von Richthofen's Flying Circus (Windsock Fabric Special, No. 1)

Sandini Sammlung

nen mic t u

tnt~

{ ing ~it!cu~ Colours and markings of Jagdgeschwader Nr.l

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By Greg VanWyngarden • Colour plates by Ray Rimell

Sandini Sammlung

uen mic~t~tlf~nt~ lJlljing ~i~cu~

FRONT COVER To p, unidentified A lbatros 0.111 01 Jasta 6, c irca 1917 in st and ard fi nish w it h no evidence of t he w in9 cr ta!t st riping assoclated w it h t his u nit. Wing s and t ailplane a re pr obably cam ouf laged in red -b rown, li g ht and dark g ree n w it h pal e (sky) blue under surfaces. Fuse lage marking in b lack an d w hit e - see page 16. Centre, Fok ke r Dr.l 4 54 /17 (w/ n 2 0 79 ) üo w n by Ltn. Loth ar vo n Ric hthol en, CO 01 Jasta 11, Ma rc h 19 17. The aeroplane is in st ande rd Fo kker olive/t urq uo ise unten w it h th e unit's red co lo ur ap p lied to c owling, st ruts and wheel c over s. The up per surface er t ne t op w ing, taüptane , rudder and rear l usel ag e were ove rpa int ed in pa le yellow a ref ere nce to Loth ar's previous serv tce w it h th e Dragone~Regimentvon

Bredow Nr.4 . Th e original f ill ing-in of the fu se lage and up per w ing cro ss f ie ld s w it h olive st ill show ed un d er t he thin yellow und er pain tin g see page 52.

Pre face hiSbook initia tes 0 ser ies 01 special publicolions from A l batros w hich

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specihcollv co ve rs colo ocs and morkings

Foot, Fo kker D.VII (seria l unkno w n) f lo w n by Ltn. Ern st Udet, CO 0 1 Jas ta 4, J une 1918. One 01 Udet's f irst D.Vll s th is is an ear ly Fok ker-bu ilt examp le a nd at one sta ge was st rik ingly f inished in red w it h lowe r w ings retaining t he ir original fo ur-colo ur pr inted fab ric. The t ail pl ane is mark ed w it h a w hit e c hevron and t he upper w ing is pai nted in red (or black?) and w hite stripes in a style simila r to Kirch ste in 's Jasta 6 Dr.l w hic h Ud et also flew see page 14.

E16.95 NET (UK ONLY)

01 W o rld W ar O ne aeroplanes rother thon placing the emphasis a n tec hnlc o l doto a nd sccle plans w hic h dtsttnquish o ur o the r title s. Thott here is 0 demend for such colo ur ma te ria l is demanstrated by the g rowing w o r ldwid e in terest in WWI aeropla ne modelling o f a ll kind s, on in terest w hieh eon tinua lly de ma nds hard information. Tha t this boo k w ill prove populor we have no doubt. German WWI figh ter p ilo ts ha ve enormaus appea l especially those leading lig hts suc h os the vo n Richlhalen b ro thers, Vass, U d et ond olhers, so no apolagies are oflered far selecting the lour un its that campr ised JGI, 'von Ric htha fen ' s Flyin g Circus'.lar our first Fobric vo lume . Sueh trea tme nl 01 these unils has rare ly been lou nd between Ihe covers o f 0 single val ume , nor so many colaur schemes fa r Iheir aeroplanes co lleclively a ffered Exper ience has shown Ihot Ihe lopi e o f WWI

German aero p lane colours orouses inte nse passio n am angsl a larg e number o f outhors a nd collectors w a r ldwid e - no doubt the re w ill be a live ly response to thts book. Netthe r c uthor nor o rtist are rash enough na r foo l e no ugh ta claim inlallibility bortbev hcve studfed sccres 01 ehetos w ith some cc re. end co nsulted severol knowled g eable hlsto no ns a nd their researc h note s, be fore l ina lising the colour and monochrome proliles thot a ppe o r thro ughout the lollow ing pa g es. Natu ra lly corr recfions fo r luture edi tions are al wa ys w elcom e il back ed up by relia ble dacumenlary evide nce: unsu p ported guesswar k ho wever is pe rhaps best lelt in abeya nce . There w ill al woys be 'g rey' o reos open 10 d e bo le a nd we m ak e no l irm co ncluslons o n cerrein sv bjects, ne ither hcve w e mode extensive use 0 1 Methuen notoüo ns W e reolts e mo ny reo ders require suc h refere nces b ut they are only reo lly va lid w hen com pared to surviving lobric, relatively few exnmples o f w hich ca n be tied to a specthc air/ra me or phOIO, thus M el hue n musl serve as 0 general guide onlv lnterp reto tio n 01 phOIOS, es pe cia lly cc pies [o r co p ies 01 copies) rs frau g ht wit h d ifl icully. Thera are severollcctors to cons ider: lighting, highl ig hling , exposure. var ia b les in printing and developing. types 01 lilm - oll p ro vid e pitlolls fo r the ser io us student. Ir is imprudent thereto re. ta be pedcnt«; w hen oss ig ning colours 10 monochro me p hotos. let clo ne specilv M el hue n o r FS codes cn the stre ng th o f them. As a fina l wo rd o f ccution, it sho uld be re me m bered thot in fr on t-Hne service oeroplc ne lin ishes were rcrelv l inite. camba t circu rnstcnces, olficia l decrees, un it strict ures, a nd perso eo ltostes cau ld I reqo entlv cha nge the co la urs a nd m arkings 01 on aeropla ne, lile ra lly ove rnighl. W ith I hese coveols in m ind , we now p resenl th is baok, the l irsl o f a n ongaing series an d o ne tho t we ho pe w ill be 01 volue to ollthose w ho model WWI aeropla nes w he lhe r the ir inte rests are in praducing sta tic, f1 ying or eve n full -scole re p licos. R Rimell, December 19 9 4 . D e d ic a t io n W e w o uld like 10 dedicate this book to He inz J N owo rra , o ne o f the p ionee rs 01 Germon WWI oviation hi sto ry ond outhor o f thot ve nerable c10ssie Eisernes Kreuz und

Balkenkreuz.

Sandini Sammlung

JG l-AN INTRODUCTION I R ichthole n's Flying

ürUJS' - CI pbrcse which eeckes on ,moge oIlhe Iegeodory Germon oc e in his blccd-red ligh ter,leod,ng (] 5worm of equolly

colocrtut eueroft ;010 Ihe skies over the Western

Fron t. This conception was preeclent omong morry wortime mrrnen,

000 remains so omoog aviation

e nt husio sts today. l he image is so enduring perho p s be<:ouse. os with nlOnylegends, there is on element

01 trulh in ,I. Monlred voo 11ichthol e n's respectlutloes 01 the RFC firstbestowed lhe 'cscus' soboquer on hiS }ogdsloffelltronsloted literolly os 'hun ting se<:tion', (] unil equivolen l in lunclion, if nol in numbers, 10 (]

6 rilish fighter squodronl. best known by ns brie/er mle 01 Jas'C1 11. It rs(] moller 01debcre omong historions os 10 wherher this nidnome originaled 'r om the colourlvl eireruft 01 the uni! or Irom its supposed

propensily fo r mobility o loog the f ron t. As 00 less on o uthonry thon Arlhur G ou ld Lee sug gested, il wa s

pe rho ps 0 co mbino tion 01 both. whoieve r ns ge ne sis, the 'tm\f(! lling ctrcus' oppe lo lion would

'The scoodcor. 5e'5 o ul e leven .
prove even mcre o pp ro pncre lor the lirst

Jagdge 5chwade r IFighl e. Wing l. This was 0 perma nen t g roupi ng 01 lau. JogdMalfe fn (4 , 6, 10 on d 11 1inl0 0 self-Conloined lighler unit whic h wa s indeed designed 10 move ropi d ly to ony sec tion 01 lhe Front where o e.iol superiorily was needed. Ric hlhole n moulded Jagdge5chwader I (obb.evioled JG N r. 1, or JG I, d epending on wh o se nomendotu.e is used) inlO 0 po ten t large·scole lormotion copoble 01 dispotching about 500ircrah in delerw::e01 Get-mo n·held terrilory on d (ountering large numbers 01 enemy oi.erol1. The history 01 JG 1 and thot 01 its Ii.sl commonde. Richtholen o.e Inextricobly Intertwined, ond this history hos been told mony limes belare by vo.ious leoding OUlhors. Wl,ile the red-poin ted oi'Cfoh lIowo by the Ritlmeister hove been e ..omined in detail os lhe subjecl 01 numa.ous orlldes (not to mantion 0 legion 01 models ond illustrotions], the colours 01 the mochines 1I0w0 by the pilols he commanded hove .eceived le!;S attention. Indeed, mony <Xcounls .eler simply to, 'Ihe gorish oirplones ollhe f/yitlg Greu5 ', oot <XC\Jrote inlormotion on the ir octuol oppeoronce hos olwoys been hord to Iocote. Vet in recent yeors

new worl<s weh os Ale. Imfle's The FoUer friplane 11992Jond Pete r Kildulf's biogrophy Ri,:hlhofenBeyond the legend oIthe RedBaron 11993l bcve revecled vclocble new inlormation on the OCtlV11oeS ond aircroft 01 JG L This curbor hos -eled heovily on the reseorch 01 those historions end cebe.s, in this atlempt to preseot c bnei oYervlew olthe he.old.y ot JagdslaffeIn 4, 6 , 10 0 nd 11 during the" time in Jogdges primory to o l in such 0 slud y, Ihe mte rpr etcncn 01 colou rs Irom them hcs be en reircmed Irom os much us poss ible. In order to produc e the cclo ur prolnes. some judicious inlerp.eting however wa s inevitoble und du ly no te d in the (o ptions. The c uther end pu bhsbers welcom e od drüons ond cor rectio ns to lhis wo rk, o nd hOlle no doub t such con t.ibutions WIl l be qu ickly lo.thcomingt

Formation of JG I By lo te Sp ring 1917 !he ho rd- pre ssed J05/0 pilots on the British Fro nt ware repeoledly e nco unle .i ng numer ico lly superior formotions 01 RFC ai.cra". ln response, the Kom mandierende General der lufl5tredkriJNe rCommonding Generol 01 the Air Fo rce , or Kogenlufll Ernst von Hoe ppne r begon concentrating his Ilghter un,ts so lhey (outd meet the enemy on more equot terms Finolly the lor mo hon 01 Jogdgesdrwoder 1 wosonnounced on June 24 1911 Twa d oys loter lhe unit receiYed its ope.otiQool ins!ruetions in 0 telC9rom Irom Kogenlufl which d e!ineoted its mission with mil,tol)' elllCiency. 'Jagdgeschwader N., 1 compriscs Josto 4. 6, 10 ond ". Thc Geschwocler ;, 0 self·con/o'ned unil. Duty is 10 ollo;n ond moitllo'tl o;r supremocy in Sedors 01 Ihe front os dlfecled '1 The Jagdge5chwader would remom immedia!ely

Opposite p ag e: Manfred vo n Richth ofen prepares for a I light in hi s A lbatros 0 .111 at Rou court a irfield , {Via H H Wynn e}

Above, Albatros 0.111 fighte rs of Jasta 11 at Roucourt airfield perhaps in MayJu ne 1917. $e vera l ofthese airc raft seem to have m ostly red luselages with some ot her pe rsonal marking in a c ont ras ti ng co lo ur. Close st airc ra ft is 0 .62 4 / 17. (Via H H Wy n ne) 1

Sandini Sammlung

Below, pHots of Jasta 4 pose in front ct t heir Albatro s D.V fighters in early Summer 1917.ldentified by t he numbers mar ked by the photo are: 1) Vztw Ern st Clausnitzer, 2) Staffelführer Ob/t Kurt vo n Döri ng , 3) vztw Linus Paterm ann, 4) U n. Bu sso von Alvensleben, 5) Un. Wilhelm Schulze, 6) (in f ro nt) U n. Hans Klefn, Vi sible on some of t he aircraft is the unit marking of a black 'snaxenne' wo und in a spiral around th e fuselage. Also note th e coloured spinners which apparently helped faci litate individ ual recognition j of interest is t he two-tone spi nne r on th e far lett. (Via H J No wa rra ) At foot, a mixed group of Albatros D.l1I and D.V figh te rs, reported ly f ro m Jas ta 4. Thi s photo mu st p red at e th e adopt io n of th e black sp ira l 'snakeli ne' u nit marking , t hough at lea st one individual colou r sc he me is ap pa re nt .

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scbo rdmcte to the High Commond olt he 4. Armee, e nd was ic be ba~ed o t 0 ~ing le oirlield os much os circumslances wauld permit. I her e was only on e logicol chcke ior Ihe co mmonder olthis unique fo rmo lio n, Rillmeister Monlred Freiherr VOf1 Riebtholen was olready the premiere G ermon fighter cce. renowned on both sides 01 the Iines. More thon tho t, he hod demonstroied superb orqcmzcnoncl end leadership copcbthües es commonder 01 los to Il. Apporently o~ ~illed ollroining ond mOlivotion os he was ot cencl hunling, he bcd 100 the Stofle/to ovef 160 victooes in juslover five months by this time. Under his Ieodership by exumple ond with his coostcm recruttment of new 'tolent", the orher three uMs onthe Geschwader would goin high reputations os _11. ByJuly 2 1917 the loor <:omponent 510lfeln hod <:or>verged on the oroo known os Morckebeke, '" the vi<:inily 01 Mmcke just southwest 01 Cocrteoi. Mos! 01 these unüs hod olreody- devised their own unit morking whidl would rernain in ur.e, thus enobling ecch loste ta be idenlilied in the air. Geschwader odiutant Kor! Bodenschatz descnbed the impressive sight in his history 01 JG I, Jagd in Flanderns H,mmel; 'Once oll af the Stoffeln were ossembled cn the oir/ield. fweh-e mochines stooä behind eccn Stoffel leader The ossemb1ed Geschwader /ooked exuemelv c%ur/ul. The Stommstollel [core unitL Jasta 11, wi/h which Richlholen flew. hod Ihe mochines poeved red; Josto 10 lur.ed) yellow; Jcsic 6 hod zebra smpes: ond Jo stc 4 bare 0 block soote line oloog Ihe no/ufOl wood-linished luse/age J . . Thi~ simple but essentiol descriplion provides the nudeus lor much 01 whot is known of the markings 01 JG I.

I Richthofen Red' The red colou r ossocio ted with Jos to 11 or iginoted in its fom au ~ u~e by Ric htholen , Soon after he had token co mmo nd 01 the unit he selected this hue to ide rltily his Albat ros 0 .111, while ot he r Sio ffel pilots e mployed a vorie ty 01 co lo ured mor kings fo r the ir a wn mo chines, The lun<:tio n of these deco ra lions wa s e minent ly pro ctico l: to e nab le pilat s to reco y nize e och o the r in the ai r, on d to la cilitale conl irma tion 01 2

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victory clclms by observers on the g round ond in the air. Rkhtholeo's cboke o! red no doubt ste nvn ed lrom its high visibility end it was also the reg imen to l colcor 01 his old unit, Uhlonen-Reg'menl "Kaiser Alexonder 111. von Russland (weslpreussiehes)' Nr.l. Accordoq to 0 post -war occount by his brother lothar, Monl red f1ew on Alba tros 0.111 decorcted with o 'red bond oround the luseloge" lor a while, which was laler ho nded down to Lothe r upon his arrival er Iosto 11. Howev e r, Mon frOO von pjehtholen made moch more notcble use 01 oflOlher D.1I1 [possibly two] decorcted with on enlirely red luselcqe, toil uni!. struts ond lobric wheel cosers. The employment 01 such heroldry by the pnors 01 )oslo 11 no doobt lostered a cerloin ccobdence ond espril de coros.

The Baron Richlholen. . _....os Olieroging 0 vKiory o da)' in A;xil. _opporen/Iy there's onolher R/Chlholen also pf/ing up vidories in the CimJs, os _ coillheo' squodron, becaase Ihey're oll so 9O;/y cofoured, ond also becocse lhey seem 10 move up ond down 10e whoJe Irant inslead 01being ned 10 Olle sec/or. He on RFC squodron. 'J U. (Ia te r Air Vice Mors hol ) Arthur Gould Le e , p ilo t 01 N o . 46 Sq u o d ron. RFC. in N o Po 'Ochute .

Intentionollyor nol. it also promotOO the mevneble 'knights 01 the rnr" metaphor whidl was alreody goining populority. On April 12 1917 Germon journalist !to'. Dr. Geo
Sandini Sammlung

mochine, in whochhe o/WlJ)IS flies. . giving .., 0 ~pecio/ morking thaI eoables bis convodes so keep him in sighl durmg combot ond 10know 01 0/1 time~ who cantrols the mochioe. One mochine hos while or red 0' some other c%ured sl,ipes, onolher corries them diogonolly or longiludinol/y, etc. From Richtho/en's eses shine the pride of the wor-or knight, whose shield ond helmel omomenl ore known ond teered by the Opponenl ' I moke suee lhal my flight sees me whe'ever / om. '6 As Richlholen's slring 01 viClorieSgrew, so did the apprehension 01 his pilolS. Interrogotions 01 coplured oirmen estcblebed rhot his red Albatros was weil lmown cod respecred by the opposing RfC unils, end tbere was recl concern lhal this might leod 10 same sort 01 ambush being Ioid. lherelore, os lother von Richlholen le-er wecie : .. 11 had /ong beeil 0tJ, wish 10 hove oll aeroplanes of 00' Stollel pomted red ond we impkxed my broIher to ollow il SO he would noI be so especiolly canspKuous. The recuesr was granted; for we had shown OtJrseives to be worthy oIlhe red colour by our mony oeooi victooes; The red coloor sigml.ed 0 certoin insalence. . /1 anrocted ollenlion. Cansequently, ane reolly hod 10 perkxm. ftoudly we finolly tooeea at 0tJ, red birds. My brothe"s croee WlJS g/o,ing red, Eexh of the ,est 01 us hod some addilionol mo,kings in oIher c%urs we cbose Ihese colovrs 05 recognilion symbols . Schäler, lor example, hod his elevator; ,udder and mosl of the bad porl the luse/age bloct Allmen,ooe, used while, Wolff used green ond I hod yel/ow. As a ycllow drogooneer, Ihal wos Ihe oppoinled colou' 10' me . we oll loo (ed to be red, 05 on/y smoll othe' po,ls we,e pointed in onotller c%ur.' . l Olhors descr iption is understondobly simplified. ln May 1917 !he red po int wa s rore ly opp lied 10 the wing s 01rhese o ircrah , Iho se cOmpone rlls re maini rlg in the ir 10Clo ry finish. In the ca se 01 Un . Allme nröde r, his pe rso nn l white co lour wo s Orl lhe na se a rld e leva tor o nly, a rld !he re we re ma ny vo rioliOrls o n this Ihem e o n o the r Alba lros fig hle rs ol lhis urliI. Re d .p;gm e nle d po int \NO S sca rce irl blod ad ed G er many , so it wa s Ire q ue rllly thinned down in Ihe inle re st 01 economy, In ) 0 510 1I this colou r was o ften applied ove r lhe na tion a l insignio on lhe luseloge ond toi!. yel lhe se markings rema ined visible lhro ug h the translucent overpa inl 10 same degree. This basic )0510 11 mor king policy was still in ellect whcn )ogdgeschwader I was lormed.

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Geschwader Markings As Geschwader commonder, Rkhtholen gave 0 good deal Oll houghl 10 Ihe role aircroft mor kings pluv ed in the coeea mcioieococe o! lorge IQfmo lio n lIights.ln an 'Air Combo! Operalrons Monual" cornpleted shortly before his deu th, he Wfole: 'So lhot jhe SlaUeln da not come logelher in disorder, I1 i$ odvisoble Ihol eoch StoUel have ils O\vn emblem mo,king. The Kommondecr's olrcrafJ musl be \'ffY conspicUOU$1y pointed, Wilhin Ihe Stoffel oocb [pilol) bas 0 special di$tinguishing emblem an his moehine, besl topphedl on Ihe rea, port oIlhe loil obove ond beIow. ' ~ Richlholen did indeed somerimes lIy very ccosococos oeroplooes os the leeder 01 mosseJ formations, 000 mony pilots in lhe Geschwader did mcke use of coloc-ed, sfriped 0' chequered loils 10' indMduol idenhficohQn. As siered by Bodenscholl, rhe oeroplcnes 01 )0510 4 bore a unil morking 01 0 blocl: ribbon or

.Bul no sooner hod Ihe octoo $igflQl been given lhon we _re pounced an from cboce by "OriatJs types 01 Hun mcxhine5 numberlng obout twenty / eould tell lrom Ihe red undercorriages Ihallhey ware members 0' Richlhofen's Circus e>'eTlluolly I monoged 10 gel 0 gaod bursj inlo 0 mochine Ihot WO$ pomed with black ond wh,te squo,es . I wos ;u$t getlmg inlO position 10 Iry my lud w,lh Ihe oll,ed machine which I p,esume wos Richlhofen's, bot the ba,on got me belo,e Igol him. ' . 2/ Lt. H J Sp a rks, Br lSlol F.2B g un ner In No .

62 Squodron, RFC, o ne o f Ih e cre w o f Richlhofe n ' s 62 nd vlctory.

'Srla ke lirle' du ,ing Summ e , 19 17. l his ribbon 0 ' slr ipe was wrapp e d around the luselages 01 lhe Albol ro s fig hte rs in a spiral f,o m nose 10 toil, lh e la il unils lusua lly o long with Ihe oir screw sp inners) wa re gene ral ly poinle d in 0 p ilol'S id ",,,tifying co lour, tho ugh 0 fe w p ilols od ded per so na l inilio ls o r e mble ms on the fuselo ge be lwe e n lhe sp ira l slripes, As time we ni o n o nd rep lacem en t a ircra ft o rrived , Ihere wa s so me var ia tio n in the widlh ond o pplico!iorl o f the blo ck stripe , bu t il rem oined in use !hro ug h Ap ril 1918. The streamli ned luse la g e s 01 Alba tro s D.1I 110AW), D.vo, Plalz D,1I1 ond Di lla Iypes oll bo re the sp iral slripes al o ne lime or onol her )0510 6 o ;rcrah we re marked with brood blod ond while chordwise slripes on both svrfoces ollhe toilplone and elevalar; Ihis remained lhe basic unil insignio thraughou l the war. These 'zebra slripes' lirst

Be low, in Septem ber Jasta 10 rec ei ved its f irst exa mp les ot the new Pfatz 0 .111 fig hters,w hic h we re o pe rated along w it h Albatros type s and Werner Voss's Fokker F.11 03 / 17 w hich had arrived by Aug ust 28. Th is ai rfield v iew shows, t ro m lett: U n. Gus tav Bell en 's dark-camoutlaged Pfal z D.lll w it h w hite b and backing the tu sel ag e in si gnia; an Albatros D.lII (Na.'12' on th e no se) marked w it h a horizontal w hite band w hic h exte nd ed trom the nose to a vert ical w hite ba nd at th e cock p it i Burgg all er's 0.111 (No .'7 ') w it h t he w hit e bar and decorat ed w heetsi an u nmarked aluminium Pfalz 0.111 - it s partiall y legible seri al rea d s 137-/17.

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Sandini Sammlung

Ab ove, t he Rittm eister c1im bs into hi s red l use laged Albatros 0 .111. The ce nt ra lly- Iocat ed radi ato r ma rks th is as earl ier t ha n 0 .2200/ 16 att ho ug h its t ru e serial is unknow n_Also note bull et hol e (1) patc h and t hi nly-overpainte d fu sel ag e cross. (Via H H Wynne)

Above , Rittme ister Ma nfred vo n Ric ht hofen (i n one 01a se ries 01posed pub licit y pho tos ) s it s w it h a Fo kke r Or.l, w hic h ap pea rs to be in l actory f inis h (exc ept perhap s for a red nase?). Note ma nulactu rer's pl ate o n th e cowli ng; w heels, w ing s and fu selage are in l ac lo ry f inish. 4

opoeored o n Alba tro s 0 .111 mo chine s ot this Sloffel. p
The Triplanes The ollow tio n o f the fokk er Dr.I to l ugd5lolfeln 11, 6, a nd e ventuo lly 4, necessilole d so rne evolu tion ol lhe respec live unit marking s. The incre o sing use o f mossed Geschwoder fli ghls also wa rronted Ihe use 01 ma rkings tho t wauld foti! itote identi lico iion Irom aheod In 105/0 11 the engine cowlings were usuolly

red hhough severcl examples 01 unil mpt one s wirhout

this mor krng exist) ond this colou r wos ölten - but not olwoys - painted on the wing slruls, undercorrioge, cenue slruls ond wheel Co\lefS, The use 01complete .10510 11 decor on ollthese compooenls seems 10 bcve increased es the sef"Vl(e 01lhe triplOne5 Ieng lhened. Personal colours were slill ccmed on Ihe 10ilplones ond eIevotors fo nd ollen Ihe luselogel. these lrequen lly being based on Ihe coicors ctthe püot's old regimen!. The bleck ond while striped 10ils01 105/0 6 triplones ~re o pporently supplemenred by bleck cowlings llhough il is ddhcultic discern the ddleeeoce between toc 'ory-linish ohve-brown ond red, block or yellow cowlings in penod p holOsl. Colocred luselog e ba nds remomed 0 populo r for m 01 perso no l ident ifica tion in Ihis uni!. The mc st sig nificont cho nge s in mark ings occcned in loslu 4, which received its tripiones somcwhal beloledly in lo te April 1918,Smce fhe block spira l ba nd mo,king co uld not be procncoltv ettecte d o n fhe DLI. il wo s re ploc:ed bv o n unknown, very po le colou r co the whe e ls, srruts a nd cow lings . " If one believes 0 somewhot crcumspect Allied inlellig e nce report. lhis colour moy hcve been sky blue, us sky blue 10 ilplo nes ore descnbed os the unil morkings 01 10510 4 in lhiS repart This remoins ro be conli rmed, h~,

Ente, the D.VII Rittmeisler von Richthofen never hod lhe opportunily 10 lIy whol is ohen considered Ihe 'MIrs linesllighle< in Combol. Wirhin 0 tew weeks olter his dealh on April21 1918, SUlflCienl numbers ollhe fakker OVII hod orrived lor 105to 10 '0 reploce Iheir obsolele P10lz 0. 1110 ond Albalros OVa mochines. Graduol replocemenl 01 lhe Fo kke r rriplo ne s to llowed throughout the Geschwader, which hod been designa ted Jogdgeschwoder freiherr von f?ichlho fen Nr. I m 01 Moy 20 1918 .1t was now und e r the (o mmo nd 01 Houp/m onn Wilhe lm Reinhord . O n June 22 the unil re ceived 2 2 examples ollhe DV II equ ipp "u with Ihe es limabl e BMW 11 10 e ng ine, enob Hng losla 11 Istill the Slommslaffel, or co re unitl to be lully e q uip pe d with this varion!. One 01 these wa s DVII F29.J118 , wh ich o n July 18 wa s flown by the o ffice r who ho d been given co mmon d 01 JG I lollow;ng the dooth o f Reinhard On Ihe 3rd 01 tha t mon rh: Ober/eulnonl Hermonn Göring. Equipped wilh lhe superb O.VII,Ihe GeKhwoder pilots continued 10 e~hibit high standards 01 skill ond morale during 1918 's Summer, Traditions in morkings _re moinloined 05 _11. The custom 01 pointing noses ond ouler wheel CO\lefs (and somehmes slruls t red in Josto 11 'MIS relo,ne
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wheel covers and struts mov also bc ve been mo rked in this shade. laste 4 reverted 10 Ihe uw 0/ bloc k oS o unit colcor. this also being opplied 10 lhe oircroh no se s ond outer wheel covers. Pltors in Jagds'a((eln 4 ond 10 continued 10 mar k the i. personal colows on loilplones ond elevalors. but mare use was also mode 01 heraldic or other pictcncl symbols on the Ioseloqe sdes os weil. Severol5l0lfelleoders oppcreotlv chose 10 exteed Ihe eolourls) oIlhei. oott to 0 major pOf1ion 01the ir oiruolr 10 eobcnce idenl,licotion. l he locllhot 10$10 10 5IalfelfiJh.er Erich loewenhordillew 0 'yellow Fecker" is weil cnesred 10 by severol ccraemporurv cccooots. bul preciwly how mueh oiihe oirerolt wos

'The German oees, par1iculorly Rich/hofen 's Flying Cncus. which WQS lhen under ,he commond of Hermann Göring . . hod poeved ,heir planes in a horrible MoCy. wilh sJ:.ul/s ond ccssöooes ond hideovs coloars. to in!imide/e 'he AI/led Hiers ' r.' LI. Ra /ph A O 'Neill . pil o t of the 147th Aero Sq uodro n . USAS.

overpainted yellow is cerecerded hhe cothcr ond publishers bcve icded 10 joccre 0 decr photo 01 this machine Ihus lor). Lothor von Riehlholen descnbed the 1051 D.YII he lIew when losta 11 commcnoer es 0 'red bnd', but ogain pre
ai ferolt by the wa r's end, bul a t 0 hec vv cosr: 56 pilots and si~ graund uewmen killed, and 52 pilots and seve n ground erewmen wounded. As la scino ting os the colourlvl airera ft in these pages are. it shovld nOI be lo rgo lte n thctthev were f10wn by young men engoged in the bru tal und tra g ie business 01 war. Perhaps the best perspective on Ihis subiec l was tha t otlered by the lote G isbert Wilhelm Groos, 0 vetercn 01 logds!olfel 11. When mterviewed by hislorion He;ru J Noworro in 1960, Groas reponed thot he had been besieged by leuers Irom Americon oviotioo enthusiasts: 'Wnot ccn I/eil/hem? They oll osk /he same qoesnons I eonnoi/eil/hem oll the things /hf.!)' wish /0 know on squodron morl:ings. 1 doa'r remember such things , \oYhot I remember is the tote 01 my comrocJes, noI 'planes ond morhngs. 0 SOURCES

I. lewis. Sag,norius Rising. 119B31. pc . 144·\45, 2. Ocored in Noworro ond Brown, von !lieh/holen ond the Flyi"9 Cecos, (196<11, p. 65. 3. Ocoted in Kildufl, Rieh/hoIen: 8eyond the legend ol the Red Baron, 11994), Choptee 9, p. 131. 4.lbid .. Chopte, 6, p. BI 5. Lee, No Fbrochute, 119 711, p . <1 4 6. KilduH, Chopter 7. p. 93. llbid., (hopter 5, p. 69 8.lbid., Appendu, po. 232 000 235. 9. O uo re d in Gibbons, The Red Knigh/ 01 Germony, (1991), p. 32 <1 10. Oslen jZochcrics, ed.) Memo'rs 0' World War Iwilh 1ogds'affeln 11 and 4, 11974), p. 221. 11. Imrie, The FoHer Triplane, (1992), p. 123, 12. Shirley, Ed.. An In/ervjew wllh Ralp l, ONeill, 1987, p. 324. 13. Groos INaworra, ed.], Reminiscenccs of Josto 11,119601. p. 60.

Lett, a fam iliar view 01 J as ta 11 commander l oth ar von Rich t hofen in a Fok ker Dr.l. This may have bee n a Jasta 6 aircraft,judging f rom the rectangular access panel on tne nase w hic h characterized triplanes trom that uniL Note the asymmetrical ailerons, in locations opposite to those see n on 144/17. Little else than standard tactory linish is v is ib le on this aircralL 5

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JASTA4 1. Fou r Vizefe ldwebef co m rades 01 J G 1 pose w it h a Jasta 4 Al b atro s D.V. From fett : Fri tz Krebs, Jasta 6 (8 victo ries ); Linus Patermann, Jasta 4, (2 vict ories); Carl Holl er, Jasta 6 (3 victories); Ernst Cla usnilzer, Jasta 4 (3 victories ). Pate rmann would be k illed in action on J uty 12 19 17, and only fo ur da ys later Cla us nitzer was taken POW and K re bs was killed (poss ib ly by LI. G H Bo wman ot No. 56 Squadronj. Ho ll er survived 10 w rite hi s memoirs 01t he wa r, Als Sänger-Flieger im Weltkriege under t he pseudonym of Nie ls

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2. Unit marking s are c1earl y in ev id ence in t hi s D.V line-up, Summer 1917. Jasta 4 lead er von Dö ring is sho wn wit h his three dog s, 'Vic ke rs', 'Spad', and 'Nieuport'. ln th e rig ht foreground ts Hans Kl ein w ho wo uld leave Jasta 4 to co mmand Jasta 10. The spinne r and of each D.V w as apparently painted a c olour or c om binat io n of ccro urs w hic h se rve d as perso nal insignia. Wit h a Iimit ed c ho ice of c o lo urs ava ilable t o a Fron tUne unit, tt seems log ic al to assume that on e D.V in thi s g ro up had a blue tat l and spinner, as sho wn on pag e 10 .

tau

3. Vzfw. Ern st Clausnitzer w as bro ught down and m ade POW in D.V 0.1162 / 17 on J uly 16 1918 as he was attacking a ba lloon SE of Pop eringhe. He w as cred ited 10 Second Lieutena nt Langslan d 01 NO.23 Sq uadron RFC. The D.V was g ive n the Bri t ish capt ure nu mber G.S6 and underwent exte nsive tes t ing and evaluation. This v iew prov ides a good look at t he green and mauve camouflage on t he to p w ing and the Jasta 4 unit marking . The tau was reported ly pa inted, ' d irty yellow' and the spi nner, ' br ig h t yellow', t his be ing the p ilot 's personal co lo ur. A detailed d iscus sion ot t he hi sto ry a nd markings ot t his a ircraft, appeared in t he we ll-illustrate d artic le by Stuart Lesfie and Mi c k Davi s in Cross & Cockade Intern ational, Vo1.20, No.4 1989.

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"'3

Fig. 1. The Albatros o .v flown by Vzfw'. Ernst Clausnitzer (0 .1 162/17) has been weil reco rded but rarely is the starboard aspect luust rateo as here with t he fo rm of btac k tusetaqe wo und stripe emp loyed by Jasta 4 in Summer 1917. Orig inal factory fin ish as per colour Plate 1 with the tail unit painte d a dirty yeuow and a 'bright yellow' spinner.

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\ I

4. This NPG postcard of Un. Kurt Wusthoff indicated he wa s a pilot of ri sing reputation by Augu st · Septembe r 1917. His Albatro s O.III{OAW) bore the usual b lack spiral ribbon unit marking, t hough it appears a bit wider than that applied to the eerner O.V fighters. Wu sthoff learned to Ily when only 17; after joining J as ta 4 in June 1917 he sc ored rapid ly, be coming one 01 the younge st winners 01 t he Pour Je M erite on No vember 22. He wa s gi ven command of Jasta 4 ln ea rly 1918.

..

6. Wüs t ho ff dow ned So pwit h Tripl an e N54 29 on Se pte mber 13 19 17 for his 15th victo ry (his 8t h in 11 days)j th e pilot, FSL J R Wilford, was ta ke n prisone r. Of inter est Is th e unique decorat ion app lied to th e sp inne r of th e O.lIl(OAW).ln t his photo and ot he rs , t he spiral r ibbon unit ~7

..

marking may not appear to be black in comparison with the tone of t he na tional insig nia . Th is is no doubt due to the transfucence 01 the thinneddown paint used in the fie ld , of poorer q ua lity and tow er inten sity than th at used to apply nat ional ma rk ings at t he lac to ry. Conte mporary refer en c e an d rec ord s alt re fe r to t ne sp ira l ribbo n as bfaek.

7. A m echani c poses proudly w it h w ha t is probably Wüs t hoff's O.lIl(OAW). An oth er ph ot o ot Wüsthoff, unavailable tcr pubucaucn. d epic ts him in Iront of an Al batros w it h a s pinner d ec orated in ju st such a fashion.lt ls believed t he co lo urs we re black and w hite.

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5. Ca reful exa minat io n of th e plywood grain pa ttern eonfirm s th at t his is the sam e O.III (OAW) as in t he Wü st hoff p hoto at lett. Th e rudd e r wa s probab ly w hite, w it h t he rest of the ta il painted a dark co lo ur, p erhaps bleck, It ls t hought that the sp inner was painted w hit e and black as w eil , and ev en the w heel covers may have been d ecorated. Th e rounded rudder, th e forward position of the fuselage cro ss, and t he pattern of green and ma uve ca m ouftag e on the low er w lng all serv e to id ent ify thi s as an OAW-built 0.111 . (Via Stuart Lesfie)

8. Ja sta 4 received so me 01 the Pfalz 0.111 lighter s from the l irst produe t ion batch w hieh w ere se nt to JG I in early Autumn 1917. 0 .111 1396/ 17 was pilot ed by ObI!. Oskar Freih er r vo n Boenig k and st rik ing ly d isplays the b laek sp iral unit ma rk ing. Th e co tour and s ig nil ic ance 01 th e d ark-painte d portion of th e low er w ing is unknown, as are t he details of an y per sonal colours used by vo n Boenigk on thi s atrcratt. A Silesian nobleman li ke t he vo n Riehthof en s, von Bo enigk had served in Grenadier-Rg t. N r. 11, ' König Frie drich 111', beto re t ransferring to avlat icn. He re c eived his f irst live victo ries in J asta 4 before lea vi ng in rat e Oct obe r 1917 to com m and Jasta

2 1.

7

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9. Examples 01 the Pfalz O.lII a reached Jasta 4 circa Oecember 1917. The aircraft seen here b ore personal markings ot (presumably) black stripes on the lin and tailplane. The pilot may ha ve been Ltn. von Barnekow, butthis is un confirmed . This aeroplane has hitherto been depicted w it h broad band s ap plie d spa nw ise to the tailplane, but elose examination of th e ph ot o suggests that it more likel y w as dec or ated w it h c ho rdwise blaek st rlp es . Thi s interpretation, m ore in c harac te r w it h t he markings on th e fin, Is tentati vely iIIu strat ed on page 10. Th e upper surtace ot t he tc wer w ing appears to be a dark c ctour (1), but thi s is probabl y due to th e differing reue cnve qu alities ot tne w ing and fu sel age.

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10. Un. Raven Freiherr vo n Barne kow is assiste d w it h h is fl ying kit as he s its o n hi s Pfal z O.llla. Note th e 42 --/ 17 seria l vis ib le o n thi s Pfatz, pa rt ia lly o bsc ured by th e unit marking. Aga in, the rower w ing a ppears dar ker t han t he silbergra u fu sel ag e, but this is Jik ely due to an optical ettect, Freiherr vo n Barnekow, recall ed Ha nsGeo rg von d er Ost en , eame from, 'a very well-to- do famify and was an unbelievably spoifed young m an '. Vo n Barnekow survived t he w ar w it h 11 viet ories and served in th e Luftwaffe in WWII; he was so affected by Ud et's suicide th at he took his own nte.

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11. Thi s Jasta 4 Albatros D.Va w as ph otog raphed in very late 1917 or ea rly 1918; t he unit operated the O.Va in eo neert w it h the Pfal z O.llla we il into A pril 1918. Th e Staffel marking ap pli ed in thi s period was t hieker t han that used on the A lbat ros O.Vthe pr evi cu s Summe r, and th e s pira l band was w ra ppe d so t hat fi ve di st in ct 'st r ipes' appeared on th e starboard side instead of lour. The pil ot's perso nal insi g nia in t his ease was a darkbordered , Iigh t- eol ou red tat! a nd a very pa le [w hlte 1) sp inner. Nota ble is the un ique way in w hich th e blaek sp iral ba nd was sw ite he d to a w hite band against t he dark me ta! eowling panel. S

Fig . 2. Represen t at ion ot a 'typieal' Pfalz 0 .111 of Jas ta 4 in lat e 19 17/ early 1918. As w it h t he A lbatros ty pes, person al m arkings were ap paren tl y mad e up of differently coloured o r marked tall eu rraces: f or exa m ple , vo n Boen igk ma y have us ed lemon-yello w, a eo lou r assoeiate d w it h hi s old grenadi er regiment. Per sonal c otours or marking s m ayaiso have been pain t ed on the sp inne rs oreven th e upper surtaces of t he w ings as we il.

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Fig . 3. Intend ed to show t he form 01 u nit marking em ployed o n Alb atros D.Va ty pe s in Winter 1917- 1918. Based c los ely on Ph ofo 11. See als o Cross & Cockade USA, Vo l.15, No.3 , page 223. Th e c hange Irom a bl ack band to a w hite ban d on th e cow li ng pan els was not typ ical . TaU and sp inner cere ure we re pe rsonal mark ing s, as on t he ea rlie r D.V types.

12. On A pril 20 1918 Jasta 4 was equi pped w ith th e Fo kker Or.l; Un. Krü ger is seen here with his t ripla ne at Cappy in May. The black spiral band of t he Albatros and Pfalz ae roplanes from this umt wa s hard ly practical o n th e s ho rt, rectangular box st ru ct ured Or.l tc setaa es. Therefore, th e unit marking wa s cha nged to an 'ctt-wnne' col ou r of u nkn ow n hue a pplied to t he cowli ng, st ru t s, and wneer c cvere. Alli ed intelligenc e rep orts (w hich, it is emphasized , are ofte n sus pect ) indicate t hat at o ne ti me mac hi nes 01 Jasta 4 had, 's ky blue tai/plan es'./f t his was t ru e, th en it is likely tnat th e lig ht c olou r used o n t he ot he r comp on ents m enti on ed above was a pale btu e as weil. Per so nal insignia we re ap pa rently marked on t he fus elag e between t he cockpi t and t he na t io nal m arking s.

13. Sfaffe l füh rer Ern st Ud et poses w it h his triplane (Iormerly th e machin e of Ltn . Kirsch st ein 0 1 Jasta 6) at Beug neux-C ra moise lle airfield in June 1918. Or.l 586/17 retained it s elabo rate c otc u r schem e er b lack and w hite st ripes, to w hic h Udet added hi s usu al ' LO !' in si gnia, probably in red - see c olou r p late on page 11. The ot he r J asta 4 member s are, f ro m fett, Leutnan t s Julius Ben der, Egon Ko eps c h, Karl M eyer and Heinrich Drekm an n. The c ross on th e u nd erside 0 1 t he tower wing of Ud et's Or.l ap pea rs to ha ve bee n attered f rom it s ee ruer tun-bordered l orm, most Iikely in a n att em pt t o confo rm w it h t he Kog enluft order of May 13.

14. Un. Udet I lew anot he r Dr.I, ap parently 593 / 17, in mid- J une 1918. The small 'Lor d ra win g seen her e was a 'thumbnail sketch' lor t he un tt painter to work tr om as he ap plied it in larg er form t o t he ett l use lage. 'LO ' was, of co urse, the nic k nam e 01 Ud et 's fiancee (whose ruu name wa s Eleo no re Zink accord ing to Ud et biographe r A rmand va n Ishoven). Udet t hought ofthe ' LO !' m ar k ing as a good-Iuck ta lisman and it ap pea red o n aü his aircraft from 1917 o n. Th is Dr.l is al so repo rt ed to have borne a chevron on t he taf tplane in common with ot her mac hines fl ow n by Udet.

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1&-,LPlat e 1) Alb at ros D.V, 8&rla l " um ber and pil ot un kn own , 19 17. Based cros ery o n Cla u sni tze r's 1162 / 17 (see page 6 ) thi s 1I a Iypical Jas ta " Albatros D.V w il h t he un il's b lac k spi ral lu sel age ma rk ing . Pil o!' s soec creuve p erso nal c ero c r blua is appl ied 10 sp inne r .m d la il sec ti on; p la in bla ck erc ss es u nd er low e r w ings.

Pi s t e 2 A) Typical Albatro s (OAW) 0 .111 upper wing carn ou llag e pattam 01d ar k gree n 8nd mau ve seg-

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Pl ate

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ments - tower surlacas are pal e blu e. Pla te 2} Alb atro s n.nt COAWj. sa r lal n u m b e r unkn o w n, U n . Kurt Wu st hoff, 191 7.

The likely cotc uea ol lhis machi ne are here deplcte d - see photoe on page 7. In addi tion to Ihe unil marki ng,the l ail surtaces and wheel ccve rs are a dark co lour {shown ae black} and the spin ner halved in bla ck and white wi th white rudder; the etevator appear sto be white bu t this is not certaln. White outli ned crceeea unde r lowe r wi ngs.

upper

• 1A)

wing

Specu lative camo uflage

pattern 01 dark g ree n a nd

mauve segments; lower wing patt em unkno wn lowe r surla ce s are pale blu e.

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.

Plare 3)Pfalz O.lIl a, se r lal number and pil ot unknow n, 1918 . Finished typ ically cveren in Silbergrau this Jasta 4 O.lIla baars the unit's spi ral btac k markings and per scn erteü slripes. The serial num ber ts nol known but 42.. is visi ble on available photograph s - see page 8. The taüplane is apperently painted in chordwise bl ack stripes on bolh 'ur/aces [ see sketch on page 8) end plain black eressee appear in eighl positi ons - reter to Plafe 17A lor typical upper wing nat ional markings.

Jasta4 colo ur profiles C R Rlmell / A lbatros Productlon s Ud., 1995.

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.: Plate 4 } Fokker Dr,' 586 /17, U n. Ern s t Ud et , 191 8 , Prev iously lI own by un. Hans Kirschslein 01 Jasta 6 (see Fig 5, pag e 20) this tripla ne bears lhe black cowling and black and while tai l sl ripes o t that Staffel. Udet added his u sua l'LO' insignia, probably in red to contrast with lh e fus elag e corccrs. At sorne po inl in Udet's use o f thi s machine the crosses on the w ing s were al lered to conlorm with th e directive 01May 13 1918, but the exact c o nl ig urat io n and appearance 01 tne top wing insignia cannot b e completety determined.

Plate 5} Fokke r D ,VII (O AW), se rial unkn o wn , U n . M e ye r, 191 8 . Finish ed in rccr-ccrcur prinled tabnc oveeau.tne nose, wheel covers and struts are assumed 10 be blac k (the unit colour ) with nalional in s ignia converted lrom Ihe earlie r lorm by overpainting in a dark colour - gre en er grey? M ost 01 these Jasta 4 OVUs had the ir upper cowlings removeo . Meyer's aircraft also oeers the black and white Iuselaqe borders typical ot many Jasta 4 D.VlIs the width and application 01 which could vary - see Ph oto 16. paqe 12.

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Pl ate 7A} U pper surtace detail 01 Udet's O.VII,

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Plate 6} Fo k ke r D .VII (OAW), serial u n kn o w n, U n . v o n G lusze w sk i, 191 8 . This a ircraft is t ho ug ht to have been von Gluszewski 's machine, though it m ay also nave been Ilown by Un. Koe ps c h. Fin i shed in rour-cotcur p rinled ta bnc overall , the nose, wheel covers and atruts a re ess ern eo 10 b e b lack.. The p erso na l in signi a o f a h era ld ic cre st is depicted as black and while, lhough lhe dark colour is not kno wn an d m ay weil treve been red. N ati o na l insignia have been con verted Irom the earfier lorm by overpa inting - see Photo 18, p age 13.

.

Plate 7) Fokker D .V II (OAWI, se ria l unknown , Un. Ern st U d et, 191 8 . O ne of u cers earnesr O.VlI s this machin e rs linis hed in typica l Jast a 4 dec o r wi th Ihe add ition ct th e l amiliar 'LO'.leg end on the l us elage and white chevrcn o n the tailpl ane, markings tnat appear on s eve ret subsequent red-painted OVUs lIow n by Ud et - see P hotos 22 and 23, p age 14.

Ja sta 4 co lo ur prof i les © R Rim ell/Albatros Productio ns Ltd., 199 5 .

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.,5 15. Jasta 4 was th e la st unit of t he Geschwader 10 fly Fokker Trip lane s, w hlch w ere f inally replaced by Fokker D.VlI s by mid·June. U n. Ric hard Kraut f le w thi s earty p roduction atrcratt in Aug us t , w hich displa ys the Fokkerapplied dark olive st reaky ca m ouf lage on the fuselage and tou r-c orcur

cowling , wheel covers, a nd often th e

prin ted tabrtc on t he w i ngs. On their

unknown . Th e captured Spad 7 of Spa. 62 in the crstance may retate to a st ory related by th e French p ilot SI Lt. J. Cael of Spa. 3 after t he wa r. Cael was

D.VII fighter s Jasta 4 rev ert ed 10 t heir fo rmer use of a b rac k unit co lo ur, t his paint usually being ap plie d 10 t he nose

st ruts - though th ere we re th e inev ita b le except ions. Kraut employed a persona l marking c t th e crest of hi s horn e city of Th orn in West Pru ssta, a blac k c ross o n a w hite shiel d . Th e co lo urs of th e stripes on th e tailplan e

(a nd pos sibly th e aft fuselage) are

down ed by Ern st Udet (his 57t h victo ry ) o n August 16 1918 and was vis it ed by Ud et in Cambrai pri son. U det t o ld Cae l th at he ro utine ly f le w a 'white Spad' o n visits home, and t hat it was hi s tavo urtte aircraft to ßy ! The Spa d seen here is Heerauy m arked w ith black crosses and a ppears t o bear th e words 'Gute Leute ' ('Good People') on its top wing,leading to specutation that t his in deed may have been Ud et 's per sonal tra ns port.

16. One 'mascot' of Jasta 4 is c leverly posed wit h anothe r in thi s vtew ot Ltn. Fra nz M eyer' s Fokker D.VlI(OAW). The sertal num ber Is not k nown but was in the 2000-2 199/18 series. Meyer's personal insignia was t he puqnaeloue, ca refully-detailed b ull dog on a w htte ova l. The len gth w ise stripes 'bord ering' t he fu selag e frame we re probably black and w hite; similar marki ngs are commonly seen on ot he r Jasta 4 D.VII f ighters. The w hite stripe was also ap p li ed as a border to th e b lac k nose ofth is m ac tun e. w neet c cver s appe ar t o have been bl ack as we il , w hile t he remainder of t he aircraft was ccvered in to ur-cotocr fabric. Not e t he w hite dat um line a nd enve lo pe tc r ri gging in struction s adjacen t t o th e personal m arking . Th e fu sela ge c ross was converted from an earüer style by rather crude overpainting with an unknown neut ra l ccteur, 17. A po st -w ar O.VII ls included her e as so me thing ot an enigma . No c eraus are available concerning its identity or locat io n, but it bears an insignia remarkably similar to that on Meyer's aircra ft. Heavil y ove rpa inte d and lacking it s g uns, it ca nnot positively be associated w ith Meyer o r Jasta 4. Ca n any re ader he lp? 12

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18. In J oachim vo n Hi pp el's album t hi s D.VIl (OAW ) photo was ca pt io ne d as th e atrcratt of Un. Eg on Ko ep sch . As t he fo ll ow in g pho to shows, how ever, U n. He inz Graf vo n Gluszewsk i used a si mi la r insignia. Moreover, there exlst s motion p icture fi lm of von Gluszewski in an OAW· bu ilt D.VII marked in a ma nner very muc h li ke th is one. 'rnerercre It Is Iikely this was t he alrcratt of von Gluszew ski, or It m ay weil ha ve been flown by both men at various umes. The w hite datum line, ser ia l number, and w eights table (ob scured by the s hield in signia) were c ha rac ter ist ic of the first OAW p rodu ction batch (2000 2199/18) and so m e of th e se c o nd. The ser ia l on the aft fu selage is mos tly illegible, but may be 21 11/18. The no se, w he e l ccvers . a nd st r uts w ere apparently b rack. The c o lo u rs of the heraldic cre st a re unknown but brack and white seem most probable. Tailplane markings, if a ny, ca nnot be discerned with accuracy. Not e Meyer's D.VII in the background.

.& 18

" 19

.&20

" 21

19. Ltn. vo n Glusze w sk i and hi s groundcrew in front of a Fo k ker- b uil t D.VII(serial unknown) bearing his insignia. This a irc raft w as c cve red in tcur-cotcur printed teerte ove ra ll ; th e wheel c overs and no se ma y or may no t have been bla ck at thi s time. Th e c olo ur a nd s ig nifica nce of the dark area beneath the tai lp lane ca nnot b e determined. The aircraft in the background wa s de corated w it h st ri pes bordering both fu setag e and taltplan e, in c o m mo n with other Fok kers of Jas ta 4 ,

20, Unfortunat ely t he p ilot of D.VII 4275/ 18 Is unid en ti fi ed , b ut t his is t hou ght to be a J asta 4 airc ratt . Besides t he typical pa in ted bo rders o n the f uselage lon g ero ns, t his D.VII bore a per son al m aking of a w hite ve rtlca t ba nd w it h narrow da rk edging. ln add itio n th e forwa rd portion of th e fi n w as painted w h it e w it h a co loured edge as w eil; it ca nnot be ascertained if si mi la r marking s were appli ed to t he ho rizontal t au s urfac es. 21. It w as a common (but not univers al) practice in Jasta 4 to mark the fu selag e lcnqerons w ith coloured 'bord ers ', usually in bl ack and w hite. Fokker D.VII F 4330/18 illu strates how th e fu selag e borders w ere so met imes extended on to the tauplane and eleva tcrs, The da rk 'borde r' co lou r do es not seem to be black in co m parison to th e fu sel age cross: however, th e paint used was ap pare ntly of poor covering qu ali ty. The 'F' p refi x t o th e serial number sig nifie d th at t his Fokker-b uil t D.VII was eq uipped w it h a BMW engine. The nose, struts, and po ssi bly wh eel covers were painted th e unit's black colo ur.

13

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22. Even in a haltton e photo of dubious quality, Ud et (w it h hi s Pourle Mfkitej is instantly identi fi able in this Jasta 4 group. Th e Fo kker O.VII(OAW j at ta r r ig ht was one ot Ud et 's machines; its serta t ts not k nown but it cam e tram t he first OAW p rodu cti on batch. ....22

"'23

23. Fu rt her evtdence th at so me aeroplan es tl own by Ern st Ud et ap pea re d in per sonal m arkings prior to his use ot red pa int is revealed in ano t her inf o rm ati ve photo t ak en at Be rne s in Augu st 1918. The OAW·bui lt O.VII is cov ered in ro ur-cc tc ur printed teerte and b ears t he usual Ja s ta 4 b tack no se panels and black/ white fus elage bord er s.1t also carr ies U det 's w hite LO! in signia and t ailplane c hev ron so tamiliar to ent hus iasts. St reamers we re attache d to th e elevalor t railing edge - see c o lo ur Plates 7 and 7A, pag e 11. 24. A familia r view w hlch nonet he less rema ins t he on ly know n ph oto of Ud et' s m o st fa mo us aircraft. The overpainted t ailpl an e bore the legend ' Du Doch Nicht!!' I' Certainly no tyou!) in white on t he elevators as a

. 2'

~.

:~ ".

~ ~

.. ,

"

c hall enge t o enemy fli er s. A w hite c hevro n was also ad ded to th e t ailpla ne and t wo b lack and w t nte st re amers w ere atta c hed to th e erevators. The oblique st riping o n th e u ppe r w in g wa s no doubt in spired by U det' s exper iences w it h Kirsch stein ' s Or.l, and was sim ilar ly inten d ed t o provid e prot ection trom pursuing p ilots by optical ill usion. How ever, all thi s adornment ta il ed to prot ect t he O.VII from th e fire ofthe g unne r in a Fren ch Brequet 14 w hic h Udet attacke d o n J une 29. Ud et ba iled out ot t he disabl ed Fo kk er and barely eurvived a hazar dou s pa rachute d esc ent trom 500 me t res. Th ough his airc raft ha s lon g been a tavourite of m odell ers an d ernste, q uest ions remein conceming its tu ll colouration: fo r exa mple the up per w ing may ha ve had bJack an d w hite stri pes rath er

• 25

than red as oft- ill us t ra ted. The Jasta 4 Fo kk er in t he backg ro un d was evi dently m arked w ith tne un tt's black ncs e. to uche d off w it h a th in w hit e border.

25. A ubiq u ito us photo of Udet w it h o ne of hi s Fokkers, reported ly taken w he n he land ed at t he airfield of FEA 2 at Fürth in early September 1918. Th e w hite seri al lege nd on t he under side of t he port ailero n ca n j ust be seen o n a good print, and reads: 'Fok. 0 .7 2 07-/ 18', w it h th e last d igit eit her 0, 6, o r 8. Th e f uselage and wheel covers w ere ov erpainte d w hil e t he w ings re ta ine d t heir fo ur-colour p rinted fab ric f inis h. Another Jasta 4 O.VII from th e same production s e nes w as O.VII (OAW j 2063/1 8, trc m w hich U n. Julius Bender parachuted successfully on July 16 1918.

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26. Ud et 's last operat ional O.VIl was F42 53/1 8, a Fok ke r product equipped w ith BM W lila engine No. 1288, and pro ba bty t he su bjec t 01 thi s p ho to . Udet held th e BM W·e ng ined Fokker in high esteem and attributed much 01his g reat success in late 1918 to n, Fortunate!y two of Udet's combat reports survive describing the markings of 4253 /18, one lrom his 47th victmy of August 8 and one I rom hi s fi nal two vtctories on September 26. Both speci fy a red l uselage with the letters 'LO!' on both s tces, and one mentions leader's pe nnants on the etevatcrs. At first only two BMW-engined D.VlI s could be spared tor Jasta 4, t hose 90in9 to Udet and Ltn. Orek m ann; t he two Ilew ma ny sorties toget her until Orekm ann fe ll o n Juty 30. Even t uall y, though, the entire Staffel was re-eq ui pped with the superb BM W-powered Fok kers . It is pe rh aps a me asure 01 Ud et 's sta t us in late 1918 t hat he m an ag ed t o o bta in a Siem ens Sc huckert 0.111 l or his perso nal use. Ja sta 10 member Joseph Do erfling er st at ed, " remember it we il that it wa s a t Metz th at Ud et received a brand-new Si emens Sc h uckert 'p lane th at h e im mediately p ainted red. Then h e pa in ted his sweetheart's in itials on tt. , re member his telling me ho w much this de fig h ted h er. . . ou r nying wa s no thing to the show Udet gave us in his new 'plan e .. . he loo p ed, he stood verticaffy on a wing an d did some of th e s tra nges t ccrvee', Co nt rary to m ost previo us recon struction s of t his alrc ra tt, th e rudd er was w h ite as specll ied in t he Ko g enluft order 01 17 M arch 1918 l or a lt Fro nt- line airc raft; a portion of th e rud der is just v is ib le in this phot o. (Via N H Haupri ch ) 2Z

O.... I. .. . ~~ _.

U d, ct

"" ' '1 ftQ "'r CQn,...u t s

.&27

"'28

28. An erroneous American ca pt io n to t his photo c laimed that t he p ilot was the, 'Germ an Ace officially credited with shooting down Ouentin Roos eveft ' , This has led to speculation t hat th e Ud et signat ure and Octo ber 1918 date on t he photo are a lorgery, but the autho r believes t he pilot is indeed Udet (w ho certainly d id not dow n Ro osevett!), his leatures distorted by the ing helmeL At th is stage t he fuse lage 01 t he SSW D.m wa s paint ed red but 'LO!' nas yet to be added. Ud et scored no victories in the 0.111 a nd t he ex tern01it s c om ba t use ls unk now n.

"y-

15

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Jasta 6 29. Vizefeldwebel Car l Ho ller of Jas fa 6 appears o n th e far lett of thi s interesting g roup posed in fr ont of a n Alb atros 0 .1 11 of th e unit in 1917. Thi s aircraft bore t he Jasta 6 u ni t marking of black and w hite st ri pes on both sides of th e tailplane, th e w hi te being exte nde d 10 t he ad jacent fu sel ag e are a. Th e remaind er of th e fu sel ag e and t in was ove rpainted an unknown cctc ur; w ith a w hite str ip e app a re n tly pai nted o n th e side from th e nose 10 t he tau. An oth er white stripe o n t op of t he fuse lage seems vi sible in th e original pr in t Note th at t h is is an ea rly

pr oduction 0.111(0.1 910-2200/16 ) wit h c entra lly- mounte d rad ia t or i n t he to p

wing .

Fig . 4. Albatro s 0.111, se rial unknown , Jasta 6, 1917. Tailplane and rear fu selage pai nted in unit m arking of black and w hite st ripes. Fuselag e, fin and possibly w hee l covers and st ruts overpainted an unknown c o lo ur; w hite st r ipes on th e sldes and top of fuselage. Win gs probably remained in c am ouf lage finish.

• itl'l "'3 D

3 0. Lln e-up ot Albatros O.V and 0 .111 fighter s of Jasta 6. The O.V on th e rert is probably 1060/17, possibly f lown by Ob erleutnant Ed uard D osti er. Se vera! exa m ples of nose and fu selage markings ar e in evtoence . 3 1. This Albatro s 0.111 wa s decornted with an i nteres ti ng personal emble m o n the fu sel age. H ow ever, no bl ac k and whi te st ripes are to be seen on t he tai l su rfaces or o n th e low er win gs.

.&.3 1

~3 2

32. Th e same 0.111 in a take-off attitude. Th e fuse lage insignia may have been blac k and w hite, but IittJe erse can be said about t he m aMl.in gs er t hi s machine which is iUust rated o n t he ccver;

\

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.• 3.

Ä,34

3 6. Two Ja sta 6 mecnamcs are seen w it h the D.m f lown by Leutn ant Han s Adam, one of t he unit's star p ilot s du ring Summer 19 17. The nose of this Albatros w as painted a dark, unknown co lour, which may have been applied to the rest of t he f uselage as we il. The st ripes painted o n t ne un ders id e of the bottom w ing are presumed to be b rac k and w hite; tne possibility exists t hat th e lighter co lour was simply the factory fini sh pal e blue un der surface dope. Ho we ver, since similar st ripes are seen on other Jasta 6 Albatros fi ghter s, it seem s logical t ha t th ese we re exte nsions of t he unit mar kin gs usually applied to the ta il p lanes.

T 35

33. Albatros O.V of Jasta 6 w hic h bore a w hi te - bordered ob lique c cr oured ba nd as a n individu al mar kin g. Thi s phot o was rep orted ty tak en in Augu st 1917, w hic h m ay imp ly th at black an d w hite unit st ri pes were not init iated un til late Sum me r 1917. An Albatros 0.111 ts seen in t he left fo reground .

tau

35. An evo cauve photo of D.V 1060 / 17 t akin g off, w it h ot he r A lba t ros ty pes in the ba ckground. J asta 6 co mmand er Do stI er was award ed th e Orden Pou r le M erite on Au gu st 6 1917, w lt h hi s vic to ry t aUy at 21. He wo uld fall in act ion o nly 14 days later.

3 7. t rn. Hans Adam c ras he d hi s A lbat ro s D.V 1148 /17 whue landlng on August 2 1917. He was unhurt, however, and was named co mm ander of Ja sta 6 only weeks lat er following the d eath of Oblt. Edu ard Oostler on Augu st 2 1. Thi s vlew of t he salvag ing of Adam 's D.V afford s a good look at the black and w hite tau markings and simila r d ecoration on the undersid e of th e low er w ing. Th e white-bordered dark band en circling th e fu sel age served as in di vi dual id entificati on ; lt ma y have b een bl ack, but thi s is not known and other colo urs are possib le.

" 37

34. Albatro s O.V 1060/17 of the f ir st production batc h ma y have been f lown by Oblt. Do stIer (Iater Ri tter vo n DostIer ), who took command of Jasta 6 in J une 1917. Personal ma rk ings of two ccre urec bands are v isib le aft of the coc kp it. How ever, there is no evtdence of th e b lack and w hite st r i ping o n th e t eu surfac es w h ich eve nt ua ll y bec ame so id entified wit h thi s unlt, Con c eivabl y they were a pp lied at a later date perhaps eve n th e day after thi s photo was tak en? Th e dark-colo ured nose may have b een bl ack, if on e may jud ge t rom th e u se of such d ecor o n th is un it's lat er Fokker Triplanes. 17

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38. Anot he rview of D.V 1148/17 as groundcrew so rt out the re ma ins. Note all th e fu sel ag e sect io n adjacent 10 the tai lplane was w hite, but the fin and rud d er rem ained apparently unpainted (the se ri al number o n th e fin is d iscernib le). 39. Albatro s O.V 1128/ 17 w hich bore t he def initive Jasta 6 black and w hite d ecoration w hich would become associate d w it h this uniL Th e 0.111 beyond it was sim ila rly decora ted . Note the black and (appa re ntlyj w hite st ripes are a lso seen o n t he un de rs id e ot tne low er wing. Th e extremely dark, glossy nase may have been pain ted brack and the colou re d band with w hite edging just be hind t he cockpit w as a personal marking. This atrcratt w as so similar in appearance t o Ltn. Hans Adam 's D.V 1148/17 th at it invites sug gesti on that thi s may neve a ls o been nown by Adam as a rep lacement fo r 1148 /17 ...

tau

.038

18

40. Leu tn ant Robert j üxen in t he cockp it of his A lbatros O.V, se ria l not k nown, w ith lower w ing under surface str ipes c lea rly in evi dence. It re mains

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uncert ain il suc h str ipes we re ap plied to every Jasta 6 Alb atros in this period, but the y were appa rently a co mmo n part of the sq uad ro n livery. At thi s time personal markings typicall y took th e lorm 01co lo ured bands aft of th e cockpit. j ü xen is beli eved to have used a white band on his lat er Fokker Or.l; it is perhaps possible th at th e ban d seen o n this Albat ros was w hite as we il, its shade disguised by t he poor quality, thinned-down paint in use at Jasta leve l. rullen ac hieve d two victo ries in Juty 1917, most tikety while ftyi ng Albatros lighters. 41. The damaged machine of U n. Robert "rüxen, who poses with his mechanics. J ust visible are the unit's tail stripes, along with more st ri p ing on lower wing undersides. 42. When Jasfa 6 received t he Fok ker 0 r.1 in earty 1918, th e unit marking 01 black and w hite stripes was retained and applied to both sides 01 me tauplane. It is beli eved t he cowlings 01th e unit's t ri planes we re add it io na lly pai nted bl ack to tacnnate identilic at io n from anea d. Or.l403/17 was on e 01sev eral triplanes flo wn by Un. J oha nn Janzen, a successl ul pil ot w ho ro se tc th e command 01 Jasta 6 on April 28 1918. The person al insig nia on thi s aircraft was a w hite wavy lin e o n a possibly blac k band, wi th a narrow w hite bord er on it s leading edge. Th is band co ntinued cve r th e top d ec kin g ; such banded markings we re very common on Jasta 6 Or.l l ig hters. Note t hat th e rudd er was overpa inted in solid olive or bla c k to produ ce a 5 cm-wide w hite c ross border. The rectang ular in spec ucn panel ju st behind th e cowling was a li eld modilicati on c harac te rist ic ot this unit's triplanes. (Via N Burlt)

43. U n. Janzen ac hieve d 13 co nl irmed victo ries bel or e he was l o rced down behind French nnes in a Fokker O.VII on June s.a ml stcrtune whi ch w as du e to a matlunct ion of his sy nc hro nizat ion g ear. Fuselage markin gs similar to th ose on Or.l 403/17 are seen on oth er Jasta 6 Fok kers, so me 01 th em in use lon g afte r Janzen was ca ptured.

"

.

",.

.&42

.&43

1'44

44. As t he co m ma nder 01 J G I, vo n Ric hthofen sometimes f1 ew aircraft lrom any o ne 01 t he lour compone nt units, not just Jasta 11. On Ma rc h 17 1918 he pa id a vtslt to t he Jasfa 5 atrHeld at Bo ist ran court in Or.l 525/17 01 Jasta 6; t here a photograp he r rec ord ed this c1assic view wi t h th e unit's (uneq ual here ) te u st ripes. Not e tha t th e rudd er has again been overpainted . Th e Rittmeister is seen ha ppil y c hatti ng with severa l J asta 5 pil ot s. From left: vo n Richtholen, unknown mechani c, Un. vo n Hippel, Obft. Flash aar (Ja sta 5 c om ma nder), unknown, Un. Schlöm er, and Un. Lehmann. 19

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45.

A fam ilia r b ut fin e vi ew of Or.l

525/1 7, w hich vo n Ric hthofen fl ew to Boi stran c ourt o n 17 M arc h. Note th e Pfalz 0 .1 11 ct J asta 5 in tne b ac kground han g ar. Of interest e re th e lead ing- ed ge wing tip m arkin gs. Th ese were pro bably of a hi ghly visib le, cont rast ing co tcu r such as red or ye llow and were for personal identil ication from ahead.

.6 .45

"'46

....47

Fig. 5. Un. Hans Ki rsc hst ein had joined Jasta 6 in M arc h 1916 ; due to his except io nal a bilities and rapidly risin g score, he w as nam ed ac ti ng co m ma nder on April 27. In Ja sta 6 neuew th e diagon all y-striped tripl ane d epicted in th e b lack and w hite d rawi ng. Thi s Cr.! w as ca lled ' d ie Op tische Täus chung ' (t he opt ical illusi on ), and was so pa inted in t he belief t hat th e d isru ptive pattern would throw off th e aim ct a p ursuer. K irsch st ein too k t he Cr.! along w he n he went to Jasta 4 as ac t ing Staffelführer of th at unit, fro m M ay 9 to 15. H e appa re ntly rert the tripla ne at J asta 4 w he n he retu rned to J asta 6 (which was reeq uipped w it h th e O.VII), w here it was taken over by Ernst Udet upon his retu rn f ro m leave (see page 11). Kirsc hstein contin ued t o use disruptive striping o n his Fo k ker C.VII, untH he was k illed in t he crash 01 a Hannover twc-seater (in which he was a paseenqert c n July 16 1918.

2.

46 and 47. Two vrewe of Ltn. Han s Ki rchstein's Jasta 6 Fo k ker Cr.! when taken over by Ernst Ud et of Jasta 4 who added additional m ar kings - see co lo ur plate on page 10. Note dark overpainting of anercns (81 fight) when the wing in signia was converted to its uttimate configuration.

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48. The triplanes of Jasta 6 present a co lourf ul sig ht lined up on Lech ell e airfield, w hic h JG I ha d o nly rec ently occup ied o n M arch 26 du rin g the adva nce made d uri ng th e g rea t Sp ri ng Offen sive. Th ese aircraft were in th e m id st of chang ing to Balkenkreuz nat ion al mar kin gs as ma nd ated o n March 17. The Dr.! on the far right bo re part 01 the horizontal wavy une insignia of Ltn. Fran z Hemer, and may trave been 595/17. The second ai rcraft fro m the right (possibly 568/17) was the triplane 01 Un. Robert Tüxen, identified by a white band (albeit thinly painted or weathered) with narrow black borders (see colour plate on page 25)what . The may fifth have aircraft in line sported been black and white fuselage bands and an overpainted rudder (see colour plate on page 25) .

!:::-;::':'__":2i.i:~~:: [~~::::::~~ ~:~=~ .&48

1' 49

49. A further view 01 Lechelle airfield, taken at the same time and from the same viewpoint as the previous photo. The four Bessonneau hangars were captured in a partialty damaged condition . An observer scans the skies for hostile aircraft us ing tripod-mounted binoculars. The nearest Dd was lrom Jasta 6, and the distant end of the triplane line-up in the previous photo is at the Iar right (Via H J Nowarra)

so. Un. Robert j uxe n w it h his Cd , pe rhaps 568/17 ; nts pe rsonal markin g 01 a w hite ba nd is visible. Details to note include t he c lear-doped under w ing c ross pa ne ls and the deterio rat io n of the black cowli ng pa int. ln co m mon w it h oth er triplane unit s, Jasta 6 had prev io us ly rec eived exa mples 01 th e Fokker C.V to l amiliari ze pilots w it h rotary engine o pe rat io n prior to th e a rrival 01 t he ür.ts. j üxen had c ras he d in Fo kk er C.V 26 42/ 16 o n No ve mber 11 1917, d est roying th e aircraft but emerg ing unsc ath ed .

.&50

1' 51

....52

5 1 and 52. Fu rth er vrew s ct j üxen's Dr.! w he n th e nat ional in si g nia had been co nve rte d to Balkankreuz co nf ig urat io n - thi s was offen hurried ly d on e. (Dr. V Koos)

21

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•

· 53

.5'

53. Sattle damage to th e wing of his Dr'! gels the attention of Fra nz Herner following hi s return trom a patroL Hi s Jasta 6 comrades nicknamed Herner Loc ken d ue 10 his curly blond hair, and the wavy lin e pe rsona l mark ing wa s a vrsua t reference 10 t his. Whe n intervi ewed by hi storian Neal W Q'Co nnor, Hern er rec all ed th at th is ma rki ng was ye llow; a very p al e yellow might we il produc e th e li ght to nal vaiue see n her e, o r th e ban d may have be en w hite. Herner also reporte d that, becau se of h is n ick name, he o nce used an in si gnia of a brennsch ere (curlin g iron) on another of his aircraftt Herner wo uld recei ve c o nf irma t ion tor 18 victories before belog wo unde d on Augu st 8 1918 and put out ot acttcn fo r th e remainder of th e w ar. He was promoted 10 Leutnant w h ile recovering in September. (Via H H Munte)

54. On May 19 1918 Jas ta 6 made its fi rst war fligh t comp letely equipped with t he superb Fo k ke r O.VII. About t hat sa me ti me, U n. Rich ar d Wenzl tra nsferred t o Jasta 6 I rom Jas ta 11, a nd his O.VII displays t he manner i n w hich th e u nit 's black and w hite ta il stripes w ere l u rt he r app he d to b oth th e met al cowli ng p an el s and to th e o ute r w heel covers . As seen o n his Ja sta 11 Or.!, Wen zl 's per son al marking w as a black a nd w hite luselage band, in th e prop orti on s 01 th e Iron Cross r ib bon w it h colo u rs reversed. The national insignia o n t he l uselag e and w ing s bear ev idence 01 co nversio n Irom th e ear tie r tullb ordered type. Thi s wa s a Fokkerbuilt aircraft Irom a lairly early production seq ue nce; th e st yle 01 ex ha us t ex it and the abundantlylou vr ed c owli ng panels are 01

T 55

mtere st.

T56

55. This view 01Ltn. Werner Nöldecke 01Jasta 6 w it h a D.VII p rovides a ctc seup 01th e un it c olours o n th e nose and wheel. Note t he exhaus t exit and a personal insig nia 01a wh ite and bla ck (1) diagonal ban d w hic h extended from the c owling back t o t he battom 01the ru dder post. Nöldeck e was cred ited w it h a si ng le vic tory, on July 3 ; on th e 22nd of that mont h he was lig htly w ound ed but rema lned w it h th e Jagdstaffel. 56. In another photo from Rich ard Wenzl's book ' Ric hthofen Flieg er , this D.Vlllpresumably Wenzl 's) shows off its Ja sta 6 nose markings. It is apparent that each of the lour component Jagdstaffefn 01the Geschwader marked the noses 01their D.VII fighters w ith identifying unit colours to faci lilate identification in large lormations. This photo illustrntes just how ertecuve the Jasta 6 markings were. 22

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57. The Fokker-built D.VII at lar lelt appears to bear diagonal markings and the air cralt seen larthest to the right may have been Wenz l's. Note the lully striped aircralt in the di stant background. 58 and 59. Brief splendo ur. the st rik ing Ja sta 6 markings app lied to these Fokker E.Vmon oplanes are t he most fam iliar and popular co lou r scnemes known l or the typ e, yet t hey did not extst in service lor long. This line-up shows nine E.V fighters and l our D.VlIs on Berne s airfie ld in August 1918, all sport ing Juli unit decor. The fi rst in une ls 153/1 8, which was the mach ine of U n. Ric hard Wenzl and wh ich bore his customary black and white Juselage bands. The second aircratt is 154/1 8 which was decorated w ith a horizont al whi te arrow; most 01tne other fighters were identified by personal markings between the lu selage c rc se and nose. Jasta 6 was one 01the first units to receive the E.Vin any quantity. 60. Fokker E.V 148/18 displays th e manner in which the black and wtnte unit colours were pain ted on the cowling. Since the stripe patte m seen on the D.VII noses was hardly prac tical lor t he rotary engi ne cowting, a beautifut 'flower petal' patte rn was designed l or use on the E.V. The tailplanes and wheel covers cont inued to bear the unit cereure as weil . Jasta 6 was resp onsibl e l or the first E.V victory, w hic h was achieved by Un. Emil Rolft on August 16. Only three days later Rolft was kill ed w hen his E.V crashed due to struc t ural tauur e ct th e w ing, one 01several such acci dents that soon led to grounding and w ith drawa l 01 th e typ e.ln an, Jasta 6 prob ably operated the E.V tor Iittle more than ten days, and the pHot s sutt ered 30 forced landings in th at tim e due to th e Volt ol· based lubricant used in t he engines.

61. Areplacem ent panel was installed just beh ind th e cow ling on th e up per lu selage 01thi s E.V. The personal marking on th e l uselage will remind many readers 01U n. Johann Janzen's Dr.l 403/7, but t his E.V co uld hardly have been Janz en's since he had been taken prisoner on June 91918.

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62. During th eir short stay at Ja sta 6, the un ~quely d ifferent Fokk er monoplanes no doubt aroused th e curiosity and profession al interest 01eu the Jagdgeschwader pilots. Oblt Erich Loewe nhardt 01 Jasta 10 took the oppo rtun ity to test f1y t he new type and photo wa s was at the ccntrors w hen ta ken.

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63 . Following the withdrawal of t he E.V, Jasta 6 resumed operations with the still-formidable Fokker D.VII. Un. Nöldecke flew this OAW-built D.VII, seen here at Bu signy airfield in September 1918. Nöldecke's personal markings at thi s time were the twcccrour bands ahead of t he national insig nia. Although these ba nds ceseure most of the serial number, it wa s repainted on the horizontal datum line next 10 tne cowting and appears 10

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be either 4552 or 4532/18. Note the rear-view mirror and the OAW plaquette mounted just beh ind t he cockpit on to p of th e fuse lage.

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64. Un. Schliewen was p osted 10 Jasta 6 from J astaschufe I on Augus t 15 1918 and Is seen here w it h hi s Fokker D.VII(OAW). The in dividual m ar king was a fuselage ba nd displaying the Bavarian colo urs 01 brue and white diamonds, th ou g h the fo rmer colour is rendered nearly invisible by the orthochromatic film. This band b ore narrow black borders and covered the se r ial number; a s on N öldecke's machine tnr s was repainted on the datum line but is sad ly iII egible due to heavy staining 01 the tabrjc . It is probable that the seri al number w as so mew h ere in the 45004600/1 8 ra n ge. 65. Al ways inten t on maintaining g ood relations w it h co m b at pucte, Anthon y Fokker (Iett) poses with Un. Arthur Laumann of J asta 10 in Iront of D.V II(OAW) 4524 /18 01 Jasta 6. lt is apparent that Jasta 6 received a number 01 th e se fighters I rom t he t hird batc h ordered from OAW (seri als 4450-4649 /18). These airc ra ft were co vered with lour-colo ur printed l abric and h ad lig ht -colou red rib tape s, probab ly light blue or san n e n pink.

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Plate BA) Speculative camouflage pattern for Adam's D.V; position of upper wing crosses slightly further outboard than OAW-built machines. Plate BB) Plain black national insignia were common, but not universal, on the lower wing under surtaces of Albatros D.Vs. The unit black/ white markings ofter strong identification from below.

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Plate B) Albatros D.V 1148/17, Ltn. Hans Adam, 1917. Finished in typical factory style of varnished fuselage , qreeri/ grey metal panels and struts with dark green/mauve camouflage , pale blue below wings and clear-doped rudder, Adam's machine also bears Jasta 6 tail stripes and additional markings under the lower wing. Fuselage band is a dark colour as is the nose, probably - shown black on the profile: see Photos 37and 38, pages 17 and 18.

Plate 9) Fokker Dr.l, serial number and pilot unknown, 1918. Th is factory-finished machine bears typical Jasta 6 markings for March 1918, with all visible white cross fields overpainted in olive or black. The black and white stripes on the tailplane and elevator were applied to both upper and lower surtaces. The personal markings of coloured fuselage bands are illustrated conjecturally as black and white, although the dark central band might have been some other dark colour - see Photo 48, page 21.

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===r ' Plate 10A Typical Dr.1 finish of olive streaking over clear fabric; lower surfaces of wings and tailplane were turquoise blue. The unit stripes on the tailplane were not of equal width on most machines - check photos. This top view (which depicts Tüxen's Dr.l) also serves as a general guide for Plate 9.

Plate 10) Fokker Dr.l, possibly 568/17, Ltn. Robert Tüxen. Finished in similar fashion to the machine in Plate 9, Iüxen's Dr.1 carries the unit's striped tailplane and black cowling, the rudder cross has been converted by overpainting in white ; see Photos 50,51 an d 52, page 21.

Jasta 6 profiles © R Rimell/Albatros Productions Ltd., 1995.

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66. Leutnant Ulrich Nec ket wa s posted to th e co mmand of Jasta 6 in Sept ember 19 18, already having attai ned a vic tory ta lly of 24 in Jagdstaffefn 12 and 19. Like Ki rsch stein before hirn, Neck el exte nde d the unit's black and w hite co lou rs to th e entire fu selage ot his aircraft, in thi s case a Fo kker D.VIl(OAW). 'rh rs was done in hop es of putting hostil e pilots off th eir ai m, but It also undoubte dty provided immediate identification of the Staffelfüh rer in th e air, Notewort hy is how t he w hite bo rd ers of t he fu selage cro ss we re carefully outlined in blac k. (Heinz J Nowarrn )

67. Neckel in t he cockp it of his OAW· b uilt Fokker (serial probably in t he 4500-4600/ 18 seri es). Th e t ed dy bear ma scot moun te d on the reer-vtew m ir ro r was a po pular, if incong ruous, touch. Necket score d his th irtieth and f ina l victory o n No vember 6 1918, and w as awarde d t he Pour Je Merite o nly t hree d ays befo re the end of the war. (Heinz J Nowarra) 68. This D.VII ts be lieved to be th e same aircraft seen w it h Neckel in th e two pr ec ed ing ph otos. Th e form of ex haust exi t a nd the style of rudder c ross serve to ide nt ify this as an OAWbuill mactune in th e ap propriate seri al ran g e. The sta rbo ard w heel w as appa rent ly a repla cement item and has not yet been de corated with the unit st ripi ng , w hic h nonetheless a ppe ars o n the in side of t he port w he el cove r. Stud y of the followi ng two photos sug gests that t here we re two other Ja s ta 6 Fokkers (most likely flown by Nec kei ) w hic h bore sfm uar fu selage st ripes in late 1918. .&67

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69. By September 28 t he Geschwader had co mpleted a tran sfer 10 Metz, where thi s photo was taken. Onl y three of the Fokkers in t his li ne-up bear Jasta 6 un it marking s- The fu lly-striped D.VII was evi dently a Fo kker-built aircraft, and elose inspection reveet s a subtle d ifferenc e w it h the prev iou s D.VII. The unpa inted 'tozenge' fab ric of th e fi n of t he thirt! ma chin e t rom th e left indicates anothe r Fok ker produ ct, w hich bore more exte nsive nc se stripe s l han usual but non e on th e w heel cover. A lengthwise w hite marking lan arrow or lance?) served as an individual insignia.

70. A lonely O.VII si ts o u tsid e th e wco de n h angars at M a rvill e airfield, o c c up ie d b y th e Ge s chwader from D ctobe r 9 10 Novembe r 6 1918. Slig ht d iscrepanc ie s i n the stri pe p atterns of t his D.VII and thai in the p reced ing pho to ind icat e that th ey were t w o se p a rat e a ir c ra ft (or p erhaps o ne wh ich wa s repa mte ds]. The Fo k ker·bu ilt fighter se en here a p pare n tly h ad at least o n e st rea m er a ffixe d t o its etevatcr an d w a s p ro bab ly f l o wn by Sfaffelführer N eckel i n the fi na l, d e sperate weeks o f th e con flict . Fig. 6. Fokker D.VII of Jasta 6, its sert al is unknown, but p erhaps in the 5050-5149 range. Photographed late in th e war, thi s aircraft displayed a more extensive vertauen of th e unit' s black and w htte no se stripes. A personal em ble m of a w hite 'Ianc e' or arrow appeared o n t h e fu selage sid e, and the u su al Staffel m ark in g s w ere carr ied o n t he ta il - t ho ugh note th eir absen ce on th e wheel ccvers. sfveco tour fabric is ilI u strated as the basic f inis h, though tour-cot cur Is also a possibility - see p h oto 69 above.

71. In astilI trom a w ell -known motion p ic ture seque nce, a Fokker D.VII (OAWI in f ull Jasta 6 decortakes off. Th e unidentified pilot 's p ersonal em b lem seem ing ly co ns ist ed of a dark sp ade or arrow point placed upon a w hite shield. Aside from unit an d individual m arking s ttns atrcrart w as probably fini shed i n printed c am o ufl age fabric ov era ll, p erhaps tour-cctcur;

Fig. 7. Another exa m ple of a J asta 6 D.VII {see ph oto 71 abcve] w it h whi te shield fu sel ag e m ark ing. Th e ta ilp la ne m arkin g s of Jasta 6 were normall y p ai nte d o n b oth u pper an d low er su rfa ces - wi dt h of st ripes c ou ld vary ... 28

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Jasta 10 72. Jas ta 10 pilots pose for a group photo in rate Ju ty 1917, about o ne month after Jag dg eschwader I was founded. Fro m left they are: 1) Uffz. Hermann Brett ei; 2) Vzfw. Bausner; 3) Vztw. Adam Barth ; 4) U n. Offerm an n; 5) Oblt Ernst von Atthaus (commander); 6) Ltn. Malt Kühn; 7) Oblt Ern st Weigand (deputy commander); 8) Un . von Beber-Palubizki; 9) U n. Erich Loewenhardt; 10} Vzfw. Aloys Heldmann. ln the background is Albatros O.V 1119/17, the machine of Oblt von Althaus (note the high headrest). This aircraft was marked with the chrome yellow nose of Jasta 10, with the remainder ct the fuselage overpainted an unknown dark cctour; The fuselage was further marked with a prominent number 1 and an enigmatic marking of five white dots and a bar. This has been interpreted as (from the port side only) as internatio nal Morse code rcr H A, w ith th e suggested association being for 'Hussar Atthaus', in reference to his earlier service in th e 1st Regiment of th e 18th Hussars. (Via H J No warra )

73. Alba tros O.V 1119/ 17 of Oberleutnant Ern st Frei herr vo n Althaus , CO of Jast a 10, J une-July 1917. Colours are un known - w ings and tailplane are standa rd green/mauve camouflage. The ' 1' was p rob abl y a holdover from an earuer pe riod w hen Jasta 10 used numbers for per son al identification. Significan c e of th e fu selag e marking ts un cl ear. (Dr. James J Parks/Lafayette Foundation)

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74. xe ver Leinmüller, a long -serving Jasta 10 mechani c, sits in th e Albatros 0.111 ass ig ned to Vzfw. Burggaller. Like other 0 .111 and O.V ty pes of thi s unit in late Summer 1917, thi s airc raft bor e a chrcme yeuow nose and a bl ack individual number (in th is case a '7') o n th e fu selage side benea t h th e ce ntre st ruts. A personal marking of a w hite ba r extended back to th e fu selage cross, and the w hee ls were additio nalty marke d; t hese have been interpreted as vencw and w mte, thoug h bl ack tor red) and w hite are also possible. Previous profile depictions of this aircraft have missed a few un usual features. This 0 .111 was equipped with auxiliary bracing st rut s at t he base of the interplane 'vee' st ruts, a rack for tlare cartridges, and - most un iquely - a headrest similar to those see n o n early D.V machines was attached behind the cock pit The serial number of th is Albatro s (Jo hannist hal)-b uilt 0.111 is unfortunat ely obscured, but its ce ntrat radrator reveals it was in th e 0 .10102 199/16 ran ge. (Via H J N owarra) 29

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75. Vzfw. Ad am Barth served in Jasta 10 f rom it s formatio n un t il his d eath in ac t io n on Ja nuary 301918 . Hi s Albatros D.lII (OAW) bore a w hite 'd um b-bell' emblem as a pe rsona l m arkin g, alo og w ith t he b lack '8' abcve the wi ng roct. Th e wheel covers were eit her wh ite or pa le btue , and the w ings and ta ftpla ne would have been ca mouflaged in ty pical OAW fashion . Note the 000 bracing cables affixed 10 th e yellow nose. The forward positio n ofthe fuselage cross and the rounded rudder identity t his 0.111 as o ne of t hose built by the Albatros subsidiary at Schneidernü hl, th e Os tdeutsche Albatros-Werke, or QAW. (Via H J Nowarra) .... 75 ""6

76. Ground crew of Jasta 10 pose in front of an impressive une -up of Albatros 0.111 and D.V types, probab ly at Marcke in late Summer 1917. Tentat ive identification ot t he aircratt f ro m lett to rig ht are: Aloys Hel d mann' s D.V, wi t h hi s pe rson a l w hite tau and a banded marking aft of th e cockpit; D.l II(OAW) marked w ith a w hite 's na ke line' on t he f uselage; Vztw. Barth's D.l II(OAW) with t he w hite dumb-bell is next vis ible; Ob /t. Weigand's D.V (possibly 118 7/ 17) and Offz.Stv. Pau l Aue's D.V marked w it h a w hite ci rc le wrapped aro u nd th e fuselage. A ll c r m ese mac hi nes ex hibit t he unit's ye llow noses, and mo st prob ably we re ma rked w it h bl ack number s in th e p ositio n no ted above, t ho ug h th e tatter a re di ffic u lt t o make out in thi s photo.

Fig . 8. Vzfw. A loys Heldmann's Albatros D.V, d ec o rat ed w it h th e unit's ye llow nose an d hi s persona l marking of a w hite ta!l. Th e colour of th e w hite- bcrdered d ark band o n t he fuselage ts unrec or d ed . A representative '6' Is shown in th e pos it io n occupied by such numbers on Jasta 10 Albat ros fighter s. Th e w ings we re in factory f inis h painted ca mouflage o n th e to p surfaces wltn sky blue understdes.

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77. A mixed bag of airc raft typ es in use, ci rca Septe mber 1917. At th e far left is an OAW-b uilt Alb atros 0.111 , tt s f uselage c ross sta nd ing out agains t black (1) and w hite ban d s - also v isib le is th e ' 19' o n th e f uselage an d ye llow nose a nd, apparently, w heets. Next t o It ts th e D.III(OAW) w it h t he w hite wavy snake line; t he number '15' ts legi bl e w it h m agnificati o n o n t he o rig inal print . Ob /t. Weigand's D.V (seria l apparent ly 118 7/17), also ma rke d w it h co loured ban d s in th e area c t th e nat ion al in signia and an u nusua l w hite fi gu re on t he f usel ag e; t hen another D.V, foll ow ed by a Pfalz 0.111 with a cross ot uniqu el y t hi c k p ro portio ns. The last two aircraft are an Albat ros 0 .111 mar ked wi t h a w hite c hevron (barely v is ib le) th ou ght to have been fl ow n by Lt n. Max Kü hn, and Ba rt h's D.III(OAW). Note t he di ffe r ing to nalit ies p roduc ed by the chrome ye llow noses of t hese verre ue aircraft.

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78. In ear ly Sept embe r the Au stroHungari an Crown Prince , Otto von Hap sburg, paid a vis it to the Jasta 10 airlield at Marcke w hic h was re corded by numerous photographs. Th e crücra ts identifiable are, tert to rig ht: Ob lt. Bod ensch atz (J G I adjutant ]; Ob lt. von Oöring (usu al co m mande r of Jasta 4 an d act ing CO of J G I d uring vo n Ric hthofe n's leave]; Hauptmann Wil be rg, t he Ko mmandeur der Flieg er (Ko f/) of t he 4. Armee; the Crown Pri nce, w it h binoculars and wa lk ing st ick; Ltn. WernerVoss (CO of Jasta 10). In th e backgro und is th e A lbat ros D.l II(OAW) No. '19', iIIustrat ed o n page 39. White bands w it h nar ro w bl ack bo rders f la nked a da rk (bl ac k 1) band w hic h back ed up t he fu selage c ross.

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79. Ltn. Voss (at ri g ht ) chats w ith th e Crown Prince; second from Iett is von Oöring. The O.lIl (OAW) cou ld have been f lown by Eri ch Lo ew enhar dt, and th is view revea ls the w hite wavy line was painted o n the t o p wing as we il as the f uselage, t ho ugh t he full extent er this marking remains co njectural. Loewenhardt's career was at this period on t he rise. He was credited with his fourth victory (a ba lloon) on September 9, and another balloon on the 23 rd. He would , of course, eventually become Btaffe/führer in April 1918 and sccre 54 victories before his death fo llowing amid-air cctnsron on August 7 1918. 80. Jasta 10 pil ot s sta nd fo r inspection in front of Voss' tri pl ane F.I 103/17 during th e Crown Prince 's v is it; severat familiär ph oto s ot thi s fa mous triplan e were t axen on thi s day. l n t he ce nt re of t h is photo is th e Crown Prin ce, in front of a ca mo uflage d Pfalz 0.111 w it h t he unit 's yeuow no se; beyo nd th at is the Pfal z 0.111 wi t h th ickstyle c ross insignia, and Albatros fighters furth er on.

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81. A Jasta 10 Pfal z 0.111 w ithreportedl y - WernerVoss in th e cock pit. Thi s does not nec eeearuy make it one of 'his ' machines, of co u rse. Th is 0 .111 has been depic te d in t he past w it h red nose and f usel ag e bands; c1early th e nose was t he Staffel ch ro me vencw, but at t his early date thi s ccrour was con f ined to the sp inner and met al cowli ng ring. Th e f usel age ban d s may nave been bl ac k. In fact , th eir sim ilarity to Hecht's 0.111 0.1370 / 17 suggests t hat t his may have in fac t been that machine, w ith add it io na l yellow paint an d a green added later - but thi s is m ere speculat io n.

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82. A tew of the early producti on Pf alz D.l1t fi ghters were ca mo uflaged in ton es of (probably) g ree n an d mauve on t he uppe r surraces. wi t h th e understdes most likel y th e usual silbergrau f ini sh . At lea st two cr three of th ese camouf laged aircraft were assigned 10 Jasta 10, one ofw hich was ttus D.l lI crashed by t.tn. Gustav Be llen on September 11. A w hit e band encircled the fuselage w it h the c ross outli ned in the base colo ur. No te th e f lare cartridge raek end p istol m oun t ed on t he side 01t he cockpiL 83. In another photo f rom hi s album, Gefreiter Xave r Le inm üll er (in t he cent re) arid t w o other groundcrew m embe rs pose w ith Be llen's Pfa lz. Clea r ly seen is t he fu selage 'j oint line' and th e al uminium un der surtaces ot w ings, fu selage and t allptan e. Ltn. Be llen would achieve hi s fi rst and only victory on Se ptember 21 when he downe d a balloon; two days rat er he was o ne ot th e unit m em ber s w ho accompa nied Voss o n his fatal fli gh t.

84. Th e leg en dary fighti ng combinatio n of We rne r vcss and Fok ker F.l1 0 3/ 17. Thi s triplan e was pa inted ove ra ll in t urq uoise w it h a da rk olive dope brus hed on to t he upper surtaces to produce th e st re ake d ca mouf lage effect . As most read ers know, Alex rmrte has rec en tl y offered new t ho ughts (based on resea rc h by Manfred Thiemeyer) about the orig in of th e famous 'face' pa in ted on th e cow ling: based o n the fi erc e visages t hat adorned Japanese f ightin g kites. Th e link between th e two was t he fact th at, d ue to bus iness ti es between Japan and textile ma nufacture rs i n Voss 's home city of Kre fe ld , several such kites were owned by Krefeld c hucren. Fo llowing hi s death in an epic combat against seven SE5as of No.56 Sq ua dron, t he ru d der of F.1 103 /17 (and a fe w ot her co m ponent s) was sa lvaged and sent to APF Rhy s Dav id s ct No.56 Sq uad ro n as a souveni r. After Rhys Davi ds' death, hi s fami ly donated t he ru dd er to the Imperial War M useum. Th ere ts currently speculation among t riplane hist orian s that t he ye llow-painted Fokker Triplane rudder now held by the IWM might be from F.l103 /17. Even though no photo shows this aircraft w it h a ye llow rudder, the po ssibility remains that thi s co mp one nt coul d have been painted in suc h a manner sho rt ly before voss's death. Further rese arch into this intriguing possibility Is st ill being ca rried out. 32

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8 5. Fokker F.l10 3/17 at Marcke short ly atter lt s arrival, w it h Gefreiter Aü ser and Fli eg er Karl Timm, Voss's trusted me chanics. A lex Imrie has also sta ted th at the cowling of thi s triplan e w as pa inted in th e Jas ta ceroc r of c hro me yenow (Via N H Haupric h) 86. Anotherview ot F.1103/17 wi t h an u nide ntified ca mo uf lage d Pfalz 0.111 at lett. Note lac k ofwing t ip skids w hich c harac te rised t he pre-p ro d uct io n tripl anes. 8Z Un. Aloys Heldmann , w ho w o uld survlv e the war w it h 15 vic to ries, poses w ith hi s ca mouftag ed Pfalz 0.111 1395/ 17. Th e upper surtace s were probab ly painted in ton es of green and mauve or Iila c; th e stenc illed weight s t abl es a nd ot her markings indicate t his fini sh w as a pp lie d at th e fac to ry. Note th e Pfalz t rade mark at th e base of th e in terplan e st rut and the white out lines on the low er wing insig nia. Thi s 0.111 d oes not yet bear th e Jasta 10 ye llow nose, w hic h ma y have be en app lied later. The w nee ! ccvers ap pear to be w hite, a co lou r Heldmann was usin g as a per sonal ma rk ing at thi s time. When fnterv jewed by Jon Guttma n in November 1981, Hel dmann did sta te th at thi s Pfalz 0 .1 11 had a w hite tau (as di d hi s ear lier A lbatros O.V) and that he beli eved he tater fl ew an aluminium Pfalz w ith a w hite t en as we il . He a lso stated that streamers from his etevatcrs were a surer m eans of ident if ication as a Kette leader than markings . . . (A/oys He/dm ann via the Lafay ette Foundation)

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88. A c lassic photo w hich is st ill w ort h repeating. Jasta 10 Pfalz 0.111 fighte rs show off t heir chrom e ye llow noses , st ruts and wheel covers. Sec o nd from left is 1384/17, w hlle third from rig ht is 1370/ 17 in w hic h Vzfw. Hecht was captured on December 27 1917. The 0 .111 at far right bear s Vztw. Barth's du mb- bell emblem, and th e s ixt h airc raft from th e r ig ht - marked w it h a len gthwi se dark st r ipe - ma y be Ltn. Hans Klein's.lt was previou sl y thought th at all th e dark markings se en in thi s Hne-up we re th e unit c hro me yell ow colo ur, but this is not necessa ril y 50. 1370/ 17 had black band s o n it s fu selage and upper w ing, w it h a green tail (co nf ir med by the rudder of thi s mac hine, held in st orage at the RAF Mu seum). Note t he whi te tail ofthe t hird 0 .1 11 f ro m the left, probably Heldmann's. lt is pessäble t hat severa ! of t hese machi nes had different c oloured ta ils, as specifi ed for id ent if ication by vo n Richthofen hirnse lf. 89. After capture o n December 27 Hecht 's 0 .11113 70 /17 is to w ed aw ay. Thi s photo reveals t he original unit and persona l marking s priorto repain ting by t he RFC. 90. Pfalz 0.1111 370/17, fl own by Vzfw. Hecht , after hi s capture and ap plica t ion of Brit is h markings. This mach ine has been t he subject of severa! inaccurate de p ictions in the past, d ue to th e in co m pl ete informat io n then generally avattabre. Updated analyses ofthe ma rking s have appeared rnore t han once in va rio us Albatros publicat ions, but old myths d ie hard. Ac cording t o official RFC report s on fil e at t he Public Records Offic e, the ban ds on th e fuse lage and top surface of the upper w ing were blac k, and t he was green (as seen o n t he st ill extant rudder). Th e no se, und erc arriage, and interplane st ruts were ye llow in ty pi cal Jas ta 10 fas hio n. Th e rest ofthe aircraft was t he usu al Pfa lz silbergrau.

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91. Un. 'Fritz' Friedrichs sits in his Pfalz 0 .111 in this ctt-seen but usetu t photo. The amount of chrome yellow on the nase was less extensive than thai seen on same other Pfalz fighters of the unit - tnere were several va riat ions. Also iIIustrated are the r igging data panel, rnanufacturer's p late, and weights table. Note the arrow markings on the c irc ular tue! tank filling loeation and circular in spection panels. Friedrich s would bec ome one of th e 'star turns' of Jasta 10 and a sp eciali st in downing balloons.

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92. Ern st Eversbusch, one ct the founders o f the Pfa lz Flugzeugwerke, visited seme able exp onents ot h is ürm's product at Jasta 10. From lett are : unknown, Hauptmann Kurt Schwarzenberger of Idflieg, Ltn. Klein, Un. Kühn, Eversbusch, Ltn. He ldmann, and an unknown airman. The dark (black 1) bands on the top wing are noteworthy, and may have been format ion leader's markings. 93. Idffieg official Kurt Schwarzenberger (Ieft) and Han s Klein (centre) with Klein's 0 .111. The personal rnarking s of a coloured tail and fu se lag e ba nd are evidently t he same c hro m e yellow as the nose - see the fifth Pfa lz in th e li ne -up p hot o opposite. Staffelführer Klein would be badly wounded in Pfa lz O.llla 4283 /17 o n February 19 1918 ; th e loss of his right ln d ex f inger groun ded hirn for the duration 0 1 t he w ar.

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94. Jasta 10 grou nd cre w pese w it h a Pfalz n.ute, exam ples ofw hic h p ro babl y beg an t o arr ive atthe unit in November 1917. Thi s mactune borethe Staffel marking s of c hro me yellow nc se. st rut s and w heel covers, but t he airscrew sp inner appea rs t o be bri g ht, u npainte d m etal.

95. Un. Franz Bohlein survived thi s ac cident in Albat ros O.V 457 1/17, evide ntly with no sig nificant injury. The aircraft d isp layed Jasta 10 ye ll ow on it s nose and perhaps struts, but not on th e wh eel ccvers. Thi s view ill ust rates t he app lication 01a white border to the und erwing c rosses f or vi si bility against printed ca mouf lage tab rtc. The teu was pa inted an unrecorded dark colo u r as a pe rs onal mar1dng , but ca ref ully lea ving the seri al number u ntouched. Bohlein w as c red it ed with his first vi ctory, a ba lloon, only four da ys bercre his death on March 16 1918. 9 6. Elem ents of J ag dg esc h wad er I on th e landing ground at Awo ingt , w hic h the Gesc hwader had m oved to on April 20 1918 in read i ness f orthe great Spring Offensive. In t he foreground appear Pfa lz O.llla and Albatros f ighters of J asta 10, c learly identified by their ye llow noses. T he O.lII a fo urth fro m r ight had tt s fusetage completely ove rpain ted (probably in red or bl ac k) with a w hite ba nd aft of th e cross. The Al b at ro s O.V (1) in the middle di stanc e was a Jasta 10 ai rc raft w it h a w rapa rou nd ribbon p er sonal markin g of unknown co lo ur. In th e di st an c e at extreme lett are J asta 4 Pfal z a nd Albatros figh te rs, marked w it h the bl ack s p ira l stripe unit in signia and vari-col oured tail s.

....95

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97. It Is th ought thi s photo show s Manfred von Ai chthofen on a vi sit to J asta 5. Thi s Albatros O.V m ay be th e same J asta 10 a irc raft see n in the prec eding p hoto, de c o rated w it h an ind ivi dual m arking of a sp iral st ripe of un confirm ed hu e (but w hic h is not Jasta 4 black) . Th e t au was overpainte d as weil, a nd th e w ings we re c overed w ith pri nte d camou f lage fab ric . (Via H H Wynne)

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98. In late Ap r il -early M ay 19 18 some 01the first producti o n Fo kk er O.VII biplanes we re de livered to Jast a 10 t o replace tne un it 's weary Pfalz and Albatros fig hters. These Fok kers we re finished in st rea ked olive d op e o n the upper l uselage and tau surfaces, w it h four-colour printed l abric on th e wi ngs.ln land ing O.VII 234 /1 8, Un. Fri edri c hs unfortunately ran past t he landing area and into two parked O.VII aircra ft and tents. Thi s v iew reveals howthe iron cross ins ig nia on th e fuse lage and ten we re alte red to Balkenkreuz torm as o rde red on March 17, and that th is change had not yet been effe cte d on th e ressaccessible wi ng insig nia. The c rosses were c onverted by usin g th e w idest portion ot th e iron c ross ar ms as th e bar wrc tn. resu lting in the 'thlck ' sty le 01cr osses seen her e. Not e th e w hite verncet st ripe just ah ead 01th e fusel age cro ss.

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99. A differ ent view er Fri edric hs' accident, w hic h ittustrates the turquoi se bl ue unde r surfac e of t he D.VII fu selag e and t he c ross positions on t he Icwer w ing . The national insig nia on th e low er w ings of th e D.VII at far left have been c hang ed to Ba/kenk reuz in signia wi t h th ic k w hite borde rs. Th e wheel cov ers and st ruts ofthe se airc raft were en ev ide ntl y in lactory fin ish; it is difficu lt to say w het he r or not t he unlt's c hro me yenow colour wa s yet appli ed to t he noses 01the se machines. 100. An ot her ear ly pro d uc ti o n O.VII assign ed t o Jasta 10 was 24 4/1 8, w hic h wo uld bec om e th e ma ch ine ct Ltn. Aloys Hel d mann. lt is see n here very early in it s career; wit h markings in appa ren t t ran siti on . Th e iron c ross ins ig nia on th e top w ing we re further outboa rd th an th ose see n o n Friedri ch s' 23 4/ 18. The peculiar crosses o n th e fu sel age and ru dd er are unexpl a ined, b ut were pe rha ps the res ult 01a mis inte rp retat io n of th e Ma rc h 17 directive. Th e pain t i ng of t he lower see tion of the rud de r in olive dope was a feature see n o nly on a few ai rcraft ea rly in th e production seq ue nce. Not e t ha t some cowting pane ls were re moved t o fac ili ta te cooling. The uniqu e crosses on th is rudder an d fuselage were prob ab fy soo n al te red to m or e co rrect fo rm by Jasta 10 p er sonnel.

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101. The c hro me yellow of Jasta 10 was appl ied tothe nose of 244/18, but perha ps not to the st ru ts or w heel cove rs. Heldm ann 's persona l marking s took the form of his imtials in sty listic script on t he starboard top wing (also in chrome yellow) and a black and w hite cheq uerboard pattern on the tai lplane surfa ce s. Heldmann rec alled t hat he flew this D.Vll from April until Augu st 1918 and scored several victories in lt, lronicalty, the well-k nown ph oto s of 244 / 18 were taken circa Ju ly 1918 when it was borrowed by Lothar von Richthofen (Ja sta 11 commander). When interviewed by Jon Guttman in 1988, HefT Heldmann slressed th at it was ind eed his aircrafL Loth ar ts seen here with his tather Major Albrec ht von Richthoten; the occasion tor thi s sert es of ph oto s is said to have been Lothar' s 30t h victory (the 500th tcr th e Gesch wad er ). If tru e, it dates th e ph oto as taken on July 25, shortl y afte r Lotha r's return from con valescence from his mo st recent wounding. 102. A tess familia raspect of 244 /1 8, with Lothar von Richthofen in the cockpiL The starb oard cuter wheel cover was an unre corded light colour, not chrome yellow, and the port wheet covers were mi ssing entirely. The national insig nia on the rudder and fuselage were converted from t he initial form in the same manner as thc se on 234 / 18, to produce the 'thick' sty le of cros s bars of rough ly 1:3 ra tio (wid th to length). While the fuselage cro ss had tne white bord ers applied corr ec tly to t he length of the cross bars only (as speci fied on May 131918), such 'thick' style crosses were di stinctl y cu t-ot-date by thi s time. The c rosses on the w ings were altered by painting over th e thi cker ends of th e iron cross bars to ac hleve more co rrec t proportion s. The form of exhaust extt should also be noted.

....103

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103. A nother v ie w 01 Lothar in D.VII 244/18, w hich e mp hasizes the di spa ri ty of areas 01 the s t re a ked olive camo uf lage. Th e w hit e panel w hich fo rmed th e background lor th e o rigina l fuselage cross was apparentJy overpainte d w ith so li d o live d o pe which ap pears practically black. 104. As his lather loo ks o n, Lothar von Ric hthofe n p repares for a flig ht in D.VII 244/18. Hel d mann' s 'A H' emblem ca n ju st be see n o n th e to p w ing . Held man n achieved hi s sevent h v ic to ry i n thi s arrcrart on June 23, a Sp ad S7231 ct Spa. 62 (described as having a, ' re d motorhood and blue Gallie ro oster on the fu selage' in his co m ba t report) üown by Sgt. Voi sin, w ho wa s taken prisoner. Having served in Ja sfa 10 since November 1916, He ldmann would finish the war w it h 15 v ict ories and live to be one 01 the last survivo rs of the Richtholen Geschwader. 38

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Plate 14} Alb atro s D.m (O AW j , s e ri a l number an d pilot unknown, 1917. Finished in typical style with vamlshed rcseiene. d ar k green and mauve camouflage with pale blue under wings and la ilplane, clear-doped rudde r and grey/ green melal pan ets and struts. The Jasta 10 colour has been applied 10 l he nose and tau. lhe personal while 'anake' marking along t he f uselag e - see Photos 76 and 79, pages 30 and 31.

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Plate 14A} Typica l under surtace scnerne of dark green anc mauve segments - in Ihis case auqm ented by personal white snake marking,

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Plafe 15 A} Uncer surtace delail ccmmon 10 Jasta 10 O.lIls; while-outlined lo wer w ing crcsses and their positions were hal imarks ot OAWbuilt verslcns.

Plate 15) Albatro s D.lll IOAW), s e r i a l number an d pilot unknown,1917. Finished as pe r Plate 14 but with yellow wheel cove rs and black (1) and w hite rear fuse lage b and s - note how t he Ja sta marked these machines with individual numbers under t he cen tre stru ts - see Photo 78, paqe 31.

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c Plate 16} Pfalz n.m, se r ta t number a n d pil ot unknown , 1917. This profile is ba se d on the third Pfal z from the fett in the famous Pfa lz D.lllline-up (see Pho to 88): It clearly had a white tail. W hile tne serial is unknown , Alo ys Heldmann did say his earlier camo uflaged Pfalz had a wh ite ta il and probabl y a laler aluminium one did too. Held m ann is recorded a s havin g f lown a 0 .111 seria l411 7/ 17. Fo r upper w ing markings style see Pla te 22A.

Ja sta 10 profiles © R L Rimell /Alb atros Productions Ud., 1995.

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~ Piste 11) Pf all D.IUa, sa rl s l and pilot u nk nown, 1918 . Thill lIom8wha l IIpecu la li ve rec cn str ucncn i s bas ed on Pho to 96 (page 36 ). Tha tuse'a ga l s shown pajn te d red bul eq uaUy I1c o uld have been blac k - yo u

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cnoce e: The wh ite c utnnee 10 th e luselage and rudder markings ere unu llually la rg e.

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PIste 11A ) Upper su rrece del ail , Plate 17; lar ge u p pe r· win g ins ig ni a.

Piste IB A) The wing s are lour-colour printed labri c wilh tapes cu! trom tne sam e material ; Ihe original 'iro n

c ross' markings have bee n con verted using a n eut ra l corou r a nd the pilot's ini tia ls painted on Ihe ste rboard etoe 01 th e wing in yetlow.

Plate t81 Fok k er D.VIl 244 / 18 , U n. Al o~ s Hel dman , 191 8 . This weil documenled D.VII (s ee p hot os o n page 38) wa s a n oarly Fokker ·bu il t m ac nin e wilh o live streaking o n IU5ela g e and tenpte ne. tu rq c ctse eercw solid oli ve axle la iring (a s m osl D.VlI s) and tc ur-c oto ur prin ted l abri c o n w ing s a s Ihe laclory fini sh. The ur nt c otocr ha s be en appl ied to th e nase and th e t ailp la ne c ec cratee in b lack a nd wh il e s c oere s - not e I he b la ck /wh ite /red etre am era.

Plafa 19} Fokker D.Vll, s e r tet numbe r u n k n ow n, Offiz i er - S te llvertre te r Paul A ue, 191 8 . Fini shed in simi lar sty le 10 He ld ma nn 's D.VIl b ut with yell ow wh eel s and str ure. Ih e c o nverte d cross s tyle o f Ih e lu selage ls diHe renl and simil ar tr eatm ent may have b ee n ap p lied to the wi ngs bu t Ih is ts u nc lear !ro m Pho to 106 o n o p posil e p ag e (41). The machin e b ears t he Sa xon cc at 01a rm s on it s l u selag e but p recis e d etail s 01it are lack ing hence Ihis provislc nal re co nstrucuon.

Pi ste ' SB1 Lower win g c erau.

Ja sr a 10 profiles 0 R L Rimell /Albatro s ProducUon s Ltd., 1995.

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A g. 9. An ea rly -p roduc tion Fo kker D.VII Ilown by U n. Frte d n c hs, with typical st rea ked cam o ufla ge fin ish. lt bore sta nda rd Jas ta 10 yellow colourati on on t he nose, w he el c ov ers an d c abane and un derc arri age st ru ts. Ap pare ntly a coloured ba nd w as ap plied j ust a head of th e fuselag e c ro ss, an d a heral d ic c rest 01unknown sig nifi c anc e wa s added as weil . An y d esign w hich ma y have appea re d on th e dark left std e 01thi s shield d evic e ls d ifficu lt t o disc ern, thu s is left undeflned.

10 7. Th e fin al comm ander 01 Jagdstaffe/1 0 wa s U n. Arthur Lauman n, wh o ma rk ed his D.VII w ith a personal insig ni a 01his in itials app lied omately on a band ot un re c orded colour. This aircra ft was a later produ ct 01th e Fo kker fac tory, fin ish ed in tcurcolour l abric overall ; it would have m o st certainly sported t he un it's yellow m ark in gs o n its nose and pe rhaps struts and wheel ccvers as weil. Having ac hieved 22 vrctcoes. Laumann was posted to Jasta 10 fro m Jasta 66to ta ke command followi ng t oewenberdt's tragic deatn Th e war's end wculd fi nd him with the Pour le M eri te and 27 victories to his credil

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105. Un. Friedrichs and his Fokker (seria l unk nown, but pos sibly 30 9/1 8) in typ ical early pro du ction model fini sh. Besid es a yellow ncse, thls D.VII was em blazo ned w it h a heraldic crest as a persona l m arkln g. Th e de rivat io n of this insignia is un c on firmed , but Aloys Heldmann recalled that Fried ric hs' aircraft bare the ccrcurs 01Schl eswi gHol stein. A native Westphalian, Fried ric hs did serve l or a time in th e Hol stein l nfan t ry Regi m ent No. 85; a promine nt emblem in t he 19th Cen tu ry military heraldry 01the two duchie s was a double-hea ded eag le, w hic h m ay have formed part 01t he ins lg nia see n bere. The tans 01aircraft w ere st ill lav oured locations lor pe rsonal co lours also, as evidenced by th e D.VlI in the ba ckground. A 2 1-victory ace, Fried ri chs d ied on July 15 1918 w hen th e un stable phosphorus am munition in his O.V1I 309 j 18 ig nited an d set th e aircraft aflame. He was ab le to take to hi s parachute, but the hamess snag ged on th e ta ilp lane and t he 'chut e fai led. He had only recently bee n nominat ed for t he Pour le M erite. (USAF M useum via Jon Guttman) 10 6. His Fo kker D.VII p rovides an impressive bac kdrop for th e d im inutive Offizier-Stellvertreter Paul Aue. Thi s m achine was evidently an other early Fok ker product w it h strea ked o live dope on the fu sela ge. Strong sunlight has nearly washed out t he o liv e sec t io n 01t he veruce t sta bilizer (which is just visible in th e ori ginal ph oto) and has ma d e the chrom e ye llow no se, and po ssi b ly w hee ls, lig hter th an usuat. Aue dec ora ted hi s D.VII w it h the coat or arm s of hi s native Saxony on the l usela ge, and appa rent ly litted a nonstanda rd windscreen. Aue sc ored his lirst vi ct ory as a tw c- seete r pilct in Kag ohf 5 in October 1916, and added nin e more duri ng his long servic e in Jasta 10. By hi s own account Au e was an intensely dedicated pilot; atter bein g wounded on Sep te m be r 19 1917, he co nt inue d on acuve service fo r nearl y a year bet or e bei ng l orc ed to se ek hospi tal treatm en l ( Dr Volke r Koos)

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Jasta 11 108. Th oug h blemlshed, th is photo is importa nt as it ts b etieved 10 show U n. Georg Si mon's Albat ro s 0.111 0 .2015/ 16 on t he Jasfa 11 airfield before its capture on June 4 19 17.11 was painted in t he uni t's red co lour over the entire fuse lage and tau, with the exceptio n of a persona l marking of a light green band aft of th e cockpit From this photo it seems likely that, in common with same other J ;;,sta 11 Albatros fighte rs, t he national markings o n the fuselage aod vertical lall surreces were overpainted with red paint 35 weil, no white cross outlines are visible. A well-documented example of the uni! practice (common in May· June 19171 of applving red 10 most of the fuselage and ta il, with aseparate colour on a portion of t he airlrame 10 identity the pilot. (Via H H Wynne)

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f09. 0 .20 15 / 16 was shot down on J un e 4 by Capt. Chapman of 29 Sqdn. RFC and Simon was taken prisoner. Official reports on t his Albatros recorded the colours in cetan. British national markings were later painted on t he aircraft, but the rest of its co lo urs re ma ined unaltered. Note the sheen reflected off tne ncse. apparent in severa! p hotos. This 0.111 wa s given t he Bri ti sh capture number G.42. 110. As w ith all early 0 .111 machines in the 0.1910- 0.2199/16 range, 0 .20 15 / 16 featured a ce ntra lly-mounted rad iator in the upper wi ng. Th e reports on thi s aircraft ma ke It c tea r that th ere we re three camouf lage co lo urs o n th e top wi ng (and pro bably t he bottom as we il) thoug h th e o live green on t he starboard wing ts nea rly in di stin gu ishable from t he dark ' Venet ian Red ' on t ne middle sect ion. The reports also me ntion that a small tube (about 3c m intern al diameter) was f itted , '. . . in th e side ot the p i/o t 's cockpit about th e level of the pi/ot 's e/bow, projecting ou tside the fuselage and p ointing sfightly downwards and bacJ<wards ••• (it) is p ro bably ofuse whe n fi ring a fight from a signalling pisto /'. This tube was appa re ntly mounted o n th e port side of t he cockpit 111. This vtew ofthe m uchphotographed G.42(0 .1II 0 .2015 / 16 ) is one that indicates t he re were indeed three sections of camouflage colour on tne top wi ng . 112. The eteeelc example ct Jasta 11 markings for late Spring-early Summer 1917 is U n. Kar! Atlmenräder's 0 .111 0 .6 29 / 17. The red coJour of t he Sfaffel was applied to the

42

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....112

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....113 entire fuselage aod tail, with t he exceptio n of a white nose and erevator which served to identity the pltot, Th e wings remained in me usual camouflage, probably stmnar 10 tnat seen on Simon's 0 .111. Allmenröder was cne of the leading pilots of the Jasta in May end June, eaming the Pour Le Merite on the 14th of the latter month. He was eventualty credited with 30 vlctcrtes, (Via N H Hau p rich)

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113. Allme nräder in the cockpit 01his 0 .111 (Note the offset rad iator w hich c haractertaed 0.111 m achines from 0 .2200/1 6 o nwa rds). Up on fonnatio n of Jagdg esch wader I, A llmenröde r was nam ed commanderof Jasta 11; o n June 26 he downed hi s 30th victory. How ever, he d id not enj oy his success for lon g, as he was ki lled in action th e next day. Contra ry to a la ng-held be lief, Al lm enröder did not fall to the fire of Ca nad ian ace Raymond Collishaw ; Allm en röder was kilted in the m oming and Co ll ishaw's act io n took place in th e eve ning. It now se ems Iikely th at the Germa n ace fell to ground ure. (Via H J Nowarra)

114. Th e redoubtable Jasta 11 ace Kurt Wolff po ses w it h dark-painted Albatros D.l1I 632 /1 7. Wolff would attain th e Pour le M erite and co mma nd of J asta 11 before hi s death on Se pte m be r 15 1917. The c olou rs ofthi s Albatro s ca nno t be confirm ed, th ough th e dark fu sela ge paint was applied ove r the nationa l in signia on t he fu selage in ty pical Staffel fashi on, while Ih e c ross o n th e fin and rudde r remained visible. 115. This photo was previous ly pub lished w ilh ca pti ons d esc ribin g tt es t he crash of Ltn. Kurt Wolft on th e rai lrway tracks near Courtrai on J uly 11 1917,after he was wounded and shot down by Sopwith Tripl an es of NO.10 Squadron RNAS. The truth of this description cannot be established by the author, but this ciear print of the photo was deemed of sutnclent inlerest regardless. The serial number 2099 /16 ls seen repainted in a light colour against the dark coloured fin. The entire rear fuselage was an unknown dark cotcur; while the forward fuselaqe and the underside of the wings and tailplane were in standard factory finish. 43

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116. In a photo possibly taken at Armee Flug Park 4, brand new Albatro s O.V fight ers ofthe ttrst producti on bat ch aw ait delivery to combat units. Note the di spari ty of th e d ark g reen and mauve ca mouf lage co lo urs on t he wi ng s and t ai lplan es, as we il as t he high head rest s c haracte ris tic of so me early prod ucti on O.V ai rcratt; t hese we re u npo pular w it h pucts and we re ofte n removed at th e Jasta level. The seco nd m actune t ro rn t he fo reg ro un d ts 0 .1 177/ 17, wh ich was delivered to Jagdg esc hwad er I and was üown by Manfred vo n Richthofen. At that t im e tt w as ove rpa inte d t o so me extent, as von Ri chth of en' s co m bat report 01 June 23 desc ribes this airc raft as having a, 'red body'. 117. Arou nd th e end of J un e 1917, Rittmeist er vo n Rich t hofen paid e vtst t to Gon tro de, appare ntly in co mpany wi th ano t her J G I member; th e two A lbat ros O.V airc ra ft f lown by t he pair we re photogra phe d th ere at the headquarters base ot Kag ohl 3. One Germ an albu m in w hich th is phot o appears identi fi es the O.V in the for eg rou nd specifically as von Aic ht hofen' s ' red fi ghter aircraft' . lt has been presumed that thls O.V is 0 .1177/ 17 w ith t he head rest removed . Thi s is certa inly possible bu t lt ca nno t be proven . Glos e ins pec tion ct t he ph oto seem s t o mdrc ate th e enti re assem bly, and fuselag e, underc arriag e we re overpaint ed red , ob scuring alt national markings. The fa ct th at t he upperwi ng cros ses we re also appar en tl y overpainted may ju st indicate th at t he w ings w ere give n a thin cc at of red paint, throu gh w hi c h the factory ca mo ufla g e pattern remains visib le. This O.V ma y in fact have been o ne of th e rare vo n Aichth ofen airc ra tt that actu all y was 'a u red', alt ho ug h this is im pos si b le to d efine, es pecially wi t h regard s to th e u ndersides of th e wi ngs. Th e Albat ro s O.V in t he backg ro und is also largel y ove rpainte d . The gi ant airship ha ngar housed Gotha G.lV bombe rs of Kagoh l 3. (NASM via Suzanne Hayes)

.A117

"' 118

tau

118. Manfred vo n Ri chth ofen (fa r rig ht ) c hat s with Kagho/ 3 co m ma nder Haup tm ann Rudolf K le ine (Ie tt ) in a view of th e same c c caston as th e previ ou s photo. In t he centre of th e group is Ob/tn. Gertich, th e adjutant of Kagoh/ 3. Thi s ph ot o emphasizes th e visib ility of th e c amouflage o n the up per wing of vo n Ri ch th ofen' s O.V at l ar lett, yet it remains po ssibl e thi s wa s st ill di scernible under a t hin coa t of red paint of poor co vering quality. (NASM via Suzanne Haye s)

44

Fig . 10. Albat ros O.V flo wn by Rittmeister von Ri chth of en in J une 1917. Red paint was app lie d to th e ent ire fus elag e, tat! a nd land ing ge ar, almost co m pletely obliterating t he nati on al markings. lt is suggest ed t hat th e win gs w ere co mp letely overpainted as we il w ith a t ranslucent layer 01red, though thi s c anno t be co nf irme d . 1tIs beüeved thi s was D.V seria l nu m ber 0 .1177/17.

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&119

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Fig. 11. The Albat ro s D.V in w hich vo n Richth ofen was shot down on July 6 1917. Red paint was applied 10 th e teu, struts , ncse, w hee l cover s and th e u pper su rfac es of bot h w ing s. Th e subd ued appearanc e of the w hit e o utline of th e c ross o n the p lywood fu sel ag e possibty ind ica te s an overpai nti ng or an att em pt 10 remove iL Th e ser ial number of thi s D.V is unknown, although sim ilar ma rki ng s are rec ord ed tor D.V 4693 / 17,w hic h wa s flown tate r,

119. Ja gdg eschwader I com ma nde r von Richthofen flew a different D.V o n th is vts u 10 o ne of th e German naval atr unit s in Flan d ers. Th is is atmest cert ainl y t he sam e aircratt in w hi ch he was tater w oun ded o n July 6 1917. Al t hough f req ue ntly iIIustrat ed end modelIed, t hi s D.V presents se m e puzzli ng as pe c ts in it s ap pea rance. After ye ars 0 1 discu ssi on and re search th e t ru e identity 0 1 t hi s m achin e, w hic h von Richthofen's com bat report 01 Ju ly 2 describes as d ecorated w it h, 'red c o wli ng, ten and wings', remain s unknown. This D.V see m s to match thi s d escription, yet th e black and w hite lusel age c ross presents a ' toneo-d ow n' appearan c e, sug gest ing an attem pt was m ad e to subd ue it in so m e way. 12 0. On JuJy 6 1917 von Rich tholen suHered a head wound in an attack on th e FE2d 0 1 Ca pL 0 C Cunnell an d LL A E Woodridge 01 No. 20 Sq uad ron RFC. H e su bseq ue ntl y made a lorc ed lan d ing as recorded in thi s and the foll owing photo . Th e red paint o n th e nose was co nl ined to the spinner and a ban d aro u nd th e c ow li ng , and a 'band' 01 d arker c olour see ms to appear i n lront of th e red teu. Ag ain, th e 'hazy' w hite outli ne around the national i nsi g nia o n the fu selage ts not ed ; perhaps the entire fu se lag e w as g iv en a translucent c oat 01 thumed-down paint?

12 1. An otherview 01 t he sam e D.V shows th e d efinite ov erpainting 01 t he wi ng c rosses, and probably t he w ho le upper surfaces 01 both w ings, in red

paint. 45

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122. At some period during Summer 1917, th e red d ecoration w hic h had been th e hallmark of Jasta 11 airc raft was stand ard ized inte t he following unit marking: a red ncse back 10 th e

leading edge er the c c ckplt, re d w h eels, a nd r ed struts. Th ough t he un c ertamnes ot wart ime supply and maintenanc e must have prevented t ne preci se ap p licat io n of the se m arkings 10 every unit airc rafl, ph ot ographs indicate t hey w ere in w id es pread use. Th is c o lo urlul line-up of Jasta 11 D.V fi ghters iIIustrate s th e extent of th e r ed nose m arking co ns iste ntly on each m achin e. Th e cuot e' pe rs o nal co lo urs ha ve b een ap p lie d 10 a ll s u rl aces of th e t ail units, w hic h vo n Richth ofen had procla imed as me best method ot pe rso na l identificati on .ln add it io n, th e first t w o Albatros mach ines we re furthe r d eco rated w it h in di vidual fusel age markin gs to sup plement t he tail co lo urs. Th e second D.V from th e left is th at of Un. Franz Müller and s ported a wh ite ta il w it h th e rear fu sel ag e overpa inted in green (incl ud ing the o ut lines of th e c ros s) with a narrow w t nteband at it s to rw ard ed ge. Th e colo urs ap pli ed to t he ot her airc raft are not known , alt ho ugh th e t hir d machine ap pears to have had o nlya w hite t ail in addition to t he unit marking . Th e two ce nt ra l D.V airc raft di sp lay painted cam o uflage o n th eir w ing up per surfaces, in g reen and mauve an d p erh aps a t h ird colour, Th e othe rtwo have printed fabric on th eir w ings. (Via H H Wy nne)

f23. A ctoser vtew of th e same lineu p, as Jas ta 11 pe rs o nnel rea dy the atrcrart tc r flight. The D.V in t he fo reg ro u nd is Mü lle r's. The camouflage patterns o n t he w ings and the red unit markings are c lea rly in evldence her e. Whe n intervi ewed by J on Guttman in 1981, Jasta 11 ace c ar! Aug ust vo n Sc hoene bec k recalled that hi s A lba tros D.V wa s decorat ed in a tasht cn sfm nar tc these .lt b ore the red unit d ecoration in identical manner, a liIac t ail for personal id entification, a nd w ings in printed camouflag e fabr ic, probably four- colour. f2 4. 'rtns Jasta 11 Albatros D.V was at th e Fli eg er Abte ilung 33 airfield at Moorseel e w he n p hotog ra phe d, w it h Manfred von Ric ht hofen himself in th e cockp it. Anothe r vrew of t his oc ca si on (see o ver the Fron t, Volume 2, Number 3, Autumn 1987, paq e 272 ) s hows th at this D.V was pa inte d almo st exac tly like Fran z Mü lle r's ai rcratt, and may have been the same machine after f urthe r d eco ration was add ed. The t ail was no lon ger ent irely w hit e, but was largel y overpainted in a d ark colour w it h th e rudd er remaining w hite. The demarcation line of the red nose co lo ur ju st ahe ad ofthe co ckpit ts v isib le in thi s photo, although so mew hat obscured by the shad ow of 46

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the top w ing. A Jasta 11 Albatros Doll! was also pr esent, its tail just discernible on the or ig inal print. 125. In an autographed photo from his book Jagd in Flanderns Himmel, th e Gesch wader adjutant Karl Bod ensch atz pl ays w it h a unit mascot in fron t ct severat Ja sta 11 A lbat ros D.Vfighters. Alt ho ug h thi s poorquality ph oto suff ers from retouching, it does serve to furth er iIIu strate t he consistent pattern of red noses, whee ls and st ruts on aircratt from this unit. (Karl Bodenschatz via Georg e H Williams) 126. Von Richthofen reportedfy land ed thi s OAW-built Albatro s 0.111 at the Varsenaere airlield of the 2. Ma rin e Feldflieger Abteilung in mid-Augu st 191 7. Perh ap s bec au se th e Albat ros D.V cont inued to b e plagued w it h w ing teuer es and the D.lII(OAW) had reinforced tower w ing s, exampl es of the lattertype sup pleme nte d the D.V in Ja gdgeschwader I in lat e Sum merAut umn of 1917. In tact , Idflieg considered the Doll! to be m or e robu stly con structed t han th e D.V, and von Richth ofen was t ho ro ughly crslnu ston ed and disgust ed w it h all Albat ros fi ghters by thi s t ime. Thi s D.lII(OAW) bore ty pic al Ja sta 11 marking s o n it s w hee ls, st ruts, and noee, w hile th e remaind er of t he fuselage was va rn is he d plyw ood. Beyond th e fa ct th at t he w ings w ere fini shed in g ree n and mauve camo uflage on th eir upper surfaces, it ls difficul t to say a nyt hing furt her regard ing t he co tou rs ofthis machine. (Via H H Wynne)

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127. Familiar photo of vo n Richthofen introduc ing Jasta 11 p ilots to Genera l Lud en dorff, dated as Aug ust 19 1917 in Jag d in Flanderns Himmel. The D.V in t he bac kg rou nd ts 0 .20 59/17, one ot severat tto w n by von Richth ofen. The st ruts, w heets, tu sel aqe and hori zont al ta lt surtac es w ere apparent ly over pa inted red, ob scuring the black and w hit e fu selage cro ss in co mmo n Jasta 11 fashi on. Th e w ings seem t o have remained in fact ory fini sh green and mau ve camouflage.lt has prev io usly been as sumed t hat t he fi n reta ined Its o rig inal varnished pl y fini sh (since th e seria l number is vis ib le) and t hat t he rudd er w as printed fab ric. Howe ver, goo d q uality prints revea l no 'Iozenge' pattern on t he rud der, w hic h wo uld more likely have or ig inally been clear-doped fabric for an aircraft in thi s se ria l number sequence. lt ts t he aut ho r's beli ef (and th at of so me ot hers) t hat bot h th e fin and rudd er w ere t hinly overpa inte d in red, b ut w it ho ut to uching th e w hite ou tline of th e nat io nal in signia j tn e seria l num be r co uld we il have rem ain ed di scernible throu gh th e translucent coat ing. (Via H H Wynn e) 47

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..6.126 128. cr essrc portrait of t he Jagdgeschwader I Kommandeur Ma nfred von Aichthofen in the co c kp it 01an Albatros O.V. T he alrcratt clearJ y display s the definitive Jasta 11 unit marking of a red to rw ard f uselage, the demarcation Une be ing a vertica l li ne atthe lead ing edge olthe co ck pit. The luselage aft 01the unit c o lo ur is varn is hed p ly, as evidenced by th e weig ht s table just visib le on the original print. (Via H Hugh Wynne) 129. A pparenUy a lew examples 01 the Pfa lz 0 .111 and O.l lla occasionally served aJongside Albat ros fig hters in Jasta 11.0. 111 1369/1 7 exh ib ited dark marki ng s o n th e nose, wheels and struts in a pattern preci sely co nststent w ith Jasta 11 marking practice, and it is assu med it d id in deed be lo ng to t he un it. The teu assem bly w as paint ed w nue as a pnot's pe rs o nal mar king, sup ple me nte d by a d ar k fu serage ba nd w hich may have been red or b lack. Also notewo rthy Is t he non st and ard w hite border s wh ic h we re applied to th e crosses on t he f userage and th e un der sid es 01t he wings. The A lbatros 0.111 (OAW) in t he backg round appears to bearthe Jasta 11 unit marking s as we il . 130. A d ifferent aspect of the presumed Jasta 11 Pfalz 0.111, showing th e w hite outline on th e underwing in signia. At least one Ja sta 11 pilot ls recorded as ha ving üown a Pfal z O.llla; Leutnant von Linsingen cra shed O.llla 4223/17 on January 24 1918 and was hosp italized . 13 1 and 132. In late August 1917 the f ir st t wo op erational Fokker triplanes 48

..6.130

"'131

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I

I

(mo dif ied VA typ es, military desig nat io n 'P ) w ere allocate d to JG I. Ant ho ny Fok ker himself 500n arrived as we il, 10 p romote a nd f il m hi s tat est product. He is seen in t he cockp it of EI 102/17 at Marckebeeke a irtield ne ar Co urtrai, d iscussing hi s desig n wi t h Major-General vo n Lossber g (Chie f of the General Staft ofthe Germa n 4. Armee) a nd Ric hth ofe n. 102/17 wa s assigned 10 Jasta 11 and was f lown by Richthofe n and by Sfaffelführer Kurt Wolft. Th e Rittmeister achleved h is 60th and 61st vic to ries in t his mac hine, but Oblt. Wo lffwas shot down and ki lled in it o n September 15 1917. Bc th F.I tripla nes w ere fini sh ed in turquoise cverau be fore th e st reaky olive camouflage dope was applied 10 the upper surtaces. The lac k ofwingtip skids and t he curved leading edge of the ta ilplane were features peculiar to tne F.I aircraft. The Werk Nr. 1729 is visible at the base of t he w hite ru d der on t he p hoto at rig ht.

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133. Seventeen of t he first Dr.l f ighters to leave the Fokker factory were dispatc hed to Jasta 11 in late Sept emb er and October 1917, makin g th at uni t the first to ope rate t he ty pe in strength. The Dr.1was still so relatively unkn own that it was somet imes mistaken fo r t he Sopwit h Triplane, a fact whic h wo rked both for and aga insl th e Jasta 11 pilot s. Vizefeldwebel Josef Lautenschl ager died f lying Dr.l113/17 w hen he was mistakenl y shot dow n by a pilot of another Jasta on Octo ber 29. His aircra ft crashed north ct Hcuthuls t Forest and is seen here under guard. The visible co mpo nents of the machin e bore only t he sta ndard fact ory fini sh, and the varying angles of th e st reaking are c learly delin eated.

&133

"'134

134. In time, t ne red colour ot Jasta 11 was applied to t he unit's triplane s. In theory, thi s was t o be ca rried out on th e eng ine cowlings and interplane st ruts , and orte n on tne cther struts and w heel cove rs as we il. In pra ctice thi s applicatio n was hardly universal. Warti me co nd it ions of suppJyand maintenan ce ensure d that so me triplanes wo uld serve in partial unit as evidenced by mark ings or none at photographs. Thi s Dd - reportedl y w ith Lln. Günther Pastor in t he cockp it - may have bee n painted red in so me or all th e described locations.l n addition, t he white fields be hind t he crosses on t he f use lage and rudder we re painted over in solid olive to atta in t he officia llymandated 5cm -wide borders (this was incorrect fo r the rudder, w hic h shou ld have rema ined w hite). This was a common Jasta 11 practice. Pastor was killed on October 31 1917when his Dr.! 121/17 crashed due to the structural failu re of t he to p w ing, one of two fatal acc idents which led to t he grounding of all Or.ls pending an official investigation. (Via PS Leaman)

an.

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135. Th e investi g ati o n of th e Dr.l w ing ta uures led to orders for the pro d uctio n ct st rengthened top w ings and red esign ed ailero ns. ln late Dece mber 1917 t he l irst batch 0115 t r ipl anes w ith mod ilied w ings arrived at Jasta 11, an d one of th ese was 144/ 17. Like so me ot hers in t his batch, th is tri pl ane was litted w ith asym me t rical auerons as a method of usin g up ex isting stocks of t he old fo rm (and a lso increasi ng th e aircraft's rat e 01 roll t o th e ri g ht). Th e sta rboard ailerc n was 01th e f irst design, w hic h orig inally had an aerodynam ic ba lance of greater c hord and area, but w hich was now red uced. Th e port aile ro n was 01 the new d esi gn w ith g reater area. As most reade rs kn ow, 144/1 7 was t he f irst Dr.l t o fa ll into Allied hands intact w hen Un. Eb erh ard Stapenhorst was brought down by g ro und lire w hile attacking a Brit is h ba Uoon on Ja nua ry 13 1918. Sta pe nhorst was t ak en prisoner and t he triplane was th oroughly exa mined and reported on by Briti s h aut hcritles.

137. These Jasta 11 tripl a nes were photog rap hed during abr ief vtstt to t ne airlield of Jasta 17, p ro babl y in Ja nua ry 1918. Th e machine on t he left has t he re des ig ned aile ro ns of greater area o n bo t h upper w ing tips. Th e shiny finish ofthe cowlings ma y indicat e t ha t th ese comp onents we re painted red, but th e interplane st r uts we re clea rly tu rquo ise blu e w he n tbls "'13 7

5.

phot ograph was t ak en. Th e c ross field s of th e Dr.I on th e left have been overpainted , but not tho se o n th e ot her airc raft. The second person from th e left tat the w ing t ip, hands in pockets ) ts Karl Wasenmüll er, th e Jasta 17 c ter k in w hos e album th is ph oto or ig inat edi m ost of th e rest of t ne pers onnel are J asta 17 g ro undc rew.

136. Dr.l 144/17, t ho ug h so mewhat the wo rse fo r wea r, was a valuable prize and became t he s ub ject of repo rt s by both t he Minist ry ct M unit io ns and by Fli ght maq azin e w hich describe it s marking s.lt was f inis hed in standard Fokker 'streaky' ca mouf lage with t he usu al ste nc ill ing. A pe rs o nal marking of a b lack and w hite c heque r band was pa inte d on t he fuselage, th ou gh much ofthis pa int had f laked away by t he t ime t he ph otos we re t aken . Th e st ruts a nd w hee l covers we re obv io usly rectcrvfini shed onl y. To t he aut ho r's kn owl ed ge, no m ention is mad e of the colo ur ofthe cowling in any 01th e reports; how ever, c ne migh t assurne t ha t il the cowli ng had be en red it p roba bly wo uld have b een mention ed a nd it see ms likely th at th e cowling w as t he usu al so li d olive cctour;

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138. Dr.l 139 /17 was one ofthe batch of tri planes with modified w ings dispatch ed to Jasta 11 in Oecember 1917, but both of its aile rcns we re of the ne w design w it h greater area. Ltn. von Conta f lew this and severat other Or.l fig hters during February 1918 ; her e it ap pears during a vrstt t o Vale nci ennes, at th e f ield of Ja gdstaffelschufe I (fighter sq uad ro n sc ho ol l). The wheel covers , though w orn , m ay have be en red along w it h the cowling. Per sonal markings c on sisted of a li g ht -c o lou red c trcle ahe ad of the fu se lag e c ross, w it h a w hite band su perim posed on n, This long-serv ing Or.! w as transferred to Jasta 5 in early May, w here it was f lown by Offizier-Steffvertreter Josef Mai in su bstant ially altere d markings. 139. Vizefeld web el Edgar Sc ho lz ts show n in on e of hi s J asta 11 tri planes (seri al unknown ) w hich was m arked wit h a d ark-coloured band ad ja ce nt to the nat io na l in signia. Th e cross f ie lds were paint ed over in ty p ica l Jasta 11 fas hio n, but th e most not ew orthy reature ofthis Dr.l was t he remova l ct th e axle w ing. A seven-victo ry ac e, Scholz was a m ember of th e Kette (flig ht ) led by Rittmeist er vo n Richtho fen in the fatal encounter of April 2 1 1918. s etrote surv ive d hi s Geschwader-Kom mandeur by o nly eleve n d ays, c ras hi ng fataUy in Or.l 591/17 w hen he steuec o n t ak e- off from Cappy on Ma y 2. l ro nic ally, t he orde r promoting him t o Leutnant came through only brietl y after ht s death, and he w as promoted po sthumousl y. (Via P 5 Leaman)

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T140 141. Or.l161/17 was dlspatched from Sc hwerin on Oec ember 16 1917. In March 1918 t his Jasta 11 triplane was f lown by Manfred von Richthofen on a vis it to J asfa 5, where thi s p hoto was taken . The cow ling, interplane struts and possibly ca ba ne st ru ts w e re ap parently red , and th e rern ain der of the ma chin e fini shed similarly to 152/ 17. T141

140. Ltn. Werner Ste inhä use r ts pic tured sw inging t he Ax ial arrscrew of this Jasta 11 Dr.I tor anothe r (un ide ntified) p ilot. Thi s co lourlul tripla ne was fitted w it h two orig ina l sty le ailerons th at have had th e c hord of t heir aerodynamic ba lances red uced. Th e dark w hee l covers,

cowlings, and struts we re ali li ke ly red, b ut th e co lours of the diago na l cross an d f uselage band are not es Ic entrnabre. The 'facial' ma rk ings on t he cowling (in yellow?) were no do ubt inspired by Voss' F.I103/ 17. The rudder was w hite, and t he possib itity of te ilplane markings can no t be ruled out. 51

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"' 142

142, 143 an d 144. Jasta 11 comma nde r Ltn. Loth ar vo n Rich th ofen was badly injured o n March 131 918 w he n hi s Dr.l454/17 underw en t ta uure ct t he top w ing leadi ng edge and c rashe d. He had engaged in a dogf ig ht between a m assed formati on er JG I fi ghter s led by hi s brothe r and an equally large numberof RFC alrcratt. Both Capt. A H Orlebar of No.73 Squadron (Sopwith Ca mels) and t he No. 62 Sq uadro n c rew of Capts. G F Hu g hes and H Claye c1aimed to have downe d a Dr.l that lost it s upper w ing, t he latter two describ ing t he 'red nose d tr iplane' in t nelr co mbat repo rt . Th e degree to whlch t hey co ntributed to Loth ar 's tall ts un kn own . In any case the aircraft d id not lose the entire w ing and Lot har was ab le to bring it down in a g tide, until ne c ras hed near Awoingt Th e rear fuselage t ailplane and ru dder we re painted in Lothar' s p ers onal light yeltow cotour; It has bee n suggested t he top w ing was also ove rp ainted yeltow - if so t he camoufla ge st rea king showed throu gh thi s t hin ove rccat in a very pron ounced m ann er. Th e c ross fi eld s o n t he upper w ing we re clear ly ct a darker sha de, and thi s app lies so m ew hat to th ose o n th e f us elage as w e!l. Not e th e s hee n o n th e lig ht ye tlow paint o n th e t allplane.

145. JG I g ro und pe rso nne l have begun t he satvaqe ofthe remains ot 45 4/17 in t his photo. The da maged t op w ing has been rem oved an d tu rn ed over, revea ting it s t urq uo ise u nders ide. The red cow ting and ca bane struts are c1earl y seen. Loth ar's use of a lemon vencw as a pe rso na l m arking stemmed f ro m t he co lo ur of his o ld regiment, Dragoner-Regiment von Bredow Nr.4. Th e severe teera t injuries Loth ar suffered in t his inc iden t wo uld keep him out of actio n fo r Jour months. S2

..,144

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146, 147 and 148. The se familiar photos of Dr.l 163/17 we re t aken on Ma rc h 17 1918 w he n Un. Hans Karl vo n linsin gen f lew it t o t he Bo istranc ourt airf ield ot Jasta 5in th e co mpa ny of Rittmeis ter vo n Ai chthof en, w ho fl ew th e Jasta 6 Dr.! 525/17. Fokker Dr.l1 63/17 was f lown by seve rar pil ot s, and the orig in of the b leck-bordered w hite band fo r personal identifi c ati on is un cl ear. U n. vo n Conta f lew th is machine operat io na lly in February, and the aircraft con t inued in Jas ta 11 service un til it was 'handed down' t o Jasta 34b in ea rly May. The cowling of t his Dr.1 may have been red , but no other untt markings are apparent; the starboard w hee l cover ts c1early in factory f inish, w hite th e ot her ts a li gh t co lo ur. ln t he backgrou nd are t he familiar Boi stran cou rt hangars of Jasta 5 and so me of t heir Alba tros D.Vs.

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Plate 20AJ Based on capture repcrts which st ete the upper wi ng

cala urs as : 'Pale Brunswiek Green and Whitej

Dark veneuen Red /Oli ve Green': Lcwer ", ing pattem Ie specutalive. The th in red

pamt u s e d on Ihe luselag e

Pla !e 2 0 } Albat ros D.lll 2015 /1 6 , U n. Gllo rg S iman, 19 17. Lln. Siman was ehc t do wn by Cap!. CM B Chapman ct No.29 Squadron, RFC on

8nd ta il ha s allowed the natio na l markings and sertattc s ho w Ihrough.

June 4 1917 end l aken pri soner. This eirers " becam e Ihe subjecl 01 RFC reo crte. num erou s photo. end given th e ca p lu re number G42. Though in All ied han ds some Ih ree w eeke betcre tne to rm aue n 01 Jagdgesc hwader I, it s cctc ur sc he m e is th ough 10 be morceuve 01 Jasfa 11 practi c e 0 1t hi s penod. Th e cere ure shown are b ased c los e ly on lhe rep ort descrip tion. - see p h oto s ~ o n pa g e 42.

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Pl ate 22AJ Upper eurrac e d el ail no le orem . sm all sl y le wing c rosses.

Pla t e 21 ) A lbatro s D.V, s e eta t u nk., U n oCar l Augu s t v o n SCho e n e b e c k . Thts machin e le N I he la ct ory wilh cl ea r·va rnished p ly l use le ge ; wings and taup lane cover ed in Iour- or uv e-c otccr pnnted fa bric and whi te-outlined in signia in I he usua r eight c csmcns. H ere it i s depict ed in typic al J a sta 11 la shi on wi lh torward luselag e. strut s and wh e el cove rs in unil red and Ih e l ail eu rtecee in the pucrs per sona l co lo ur; hla c in von Schoenebeck's c ase. Th is p ra hle is bas ed o n the o wn descripl ion rather t han trom p holograp hlC evlce nce .

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Pl ate 2 2 J Pfal z 0.111 13 6 9 /1 7, pi lot unkn ow n, 191 7. Finished evarau in Silbergrau with red ncse. s truts and Whe el ccvers. th is mactune had a whita tailplane and dark rear lu s el ag e b and s ho wn her e as biack. but il c o u ld have been red. No ta lhal lus el ag e an d low er wi ng c rosse s onl y were white o ul! ined - at least when the un eto s on page 48 we re take n...

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J as ta 11 p rofiles C R L Rlm ell / Al batros Productio ns Ltd., 19 9 5.

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Plate 2 3A J Weiss' DrJ fro m above wing croes style is speculative. ~

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Pla t e 2 3} Fokker Cr.l 545 /17, Ltn. ~

Hans We is s , 191 8. Finished in tne usual olive streaked cemocneae with turquoise lower surraces. typical Jaste 11 decor has been applied - red cowling, wheel covars and struts. The personal co lour of Ihe pilot has been applied 10 the rear and upper fuselage as weil as Ihe top wing - see Photo 160, page 59.

Plate24A)

.

Tailplane stripe widths are somewhat scecuretlve and riete the altered u p p e r wing markings differ in r atio from tncse on tusefage and rudder.

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Plafe 25AJ U p p er fuselage and tailplane detail.

Plate 2 6A) Upper surface cetan. Plate26.

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~ Plafe25 ) Fokker D.VII 2 86/1 8 , Un. Willy Gabri e l, 1918 .

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This colourlul machine is weil documented (see p age s 60 and 61) and is

Plate 26) O,V 1I 286/18

shown here in its interim cctcurs. The Fokker faclory scerne of cnveyturqucrse luselage and lou r-colou r printed tebnc-cc vered wings has been enhanced by partial application 01 tne Jasta colour and Gabriel's personal sky blue and orange markings on tusetece and taüptane .

AI a tate r date, Gabriel had orange strlpes applied to the f uselag e top and stoes an d the unit colour extended tc the undercaniage legs and wheel cove rs - see Photo 165, page 61.

Jasta 11 profiles © R L RimelljAlbatros Productions Ud., 1995.

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149. Thi s ubiquitous photo of Richthofen' s 152/ 17 is st ill deserving of inclusion a nd fre sh exam inat io n. Th e co m ba t reports from Richthofen's 64th th rou gh 66t h victcries (m id M arch 1918) describe its marking s as , ' red top wing, re d co w ling, re d wheeJs and red tail', and t he struts were obvio us ly thi s c olo ur as we il. Triplane tnst ort an Al ex Imrie has revealed th at th e re d was exte nd ed up t he fuse lage top decking t o a line ju st aft or t he coc kp it. Thi s would have resu lted in a basi call y 'a n red' appeara nce w hen viewed from above, and thi s manner of co lo ur di spl ay was used by other fo rmatio n lead er s in J G I as we il. Th e li gh ter appearance of th e cross fi eld s on t he up per w ing was t he res ult of t he overpa inting of the w hite square bac kg round s w it h red .

.... 150 150. Impressive group of Jasta 11 t riplanes on t he tormer Brit ish airf ie ld at t een eue in late March 1918, display ing a var iety ot national in signia alterations. The rear f uselage and ta il of the swastika-decorated machine may have been a shade of sky blue or t urquo ise; forwa rd fuse lage is a dark, so lid co lo ur (red?). Th e second Dr.l is 502/17, its white striped in red or b lac k; note the in co m pl ete overpa inting of t he fuselage c ross f ield, wh ich und o ubtedl y appeared on t he port side on ly. Th is was one of severat Jasta 11 triplanes w hic h spo rted co lo ured or striped ta ilp lanes as a method ot individual identificatio n, and such decoration is likely on some ofthe other atrcratt in t his line-up. Most ot t hese aircraft would probably have borne t he unit's red co lo ur on t heir cowlings, and perhaps o n some of the struts and w hee l covers as we il.

Y 151

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56

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1St (See bottom ot page 56). The same Lechelle line-up of Photo 150 is seen in th e background of t hi s phot o, whic h was rabeneu in a c ontem pora ry Germ an album as 'Manfred von Richfho fen 's friplane ' . Th e relative illeg ibility ct t he We rk Nt: on th e und erside of the top w ing centresecticn has led to differing interpretat io ns of (and heated d eb ate over) t he seri al number of thi s ai rcraft. 60th 48 6/ 17 a nd 477/ 17 ha ve b een quoted, the latter be ing the ma chin e in whic h von Ric hthofen achieved nine victo ries in March/April 1918; t he act ual identificatio n of thi s Dr.l remains ce nt revers tat. What can be determined from t he photo is t hat the cow lin9, w heel covers and at least th e interplane struts w ere mo st pr ob abl y red, and the upper surfa c e of th e top wing ap pea rs t o ha ve be en overpai nted aso li d c olou r as weil. Th is Dr.l and othe rs in th e unit we re in t he midst 01modificat ion of th e nati on al insig nia to Bafke nkreuze, and both th e cross es on the rudd er an d fu sel age appear on w hite backgrounds. 152. While prev io usly id entified as 477 /17, t his Dr.l has now been conclusively shown to have been 42 5/ 17 - one 01two 'au-red' t riplanes tlewn by Richt hoten, and i n w hich he attained his final two vic to ries (allhoug h it was not in these mar kin gs at t hat time). Seen here at Lech ell e in late March , it wo u ld so on underg o th e fi rst 01two c hanges in it s form of national in signia. Thi s atr crart was clearly red ove ra ü, w it h th e exception of t he black and w hi te iron cro ss marking s. Th e Dr.l beyond lt wa s marked with f ive a lte rnating black (1) and w hit e bands aro und the fusel ag e as a personal emblem.

'. ____. ........ ..-_ ~n_

153. A nother aspect of 425 /17 in lt s f ir st st ag e of ma rking s, in f ro nt of o ne of the Be ssonneau hangars at Lechelle w hic h formert y housed the RE.8 ai rcraft 01 No.15 Sq uadron. Both

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.&152 the atrscrew and the engine wear pr ot ective c overing s. Note th e upsided own 'v-s ba pec' blemish or marking ju st be low the co ckpit, w hi c h w ill be seen aga in in Ph ot o 159 on page 59 .

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T 154

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154. Un. Ern st Udet wa s personalJ y recruited for JG I from th e command ct J asta 37 by Richthofen, and he reported tc Ja sfa 11 in tate March 1918. He soo n re warded t he Ritfmeiste"s confidence by achieving his 2 1st vict ory and sho rtly th ereaft er was na med ac t ing CO of the Staffel. In hi s b ook M ein Fli eg erleben thi s ph oto is ca pti oned as having been tak en immedi at ely following his hard·fought duel w it h th e Sop with Camel of Ll C R M aasdorp from No. 47 Squadron, w ho w as kill ed afte r a ten aci ou s dogfight (indeed, Udet's tac e still see ms to show th e st rai n of de sperate ccmbat]. If true, thi s dat es the photo as taken on M arch 28. Ud et no doubt applied hi s usu at 'LO' in signia to t his Ja sta 11 Dr.l , but unfortunately tittle else is known of it s m arking s. Udet did not stay at J asta 11 for long, b eing se nt on co nva lescent leave fo r a wo rse ning ear infecti on short ly aft er his 23 rd vic tory on Ap ril 6. 57

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155.

The Dr.l ot U n. Ric hard We nz l,

thoug ht 10 be 588/17, at Lechelle in ea r ly April 1918. Th ou g h only rece ntly

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&155

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arrived from Jasta 31, Wenzl had already applied his persona l markings 10 t hi s rnach ine in t he form of a black and whita fuse lage band in the proportions of t he Iron Cross rib bon w it h colours reversed. Furthermore, the lead ing edges of the w ings have been decorated In black and wh ite also to ensure personal id entif icat ion from ahead. Next to Wenz l's machine is one of Richthofen's an-red triplanes, either 425/17 or m ore Iikely 152/17. T he national ma rk ings o n bot h th e s e machines have on ly recentJybeen a ltered 10 the initial fo r m of

Balkenkreuz used at JG I, w ith thi c k cross arms ot roug hly 1:3 ratio 01 w idth to len gth . 156. A rear vrew 01 Wenzl's Or.! which d isplays t ne method er m ar kin g t he new c ross lorm o n the wi ngs. Th ere is littl e doubt t hat thi s and other Or.ls 01 Jasta 11, by thi s period, bo re th e Starters red co lour on cowlings, w hee l covers, and interplane st ruts, il not all struts. 15Z A broad view 01 the triplanes 01 Jasta 11 at Lec helle. probably taken at the same time as ttte previous t wo p hctos. The t hree p ilots in the loreground are, lett to r ig ht: Uffz. Robert Eiserbeck, Ltn. Ha ns We iss, and Vzfw. Edgar Sc holz. Eise rb ec k died on April 12 and the lalte r two we re both k illed on May 2. Th e second t r iplane Irom t he rig ht Is certain ly t ne same swastika-ma rked Or.1seen before, now b earing a white ru d de r and ea r ly Balke n kreuze. To t ne lett 01 it is Wenzl's m achin e w it h t he disti nctive w ing leading edges, a nd th e next airc ra tt is pro bably Richt hofen's red Or.1 (most like ly 15 2/ 17). Th e sixth Or.! f ro m the right also bears so m e k ind 01 striped o r c heque red deco ratio n visible on it s top w ing. British combat reports of se pa rat e encounters w it h J asta 11 o n bot h Ap r il 20 a nd 21 descri be a, 'b fueta iled trip fane', but one ca n o nly wonoer il it m ight na ve been tne swast ika-decorate d airc ratt? 158. In hi s bo ok The Fokker Tri plane, Alex Im ri e orters co nvinci ng evi d enc e t hat t h is was Ri chth olen 's Or.l152/17 in it s red fini sh ; it was preserved a nd ex hibite d in th e Zeughaus Museum in Be rli n. Th e crosse s are 01 the initial 't hick' style. At one tim e th e c ross o n th e f uselage was co mp lete ly enc losed in a stra ig ht w t ute border as seen in t he preceding photos, bu t the red dope used to co nve rt th e in signia was of suc h poor quality th at it de te rio ra ted to reveal t he w hite paint be low, even exposing pa rt c t t he c urved w hit e border to the orig inal iron c ross.

58

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159. Probabl y th e last surviving photo t axen of Ri c ht hofe n's re d Or.l 42 5/17, sho rt ly before it c arried him to the fateful encounte r over th e Somme o n April 21 1918. Hi s 79 t h and 80 t h vlctortes we re rec o rd ed in t his m achin e. The c ross bars on th e na t ional markmqs have been c ha nged to t h e tr ul timate c o nf ig ura t io n a nd t he rudd er ove rpa inted w hite. Th e sm all blemish on th e fa bric seen ju st below th e cock pit indicates th at thi s ls t he same Or.l seen ea rüe r at Lech elle. This p ho to w as appa rent ly taken w hen Richthofen v isited th e aero d ro me of Fli eg er-Ab teilung (A) 22 7. 160. Un. Han s We iss, a Jas ta 11 Kettenführer (Flig ht leader ) ge nerally c re d ited w it h 18 c onfir med claim s, ha s long been re ported to have f lown an all -w hite Or.l.ln t his photo hi s Or.l5 45/ 17 had a w h ite rear fu selag e and t ail, th e c olour evidently extend ing up t he fu selag e decking t o ju st aft of th e cockp it. In co m mon w it h so me oth er Kette and Staffel leaders in J G I, Weiss also applied hi s per sonal cclcu r t o th e up per surface of t he to p w ingj an t t ns res ulted in a basica lly w hite ap pearance w he n see n from above. Once aga in, t he w heel cove rs, cowling and st ruts o n t his aircratt were ce rt ainly red. Th e effect ive ne ss of t hi s p er son al colo ur display (ch osen , of course, because 'weiss' trans lates as 'white') ca n be judge d from t he co m bat repo rt of lt. M S Taylor of No .20 9 Squadron, RA F, w ho sho t We iss down o n M ay 2 1918 and described the arrcratt as a 'white triplane'. (Via H H Wynne/P S Lea m an) .&160

"' 161

161. In tat e April 1918, Jasta 11 comrades Ste inhä us er (Ieft) and We nz l pose w ith We nzl's Dr.! et Ca ppy aero dro me. Thi s familiar p hoto shows t he fu selag e cross bar s re painted 10 the almost co rrect speci f ied ratio (w idth 10 len gth 1:4). Thi s would also have applie d 10 t he unseen rudder cross, but t he w ing insig nia (beiog harderto aceesst remain ed in th ei r earlier proport io ns. Since Ltn. Wenz l's black and w hite f uselage ba nd obscured t he milit ary serial nu mb er (apparently 588/ 17) itwas re-marked between t he ban d and t he lower arm 01 the fuse lage cross. Ltn . Wenz l wou ld later serve in both J astas 6 and 4, surv iving the wa r w it h 11 er 12 con firmed cl aims. Hi s book, ent itled Ric hthofen-Flieger, is a vatu ab le refe rence on JG I. 59

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-----------------. ~ .•"fLt...~t.(": 162. Ltn. Wern er Ste inhäuser w ith his co lourful Or.l564/17 in late April at Cappy. The c rosse s in au visib le locations were ident ical in fo rm to those of Wenzl's triplane. The ratnce design on t he da rk f uselag e band was Ste inhäuser's persona l insignia. The c olours are t hought to ha ve been red and go lden ye llow, those being the co lours of his fo rmer regiment: FeldA rtillerie Rgt. Nr.61. These same co lours we re repe ated as st ripes on th e t ailplane, a co m mon Jasta 11 form of id entific ation; however, their preci se layout is difficult to d etermine. Aft er ac hieving ten victorle s, Ste inhä user fe ll on June 26, at t he ccntrors ct a Fok ker D.VII. 163. Ja sta 11 probably rece ived It s first Fok ker D.VII biplanes in mid-May. Undoubtedly the most fam ou s exa mp le of a O.VII from thi s unit is Vzfw. Willy Gab rie l's 286/1 8. 1nd eed , it s c eroc r sc hem e has b ec om e atmest a ctich e among modeller s and a rt ists , bu t it remarns on e ot th e few wend ocumented Jasta 11 n .vus known to this aut ho r. Herr Gab rie l describ ed it s co lours to Alex Imrie and other hist ori an s over 30 yea rs aga and numerou s photos rec ord it s appearance. A Fokker-built ma chin e of th e first pr oduction batch , it s fu se lag e 1eft th e factory in th e t ypical st rea ke d o live-b row n fini sh w h ile th e w ings bore rour-c otou r printed t abrtc. At the time t hi s photo was taken th e ca bane and int erpl ane st ruts, as we il as th e ncse. were red ; w hile t he undercarriage struts and w hee l co vers w ere st ill in factory fini sh at t hi s sta ge, they were later palnted in the umt's co lour as weil . Gabriel followed a typical Staffel practice in painting the ta il in personal co lours, in t his case o range and li ght sky blue stripes. Later lengt hw ise o ra nge st ripes w ere added to the sides and top of t he f uselage. 164. Vzfw. Gabriel in c haracte rist ic pose behind hi s O.VII. Thi s view provide s detans of t he c hevro n-s t riped t ai!, the application of the st reaked cnve-b rc wn camouf lage, and th e st yle of exhaus t exit on the st ar boa rd eng ine co wling. The m etal c owling panel s on thi s early production Fokker lacked t he lou vres and ac cess doors seen on later examples. On Ju ly 16 Gabriel used a BM W·powered D.VlI (not this alrc raft) to good ad vantage, achieving four vict o ries to bring hi s total to eleven. How ever, hi s ' to ne hunter ' tactics on that day w ere in di rect def iance of the st r ict formati on f ly ing rule s im posed by th e new co mmanderof JG I, Ob lt. GÖring. His f lag rant di sreg ard for di sciplin e earne d Gabrie l a postin g to a n Armeeflugpark for the durati on . 60

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165. Gabriel's mechanics, with Uffz. Schwi ckert in the centre, in front of 286/ 18 in its rater guise . The aircraft now bore lengthwise orange st ripes on t he tu selage sid es and decking. The w ing c rosses were alt ered 10 th eir

A16 6

urnmate co nfiguration, roug hi)' matching the fo rm ofthe fu selage c ros ses. The D.VII et lett bore a vertical dark band ; it s serta t is obscured by a blemish on the original print, but it may have been 272/18.

166. The ce lebrate d red -n osed D.VJls of Jasta 11 Iined up o n Beu gneu x airliefd in J u fy 18 . ft rs high'y fikely thaI aJl th ese fig hters bo re t he unit's prized colour on theirwheel ccvers and an st ru ts as wen. Gabriel's 286/18 is at th e tar lett. Several of t hese ai rcratt appear to ha lte been marked with coloured o r striped rear fuse lages and teil s, but precise details are difficult to discern. The third O.VII f rom t he left wa s m ar ked w ith a vertical band ahead of t he c ross an d twc-corour hor izontal str ipes on t ne fuse lage below t he t ailpl an e (vis ib le o n th e origina l), and t he fourth a ircraft c1early ha d a w hite tau. O.VII F 294 /1 8, in w hich Gö ring c1aim ed hi s 22 nd victory on J ul y 18, was proba b ly s imila rto th ese - hi s combat report d escribed it as havin g a, 'red fo rward fuselag e, w ith ye llow tai/'.

t6 7. A n evccauve scene or nve O.VII f ighters of Jasta 11 bei ng p repar ed for takeoff from Beu gneux. At fa r lett Is Vzfw. Gabriel (abave th e ' X') next to hi s O.VII286/18 which appears in its fin al decor wi th orange st ripes on the fu selage. Oonning his flying suit by the second Fokker Is Oblt Eri c h Rüd ig er von Wedel, w ho would later command th e St affel a nd su rvive t he war w it h 11 c red ited claims.

"" 167

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168. Th e sad w reckage of the Fokker D.VII in w hic h U n. Steinhäu ser died, o n June 26 1918. lt is appa re nt th at Ste inhä user co nt inued th e use 01th e red a nd golden yellow cereure 01hi s o ld reg iment o n the tau 01 t his D.VII. as we re seen on hi s previous 0 r.1- see cotovr plate on page 56. The lig ht blue

~1 6 9

under side of th e lu sel ag e indicates t hat thi s was an early production Fokker -built O.VII, w it h st re a ked cam ouflage o n t he sides and to p of t he lusel ag e. 169. A poo r-quality bu t importan t photo 01 Obi'. Hermann Göring, f ina l Komman deur of Jagdg eschwad er Fre iherr von Ric htho fen Nr.I, a nd one of hi s D.VII lighters. Contrary to previ ously pu b li shed ca ptions, thi s was not O.VII F 294/18, w it h a red nose and ye llow rear fuselage. It w as in fac t D.VII F 425 3/1 8 (Werk Nr. 29541 w it h BMW engi ne number 1288 ; ale rt rea ders wi ll q ui c kly p ic k up th e fact t hat thi s was t he same atrcratt used by Ern st Udet to score his fina l two vtc tcnes (September 261 and d esc ribed as having a red f uselage. Obviously, Göring üew this aircraft eit her berc re o r atter Ud et did, in different m ar k ing s. Our ing Göring's use the st ruts, wheel covers a nd l uselage ahea d of t he cock pit we re undo ubtedly re d. The rest 01th e fuse lage aft 01th e cockpit certai nly was white, a co lo ur Gö ring used as his pers on al id entilicati o n on at least to ur ai rcraft he üew in Jasta 27. 62

170. Ob lt. Göring in a c loser loo k et hi s red and w hite O.VII. Th e aircraft was equipped w it h a tel esc opic s ig ht and s he et m et al baffles o n th e coa ming in Iront of t he co c kp it, t he latter designed to de fl ect empty cart ridg e cases away lrom t he pnct'e "'170

fi el d 01vision and reduce thei r di stracti on . Additionallythe rim 01 the cock pit on thi s side was evidently c ut down, prob ably ror ea sier entry. M any read er s w ill b e temutar w it h motion pict ure loot ag e 01Göring seated in thi s airc ra ft , re moving h is Il ying to g s.

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&171 171. Hermann Göring in th e cock pit of hi s red and w hite BMW-pow ered D.VII. Thi s view gives a ctoser look at t he c ut-down cockpit side and a hand le er gri p atta c hed 10 th e adj acent co am ing.

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Fig . 12. Oblt. Hennann Göring's all -w hite O.VII as iIIustrated bel ow. D.VII F5125/1 8 was in a il l ike li hood painted at the factory since th e we ig hts teer e. serta t numbers and w ing handling are as are presen l

172. Th e fin al D.VII used by Göring d id not bear the co lo urs of Jasta 11 or any of th e ot he r com po ne nt units ct JG I. Fok ker D.VII F 5125/ 18 was in st ead

I

finished a1l o ver in Göring' s p ers onal

w hit e. Thi s BMW-powered O.VII w as test ed and ac c epted o n Septe m ber 11 1918 and pro babl y di d not reach the Front until a we ek er two tate t; Th e hnmaculate fini sh and preciselyapplied se ria l and we ig hts table stencil1ing may suggest t hat th is airc raft was painted in thi s way at t he factory ; Göring and Anthony Fo kker k new each othe r quite we il. Agai n, the cockpit rim ap pears to be c ut d own , and a han dle ts eve n affixe d j us t a head er rt. An ea rne r hi p wo und and t he arthritis Gö ring periodically suffered from may have been t he reasons for th ese m odif icatio ns.

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173. Wearing the strengthened and modified Heinec ke parachute harn ess, Göring hol d s th e Geschwader-Stock, a symbol of authority passed down from the previcus J G I commanders Ri chth ofen and Reinhard.

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COLOUR NOTATIONS COlOUR$ (Ba sed

TYPtCALAPPLlCATION

RECOMMENDEO METH UENJFSS9S REFS

Allxmooll'fall upper ", rlace c....... Alba lros upper ",rlace calour Albal'os lowe, wrface colour Melal pa""l~ "n,I,. elc. Albol' O,/F'lol, uPP'"r 'u rloee colau' Jo,ro 10colou' ·wide "" ,;ol;an, Drl/early D,VII uppe' surtace. Dr.l/earfy DVII unde' surface. lcsro 11 colour.wi(le YCIriahons

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174. As no te d previously Jasta 4 marked the lusel ag e lo ngerons w it h co loured 'borders', usually i n black and w hite. Fo kker D.VII F 4330/18 is th ou g ht to have been one 01 tnese aircraft, but in this case the d ar kc ctoured border d oes not appear to have b een b lack alt ho ug h thi s may be d ue to th e thin nature c t t he pai nt . Th e loc ati on is t hought to be M etz -Fresc aty airfield, occupied bythe unit in early Octo ber 1918. 175. Nin e Fok ker t ri pl anes 01 Jasta 11 o n t he fie ld at Awoingt; t he aircratt 01 the Geschwader had all been moved 10 lhis location by Ma rch 20 19 18 in pr eparati on lorthe great offensive w hich would sta rt t he l o llowing day. A va riety 01 per sonal m ark ing s ts in evidence o n th e triplan e luselag es between t he nat ion al insignia and t he cockp its. Under c lo se examina t io n it can also be not ed that at least t hree airc ratt in th is g rou p bore striped ta ilplane s and eleva tors as weil. On th e fa r lett a re Albatro s an d Pfalz lighters of Jasfa 4, identified by th e un it 's spiral ba nd insi g nia. (Via P 5 Leam an)

No le : TheseroIours ore not lied Ia partocular ",,trames ond sornplesmay be sub;ecrro tocIing. oge ond weolhering. however they a'e oHeredos reosanabIe guides fo.- repe_lQt...... colour-s used on _ aI the rroadw>es .... troled ... ..... boolr. RLI

A Kornerup and J H wen scher published by Methuen and Co., Ud., wh ile FS595B col our cards are avanabie in th e UK Irom H G Hannant Ltd., Lo westoft, Suffolk.

Pubnsbers ' not e For t he co nvenience 01 modellers, M ethuen colour refer ences have been quot ed and ca n be found in the Methu en Handb oo k of cotour by

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• BIBLlOGRAPH Y

'Detail Marlings ond f inish 01Fokker-bcrh D.VlI Airc;ra ff , D S Abbon, WWI Ae-o, N o.10 7, December 1985. ' Fckker DV lI Cove ring Pro cnces', D S A b bon, WWI Aero, No.102, Decemb er 1984. Jagd in Flondems Himmel, I( 8odenscha tz, 1('1Orr & HiIth G mb H, 19 35. 5te pchild Pilot , J Doe rfboqer. Roben R Lonqo C o .. 19 59 . 'The Combo! Log 01 Jogdslolfel W . R Duiven and J Sands, Over Ihe Front, Volume 2, Nu mber l The Red Knig ht 0' Germany. FGibbons, Doubledoy. 192 7' Reminiso:ences of laste 11 ', G W Groos (H

J N Q'MJrro , 00-1. Cross& Codode Jovmo/ lUSt Volume

1.

Number 3. 'Found, The Los! Calors 01 Germony's Wor Birds', H D Hasting s ond P E Pa. ker, CO'l.''Olier. D ecem ber 19 60. Warplane.~ on & lIle Dress 1914- 1918, H D Ha sting s and P E Parke r, Wal ke, Compa ny, 196 3 .

R'chrhofen : Be yond the Le g e nd 01 ,he Re d Boro n, P Ki ldu ff, Arms ond Armo ur Pre ss Lt d .,!Jo hn W iley & Sens. 1994 De Gebfijder Gobriel', A1eK Imrie, Cross & Cockode JoumaIIUS), volume 3, N umbe r 4. 'D.VlI: SidelighlS on foU::.er's Greal fighter', Ale KImrie, A;rcrofl lIIuslroled Extra Ncmber 7. 1he foHer Triplone. A1ex Imrie, Arms.3. Armour Pre ss Ltd., 1992 . Gennon fighter UmtsJune /917-1918, Alex lmrie, 'Osprey/Airwor No.l?', {)sprey Pub hsh ing , 19 78 . 'foI:; ker f a bric', P 5 leo mo n ond R G Gerrord, Cross,$ Cockode Journal (GB), Volume 6, N um ber 3. Von Rich,hofen and 'he f fying Ci rcus, H J Nowarro ond K 5 Brow n, Harl eyl o rd Pcbucc ucns Ud ., 19 64 . Aviarion Awords ot Imperial Germofl y in World War I, N W O'Co oo or, Poundono n Im Aviolian World Wo r I. Vo lume I (19881, Vo lume 11 (19901, a nd Vo lum e 111119931. FoUer 0../ WINDSOCK DATAfllESpecial, R RimeU. ed .. Albatros P rodvclions Ltd.. 1991. 'Memoirs 01 Work! War I with Jagdslofleln 11 ond 4 ', G von der Oslen II Zocherias, edl, Cross ,$ Cooooe JoumoI tuS! VoIume 15, Nuraber 3. The Fall of an Eagle, A van Ishoo-en IC Bowyer, ed.l, W,lliam Kim ber, 1977. 'An Interview with Ralph A. O'Neill', N SOirley, e d .• ~r 'he troot. Volvme 2. Nvmber 2. Der Rare Ka mpffliege r, M von Ric hlh o le n. Ulislein AG . 19 3 3. The Red Air fighrer, M von Richth olen, G ,ee nhill Bc ok s, 1990 M ein flieger/eb en , E Udet, Ullstein AG , 193 5 .

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS lkdessOfhefw;se credited, the photographs in lhis bool:. were provided through the g eoerosily 01 P M Grou ond olso H Hugil Wynne, 10 whom I am deeply indebled. I would also ~ke 10 express my debtio the resecrch corried out in this lield by Alex Imrie, fe Ier KildvH, end Ihe kne hislorians Hei nz J Nowarra and H D Ha sling s . Grotilude i5also edended 10 D 5 Abbat! lor his inpu t ond adv;ce, and 10 the lollowing who have reodered vcoous osseto nce with photcs a nd informo tio n: Rich ar d Duive n, Howard fishe r, Jo n Gu ttmo n, Suzanne Ho ycs, N H Hauprich, 5 T Lewsen. foul Lee mon. Dr Jam e s J Porks, Neo! W 0' Ccono; JeHrey Sands, a nd Geo rge H Willioms. Tha nks are also due rc the aUlhor's col leagues c n the sla U end Board 01 (),,-er the fron t fo r permission to use som e ma lerial olreody publ ished in Ihor excellenl journoL The condusions ond opinions es pressed in rhis publicalion ore lhe oulhor's ~bility olone. 'G VanWyn garden ' 0

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If yo u e njoyed this book, we have further titles o n Ge rm a n WW I av ia t io n for your library. Th ere are lav ish SPECIALS cove rin g the ALBATR OS D.I·D.V FIGHTERS an d th e FOKKER TRIPLANE (as w eil as Alli ed s u bjects) a nd DATAFILES o n t he FOKKER D.VII an d D.VIII pl us m any m ore o n fi g ht er s, two -s eate rs an d bo m b ers . A ls o the re's our w ell - res p ec te d bi m onthly j ournal WINDSOCK Internation al. Send SAE or 4 IRe s forfull iist of ov e r 36 av ailab le ti tle s t o Al batros Production s Lid., 10 Long Vi ew, Ber kh am st ed , He rt s, HP 4 1BV, UK. (Tel: 0144 2 6 75636 or Fax 0144 2 87601 8) .

REAR COVER Head ing illust rati on is vo n Rich thofen 's we ll·kn own red trip lan e 425 /17, t he f inish ct w hic h st ill eng enders co nt rovers y. Th e painting show s th e m achine in one of it s earllest guises, red overa ll w it h w hite outl ined Eiserne Kreuz insig nia in eig ht po siti on s and th e th in red p aint bare ly c overing t he bl ac k serial - see page 57. Pro files To p, Pfal z 0.111 1730/ 17 fl own by Vzhv. Hec ht of J asta 10. Overa ll Silbergrau with yellow unit ma rking s, blac k f uselag e st ri pes (a th ird ap peared on t he upper p ort w ing ) and d eep g ree n tau un il. Th e orig ina l rudd er Is in store at t he RAF MlJse um's st orage fac ility at Cardingto n a nd t rac es ofthe origina l green pain t match M ethuen 26F7/ FB - see pag e 34 .

Cent re, Fo kk er O.VII F4253 / 18 (w/n 295 4) wa s at one time ücwn by Ern st Udet, it was also uowo by Oblt. Herm ann Göring who had hi s 'pe rso na l' w hite c o lo uration a pp lied to the rea r fu selage - see page 62. Fo ot, Siem ens Schuckert 0 .111, serial unk now n, ' Iown by U n. Ernst Udet, Jasta 4, 1918. This machine was ove rpain te d in red and marked wit h th e inevita b le 'LO!' o n t he f use lage. The w ing s we re left in t he stand ard fo ur-c o lou r printed fabri c - see pag e 15.

PUBLISHERS' STATEMENT. Thisbook is publislled by Albatr o s Productian s . Lid ., 10 long View, Chiltern Pork blal e . Berkhomsled, He rrlor d shire, HP4 1BY, G rea l Briroin. Copyrigh t CI 199 5 Albolro s Prod UClio ns, Li d . Prinre
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uen ~llid,tI,ufento 'iJh,it'ß
he very title of this book co njures up the image ct Germ any' s legendary air ace in his bright red Albat ro s or Fokker tri p lane lead ing a fo rmation ct eq ually colourfu l aerop lanes over th e mud dy. wer-tcrn battle fie lds of t he Western Front during 'The

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Great War.

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Jagdgesch wader Nr. l was Germany' s first Figh ter Win g com prising four sq uadrons :

Jastas 4.6, 10 a nd 11, whose pil ots unde r t heir reverec co mmande r von Richthofen p roved suc h fo rmidable op po ne nts for Atli ed airman during th e Jatter stages of Wor ld War One. In the first WINDSOCK FASRIC SPECIAL, markings sp eci alist Grag VanWyngarden provid es extens ive ptctoriat coverage 01 JG I's fig hter aerop lanes in an unr ivall ed, c ottec tlve reterence pa ck age. Ove r 178 arc hive ph oto s, a d ozen lin e drawings and mor e th an eig ht p ag es ot exc it ing new colour prc tiles provid e sca le mod elt ers and enthusias ts with a wide selecticn 01colour sc hemes tor th e bes t known Ger man aeroplanes of the First Wor ld War.

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WINDSOCK FABRIC SPECIAL No. 1

Pr lnted In Greol Brito in