Flying service Erwin Böhme

böhme returned service in former military unit. requested transfer aviation; may prior service , athleticism helped expedite entry pilot s training despite comparatively advanced age of 36. adventurous , aggressive spirit may have impressed recruiters.

he assigned doberitz, lindenthal flight training. first in class qualify pilot in december 1914. assigned instructor next year before being assigned active unit offizierstellevertreter. joined kampstaffel 10 near metz, commanded wilhelm boelcke, in december 1915. albatros c.iii serial number 766/16, böhme flew in, had fierce dragon painted on right side of fuselage , crocodilian monster on other. böhme commented ...made terrifying impression on russian peasants.

on 5 march 1916, wilhelm boelcke s more famous brother visited, , böhme met him. oswald boelcke, 1 of first air aces, had won pour le merite in january. later month, böhme fought first dogfights against couple of french farmans , nieuport scout.

by may 1916, böhme veteran of aerial warfare; had flown numerous barrage, defensive patrols , bombing missions. promoted leutnant der reserve (lieutenant of reserves) in same month. on 20 may, wangled aircraft ride drop in on director of hubertus mills, celebrate 25th wedding anniversary. on trip, met director s eldest daughter , began correspondence led engagement in october 1917. letters became basis posthumous book, briefe eines deutschen kampffliegers ein junges mädchen (letters of german combat pilot young girl), published in 1930.

kasta 10 moved eastward russian front in june kovel; 1 of comrades cavalry officer named manfred von richthofen. on 2 august 1916, while flying albatros c.iii, böhme scored first aerial victory kasta 10, nieuport 12 flown ace podporuchik (2nd lieutenant) eduard pulpe of imperial russian air service. pulpe fell near rogistche on eastern front.

after victory, böhme transferred jasta 2 under command of oswald boelcke. boelcke not well-established ace, pioneering tactics , strategy of fighter aviation. had carte blanche recruit such pilots wished. had asked for, among others, both manfred von richthofen , böhme. boelcke , böhme became best friends.

under boelcke s tutelage , leadership, böhme thrived fighter pilot. scored first victory jasta 2 on 17 september 1916, downing sopwith 2-seater of 70 squadron, rfc , 22 october had 5 confirmed wins , 1 probable.

death of boelcke

then came tragedy forever linked böhme s name boelcke. during sixth mission on 28 october 1916, böhme, boelcke, von richthofen, , 3 other pilots jasta 2 attacked 2 dh-2 scouts no. 24 squadron. in scrambled attack in gusty weather, richthofen cut out of firing approach on 1 british plane interposed german plane. böhme , boelcke both closing on other.

boelcke had swerve avoid mid-air collision in dogfight , böhme s albatros briefly collided of boelcke. wheels of böhme s plane barely brushed fabric of top wing of boelcke s craft, enough start fabric unraveling. boelcke struggled control plane s control surface shredded in turbulence. skillfully crashlanded after entire upper wing tore loose. however, in haste airborne had not fastened seat belt. boelcke killed relatively mild impact. böhme survived accident, had suffered landing gear damage.

after landing, despairing böhme discovered in quarters pistol in hand. manfred von richthofen had talk him out of suicide.

that same evening, british flier dropped wreath stating memory of captain boelcke, our brave , chivalrous opponent. english royal flying corps.

three days later, böhme wrote following letter fiance:

dear miss annamarie!

boelcke no longer among now. not have hit pilots harder....

in following wild turning-flight combat, allowed take shots in short bursts, sought force down our opponent alternately cutting him off, had done success. boelcke , had 1 englishman evenly between us, when opponent, hunted our friend richthofen, cut directly in our path. fast lightning, boelcke , took evasive action simultaneously, , 1 instant our wings obstructed our view of each other – occurred....

when boelcke emerged few metres on right me, machine ducked, pulled hard, nevertheless still touched...me, 1 side of undercarriage had torn away, him, outermost piece of left wing....violent gusts caused machine gradually descend more steeply, , i...saw impact beside battery position....my attempts land beside friend made impossible because of shell craters , trenches. flew rapidly our field....

but arrived in car, brought body us. died in blink of eye @ moment of crash. boelcke never wore crash helmet , did not strap himself in albatros either – otherwise have survived not @ powerful of impact.

this afternoon funeral service in cambrai, parents , brothers escorted hero burying @ cemetery of honour in dessau. parents magnificent people – courageously accepting unalterable pain feel.

faithfully yours, erwin böhme

return duty

böhme returned duty. shot down 2 more british planes in november; fe-8 pusher of 40 squadron , morane parasol of 3 squadron flown highly decorated lt. e.m. roberts (mc, dfc, dcm), crashed in allied lines.

on 26 december, shot down , severely wounded future canadian 12-victory ace lt. william henry hubbard flying be-2c of 5 squadron, eighth victory.

böhme next shot down dh-2 of 32 squadron, rfc on 7 january 1917, ninth. ordered on leave, , spent hiking in bavarian alps. upon hearing of casualties in jasta böhme cut leave short , returned duty. tenth victory, forced down dh-2 of 6-victory ace captain william curphey of no. 32 squadron on 4 february. curphy wounded survived (only shot down , killed hpt franz walz following may). böhme downed two-seater 25 minutes later during feb 4 action eleventh victory.

on 10 february, claimed 12th victim, dh-2 of 32 squadron, force-landed in allied lines. during dogfight on 11th sopwith strutters , wounded in arm.

by start of april 1917, böhme wrote home , manfred von richthofen left alive original jasta 2 founder members of 1916.

by 8 april, had recovered enough teach @ jastaschule @ valenciennes aerodrome until 2 july when given command of jagdstaffel 29 based @ bersee, north west of douai , covering german 4th army.

böhme wounded in hand on 10 august while attacking observation aircraft, , attacked spad fighter of spa 3, possibly flown adj.rene fonck. tendon of right index finger—his trigger finger—was severed.

while recovering, böhme posted commanding officer jasta 2, effective 18 august 1917.

on 19 september, böhme began final series of claims, scoring twice in september , 6 times in october, bringing total 21 victories.

on 28 october, attended ceremonies in dessau honor first anniversary of oswald boelcke s death. next day travelled hamburg propose marriage anna-marie bruning. accepted despite father s belief böhme might not survive war.

on 31 october, böhme visited manfred von richthofen. flight home interrupted attack 84 squadron royal aircraft factory se.5a, downed 21st triumph.

he next scored victories on 6 , 20 november 1917. on 24th, awarded pour le mérite, nation s highest decoration bravery.