On this Day (WWI aviation news), Vol. 3

[PJ Fisher]

South African Action
A single sentence can be all it takes to send me down the retro-news research-rabbit hole.  I don't always have time to dive deep and some searches yield little, though it's always fun to try and connect all those historical dots out there.  Such is the case with today's early-war snippet out of sub-Saharan Namibia.  The common quietude of colonial campaigns in contrast to the intensity of operations along the Western Front could occasionally cause minor incidents to become newsworthy.  As recounted in the diary of eyewitness Cpl, Douglas Scott King of the Kaffrarian Rifles:

    - Thursday, 12 November 1914... 'German aeroplane passed over our heads before breakfast. My piquet never saw it - althou' we heard it. Fired on by camp.
    - Sunday, 29 November 1914... 'This morning the aeroplane paid us a second visit. Jove! but it was a lovely sight seen miles off high in the air about 4 000 ft. and getting more distinct as it neared us. On the approach to our camp - which by the way is called Haalen Burg - we just walked a few yards away from our lines. It flew right over our camp and was greeted with a regular hail of rifle shoots [sic] but all to no purpose. It flew on and on till It appeared a mere speck over Kolman's Kop. Now the fun commenced - as it flew over us it very calmly dropped two bombs and shells on us. One exploded and the other failed - no damage was done. But laugh! Pheeeeeuw!. I've never laughed so much in all my life. The shell that exploded took 12 seconds to fall to the ground - and world's records were broken by dozens whole-sale. Fat omcers legging it for "dear life". (via samilitaryhistory.org)

The anonymous aviator in question was likely German civilian Willy Truck, piloting an Aviatik (see images below).
(from the Barrier Miner, 19 November 1914):





Read more on this Willy Truck's story and other events surrounding Luderitz Bay on these two well-written websites (from where these images derive):
- http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol053sm.html
- https://aviationaoi.com/en/namibia-campaign/

You can also 'connect more dots' via this brilliant 2015 post by our recently departed forum member Old Man (James Berkman), which features his wonderful scratch-built French Farman, which operated in the same area as Truck's Aviatik:  https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=6507.msg119089#msg119089

Model on everyone!

[PJ Fisher]

Inside a Zeppelin 'Brain'
A grainy but groovy interior view of L49's "commander's cabin".  Registered as LZ.96, the airship came to grief on Saturday, October 20.  "LZ-96 participated in two reconnaissance missions around the North Sea and one raid on England, dropping 2,100 kg of bombs. While returning, it was forced to land by French Air Force aircraft squadron SPA152 near Bourbonne-les-Bains on 20 October 1917 and captured almost undamaged.... The 19 occupants were taken prisoner by French armed forces.  Plans derived from LZ-96 were later used in the United States for construction of the first US "zeppelin", USS Shenandoah (ZR-1)." (via asn.flightsafety.org)
(respectively from the Illustrated War News, 21 November 1917; and L'Illustration, 3 November 1917):

[PJ Fisher]

Pathos in Pursuit
Transcribed combat reports rarely were printed by the press during wartime.  Here are three from an American pursuit squadron.  This first provides a visual description of a German 'Rumpler' encountered that day... "camouflaged in green and black diamonds with white tail... the cross on the tail, on upper and lower wings, No.8". I wonder if anyone can identify it?
(from the Forest City Press, 21 November 1918):

[PJ Fisher]

'Terrific Attack'
Connecting more dots today.  This article of attacks on Ottoman areas includes minor mention of a British aviator being shot down while bombing a railway station. This was the now-legendary incident from three days prior involving the valorous rescue of Sub-Lt. Gilbert Smylie RNAS by Squadron Commander Richard Bell Davies.  Recap:

"Bulgaria's entry into the war had widened the conflict and the Royal Naval Air Service with fresh targets. This included a bombing attacks designed to disrupt communications between Turkey and her new ally. Aircraft attacked the railway station at Ferejik; in the course of the attack Bell Davies saw that one of his colleagues, Sub-Lt. Gilbert Smylie, had been compelled to force-land.  Smylie, seeing a unit of cavalry approaching, set fire to the aircraft and prepared to escape on foot; but Bell Davies landed in a dried-up watercourse and picked up his fellow pilot, who had to cling to the upper wing of the biplane as Bell Davies took off under heavy fire as his passenger found his way into the second cockpit, which had been covered with a spare engine cowl.

On the 19th November, these two officers carried out an air attack on Ferrijik Junction. Flight-Lieutenant Smylie?s machine was received by very heavy fire and brought down. The pilot planed down over the Station, releasing all his bombs except one, which failed to drop, simultaneously at the station from a very low altitude. Thence he continued his descent into the marsh. On alighting he saw the one unexploded bomb, and set fire to his machine, knowing that the bomb would ensure its destruction. He then proceeded towards Turkish territory. At this moment he perceived Squadron-Commander Davies descending and fearing that he would come down near the burning machine and thus risk destruction from the bomb, Flight Sub-Lieutenant Smylie ran back and from a short distance exploded the bomb by means of a pistol bullet. Squadron-Commander Davies descended at a safe distance from the burning machine, took up Sub-Lieutenant Smylie, in spite of the near approach of a party of the enemy, and returned to the aerodrome, a feat of airmanship that can seldom have been equalled for skill and gallantry." (via the Gallipoli Association / Facebook)

Bell Davies was awarded the Victoria Cross for his deeds, the news of which headlined here back in January: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=13750.msg262001#msg262001
'from the Daily Capital Journal, 22 November 1915):

[PJ Fisher]

Hott's Hawkeye
I'd love to know more about this French aviator and his Farman pusher.
Loosely translated: "Warrant Officer Hott, of whom we recall some memories, in particular that of the plane he shot down, aboard his Hawkeye biplane".
(from La Guerre aérienne illustrée , 23 November 1916):

[PJ Fisher]

"For Conspicuous Skill and Gallantry"
This week Britain's revered aviator, Albert Ball, was received at Buckingham Palace and invested with the Military Cross and two DSOs by King George V at Buckingham Palace. Tomorrow he will receive another bar, making hi the first three-time recipient of the award.  These and his other hard-earned medals remain on display at Nottingham Castle Museum.
(from the Abergavenny Chronicle, 24 November 1916):

[PJ Fisher]

'Manurewa'
"More than 800 New Zealanders served as air or ground crew with the Royal Flying Corps, the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Air Force. Sixty more joined the Australian Flying Corps. Of these numbers only about 250 of the air and ground crew actually saw service with operational squadrons". Harold Winstone Butterworth was one who became a 'flying bird'. 

Butterworth made his first solo flight at Brooklands Aerodrome on 9 July 1915.  In the coming months he would note in his personal diary (readable online: https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/getmedia/9e0bf3dc-ff62-4322-b884-40f70e41462d/MS996), experience with multiple aircraft types, including various Farmans, a Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2C and B.E.8, a Curtis JN, and Avro, an Armstrong Whitworth, a Martinsyde Scout, a Voisin, and a Vickers Scout and Gunbus.  On the day this spotlight went to press Butterworth would find himself in a bit of a pickle on the homefront:

"I was busy instructing this morn when an inlet valve broke & the machine caught on fire. I landed straight away & with the help of the pupil managed to get the flames out in about 5 min. I managed to keep the flames off the planes & there was not more than 5/- worth of damage done. I landed quite well but the machine had to be towed back because of the engine being broken." (quotes via aucklandmuseum.com)

Ultimately Butterworth was sent to France with No. 18 Squadron RFC and fought in the skies during the Battle of the Somme.  He would never return from his final mission on 16 July 1916.
(from the Auckland Weekly News, 25 November 1915):


(image from Butterworth's personal collection via aucklandmuseum.com)

[PJ Fisher]

'Fell Like a Stone'
The demise and funeral of German ace Kurt Wintgens was widely reported in the international news of the time and has headlined here before.  Today's news recounts details of his final flight - 12,000 feet in the air over Villers-Carbonnel.
(from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, 26 November 1916:


(image: Wintgens in front of an enwreathed doppeldecker two days after his dual victories of 21 July 1916, via alexautographs.com)

[PJ Fisher]

Gallipoli Fire Bomb
"The world we're destroying..." wrote Frenchman sergent pilote Henri Dumas of Escadrille MF 98 T in a letter from Tenedos as he described the photograph he took of today's news subject. "...the one in the middle weighs 135 kilograms ? a world record? the world we?re destroying? ? the small one weighs 15 kilos, the medium-sized one 75 kilos. That is the one I use. The head of the British squadron is Commander Samson, who has made very fine aerial attacks in Europe, notably at night on Dusseldorf and Brussels. He has with him Lieutenant Marix, another of the heroes of Dusseldorf and other long-range bombing raids." (via aegeanairwar.com)

This one-of-a-kind field-made incendiary bomb is indeed believed to be then the heaviest bomb ever deployed operationally.  These multiple images illustrate the ongoing inventiveness of the RNAS wing under Commander Charles Rumney Samson in their strategy of bringing the war to the enemy during the conflict's early phase.  This nearly 500lb bomb was ultimately strapped to the belly of a a Voisin but reportedly failed to explode upon deployment.  Flanking it in some photos here are a 20lb Hale bomb and a 112lb H.E.R.L. bomb.  I also believe possible the dog posing in the growing airplane boneyard behind the bomb in the second image is 'Growler', who was rescued in the field.  That also looks to be the carcass of a B.E.2 in the background... possibly the fuselage of Samson's old workhorse #50.  May even be Samson himself in that cover page. Might anyone know?
(from the Illustrated War News, 24 and 27 November 1915):

[PJ Fisher]

Giving Thanks
There was much for the victors to celebrate over Thanksgiving Day in 1918.  And who better to carouse with than America's ace-of-aces Eddie Rickenbacker - Commanding Officer of the United States Army Air Service 94th Aero Squadron?  The group had just settled into the formerly German Noers Aerodrome situated on a plateau one mile southwest of Longuyon, in what just two weeks prior was occupied France.  So, brush your uniform and grab your swagger stick for today's festivities!  Here's the program for the grand dinner put on by the 'Hat in the Ring' Squadron:



(images courtesy of the Ohio History Connection)

Alas, there is no one alive to recount the 'rumors de merde' they shared, what dances were performed, or which solo the violinist played... though it might have sounded something like this serenade, which was recorded on this day, 27 November, in 1918: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHWnf3FcIck. 

Fun Fact: Not in attendance was the 94th's former commanding officer Major John W. F. M. Huffer who had previously been relieved of duty and will facing be court martial tomorrow for bringing 'a common prostitute' to another dance 'with other U.S. officers and civilians present'.  Here's a build of Huffer's Nieuport 28 by forum member RAGIII: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=12119.msg225953#msg225953

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I'm thankful to be among so many fine folk here on this forum.

[PJ Fisher]

Crazy Bravery
In an age when only a minuscule percentage of the world's population had ever flown, simply viewing a 'sea of clouds' at height must have been captivating.  Beyond this initial wonderment that draws anyone airborne, early wartime pilots started to strategize how to use this new terrain to their advantage.  Today's caption (loosely translated): "Generally flying at an altitude of two thousand meters, the aviators ingeniously take advantage of the curtains of clouds, abundant at this time of year, to escape the enemy's gaze. Then, at the opportune moment, diving through a gap, they launch their projectiles with astonishing precision. If we only hear briefly about them at the moment, the Germans are well aware of the skill and the crazy bravery of these aerial scouts who each carry out up to three or four successful reconnaissances each day".
(from Le Miroir, 29 November 1914):

[PJ Fisher]

Dogfight... In No-Man's Land
Yesterday we soared up among clouds.  Today we're down in the notorious Dodengang (Trench of Death) witnessing another act of 'crazy bravery'.  This time it's a violent battle between Belgians and Germans to reach a downed British plane and its stricken crew.  Remnants of the Dodengang exist today as a tourist attraction of sorts: https://darktourists.com/dodengang-the-trench-of-death-travels-in-diksmuide/
(from the Cambria Daily Leader, 1 December 1916)


(image: 'Ramscappelle, Belgium. 1916-05-12. A Belgian Army sandbagged trench near the railway station', via awm.gov.au)

[PJ Fisher]

School Days
Here's a transcript of a letter home from Australian Flight-Lieutenant Harry Butler, who at this point of the Great War was stationed at the Royal Flying Corps Hythe School of Aerial Gunnery.  Here Butler describes his duties and a Staff Instructor and recounts experiences a few aircraft types.  Quite cleverly, the school's eponymous aerial camera guns closely resembled the standard Lewis machine gun that observers used in combat.  Though commonly called Hythe guns they were manufactured by Thornton Pinkard.  One hundred year later the Hythe gun again made news in Australia when one was surrendered to local police who initially mistook it for an actual firearm!  That story: https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/10/03/australian-cops-mistake-lewis-hythe-mk-iii-gun-camera-firearm/.  Who knows... perhaps it was another wartime keepsake brought home by Butler (who headlined here last June: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=14363.msg267014#msg267014).
(from The Pioneer, 2 December 1916)



anonymous image hosting

(image via blogger.googleusercontent.com)

[PJ Fisher]

Was ist Das?
Caption call this carcass a 'Taube monoplane' said to have been downed in La Ferte-Milon.  Looks more like an Albatros C.1 maybe?  Anyone know for sure?
(from the Auckland Weekly News, 3 December 1914):

[PJ Fisher]

Need For Speed
It's been a year since Fast Eddie completed his fourth race in the Indianapolis 500.  It's been half a year since he publicly proposed creating an air corps of race car drivers (as headlined here back in April 2022: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=12930.msg242309#msg242309).  With his recently anglicized surname Edward Vernon Rickenbacker is now half way to achieving his ambition of becoming a combat pilot.  At the time of this publication he's been stationed at the U.S. Air Service 3rd Aviation Instruction Center Issoudun.  Already trained to fly, in few weeks he will report to the French aerial gunnery school at Cazaux.  Under the guidance of Raoul Lufbery of the 94th Aero Squadron, Rickenbacker will go on to score his first aerial victory on 29 April 1918.
(from the Tacoma Times, 4 December 1907):