(Germany) Voss Werner @·AIRCRAFTUBE

  • Werner Voss Werner Voss
    Werner Voss
  • With his Fokker F.I triplane<br>(face painted on the cowling) With his Fokker F.I triplane<br>(face painted on the cowling)
    With his Fokker F.I triplane
    (face painted on the cowling)
  • In front of his Albatros D.III<br>(Jasta 2 Boelcke) In front of his Albatros D.III<br>(Jasta 2 Boelcke)
    In front of his Albatros D.III
    (Jasta 2 Boelcke)
  • With Manfred von Richthofen With Manfred von Richthofen
    With Manfred von Richthofen
  • In the cockpit<br>of his Fokker F.I 103-17 In the cockpit<br>of his Fokker F.I 103-17
    In the cockpit
    of his Fokker F.I 103-17
  • Voss' Albatros D.III (Jasta 2) Voss' Albatros D.III (Jasta 2)
    Voss' Albatros D.III (Jasta 2)
  • The heart and laurel wreath<br>on his Albatros The heart and laurel wreath<br>on his Albatros
    The heart and laurel wreath
    on his Albatros
  • With his brothers Otto and Max<br>(23 September 1917) With his brothers Otto and Max<br>(23 September 1917)
    With his brothers Otto and Max
    (23 September 1917)
  • Fokker F.I 103-17 (Jasta 10) Fokker F.I 103-17 (Jasta 10)
    Fokker F.I 103-17 (Jasta 10)
  • On his Wanderer<br>V-twin motorcycle On his Wanderer<br>V-twin motorcycle
    On his Wanderer
    V-twin motorcycle
  • Fokker F.I 103-17 Fokker F.I 103-17
    Fokker F.I 103-17
  • Fokker F.I triplane Fokker F.I triplane
    Fokker F.I triplane
  • Pencil portrait Pencil portrait
    Pencil portrait

Werner Voss

Werner Voss (German: Werner Voß; 13 April 1897, Krefeld - 23 September 1917, near Frezenberg, Belgium) was a German flying ace of the First World War, credited with 48 aerial victories. The son of a Krefeld dyer, he became a friend and the main rival of Manfred von Richthofen, who regarded him as his "most redoubtable competitor". Holder of the Pour le Mérite at 19, he was killed at the age of 20 after an epic dogfight, fought alone in his Fokker F.I triplane against eight British pilots, most of them from No. 56 Squadron RFC, among them James McCudden and Arthur Rhys-Davids. The fight remains a subject of debate among aviation historians.

Early life

Werner Voss was born in Krefeld, in the Prussian Rhineland, on 13 April 1897. His father, Maximilian Voss, owned a dye factory; his mother, Johanna Mathilde Pastor Voss, raised her children in the Evangelical Lutheran faith. He had two younger brothers, Maximilian Jr. (born 1898) and Otto (born 1901), and two cousins, Margaret and Katherine, were raised in the family as daughters. Werner was expected to take over the family business.

After his studies at Krefeld's Moltke Gymnasium, he joined the local militia and, in April 1914, still under age, enlisted in Ersatz Eskadron 2. For his 17th birthday his parents gave him a 300 cc V-twin Wanderer motorcycle, and on 2 August 1914 he obtained his certificate as a motorcyclist and motorcycle mechanic.

Military service

After serving as a volunteer driver in August and September 1914, Voss enlisted on 16 November 1914 in the 2nd Westphalian Hussar Regiment No. 11, which was sent to the Eastern Front at the end of the month. Promoted to Gefreiter in January 1915 and to Unteroffizier in May 1915, he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class. He followed officer training at Camp Beckstadt from June to July 1915 but, because of flat feet and weak ankles, was classed as a reservist.

Flight training and bomber unit

On 1 August 1915 Voss transferred to the Luftstreitkräfte. He began flying training in Krefeld in September 1915, went solo on 28 September and graduated on 12 February 1916. Kept on as an instructor, he was reputedly the youngest flight instructor in German service, and was promoted to Vizefeldwebel on 2 March 1916.

On 10 March 1916 he was posted to Kampfstaffel 20 of Kampfgeschwader 4, at first as an observer. He earned his pilot's badge on 28 May 1916 and flew two-seaters over the Somme. Commissioned Leutnant der Reserve on 9 September 1916, he was then selected for single-seat fighters.

Jasta 2 and Richthofen

On 21 November 1916 Voss joined Jagdstaffel 2 (later Jasta Boelcke, named after Oswald Boelcke), equipped with Albatros D.II and D.III fighters. There he flew as Manfred von Richthofen's wingman and the two men became close friends, despite the gap between the aristocrat and the dyer's son. He scored his first two victories on 27 November 1916 (Nieuport 17 and F.E.2b) and received the Iron Cross 1st Class on 19 December.

His Albatros D.III was one of the most recognisable aircraft of the front: a white heart edged in red with a laurel wreath and a swastika (then a common good-luck symbol, long before its adoption by the Nazis) were painted on the fuselage sides. His score rose quickly in early 1917: he ended February with eight victories, and in March he alone accounted for eleven of the squadron's fifteen victories. On 17 March he received the Knight's Cross with Swords of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, and by 6 April he had 24 victories.

Pour le Mérite

Voss was awarded the Pour le Mérite on 8 April 1917, at the age of 19, and took the customary month's leave. He therefore missed "Bloody April", during which Richthofen scored 13 victories. On his return on 5 May, he shot down an S.E.5 on 7 May and three aircraft in a single day on 9 May.

He soon clashed with his commander, Oberleutnant Franz Walz, whom he considered not aggressive enough, and petitioned headquarters for his replacement. All three officers involved were transferred: Voss became acting commander of Jagdstaffel 5 on 20 May 1917, where he scored three victories in May and three in June. On 6 June he was slightly wounded in combat with Christopher Draper of No. 8 Naval Squadron, after shooting down a Nieuport 17 that brought his score to 34.

Jasta 29, Jasta 14 and the Fokker triplane

After a leave, Voss briefly commanded Jagdstaffel 29 from 28 June 1917, then Jagdstaffel 14 a few days later. Early in July he went on leave with Richthofen to Krefeld, where the Voss family received the Red Baron. On 5 July he test-flew the prototype of the Fokker triplane at the Fokker works in Schwerin; enthusiastic about its climb and manoeuvrability, he became one of its strongest advocates.

Jasta 10

At Richthofen's request, Voss took permanent command of Jagdstaffel 10, part of Jagdgeschwader I (the "Flying Circus"), on 30 July 1917, replacing Ernst von Althaus. He disliked administrative work, which he left to Leutnant Ernst Weigand, preferring to fly, to tinker with his engines in greasy overalls or to ride his motorcycle around the airfield. In August, flying a Pfalz D.III, he shot down four aircraft, bringing his score to 38.

At the end of August 1917 he received the Fokker F.I 103/17, one of the three pre-production triplanes that preceded the Fokker Dr.I; Richthofen received 102/17. Voss had a face, with eyes and a moustache, painted on its cowling. In the first eleven days of September he downed nine more aircraft, raising his total to 47, second only to Richthofen's 61.

The last fight

Exhausted, Voss went on leave on 12 September, visiting Berlin, where Kaiser Wilhelm II gave him a signed photograph, then the Fokker factory in Schwerin. He returned on 22 September. On the morning of 23 September 1917 he shot down an Airco DH 4 of No. 57 Squadron, his 48th victory. In the afternoon his brothers Otto and Max visited him and the three posed for a photograph.

Around 18:05 Voss took off with two wingmen flying slower Pfalz D.IIIs, who soon lost contact with him. At about 18:30, over Poelkapelle, his triplane met the S.E.5a fighters of No. 56 Squadron's B Flight, led by James McCudden, with Arthur Rhys-Davids, Keith Muspratt, Richard Maybery and Reginald Hoidge, soon joined by Geoffrey Bowman's flight and by Harold Hamersley and Robert Chidlaw-Roberts of No. 60 Squadron. For about eight to ten minutes Voss fought them alone, using the triplane's agility to evade their attacks and hitting almost every one of their aircraft. An Albatros came briefly to his aid before being driven off.

Finally Rhys-Davids, attacking from behind and below, hit the triplane, which glided down and crashed near Plum Farm, north of Frezenberg, inside the British lines, at around 18:40. Voss was killed. McCudden later wrote that he was "the bravest German airman whom it has been my privilege to see fight". The exact sequence of the fight, and the reasons why Voss stayed in it instead of breaking away, are still debated.

Aftermath

A British patrol identified Voss's body on 24 September. He was buried in a shell crater near Plum Farm, without military honours, and the grave was lost during the later fighting. He is now commemorated at the German military cemetery at Langemark, in Belgium. Rhys-Davids was credited with the victory and kept a piece of the wreckage; he was himself killed in action a month later, on 27 October 1917. Pilots of Jasta 10 dropped messages over the British lines asking for news of their commander, and German newspapers published tributes, including from Crown Prince Wilhelm and Anthony Fokker.

Honours and awards

  • Pour le Mérite (8 April 1917).
  • Knight's Cross with Swords of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern (17 March 1917).
  • Iron Cross 1st Class (19 December 1916) and 2nd Class (1915).

Legacy

  • Under the Nazi regime, his former Krefeld school was named after him; the name was dropped after the Second World War. Streets in Krefeld, Stuttgart and Berlin still bear his name.
  • His final combat, which inspired many paintings, has been studied by historians and authors such as Barry Diggens (September Evening) and Thomas Crean.
  • He was played by Til Schweiger in the 2008 film The Red Baron.
  • Replicas of his Fokker F.I triplane and of his Albatros D.III, painted in his colours, fly in several countries.

Sources: Wikipedia (English and French); Barry Diggens, "September Evening: The Life and Final Combat of the German World War One Ace Werner Voss", Grub Street (2003); Vintage Aviation News, "Aces of the Great War: Werner Voss"; Royal Air Force Museum, "The Final Fight of Werner Voss" (talk by Michael Terry).

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