c.. director ofIdflieg (the Inspectorate of military aviation), Major
«
:c HelmutForsterrecalledthatthecaptureofGarros' device 'providedan
u
immediate incentive to try something similar on our side'. According
to Grosz, Forster'swritings also indicatethat Germanauthorities made
the surprising discovery that the Fokker Werke already had a
mechanism completedwhichallowedfiring 'through the propellerdisc
withconsiderablemoresafetythan Garros' device'.
Fokker's famous story (first told in the authorised biography Flying
Dutchman by Bruce Gould, written in 1929) that he conceived,
developed and installed a synchronisation device in 48 hours is
obviouslyan invention, as research byGrosz, Alex Imrie and others has
repeatedly shown. It is instead far more likely that Fokker and his
engineers had been working on a mechanical synchronisation gear for
some six months, no doubt 'inspired' by the details ofthe Schneider
devicewhichhadbeendetailedinFlugsport. Fokker's Gestangesteuerung)
orpushrodcontrol, permittedthegun toshootonlywhen thepropeller
ThefirstarmedFokkermonoplane
wasoutofthelineoffire. acceptedbytheF/iegertruppe,this
The FokkerAeroplanbau GmbH at Schwerin was providedwith an FokkerAIIIwasmarkedwiththe
air-cooled Parabellum gun that was soon installed on a Fokker M 5K. designationA16/15andthename
ofitspilot,LtnParschau.Itwas
Firing trials ofthe newweapon were held at Doberitz, west ofBerlin,
equippedwithaParabellumLMG14
reportedly on 19-20 May 1915. The authorities must have been machinegunandwasusedby
impressed. Five A III (M 5K) single-seat 'cavalry' monoplanes which Parschauwhenhewasinstructing
pilotsatFe/dfliegerAbtei/ung62
were already on order were subsequently armed with Fokker's
initsuse.Notethehighpositionof
synchronised gun, and Idflieg redesignated the machines E types
thewingandtheFFA62blackand
(E stood for Eindecker mitMG, or monoplane with MG). With the whiteunitmarkingaftofthecockpit
8