Combats

Twenty minutes after the pilot and his observer, both mortally wounded, were dragged from their airplane, a Canadian artillery battery blew it to splinters to deny it to the Germans. Its crew died the next day.

Excerpt from Kurt Wolff's diary: "On the 6th, I attacked a B.E. at the same location with 50 rounds close up but it didn't go down. I shot it out with two Sopwiths (40 rounds) on the 10th, but Richthofen, who came along,...

"Combat Report: 1200 hrs. BE two-seater. Lens-Hulloch road, west of Loos. Occupants: one killed, the other severely wounded. Name of pilot: Lieutenant Bonnet (died). No details concerning plane, as wreckage landed in the...

"(probably) Capt. George Cyril Bailey DSO (WIA); 2/Lt. George William Betts Hampton (unhurt).aircraft actually returned to base safely. Combat Report: 1645 hrs, BE two-seater. Station, 1.500 metres south-west of Mazingar...

He said in his report that the pilot had been killed in the air and the observer seriously wounded when the B.E.2 crashed into German trenches. The opposite was true. Second Lieutenant H. A. Croft, the observer, was prob...

"aircraft actually returned to base safely. Combat Report: 1250 hrs, one kilometre north of Loos. BE two-seater. Details unknown, plane fell on enemy's side. I had started all by myself and was just looking for my Staffe...

"Combat Report: 1620 hrs, Acheville. Sopwith two-seater. Occupants: Lieutenant W Reid and Lieutenant H Green, both killed, buried by local command at Bois Bernard. Accompanied by five of my planes, I attacked an enemy sq...

"Combat Report: 1700 hrs, BE two-seater. Souchez. Details unknown, as plane landed on enemy's side. Together with Leutnant Allmenröder, I attacked two enemy artillery flyers at a low altitude over the other side (of the...

Selbst abgeschossen

06-Mar-17: Lt E L Benbow in FE8 A4871, an Albatros scout in flames. RFC Communique No 24 states: Lt E L Benbow, 40 Squadron, drove down a hostile machine which also fell in flames near Givenchy.

"While Manfred von Richthofen achieved his 24th victory on the afternoon of 6 March, her very nearly did not survive the morning. As he recorded in both his book and in a letter home, he was shot down at this time. The d...

"Schwarm I, led by Richthofen, took off at around 10:00 am, and as Schäfer later wrote: 'It was pretty hazy that morning. Geschwader II conducted a long flight without seeing a single Englishman. Schwarm I took off at 10...

...Manfred's victory curve is rising steeply. I am experiencing all of this, but - how could it be otherwise! - there is also enough anxiety and worry in my thoughts. I know only too well how often the death of the fight...

"Combat Report: 1155 hrs, Vickers one-seater. No. on tail AMC 3425a. Between Roclincourt and Bailleul, this side of the line, 500 metres behind trenches. Occupant: Not recognisable, as completely burnt. With three of my...

Combat Report: 1200 hrs, BE two-seater, south of La Folie Wood, near Vimy. Occupants: Lieutenant Byrne and Lieutenant Smythe, 40 Squadron. Both killed. Plane No. 6232, details of motor not at hand, as motor dashed into e...

"Combat Report: 1130 hrs, Oppy, Vickers two-seater No. A3439. Motor No. 854. Machine guns: 19633 and 19901. About 1130 I attacked with nine of my machines, an enemy squadron of 15 aircraft. During the fight I managed to...

Combat Report: 1700 hrs, above trenches west of Vimy. BE two-seater. No details, as plane landed between the lines. I had spotted an enemy infantry flyer. Several attacks directed from above produced no results, especial...

"On 19 March, the army report showed the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth, and the Silesian Provincial Diet sent a congratulatory telegram to the field: 'We commemorate the heroic warrior, a son of our Silesian homeland,...