This Day in World War 1 History: SEPTEMBER 23, 1917 : GERMAN PILOT WERNER VOSS SHOT DOWN OVER WESTERN FRONT

On this day in 1917, the German flying ace Werner Voss is shot down and killed during a dogfight with British pilots in the skies over Belgium, on the Western Front during World War I.

Voss, born in 1887, enlisted as a cavalry soldier in 1914, but soon transferred to the Luftstreitkrafte or German Air Service, where he was posted to the Jasta 2 squadron, commanded by the renowned pilot Oswald Boelcke. After serving as a wingman to Manfred von Richthofen—the ace pilot later known as the Red Baron—Voss quickly established a reputation as a leading pilot in his own right, and a rival to Richthofen. By May 1917, Voss had amassed 28 victories in the air, earning the prestigious Pour le Merite award.

At Richthofen’s request, Voss was attached to his own squadron, Jasta 10—known as the “Flying Circus.” He earned another 14 victories there before September 23, 1917, when he was involved in a dogfight with the renowned British 56 Squadron “B” Flight—including the ace pilots James McCudden and Arthur Rhys Davids—above the Western Front in Belgium. Though Voss skillfully eluded his pursuers for some 10 minutes in his silver-grey Fokker triplane, he was shot down by a British attack and crashed north of Frezenburg. As McCudden later observed: “I shall never forget my admiration for that German pilot, who single handed, fought seven of us for ten minutes. I saw him go into a fairly steep dive and so I continued to watch, and then saw the triplane hit the ground and disappear into a thousand fragments, for it seemed to me that it literally went into powder.”

The attack was generally credited to Davids, who also shot down the German pilot Carl Menckhoff when the latter came to Voss’ aid. Menckhoff survived the fight—one of the best-known aerial dogfights of World War I—to lead his own squadron throughout the end of the war. As for Voss, his bravery and skill was celebrated posthumously on both sides of the line. In James McCudden’s words: “His flying is wonderful, his courage magnificent and in my opinion he was the bravest German airman whom it has been my privilege to see.”

Article Details:

September 23, 1917 : German pilot Werner Voss shot down over Western Front

• Author

  History.com Staff

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  History.com

• Year Published

  2009

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  September 23, 1917 : German pilot Werner Voss shot down over Western Front

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  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/german-pilot-werner-voss-shot-down-over-western-front

• Access Date

  September 23, 2015

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  A+E Network

This Day in World War 1 History: SEPTEMBER 17, 1916 : MANFRED VON RICHTHOFEN SHOOTS DOWN HIS FIRST PLANE

On this day in 1916, the German air ace Manfred von Richthofen—known to history as the “Red Baron”—shoots down his first enemy plane over the Western Front during World War I.

Richthofen, the son of a Prussian nobleman, switched from the German army to the Imperial Air Service in 1915. He became the star pupil and protégé of Oswald Boelcke, one of Germany’s most successful fighter pilots. After seeing action over the Eastern Front, where he bombed Russian forces and railway junctions, Richthoften began his legendary career in the west. On September 17, 1916, in his first trip in a combat patrol commanded by Boelcke, Richthofen found himself and his Albatross biplane engaged in aerial combat by a plane piloted by British Second Lieutenant Lionel Morris.

Richthofen later recounted the experience: “My Englishman twisted and turned, flying in zig-zags. I was animated by a single thought: ‘The man in front of me must come down, whatever happens.’ At last a favorable moment arrived. My opponent had apparently lost sight of me. Instead of twisting and turning he flew straight along. In a fraction of a second I was at his back with my excellent machine. I gave a short burst of shots with my machine-gun. I had gone so close that I was afraid I might dash into the Englishman. Suddenly I nearly yelled with joy, for the propeller of the enemy machine had stopped turning. Hurrah! I had shot his engine to pieces; the enemy was compelled to land, for it was impossible for him to reach his own lines.”

Richthofen followed the enemy plane to the ground, landing close to the German lines, where he discovered that both the pilot and the observer that accompanied him, Lieutenant T. Rees, were mortally wounded. According to Richthofen, “I honored the fallen enemy by placing a stone on his beautiful grave.”

By the end of 1916, Richthofen had downed 15 enemy planes. The following year, he surpassed all flying-ace records on both sides of the Western Front and began using a Fokker triplane, painted entirely red in tribute to his old cavalry regiment. Although only used during the last eight months of his career, it was this aircraft with which Richthofen was most commonly associated and that led to an enduring English nickname for the German pilot—the Red Baron. By the time he was shot down and killed over the Somme River on April 21, 1918, the 25-year-old Richthofen had downed 80 enemy aircraft, securing his status as one of the greatest air aces to emerge from World War I on either side of the conflict.

Article Details:

September 17, 1916 : Manfred von Richthofen shoots down his first plane

• Author

  History.com Staff

• Website Name

  History.com

• Year Published

  2009

• Title

  September 17, 1916 : Manfred von Richthofen shoots down his first plane

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  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/manfred-von-richthofen-shoots-down-his-first-plane

• Access Date

  September 17, 2015

• Publisher

  A+E Networks

This Day in World War 1 History: SEPTEMBER 16, 1916 : HINDENBURG GIVES ORDER TO STRENGTHEN GERMAN DEFENSES

On September 16, 1916, one month after succeeding Erich von Falkenhayn as chief of the German army’s general staff during World War I, General Paul von Hindenburg orders the construction of a heavily fortified zone running several miles behind the active front between the north coast of France and Verdun, near the border between France and Belgium.

This “semi-permanent” defense line, as Hindenburg called it, would be the last line of German defense; its aim was to brutally crush any Allied breakthrough on the Western Front in France before it could reach the Belgian or German frontier. The British referred to it as the Hindenburg Line, for its mastermind; it was known to the Germans as the Siegfried Line.

After waging exhausting and bloody battles against the Allies at Verdun and the Somme, and with the U.S edging ever closer to entering the war, Germany’s leaders looked to improve their defensive positions on the Western Front. In February 1917, the German army began a well-organized withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line, a move calculated to give a period of respite before the Allies could begin their attacks again. The withdrawal reduced the length of the line the Germans had to defend by 25 miles, freeing up 13 army divisions to serve as reserve troops. On their way, German forces systematically destroyed the land they passed through, burning farmhouses, poisoning wells, mining abandoned buildings and demolishing roads.

After the withdrawal, which was completed May 5, 1917, the Hindenburg Line, considered impregnable by many on both sides of the conflict, became the German army’s stronghold. Allied troops would not breach it until the last days of September 1918, barely one month before the armistice.

Article Details:

September 16, 1916 : Hindenburg gives order to strengthen German defenses

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  History.com Staff

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  History.com

• Year Published

  2009

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  September 16, 1916 : Hindenburg gives order to strengthen German defenses

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  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hindenburg-gives-order-to-strengthen-german-defenses

• Access Date

  September 16, 2015

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  A+E Networks