Sandini Sammlung

nen mic t u tnt~

{ ing ~it!cu~
Colours and markings of Jagdgeschwader Nr.l

- .

.... -

By Greg VanWyngarden • Colour plates by Ray Rimell


FRONT COVER
To p, unidentified A lbatros
0.111 01 Jasta 6, c irca 1917 in
st and ard fi nish w it h no
evidence of t he w in9 cr ta!t
st riping assoclated w it h t his
u nit. Wing s and t ailplane a re
pr obably cam ouf laged in
red -b rown, li g ht and dark
g ree n w it h pal e (sky) blue
under surfaces. Fuse lage
marking in b lack an d w hit e
- see page 16.
Centre, Fok ke r Dr.l 4 54 /17
(w/ n 2 0 79 ) üo w n by Ltn. -
Loth ar vo n Ric hthol en, CO
01 Jasta 11, Ma rc h 19 17. The
aeroplane is in st ande rd
Fo kker olive/t urq uo ise
unten w it h th e unit's red
co lo ur ap p lied to c owling,
st ruts and wheel c over s.
The up per surface er t ne t op
w ing, taüptane , rudder and
rear l usel ag e were
ove rpa int ed in pa le yellow -
a ref ere nce to Loth ar's
previous serv tce w it h th e
Dragone~Regimentvon
Bredow Nr.4 . Th e original
f ill ing-in of the fu se lage and
up per w ing cro ss f ie ld s w it h
olive st ill show ed un d er t he
thin yellow und er pain tin g -
see page 52.
Foot, Fo kker D.VII (seria l
unkno w n) f lo w n by Ltn.
Ern st Udet, CO 0 1 Jas ta 4,
J une 1918. One 01 Udet's
f irst D.Vll s th is is an ear ly
Fok ker-bu ilt examp le a nd at
one sta ge was st rik ingly
f inished in red w it h lowe r
w ings retaining t he ir
original fo ur-colo ur pr inted
fab ric. The t ail pl ane is
mark ed w it h a w hit e
c hevron and t he upper w ing
is pai nted in red (or black?)
and w hite stripes in a style
simila r to Kirch ste in 's Jasta
6 Dr.l w hic h Ud et also flew -
see page 14.
E16.95 NET (UK ONLY)
Sandini Sammlung
uen mic~t~tlf~nt~
lJlljing ~i~cu~
German aero p lane colours orouses inte nse
passio n am angsl a larg e number o f outhors
a nd collectors w a r ldwid e - no doubt the re w ill
be a live ly response to thts book. Netthe r
c uthor nor o rtist are rash enough na r foo l
e no ugh ta claim inlallibility bortbev hcve
studfed sccres 01 ehetos w ith some cc re. end
co nsulted severol knowled g eable hlsto no ns
a nd their researc h note s, be fore l ina lising the
colour and monochrome proliles thot a ppe o r
thro ughout the lollow ing pa g es. Natu ra lly
corr recfions fo r luture edi tions are al wa ys
w elcom e il back ed up by relia ble dacumenlary
evide nce: unsu p ported guesswar k ho wever is
pe rhaps best lelt in abeya nce .
There w ill al woys be 'g rey' o reos open 10
d e bo le a nd we m ak e no l irm co ncluslons o n
cerrein sv bjects, ne ither hcve w e mode
extensive use 0 1 Methuen notoüo ns W e
reolts e mo ny reo ders require suc h refere nces
b ut they are only reo lly va lid w hen com pared
to surviving lobric, relatively few exnmples o f
w hich ca n be tied to a specthc air/ra me or
phOIO, thus M el hue n musl serve as 0 general
guide onlv
lnterp reto tio n 01 phOIOS, es pe cia lly cc pies [o r
co p ies 01 copies) rs frau g ht wit h d ifl icully. Thera
are severollcctors to cons ider: lighting,
highl ig hling , exposure. var ia b les in printing and
developing. types 01 lilm - oll p ro vid e pitlolls
fo r the ser io us student. Ir is imprudent thereto re.
ta be pedcnt«; w hen oss ig ning colours 10
Pre face
monochro me p hotos. let clo ne specilv
hiSbook initia tes 0 ser ies 01 special
T publicolions from A l batros w hich
specihcollv co ve rs colo ocs and morkings
01 W o rld W ar O ne aeroplanes rother thon
M el hue n o r FS codes cn the stre ng th o f them.
As a fina l wo rd o f ccution, it sho uld be
re me m bered thot in fr on t-Hne service
oeroplc ne lin ishes were rcrelv l inite. camba t
placing the emphasis a n tec hnlc o l doto a nd
circu rnstcnces, olficia l decrees, un it strict ures,
sccle plans w hic h dtsttnquish o ur o the r title s.
a nd perso eo ltostes cau ld I reqo entlv cha nge
Thott here is 0 demend for such colo ur ma te ria l
the co la urs a nd m arkings 01 on aeropla ne,
is demanstrated by the g rowing w o r ldwid e
lile ra lly ove rnighl.
in terest in WWI aeropla ne modelling o f a ll
W ith I hese coveols in m ind , we now p resenl
kind s, on in terest w hieh eon tinua lly de ma nds
th is baok, the l irsl o f a n ongaing series an d o ne
hard information.
tho t we ho pe w ill be 01 volue to ollthose w ho
Tha t this boo k w ill prove populor we have no
model WWI aeropla nes w he lhe r the ir inte rests
doubt. German WWI figh ter p ilo ts ha ve
are in praducing sta tic, f1 ying or eve n full -scole
enormaus appea l especially those leading
re p licos.
lig hts suc h os the vo n Richlhalen b ro thers, Vass,
R Rimell, December 19 9 4 .
U d et ond olhers, so no apolagies are oflered
far selecting the lour un its that campr ised JGI,
'von Ric htha fen ' s Flyin g Circus'.lar our first
D e d ic a t io n
W e w o uld like 10 dedicate this book to He inz
Fobric vo lume . Sueh trea tme nl 01 these unils
J N owo rra , o ne o f the p ionee rs 01 Germon
has rare ly been lou nd between Ihe covers o f 0
WWI oviation hi sto ry ond outhor o f thot
single val ume , nor so many colaur schemes fa r
Iheir aeroplanes co lleclively a ffered ve nerable c10ssie Eisernes Kreuz und
Balkenkreuz.
Exper ience has shown Ihot Ihe lopi e o f WWI

JG l-AN INTRODUCTION
I R ichthole n's Flying ürUJS' - CI pbrcse which
eeckes on ,moge oIlhe Iegeodory Germon oc e
in his blccd-red ligh ter,leod,ng (] 5worm of equolly
colocrtut eueroft ;010 Ihe skies over the Western
Fron t. This conception was preeclent omong morry
wortime mrrnen, 000 remains so omoog aviation
e nt husio sts today. l he image is so enduring perho p s
be<:ouse. os with nlOnylegends, there is on element
01 trulh in ,I.
Monlred voo 11ichthol e n's respectlutloes 01 the
RFC firstbestowed lhe 'cscus' soboquer on hiS
}ogdsloffelltronsloted literolly os 'hun ting se<:tion', (]
unil equivolen l in lunclion, if nol in numbers, 10 (]
6 rilish fighter squodronl. best known by ns brie/er mle
01 Jas'C1 11. It rs(] moller 01debcre omong historions
os 10 wherher this nidnome originaled 'r om the
colourlvl eireruft 01 the uni! or Irom its supposed
propensily fo r mobility o loog the f ron t. As 00 less on
o uthonry thon Arlhur G ou ld Lee sug gested, il wa s
pe rho ps 0 co mbino tion 01 both. whoieve r ns
ge ne sis, the 'tm\f(! lling ctrcus' oppe lo lion would
'The scoodcor. 5e'5 o ul e leven .<lron9 o n tha evening
pa trol , . Clrcling und climb in9 owoy 5 '~'Qdily toword
Ihe line5, Tiley are off 10 deol wilh Ricillhofen and his
ClrClJ5 0 1 Red A lba lro s5e 5 (5ic}, "
Lt, Ceeil Lewl s, pilot 01No. 56 Sq uad ra n,
RFC,ln 5agittarlus Rlsing.
prove even mcre o pp ro pncre lor the lirst
Jagdge 5chwade r IFighl e. Wing l. This was 0
perma nen t g roupi ng 01 lau. JogdMalfe fn (4 , 6, 10
on d 11 1inl0 0 self-Conloined lighler unit whic h wa s
indeed designed 10 move ropi d ly to ony sec tion 01
lhe Front where o e.iol superiorily was needed.
Ric hlhole n moulded Jagdge5chwader I (obb.evioled
JG N r. 1, or JG I, d epending on wh o se
nomendotu.e is used) inlO 0 po ten t large·scole
lormotion copoble 01 dispotching about 500ircrah
in delerw::e01 Get-mo n·held terrilory on d (ountering
large numbers 01 enemy oi.erol1.
The history 01 JG 1 and thot 01 its Ii.sl commonde.
Richtholen o.e Inextricobly Intertwined, ond this
history hos been told mony limes belare by vo.ious
leoding OUlhors. Wl,ile the red-poin ted oi'Cfoh lIowo
by the Ritlmeister hove been e ..omined in detail os
lhe subjecl 01 numa.ous orlldes (not to mantion 0
legion 01 models ond illustrotions], the colours 01 the
mochines 1I0w0 by the pilols he commanded hove
.eceived le!;S attention. Indeed, mony <Xcounls .eler
simply to, 'Ihe gorish oirplones ollhe f/yitlg Greu5 ',
oot <XC\Jrote inlormotion on the ir octuol oppeoronce
hos olwoys been hord to Iocote. Vet in recent yeors
Sandini Sammlung
new worl<s weh os Ale. Imfle's The FoUer friplane
11992Jond Pete r Kildulf's biogrophy Ri,:hlhofen-
Beyond the legend oIthe RedBaron 11993l bcve
revecled vclocble new inlormation on the OCtlV11oeS
ond aircroft 01 JG L This curbor hos -eled heovily on
the reseorch 01 those historions end cebe.s, in this
atlempt to preseot c bnei oYervlew olthe he.old.y ot
JagdslaffeIn 4, 6 , 10 0 nd 11 during the" time in
Jogdges<frwoder I, By no mecns 0 detcüed
cpercnoncl history, this study me.ely p.esenls same
pidorial documentotion olthe colour scbemes 01 the
aeroplanes 01 this lamed lor motion.
It seems thot olmost everything csscocted wilh the
lrle, and especicllv the deorh. 01 Manlred Freiherr
von Richthole n genero tes some controversv as dces
the study o! colows and rno-kinqs. The .elOfe , when
this wor k was begun 101 the request er the publishersl
il wa s done so wilh no hnle trepido tion,
C cnternpo rc rv colour docu menta tion a nd, in scrne
co se s pbotoqrc phs, o f the a ircro h 01 JG l cre
surp riSingly .(o rce . Whut li1lle is kno wn must be
gleaned from inter views with veter an s, mem a i.s,
captured aircroh report s, inle llig e nce b ullet ins,
comba t .eports, and Ihat nnperle c! soe nce [o r ml ?1
01 tonal .nteroretcnon 01 blec k und while photos
from onhochrcmcüc lilm. Even the n, o nly
opprox imotions 01 co lo ur value s or e p o ssfble . While
first· g e ne rut ia n F,ha lo grn p hs Iwhen nvuiloble] ure (>
primory to o l in such 0 slud y, Ihe mte rpr etcncn 01
colou rs Irom them hcs be en reircmed Irom os much
us poss ible. In order to produc e the cclo ur prolnes.
some judicious inlerp.eting however wa s inevitoble
und du ly no te d in the (o ptions. The c uther end
pu bhsbers welcom e od drüons ond cor rectio ns to lhis
wo rk, o nd hOlle no doub t such con t.ibutions WIl l be
qu ickly lo.thcomingt
Formation of JG I
By lo te Sp ring 1917 !he ho rd- pre ssed J05/0 pilots on
the British Fro nt ware repeoledly e nco unle .i ng Opposite p ag e: Manfred
numer ico lly superior formotions 01 RFC ai.cra". ln vo n Richth ofen prepares for
response, the Kom mandierende General der a I light in hi s A lbatros 0 .111 at
lufl5tredkriJNe rCommonding Generol 01 the Air Rou court a irfield , {Via H H
Fo rce , or Kogenlufll Ernst von Hoe ppne r begon Wynn e}
concentrating his Ilghter un,ts so lhey (outd meet the
enemy on more equot terms Finolly the lor mo hon 01 Above, Albatros 0.111 fighte rs
Jogdgesdrwoder 1 wosonnounced on June 24 1911 of Jasta 11 at Roucourt
Twa d oys loter lhe unit receiYed its ope.otiQool airfield perhaps in May-
ins!ruetions in 0 telC9rom Irom Kogenlufl which Ju ne 1917. $e vera l ofthese
d e!ineoted its mission with mil,tol)' elllCiency. airc raft seem to have m ostly
'Jagdgeschwader N., 1 compriscs Josto 4. 6, 10 red luselages with some
ond ". Thc Geschwocler ;, 0 self·con/o'ned unil. ot her pe rsonal marking in a
Duty is 10 ollo;n ond moitllo'tl o;r supremocy in c ont ras ti ng co lo ur. Close st
Sedors 01 Ihe front os dlfecled '1 airc ra ft is 0 .62 4 / 17. (Via H H
The Jagdge5chwader would remom immedia!ely Wy n ne)
1

Below, pHots of Jasta 4 pose
in front ct t heir Albatro s D.V
fighters in early Summer
1917.ldentified by t he
numbers mar ked by the
photo are: 1) Vztw Ern st
Clausnitzer, 2) Staffelführer
Ob/t Kurt vo n Döri ng , 3)
vztw Linus Paterm ann, 4)
U n. Bu sso von Alvensleben,
5) Un. Wilhelm Schulze, 6)
(in f ro nt) U n. Hans Klefn,
Vi sible on some of t he
aircraft is the unit marking
of a black 'snaxenne' wo und
in a spiral around th e
fuselage. Also note th e
coloured spinners which
apparently helped faci litate
individ ual recognition j of
interest is t he two-tone
spi nne r on th e far lett. (Via H
J No wa rra )
At foot, a mixed group of
Albatros D.l1I and D.V
figh te rs, reported ly f ro m
Jas ta 4. Thi s photo mu st
p red at e th e adopt io n of th e
black sp ira l 'snakeli ne' u nit
marking , t hough at lea st one
individual colou r sc he me is
ap pa re nt .
2
Sandini Sammlung
scbo rdmcte to the High Commond olt he 4. Armee,
e nd was ic be ba~ed o t 0 ~ing le oirlield os much os
circumslances wauld permit.
I her e was only on e logicol chcke ior Ihe
co mmonder olthis unique fo rmo lio n, Rillmeister
Monlred Freiherr VOf1 Riebtholen was olready the
premiere G ermon fighter cce. renowned on both
sides 01 the Iines. More thon tho t, he hod
demonstroied superb orqcmzcnoncl end leadership
copcbthües es commonder 01 los to Il. Apporently
o~ ~illed ollroining ond mOlivotion os he was ot
cencl hunling, he bcd 100 the Stofle/to ovef 160
victooes in juslover five months by this time. Under
his Ieodership by exumple ond with his coostcm
recruttment of new 'tolent", the orher three uMs onthe
Geschwader would goin high reputations os _11.
ByJuly 2 1917 the loor <:omponent 510lfeln hod
<:or>verged on the oroo known os Morckebeke, '" the
vi<:inily 01 Mmcke just southwest 01 Cocrteoi. Mos! 01
these unüs hod olreody- devised their own unit
morking whidl would rernain in ur.e, thus enobling
ecch loste ta be idenlilied in the air. Geschwader
odiutant Kor! Bodenschatz descnbed the impressive
sight in his history 01 JG I, Jagd in Flanderns H,mmel;
'Once oll af the Stoffeln were ossembled cn
the oir/ield. fweh-e mochines stooä behind
eccn Stoffel leader The ossemb1ed
Geschwader /ooked exuemelv c%ur/ul. The
Stommstollel [core unitL Jasta 11, wi/h which
Richlholen flew. hod Ihe mochines poeved
red; Josto 10 lur.ed) yellow; Jcsic 6 hod zebra
smpes: ond Jo stc 4 bare 0 block soote line
oloog Ihe no/ufOl wood-linished luse/age J . .
Thi~ simple but essentiol descriplion provides the
nudeus lor much 01 whot is known of the markings 01
JG I.
I Richthofen Red'
The red colou r ossocio ted with Jos to 11 or iginoted in
its fom au ~ u~e by Ric htholen , Soon after he had
token co mmo nd 01 the unit he selected this hue to
ide rltily his Albat ros 0 .111, while ot he r Sio ffel pilots
e mployed a vorie ty 01 co lo ured mor kings fo r the ir
a wn mo chines, The lun<:tio n of these deco ra lions wa s
e minent ly pro ctico l: to e nab le pilat s to reco y nize
e och o the r in the ai r, on d to la cilitale conl irma tion 01
2 3 4 5
victory clclms by observers on the g round ond in the
air. Rkhtholeo's cboke o! red no doubt ste nvn ed
lrom its high visibility end it was also the reg imen to l
colcor 01 his old unit, Uhlonen-Reg'menl "Kaiser
Alexonder 111. von Russland (weslpreussiehes)' Nr.l.
Accordoq to 0 post -war occount by his brother
lothar, Monl red f1ew on Alba tros 0.111 decorcted with
o 'red bond oround the luseloge" lor a while, which
was laler ho nded down to Lothe r upon his arrival er
Iosto 11. Howev e r, Mon frOO von pjehtholen made
moch more notcble use 01 oflOlher D.1I1 [possibly two]
decorcted with on enlirely red luselcqe, toil uni!.
struts ond lobric wheel cosers. The employment 01
such heroldry by the pnors 01 )oslo 11 no doobt
lostered a cerloin ccobdence ond espril de coros.
The Baron Richlholen. . _....os Olieroging 0 vKiory
o da)' in A;xil. _opporen/Iy there's onolher
R/Chlholen also pf/ing up vidories in the CimJs, os _
coillheo' squodron, becaase Ihey're oll so 9O;/y
cofoured, ond also becocse lhey seem 10 move up
ond down 10e whoJe Irant inslead 01being ned 10
Olle sec/or. He on RFC squodron. 'J
U. (Ia te r Air Vice Mors hol ) Arthur Gould Le e ,
p ilo t 01 N o . 46 Sq u o d ron. RFC. in N o
Po 'Ochute .
Intentionollyor nol. it also promotOO the mevneble
'knights 01 the rnr" metaphor whidl was alreody
goining populority. On April 12 1917 Germon
journalist !to'. Dr. Geo<g Wegener....os preseo! 01
the airfield 01 Joslo 11 ond recordOO this evocalive
impression 01 its line-up cf striking oircroh:
hom 0 distonce Ihey loo ked He irideseenl
giont insecls, "~e 0 swarm of goily-coloured
buller/lies wilh their wings spreod out ... The
principle ollool<ing os much 0 5 passible "ke
the co/our ollhe sky was entirely obondoned.
"In\'isibj/ityco nnot be o(hie~ed.' il was
explo'ned to me, -but one dolOS indeed run
the r'sl< 01 a mix-up Ibetwee n) e ne rny ond
friendlyaeroplanes , These different morkings
on the luselages are deorly visible in Ihe a'r;
land) Olle rec091lizeS them d urin9 combo l
ond co n oss ist 10 co mrodel. '
'For this reoson evef)' pl/ot hos his personal

mochine, in whochhe o/WlJ)IS flies. . giving .., 0
~pecio/ morking thaI eoables bis convodes so
keep him in sighl durmg combot ond 10know 01
0/1 time~ who cantrols the mochioe. One
mochine hos while or red 0' some other
c%ured sl,ipes, onolher corries them
diogonolly or longiludinol/y, etc. From
Richtho/en's eses shine the pride of the wor-or
knight, whose shield ond helmel omomenl ore
known ond teered by the Opponenl ' I moke
suee lhal my flight sees me whe'ever / om. '6
As Richlholen's slring 01 viClorieSgrew, so did the
apprehension 01 his pilolS. Interrogotions 01 coplured
oirmen estcblebed rhot his red Albatros was weil
lmown cod respecred by the opposing RfC unils,
end tbere was recl concern lhal this might leod 10
same sort 01 ambush being Ioid. lherelore, os lother
von Richlholen le-er wecie :
.. 11 had /ong beeil 0tJ, wish 10 hove oll
aeroplanes of 00' Stollel pomted red ond we
impkxed my broIher to ollow il SO he would noI
be so especiolly canspKuous. The recuesr was
granted; for we had shown OtJrseives to be
worthy oIlhe red colour by our mony oeooi
victooes; The red coloor sigml.ed 0 certoin
insalence. . /1 anrocted ollenlion.
Cansequently, ane reolly hod 10 perkxm.
ftoudly we finolly tooeea at 0tJ, red birds. My
brothe"s croee WlJS g/o,ing red, Eexh of the ,est
01 us hod some addilionol mo,kings in oIher
c%urs we cbose Ihese colovrs 05
recognilion symbols . Schäler, lor example, hod
his elevator; ,udder and mosl of the bad porl
the luse/age bloct Allmen,ooe, used while,
0'
Wolff used green ond I hod yel/ow. As a ycllow
drogooneer, Ihal wos Ihe oppoinled colou' 10'
me . we oll loo (ed to be red, 05 on/y smoll
othe' po,ls we,e pointed in onotller
c%ur.' .
l Olhors descr iption is understondobly
simplified. ln May 1917 !he red po int wa s rore ly
opp lied 10 the wing s 01rhese o ircrah , Iho se
cOmpone rlls re maini rlg in the ir 10Clo ry finish. In the
ca se 01 Un . Allme nröde r, his pe rso nn l white co lour
wo s Orl lhe na se a rld e leva tor o nly, a rld !he re we re
ma ny vo rioliOrls o n this Ihem e o n o the r Alba lros
fig hle rs ol lhis urliI. Re d .p;gm e nle d po int \NO S sca rce
irl blod ad ed G er many , so it wa s Ire q ue rllly thinned
down in Ihe inle re st 01 economy, In ) 0 510 1I this
colou r was o ften applied ove r lhe na tion a l insignio
on lhe luseloge ond toi!. yel lhe se markings
rema ined visible lhro ug h the translucent overpa inl
10 same degree. This basic )0510 11 mor king
policy was still in ellect whcn )ogdgeschwader I was
lormed.
Sandini Sammlung
Geschwader Markings
As Geschwader commonder, Rkhtholen gave 0
good deal Oll houghl 10 Ihe role aircroft mor kings
pluv ed in the coeea mcioieococe o! lorge IQfmo lio n
lIights.ln an 'Air Combo! Operalrons Monual"
cornpleted shortly before his deu th, he Wfole:
'So lhot jhe SlaUeln da not come logelher in
disorder, I1 i$ odvisoble Ihol eoch StoUel have
ils O\vn emblem mo,king. The Kommondecr's
olrcrafJ musl be \'ffY conspicUOU$1y pointed,
Wilhin Ihe Stoffel oocb [pilol) bas 0 special
di$tinguishing emblem an his moehine, besl
topphedl on Ihe rea, port oIlhe loil obove
ond beIow. ' ~
Richlholen did indeed somerimes lIy very
ccosococos oeroplooes os the leeder 01 mosseJ
formations, 000 mony pilots in lhe Geschwader did
mcke use of coloc-ed, sfriped 0' chequered loils 10'
indMduol idenhficohQn.
As siered by Bodenscholl, rhe oeroplcnes 01
)0510 4 bore a unil morking 01 0 blocl: ribbon or
.Bul no sooner hod Ihe octoo $igflQl been given lhon
we _re pounced an from cboce by "OriatJs types 01
Hun mcxhine5 numberlng obout twenty / eould tell
lrom Ihe red undercorriages Ihallhey ware members
0' Richlhofen's Circus e>'eTlluolly I monoged 10
gel 0 gaod bursj inlo 0 mochine Ihot WO$ pomed
with black ond wh,te squo,es . I wos ;u$t getlmg
inlO position 10 Iry my lud w,lh Ihe oll,ed machine Be low, in Septem ber Jasta
which I p,esume wos Richlhofen's, bot the ba,on got 10 rec ei ved its f irst
me belo,e Igol him. ' . exa mp les ot the new Pfatz
2/ Lt. H J Sp a rks, Br lSlol F.2B g un ner In No . 0 .111 fig hters,w hic h we re
62 Squodron, RFC, o ne o f Ih e cre w o f o pe rated along w it h
Richlhofe n ' s 62 nd vlctory. Albatros type s and Werner
Voss's Fokker F.11 03 / 17
w hich had arrived by Aug ust
'Srla ke lirle' du ,ing Summ e , 19 17. l his ribbon 0 ' slr ipe 28. Th is ai rfield v iew shows,
was wrapp e d around the luselages 01 lhe Albol ro s t ro m lett: U n. Gus tav
fig hte rs in a spiral f,o m nose 10 toil, lh e la il unils Bell en 's dark-camoutlaged
lusua lly o long with Ihe oir screw sp inners) wa re Pfal z D.lll w it h w hite b and
gene ral ly poinle d in 0 p ilol'S id ",,,tifying co lour, backing the tu sel ag e
tho ugh 0 fe w p ilols od ded per so na l inilio ls o r in si gnia; an Albatros D.lII
e mble ms on the fuselo ge be lwe e n lhe sp ira l slripes, (Na.'12' on th e no se) marked
As time we ni o n o nd rep lacem en t a ircra ft o rrived , w it h a horizontal w hite band
Ihere wa s so me var ia tio n in the widlh ond w hic h exte nd ed trom the
o pplico!iorl o f the blo ck stripe , bu t il rem oined in use nose to a vert ical w hite
!hro ug h Ap ril 1918. The streamli ned luse la g e s 01 ba nd at th e cock p it i
Alba tro s D.1I 110AW), D.vo, Plalz D,1I1 ond Di lla Iypes Burgg all er's 0.111 (No .'7 ')
oll bo re the sp iral slripes al o ne lime or onol her w it h t he w hit e bar and
)0510 6 o ;rcrah we re marked with brood blod decorat ed w heetsi an
ond while chordwise slripes on both svrfoces ollhe u nmarked aluminium Pfalz
toilplone and elevalar; Ihis remained lhe basic unil 0.111 - it s partiall y legible
insignio thraughou l the war. These 'zebra slripes' lirst seri al rea d s 137-/17.
3

Ab ove, t he Rittm eister
c1im bs into hi s red -
l use laged Albatros 0 .111. The
ce nt ra lly- Iocat ed radi ato r
ma rks th is as earl ier t ha n
0 .2200/ 16 att ho ug h its t ru e
serial is unknow n_Also note
bull et hol e (1) patc h and
t hi nly-overpainte d fu sel ag e
cross. (Via H H Wynne)
Above , Rittme ister Ma nfred
vo n Ric ht hofen (i n one 01a
se ries 01posed pub licit y
pho tos ) s it s w it h a Fo kke r
Or.l, w hic h ap pea rs to be in
l actory f inis h (exc ept
perhap s for a red nase?).
Note ma nulactu rer's pl ate
o n th e cowli ng; w heels,
w ing s and fu selage are in
l ac lo ry f inish.
4
Sandini Sammlung
opoeored o n Alba tro s 0 .111 mo chine s ot this Sloffel.
p<obobly in lote Sommer 191711 is evidenl from
phosos thct some Josla 6 Albotros D,lII and O.v
types bare similar smces On Ihe undeeside 01 Iheir
lower wings . evidenlly 10 055ure identihcolion from
below Since the unil mo rkings preduded lhe use 01
Ihe 'o ils lar personal colcces, rhe se were msrecd
comed on the fuseloges. Some 0 ,111 aircrolt ol lhis
loste oppear 10 hove had tbe entne luseloge
ceerpoeued lar lhis perpese. However, simple
colonred bonds crcund the fuseloge between the
codpil ond Ihe iron cross insignio _re in more
qenercl use on Albctros OVond succeedmq types.
The well·known chrom e yellow noses ollasta 10
(which oppear quite dcr k On onhcctscmcnc film
when tbrs wa s used] wer e drsploved on both Alba lros
0. 11 1e nd OV bqhrers in Summe r end Autumn 1917
Wh, le Ihe unil colour was occosto nollv a lso co rried
o n the lunri c wheel co ve rs and / or s!ruls, this procnce
wa s no t widesp reod o t this firne. Per sono l ernblems
wc re usuot ly see n on the luselc qe in while und ctber
ccloo-s. u nd so me use wa s ma de 01cclou red to ils o s
weil. In odd ition, 0 system o l numbe ring eoc h
mochoe wilh 0 smoll bleck dig il belcw the cent-e
Slruts wos in e iiect lo r 0 time. The lo milio r bne up
p hoto 01 .knto 10 Pfa lz 0 .111 oecrcft circa December
1917 illuslroles the q eneml usa 01chrome yellow on
oll no se s. struts, ond wheel cover s by lhot time,
Persoocl symbols were painted in dork cclours on
Ihe silbergrau Plclz luseloges. ond 0 \/Oflety 01
smped ond ccl oceed loils 'MIS in use . This unil hod 10
cor'Yon WllhA1balros OVa ond Plob 0 ,1110 types
untillhe om.ent of Ihe Fokke<OVII in laIe April 1918.
In Josta 11. the red morlcings 01 the Slollel_re
being opplied in 0 standardized lorm by lole
Sommer 1917 Albatros OV lighlers were painled red
on Iheir slruls, wheel covers, ond on Ihe nose back 10
Ihe looding edge 01 the cockpit. As specilied by \/On
Richtholen, individual colours were generally po,nled
on Ihe lo il se<tions, Ihou g h some pilols added lurther
morkings to the fuselog e s. Former las lo 11 pilot
Ha ns Georg \IO n der O sTen re co lle d
'AII o ur ma chines . o f Ja stu 11 110d red
co loured mo/kings on Iln! lrolll o f Ihe
aeroplane . . . The individuol morking,1 were
unique; euch pilol hoving 0 special a ne I
amnol recoll much obaul Ihe.<e morhngs, I
con'l remember e,"Cn my awn insigniu,
Somelimes it hoppened Ihol }'Our OWn plane
wos kopuu ond yotJ took ano/her 'plane wilh
ono/her insignia on i'. You /old /he 01f!er5,
°Today my bird hos such und suc:h morhngs ~,
und yotJ look oH . . . A/ firsl 01 Jo sra " _
olwoys had IWO 'planes eoch . ollho/time _
had Alba/r05 0.111 and 0 V mochines.'
Von de< Oslen [who joined Josto 11 on Augusr 19
1917) broughl up 0 ve'Y importon' poinl : The
attnbu/ion 01 0 particular oircrofllO 0 speedic pilot
should be treuled wilh coulion. IPublishe rs'
emphosis.) While it is lrue thaI mony 0 pilol inilioted 0
speciol morking on On aeroplone he co nside re d 'his'
own, il is just os true lhollhe Fronl-line condi!ions 01
supply, repair, and tronsler 01 personnelohen
resulted in Ihe use 01on aeroplane by severol
differenl pilols. Richlho le n himseIlllew 0 wide \IOriety
01differen t Alba tros ond fokker OLl lighlers.
The Triplanes
The ollow tio n o f the fokk er Dr.I to l ugd5lolfeln 11, 6,
a nd e ventuo lly 4, necessilole d so rne evolu tion ol lhe
respec live unit marking s. The incre o sing use o f
mossed Geschwoder fli ghls also wa rronted Ihe use
01 ma rkings tho t wauld foti! itote identi lico iion Irom
aheod In 105/0 11 the engine cowlings were usuolly
red hhough severcl examples 01 unil mpt one s wirhout
this mor krng exist) ond this colou r wos ölten - but
not olwoys - painted on the wing slruls,
undercorrioge, cenue slruls ond wheel Co\lefS, The
use 01complete .10510 11 decor on ollthese
compooenls seems 10 bcve increased es the sef"Vl(e
01lhe triplOne5 Ieng lhened. Personal colours were
slill ccmed on Ihe 10ilplones ond eIevotors fo nd ollen
Ihe luselogel. these lrequen lly being based on Ihe
coicors ctthe püot's old regimen!.
The bleck ond while striped 10ils01 105/0 6
triplones ~re o pporently supplemenred by bleck
cowlings llhough il is ddhcultic discern the ddleeeoce
between toc 'ory-linish ohve-brown ond red, block or
yellow cowlings in penod p holOsl. Colocred luselog e
ba nds remomed 0 populo r for m 01 perso no l
ident ifica tion in Ihis uni!.
The mc st sig nificont cho nge s in mark ings occcned
in loslu 4, which received its tripiones somcwhal
beloledly in lo te April 1918,Smce fhe block spira l
ba nd mo,king co uld not be procncoltv ettecte d o n
fhe DLI. il wo s re ploc:ed bv o n unknown, very po le
colou r co the whe e ls, srruts a nd cow lings . " If one
believes 0 somewhot crcumspect Allied inlellig e nce
report. lhis colour moy hcve been sky blue, us sky
blue 10 ilplo nes ore descnbed os the unil morkings 01
10510 4 in lhiS repart This remoins ro be conli rmed,
h~,
Ente, the D.VII
Rittmeisler von Richthofen never hod lhe opportunily
10 lIy whol is ohen considered Ihe 'MIrs linesllighle<
in Combol. Wirhin 0 tew weeks olter his dealh on
April21 1918, SUlflCienl numbers ollhe fakker OVII
hod orrived lor 105to 10 '0 reploce Iheir obsolele
P10lz 0. 1110 ond Albalros OVa mochines. Graduol
replocemenl 01 lhe Fo kke r rriplo ne s to llowed
throughout the Geschwader, which hod been
designa ted Jogdgeschwoder freiherr von f?ichlho fen
Nr. I m 01 Moy 20 1918 .1t was now und e r the
(o mmo nd 01 Houp/m onn Wilhe lm Reinhord . O n
June 22 the unil re ceived 2 2 examples ollhe DV II
equ ipp "u with Ihe es limabl e BMW 11 10 e ng ine,
enob Hng losla 11 Istill the Slommslaffel, or co re unitl
to be lully e q uip pe d with this varion!. One 01 these
wa s DVII F29.J118 , wh ich o n July 18 wa s flown by the
o ffice r who ho d been given co mmon d 01 JG I
lollow;ng the dooth o f Reinhard On Ihe 3rd 01 tha t
mon rh: Ober/eulnonl Hermonn Göring.
Equipped wilh lhe superb O.VII,Ihe GeKhwoder
pilots continued 10 e~hibit high standards 01 skill ond
morale during 1918 's Summer, Traditions in morkings
_re moinloined 05 _11. The custom 01 pointing
noses ond ouler wheel CO\lefs (and somehmes slruls t
red in Josto 11 'MIS relo,ne<!, wilh personol morkings
egoin displ~ on Ihe loil surloces ond luseloges,
for emmple, Goring 's OVIl f294f18 hod 0 red
lorwa rd luseloge with 0 yellow loil; the 10ller hos
imriled suggeshon lho l this oircraft -:.s in Iod
prepared lor lolhar von Ri<:hlholen - yeflow being
his personol colour, Un. Schul1e·Frohlinde o llasta 11
reportedly displayed Ihe silhouene 01 0 ship on the
fuseloge 01 his fok ~er, while lhe sky blue ond orange
markings 01 Vzlw. Gobriel"s aircra h are we il know n.
The Irodilio nal bloc~ ond while stripes 01 laslo 6
were o pphed nOI o nly o n the DVII tails but o n the ir
no ses {]nu o uter whe e l co vers 0 5 weil, wh ile person al
il"lsign in 01vuriou s kind s were d isployed on Ihe
fusela g es, Silllilor mark ing s were universa lly in
evide nce on the Fokker EV monop lanes b riefly
ope roted by loslo 6, desp ite their short pe r,o d 01
service. The DV lls 01 loslo 10 exhibiled the
cuslamary chrome yellow noses and, generally, outer

wheel covers and struts mov also bc ve been mo rked
in this shade. laste 4 reverted 10 Ihe uw 0/ bloc k oS
o unit colcor. this also being opplied 10 lhe oircroh
no se s ond outer wheel covers. Pltors in Jagds'a((eln
4 ond 10 continued 10 mar k the i. personal colows on
loilplones ond elevalors. but mare use was also
mode 01 heraldic or other pictcncl symbols on the
Ioseloqe sdes os weil.
Severol5l0lfelleoders oppcreotlv chose 10 exteed
Ihe eolourls) oIlhei. oott to 0 major pOf1ion 01the ir
oiruolr 10 eobcnce idenl,licotion. l he locllhot 10$10
10 5IalfelfiJh.er Erich loewenhordillew 0 'yellow
Fecker" is weil cnesred 10 by severol ccraemporurv
cccooots. bul preciwly how mueh oiihe oirerolt wos
'The German oees, par1iculorly Rich/hofen 's Flying
Cncus. which WQS lhen under ,he commond of
Hermann Göring . . hod poeved ,heir planes in a
horrible MoCy. wilh sJ:.ul/s ond ccssöooes ond hideovs
coloars. to in!imide/e 'he AI/led Hiers ' r.'
LI. Ra /ph A O 'Neill . pil o t of the 147th Aero
Sq uodro n . USAS.
overpainted yellow is cerecerded hhe cothcr ond
publishers bcve icded 10 joccre 0 decr photo 01 this
machine Ihus lor). Lothor von Riehlholen descnbed
the 1051 D.YII he lIew when losta 11 commcnoer es 0
'red bnd', but ogain pre<ise deicsls are unknown.
Both Lln. Hans Kirschstein ond tm Ulrieh Neckelled
losto 6 in O.YlIs marked with oblique bleck ond
white slripes the length olthe Iuselcqe. this was os
much to d.srupt on opponent's oim os il wes 0
lecder's mork ing. Ernst Ude t went somewhol beyond
the mo rkmqs 01 loste 4 when he cbose 10 IIVa red -
luselaged OVII, and the oll-whrte Fokker D.VII f 51251
18 fl ow n by Geschwader Kommandeur Göri ng ls
well-kno wn - 0 ccosotcooos ai ruaft indeed
Bv their c wn oecounting, the OIen o!
J(1gd ge schwoder I ho d closned 6<1 -l ene mv
Sandini Sammlung
ai ferolt by the wa r's end, bul a t 0 hec vv cosr: 56
pilots and si~ graund uewmen killed, and 52 pilots
and seve n ground erewmen wounded. As la scino ting
os the colourlvl airera ft in these pages are. it shovld
nOI be lo rgo lte n thctthev were f10wn by young men
engoged in the bru tal und tra g ie business 01 war.
Perhaps the best perspective on Ihis subiec l was tha t
otlered by the lote G isbert Wilhelm Groos, 0 vetercn
01 logds!olfel 11. When mterviewed by hislorion
He;ru J Noworro in 1960, Groas reponed thot he
had been besieged by leuers Irom Americon oviotioo
enthusiasts:
'Wnot ccn I/eil/hem? They oll osk /he same
qoesnons I eonnoi/eil/hem oll the things
/hf.!)' wish /0 know on squodron morl:ings. 1
doa'r remember such things , \oYhot I
remember is the tote 01 my comrocJes, noI
'planes ond morhngs. 0
SOURCES
I. lewis. Sag,norius Rising. 119B31. pc . 144·\45,
2. Ocored in Noworro ond Brown, von
!lieh/holen ond the Flyi"9 Cecos, (196<11, p. 65.
3. Ocoted in Kildufl, Rieh/hoIen: 8eyond the
legend ol the Red Baron, 11994), Choptee 9, p.
131.
4.lbid .. Chopte, 6, p. BI
5. Lee, No Fbrochute, 119 711, p . <1 4
6. KilduH, Chopter 7. p. 93.
llbid., (hopter 5, p. 69
8.lbid., Appendu, po. 232 000 235.
9. O uo re d in Gibbons, The Red Knigh/ 01
Germony, (1991), p. 32 <1
10. Oslen jZochcrics, ed.) Memo'rs 0' World
War Iwilh 1ogds'affeln 11 and 4, 11974), p. 221.
11. Imrie, The FoHer Triplane, (1992), p. 123,
12. Shirley, Ed.. An In/ervjew wllh Ralp l, ONeill,
1987, p. 324.
13. Groos INaworra, ed.], Reminiscenccs of
Josto 11,119601. p. 60.
Lett, a fam iliar view 01 J as ta
11 commander l oth ar von
Rich t hofen in a Fok ker Dr.l.
This may have bee n a Jasta
6 aircraft,judging f rom the
rectangular access panel on
tne nase w hic h
characterized triplanes trom
that uniL Note the
asymmetrical ailerons, in
locations opposite to those
see n on 144/17. Little else
than standard tactory linish
is v is ib le on this aircralL
j
 Sandini Sammlung

JASTA4
1. Fou r Vizefe ldwebef co m rades 01

t
J G 1 pose w it h a Jasta 4 Al b atro s D.V.
From fett : Fri tz Krebs, Jasta 6 (8
victo ries ); Linus Patermann, Jasta 4, (2
vict ories); Carl Holl er, Jasta 6 (3 :-:\
victories); Ernst Cla usnilzer, Jasta 4 (3 . 'r
victories ). Pate rmann would be k illed
in action on J uty 12 19 17, and only fo ur
da ys later Cla us nitzer was taken POW
and K re bs was killed (poss ib ly by LI. G
H Bo wman ot No. 56 Squadronj. Ho ll er
survived 10 w rite hi s memoirs 01t he
wa r, Als Sänger-Flieger im Weltkriege
under t he pseudonym of Nie ls
S ömsen

2. Unit marking s are c1earl y in

ev id ence in t hi s D.V line-up, Summer
/ 1917. Jasta 4 lead er von Dö ring is
sho wn wit h his three dog s, 'Vic ke rs',
'Spad', and 'Nieuport'. ln th e rig ht
foreground ts Hans Kl ein w ho wo uld
leave Jasta 4 to co mmand Jasta 10.
The spinne r and tau of each D.V w as
apparently painted a c olour or
c om binat io n of ccro urs w hic h se rve d
as perso nal insignia. Wit h a Iimit ed
c ho ice of c o lo urs ava ilable t o a Fron t-
Une unit, tt seems log ic al to assume
that on e D.V in thi s g ro up had a blue
tat l and spinner, as sho wn on
pag e 10 .
.&2 "'3
3. Vzfw. Ern st Clausnitzer w as
bro ught down and m ade POW in D.V
0.1162 / 17 on J uly 16 1918 as he was
attacking a ba lloon SE of Pop eringhe.
He w as cred ited 10 Second Lieutena nt
Langslan d 01 NO.23 Sq uadron RFC.
The D.V was g ive n the Bri t ish capt ure
nu mber G.S6 and underwent exte nsive
tes t ing and evaluation. This v iew
prov ides a good look at t he green and
mauve camouflage on t he to p w ing
and the Jasta 4 unit marking . The tau
was reported ly pa inted, ' d irty yellow'
and the spi nner, ' br ig h t yellow', t his
be ing the p ilot 's personal co lo ur. A
detailed d iscus sion ot t he hi sto ry a nd
markings ot t his a ircraft, appeared in
t he we ll-illustrate d artic le by Stuart
Lesfie and Mi c k Davi s in Cross &
Cockade Intern ational, Vo1.20, No.4
1989.

Fig. 1. The Albatros o .v flown by Vzfw'.

Ernst Clausnitzer (0 .1 162/17) has been
weil reco rded but rarely is the
starboard aspect luust rateo as here
with t he fo rm of btac k tusetaqe wo und
stripe emp loyed by Jasta 4 in
Summer 1917. Orig inal factory fin ish
as per colour Plate 1 with the tail unit
painte d a dirty yeuow and a 'bright
yellow' spinner.

•

4. This NPG postcard of Un. Kurt
Wusthoff indicated he wa s a pilot of
ri sing reputation by Augu st ·
Septembe r 1917. His Albatro s
O.III{OAW) bore the usual b lack spiral
ribbon unit marking, t hough it appears
a bit wider than that applied to the
eerner O.V fighters. Wu sthoff learned
to Ily when only 17; after joining
J as ta 4 in June 1917 he sc ored rapid ly,
be coming one 01 the younge st
winners 01 t he Pour Je M erite on
No vember 22. He wa s gi ven command
of Jasta 4 ln ea rly 1918.
..
6. Wüs t ho ff dow ned So pwit h Tripl an e
N54 29 on Se pte mber 13 19 17 for his
15th victo ry (his 8t h in 11 days)j th e
pilot, FSL J R Wilford, was ta ke n
prisone r. Of inter est Is th e unique
decorat ion app lied to th e sp inne r of
th e O.lIl(OAW).ln t his photo and
ot he rs , t he spiral r ibbon unit
~7
• Sandini Sammlung
\ I
..
marking may not appear to be black in
comparison with the tone of t he
na tional insig nia . Th is is no doubt due
to the transfucence 01 the thinned-
down paint used in the fie ld , of poorer
q ua lity and tow er inten sity than th at
used to apply nat ional ma rk ings at t he
lac to ry. Conte mporary refer en c e an d
rec ord s alt re fe r to t ne sp ira l ribbo n as
bfaek.
7. A m echani c poses proudly w it h
w ha t is probably Wüs t hoff's
O.lIl(OAW). An oth er ph ot o ot Wüsthoff,
unavailable tcr pubucaucn. d epic ts
him in Iront of an Al batros w it h a
s pinner d ec orated in ju st such a
fashion.lt ls believed t he co lo urs we re
black and w hite.
TB
5. Ca reful exa minat io n of th e
plywood grain pa ttern eonfirm s th at
t his is the sam e O.III (OAW) as in t he
Wü st hoff p hoto at lett. Th e rudd e r wa s
probab ly w hite, w it h t he rest of the ta il
painted a dark co lo ur, p erhaps bleck,
It ls t hought that the sp inner was
painted w hit e and black as w eil , and
ev en the w heel covers may have been
d ecorated. Th e rounded rudder, th e
forward position of the fuselage cro ss,
and t he pattern of green and ma uve
ca m ouftag e on the low er w lng all
serv e to id ent ify thi s as an OAW-built
0.111 . (Via Stuart Lesfie)
8. Ja sta 4 received so me 01 the Pfalz
0.111 lighter s from the l irst produe t ion
batch w hieh w ere se nt to JG I in early
Autumn 1917. 0 .111 1396/ 17 was pilot ed
by ObI!. Oskar Freih er r vo n Boenig k
and st rik ing ly d isplays the b laek sp iral
unit ma rk ing. Th e co tour and
s ig nil ic ance 01 th e d ark-painte d
portion of th e low er w ing is unknown,
as are t he details of an y per sonal
colours used by vo n Boenigk on thi s
atrcratt. A Silesian nobleman li ke t he
vo n Riehthof en s, von Bo enigk had
served in Grenadier-Rg t. N r. 11, ' König
Frie drich 111', beto re t ransferring to
avlat icn. He re c eived his f irst live
victo ries in J asta 4 before lea vi ng in
rat e Oct obe r 1917 to com m and Jasta
2 1.
•
 Sandini Sammlung

9. Examples 01 the Pfalz O.lII a

reached Jasta 4 circa Oecember 1917.
The aircraft seen here b ore personal
markings ot (presumably) black
stripes on the lin and tailplane. The
pilot may ha ve been Ltn. von -- -=
Barnekow, butthis is un confirmed .
This aeroplane has hitherto been
depicted w it h broad band s ap plie d
spa nw ise to the tailplane, but elose
examination of th e ph ot o suggests
that it more likel y w as dec or ated w it h
c ho rdwise blaek st rlp es . Thi s
interpretation, m ore in c harac te r w it h
t he markings on th e fin, Is tentati vely
iIIu strat ed on page 10. Th e upper
surtace ot t he tc wer w ing appears to
be a dark c ctour (1), but thi s is
probabl y due to th e differing reue cnve
qu alities ot tne w ing and fu sel age.

10. Un. Raven Freiherr vo n

Barne kow is assiste d w it h h is fl ying kit
as he s its o n hi s Pfal z O.llla. Note th e
42 --/ 17 seria l vis ib le o n thi s Pfatz,
pa rt ia lly o bsc ured by th e unit marking.
Aga in, the rower w ing a ppears dar ker
t han t he silbergra u fu sel ag e, but this
is Jik ely due to an optical ettect,
Freiherr vo n Barnekow, recall ed Ha ns-
Geo rg von d er Ost en , eame from, 'a
very well-to- do famify and was an
unbelievably spoifed young m an '. Vo n
Barnekow survived t he w ar w it h 11
viet ories and served in th e Luftwaffe in
WWII; he was so affected by Ud et's
suicide th at he took his own nte.

Fig . 2. Represen t at ion ot a 'typieal' Pfalz

0 .111 of Jas ta 4 in lat e 19 17/ early 1918. As
w it h t he A lbatros ty pes, person al
m arkings were ap paren tl y mad e up of
differently coloured o r marked tall

4f ''' eu rraces: f or exa m ple , vo n Boen igk ma y

have us ed lemon-yello w, a eo lou r
assoeiate d w it h hi s old grenadi er
regiment. Per sonal c otours or marking s
m ayaiso have been pain t ed on the
sp inne rs oreven th e upper surtaces of
t he w ings as we il.

Tl1

11. Thi s Jasta 4 Albatros D.Va w as

ph otog raphed in very late 1917 or ea rly
1918; t he unit operated the O.Va in
eo neert w it h the Pfal z O.llla we il into
A pril 1918. Th e Staffel marking ap pli ed
in thi s period was t hieker t han that
used on the A lbat ros O.Vthe pr evi cu s
Summe r, and th e s pira l band was
w ra ppe d so t hat fi ve di st in ct 'st r ipes'
appeared on th e starboard side
instead of lour. The pil ot's perso nal
insi g nia in t his ease was a dark-
bordered , Iigh t- eol ou red tat! a nd a
very pa le [w hlte 1) sp inner. Nota ble is
the un ique way in w hich th e blaek
sp iral ba nd was sw ite he d to a w hite
band against t he dark me ta! eowling
panel.

S
 Sandini Sammlung

Fig . 3. Intend ed to show t he form 01

u nit marking em ployed o n Alb atros
D.Va ty pe s in Winter 1917- 1918. Based
c los ely on Ph ofo 11. See als o Cross &
Cockade USA, Vo l.15, No.3 , page 223.
Th e c hange Irom a bl ack band to a
w hite ban d on th e cow li ng pan els was
not typ ical . TaU and sp inner cere ure
we re pe rsonal mark ing s, as on t he
ea rlie r D.V types.

12. On A pril 20 1918 Jasta 4 was

equi pped w ith th e Fo kker Or.l; Un.
Krü ger is seen here with his t ripla ne at
Cappy in May. The black spiral band of
t he Albatros and Pfalz ae roplanes
from this umt wa s hard ly practical o n
th e s ho rt, rectangular box st ru ct ured
Or.l tc setaa es. Therefore, th e unit
marking wa s cha nged to an 'ctt-wnne'
col ou r of u nkn ow n hue a pplied to t he
cowli ng, st ru t s, and wneer c cvere.
Alli ed intelligenc e rep orts (w hich, it is
emphasized , are ofte n sus pect )
indicate t hat at o ne ti me mac hi nes 01
Jasta 4 had, 's ky blue tai/plan es'./f
t his was t ru e, th en it is likely tnat th e
lig ht c olou r used o n t he ot he r
comp on ents m enti on ed above was a
pale btu e as weil. Per so nal insignia
we re ap pa rently marked on t he
fus elag e between t he cockpi t and t he
na t io nal m arking s.

13. Sfaffe l füh rer Ern st Ud et poses

w it h his triplane (Iormerly th e machin e
of Ltn . Kirsch st ein 0 1 Jasta 6) at
Beug neux-C ra moise lle airfield in June
1918. Or.l 586/17 retained it s elabo rate
c otc u r schem e er b lack and w hite
st ripes, to w hic h Udet added hi s usu al
' LO !' in si gnia, probably in red - see
c olou r p late on page 11. The ot he r
J asta 4 member s are, f ro m fett,
Leutnan t s Julius Ben der, Egon
Ko eps c h, Karl M eyer and Heinrich
Drekm an n. The c ross on th e
u nd erside 0 1 t he tower wing of Ud et's
Or.l ap pea rs to ha ve bee n attered f rom
it s ee ruer tun-bordered l orm, most
Iikely in a n att em pt t o confo rm w it h t he
Kog enluft order of May 13.

14. Un. Udet I lew anot he r Dr.I,

ap parently 593 / 17, in mid- J une 1918.
The small 'Lor d ra win g seen her e was
a 'thumbnail sketch' lor t he un tt
painter to work tr om as he ap plied it in
larg er form t o t he ett l use lage. 'LO '
was, of co urse, the nic k nam e 01 Ud et 's
fiancee (whose ruu name wa s
Eleo no re Zink accord ing to Ud et
biographe r A rmand va n Ishoven). Udet
t hought ofthe ' LO !' m ar k ing as a
good-Iuck ta lisman and it ap pea red o n
aü his aircraft from 1917 o n. Th is Dr.l is
al so repo rt ed to have borne a chevron
on t he taf tplane in common with ot her
mac hines fl ow n by Udet.
 Sandini Sammlung

\(
~/- ...,
1&-,L- ~
Plat e 1) Alb at ros D.V, 8&rla l " um ber and pil ot un kn own , 19 17.
Based cros ery o n Cla u sni tze r's 1162 / 17 (see page 6 ) thi s 1I a Iypical Jas ta " Albatros D.V
w il h t he un il's b lac k spi ral lu sel age ma rk ing . Pil o!' s soec creuve p erso nal c ero c r blua is
appl ied 10 sp inne r .m d la il sec ti on; p la in bla ck erc ss es u nd er low e r w ings.

--
t:i
Pi s t e 2 A) Typical Albatro s
(OAW) 0 .111 upper wing
carn ou llag e pattam 01d ar k
gree n 8nd mau ve seg-
~ lillI!!!!
Pl ate
upper
•1A)
wing
Specu lative
camo uflage
pattern 01 dark g ree n a nd
ments - tower surlacas mauve segments; lower
are pal e blu e. wing patt em unkno wn -
Pla te 2} Alb atro s n.nt COAWj. sa r lal n u m b e r unkn o w n, U n . Kurt Wu st hoff, 191 7. lowe r surla ce s are pale
The likely cotc uea ol lhis machi ne are here deplcte d - see photoe on page 7. In addi tion blu e.
to Ihe unil marki ng,the l ail surtaces and wheel ccve rs are a dark co lour {shown ae black}
and the spin ner halved in bla ck and white wi th white rudder; the etevator appear sto be
white bu t this is not certaln. White outli ned crceeea unde r lowe r wi ngs.

t1
-~ + .

Plare 3)Pfalz O.lIl a, se r lal number and pil ot unknow n, 1918 .

Finished typ ically cveren in Silbergrau this Jasta 4 O.lIla baars the unit's spi ral btac k
markings and per scn erteü slripes. The serial num ber ts nol known but 42.. is visi ble on
available photograph s - see page 8. The taüplane is apperently painted in chordwise
bl ack stripes on bolh 'ur/aces [ see sketch on page 8) end plain black eressee appear in
eighl positi ons - reter to Plafe 17A lor typical upper wing nat ional markings.

Jasta4 colo ur profiles C R Rlmell / A lbatros Productlon s Ud., 1995.

 Sandini Sammlung
Plate 4 } Fokker Dr,' 586 /17, U n. Ern s t Ud et , 191 8 ,
Prev iously lI own by un. Hans Kirschslein 01 Jasta 6 (see Fig 5, pag e 20)
this tripla ne bears lhe black cowling and black and while tai l sl ripes o t
that Staffel. Udet added his u sua l'LO' insignia, probably in red to con-
trast with lh e fus elag e corccrs. At sorne po inl in Udet's use o f thi s
machine the crosses on the w ing s were al lered to conlorm with th e
directive 01May 13 1918, but the exact c o nl ig urat io n and appearance 01
tne top wing insignia cannot b e completety determined.
Plate 6} Fo k ke r D .VII (OAW), serial u n kn o w n, U n . v o n G lusze w sk i, 191 8 .
This a ircraft is t ho ug ht to have been von Gluszewski 's machine, though it m ay
also nave been Ilown by Un. Koe ps c h. Fin i shed in rour-cotcur p rinled ta bnc
overall , the nose, wheel covers and atruts a re ess ern eo 10 b e b lack.. The p er-
so na l in signi a o f a h era ld ic cre st is depicted as black and while, lhough lhe
dark colour is not kno wn an d m ay weil treve been red. N ati o na l insignia have
- been con verted Irom the earfier lorm by overpa inting - see Photo 18, p age 13.
.:
Plate 5} Fokke r D ,VII (O AW), se rial unkn o wn , U n . M e ye r, 191 8 .
Finish ed in rccr-ccrcur prinled tabnc oveeau.tne nose, wheel covers and struts
are assumed 10 be blac k (the unit colour ) with nalional in s ignia converted lrom
Ihe earlie r lorm by overpainting in a dark colour - gre en er grey? M ost 01
these Jasta 4 OVUs had the ir upper cowlings removeo . Meyer's aircraft also
oeers the black and white Iuselaqe borders typical ot many Jasta 4 D.VlIs the
width and application 01 which could vary - see Ph oto 16. paqe 12.
--
Pl ate 7A}
U pper surtace detail 01 Udet's
O.VII,
/ --
~-wj- h-.---"':' _
. ,
Plate 7) Fokker D .V II (OAWI, se ria l unknown , Un. Ern st U d et, 191 8 .
O ne of u cers earnesr O.VlI s this machin e rs linis hed in typica l Jast a 4 dec o r
wi th Ihe add ition ct th e l amiliar 'LO'.leg end on the l us elage and white chevrcn
o n the tailpl ane, markings tnat appear on s eve ret subsequent red-painted
OVUs lIow n by Ud et - see P hotos 22 and 23, p age 14.
Ja sta 4 co lo ur prof i les © R Rim ell/Albatros Productio ns Ltd., 199 5 .

.,5
15. Jasta 4 was th e la st unit of t he
Geschwader 10 fly Fokker Trip lane s,
w hlch w ere f inally replaced by Fokker
D.VlI s by mid·June. U n. Ric hard Kraut
f le w thi s earty p roduction atrcratt in
Aug us t , w hich displa ys the Fokker-
applied dark olive st reaky ca m ouf lage
on the fuselage and tou r-c orcur
prin ted tabrtc on t he w i ngs. On their
D.VII fighter s Jasta 4 rev ert ed 10 t heir
fo rmer use of a b rac k unit co lo ur, t his
paint usually being ap plie d 10 t he nose
12
Sandini Sammlung
cowling , wheel covers, a nd often th e
st ruts - though th ere we re th e
inev ita b le except ions. Kraut employed
a persona l marking c t th e crest of hi s
horn e city of Th orn in West Pru ssta, a
blac k c ross o n a w hite shiel d . Th e
co lo urs of th e stripes on th e tailplan e
(a nd pos sibly th e aft fuselage) are
unknown . Th e captured Spad 7 of Spa.
62 in the crstance may retate to a st ory
related by th e French p ilot SI Lt. J.
Cael of Spa. 3 after t he wa r. Cael was
down ed by Ern st Udet (his 57t h
victo ry ) o n August 16 1918 and was
vis it ed by Ud et in Cambrai pri son.
U det t o ld Cae l th at he ro utine ly f le w a
'white Spad' o n visits home, and t hat it
was hi s tavo urtte aircraft to ßy ! The
Spa d seen here is Heerauy m arked
w ith black crosses and a ppears t o
bear th e words 'Gute Leute ' ('Good
People') on its top wing,leading to
specutation that t his in deed may have
been Ud et 's per sonal tra ns port.
16. One 'mascot' of Jasta 4 is
c leverly posed wit h anothe r in thi s
vtew ot Ltn. Fra nz M eyer' s Fokker
D.VlI(OAW). The sertal num ber Is not
k nown but was in the 2000-2 199/18
series. Meyer's personal insignia was
t he puqnaeloue, ca refully-detailed
b ull dog on a w htte ova l. The
len gth w ise stripes 'bord ering' t he
fu selag e frame we re probably black
and w hite; similar marki ngs are
commonly seen on ot he r Jasta 4 D.VII
f ighters. The w hite stripe was also
ap p li ed as a border to th e b lac k nose
ofth is m ac tun e. w neet c cver s appe ar
t o have been bl ack as we il , w hile t he
remainder of t he aircraft was ccvered
in to ur-cotocr fabric. Not e t he w hite
dat um line a nd enve lo pe tc r ri gging
in struction s adjacen t t o th e personal
m arking . Th e fu sela ge c ross was
converted from an earüer style by
rather crude overpainting with an
unknown neut ra l ccteur,
17. A po st -w ar O.VII ls included her e
as so me thing ot an enigma . No c eraus
are available concerning its identity or
locat io n, but it bears an insignia
remarkably similar to that on Meyer's
aircra ft. Heavil y ove rpa inte d and
lacking it s g uns, it ca nnot positively be
associated w ith Meyer o r Jasta 4. Ca n
any re ader he lp?
 Sandini Sammlung

18. In J oachim vo n Hi pp el's album

t hi s D.VIl (OAW ) photo was ca pt io ne d
as th e atrcratt of Un. Eg on Ko ep sch .
As t he fo ll ow in g pho to shows,
how ever, U n. He inz Graf vo n
Gluszewsk i used a si mi la r insignia.
Moreover, there exlst s motion p icture
fi lm of von Gluszewski in an OAW·
bu ilt D.VII marked in a ma nner very
muc h li ke th is one. 'rnerercre It Is
Iikely this was t he alrcratt of von
Gluszew ski, or It m ay weil ha ve been
flown by both men at various umes.
The w hite datum line, ser ia l number,
and w eights table (ob scured by the
s hield in signia) were c ha rac ter ist ic of
the first OAW p rodu ction batch (2000 - .& 18 " 19
2199/18) and so m e of th e se c o nd.
The ser ia l on the aft fu selage is
mos tly illegible, but may be 21 11/18.
The no se, w he e l ccvers . a nd st r uts
w ere apparently b rack. The c o lo u rs of
the heraldic cre st a re unknown but
brack and white seem most probable.
Tailplane markings, if a ny, ca nnot be
discerned with accuracy. Not e
Meyer's D.VII in the background.

19. Ltn. vo n Glusze w sk i and hi s

groundcrew in front of a Fo k ker- b uil t
D.VII(serial unknown) bearing his
insignia. This a irc raft w as c cve red in
tcur-cotcur printed teerte ove ra ll ; th e
wheel c overs and no se ma y or may
no t have been bla ck at thi s time. Th e
c olo ur a nd s ig nifica nce of the dark
area beneath the tai lp lane ca nnot b e
determined. The aircraft in the
background wa s de corated w it h
st ri pes bordering both fu setag e and
taltplan e, in c o m mo n with other
Fok kers of Jas ta 4 ,

20, Unfortunat ely t he p ilot of D.VII

4275/ 18 Is unid en ti fi ed , b ut t his is
t hou ght to be a J asta 4 airc ratt .
Besides t he typical pa in ted bo rders
o n the f uselage lon g ero ns, t his D.VII
bore a per son al m aking of a w hite
ve rtlca t ba nd w it h narrow da rk
edging. ln add itio n th e forwa rd
portion of th e fi n w as painted w h it e
w it h a co loured edge as w eil; it
ca nnot be ascertained if si mi la r
marking s were appli ed to t he .&20 " 21
ho rizontal t au s urfac es.

21. It w as a common (but not

univers al) practice in Jasta 4 to mark
the fu selag e lcnqerons w ith coloured
'bord ers ', usually in bl ack and w hite.
Fokker D.VII F 4330/18 illu strates how
th e fu selag e borders w ere so met imes
extended on to the tauplane and
eleva tcrs, The da rk 'borde r' co lou r
do es not seem to be black in
co m parison to th e fu sel age cross:
however, th e paint used was ap pare ntly
of poor covering qu ali ty. The 'F' p refi x t o
th e serial number sig nifie d th at t his
Fokker-b uil t D.VII was eq uipped w it h a
BMW engine. The nose, struts, and
po ssi bly wh eel covers were painted th e
unit's black colo ur.
13

....22 "'23
23. Fu rt her evtdence th at so me
aeroplan es tl own by Ern st Ud et
ap pea re d in per sonal m arkings prior
to his use ot red pa int is revealed in
ano t her inf o rm ati ve photo t ak en at
Be rne s in Augu st 1918. The OAW·bui lt
O.VII is cov ered in ro ur-cc tc ur printed
teerte and b ears t he usual Ja s ta 4
b tack no se panels and black/ white
fus elage bord er s.1t also carr ies U det 's
w hite LO! in signia and t ailplane
c hev ron so tamiliar to ent hus iasts.
St reamers we re attache d to th e
elevalor t railing edge - see c o lo ur
Plates 7 and 7A, pag e 11.
24. A familia r view w hlch
nonet he less rema ins t he on ly know n
ph oto of Ud et' s m o st fa mo us aircraft.
The overpainted t ailpl an e bore the
legend ' Du Doch Nicht!!' I' Certainly
no tyou!) in white on t he elevators as a
. 2'
:~
~. ".
~ ~
.. ,
"
Sandini Sammlung
c hall enge t o enemy fli er s. A w hite
c hevro n was also ad ded to th e
t ailpla ne and t wo b lack and w t nte
st re amers w ere atta c hed to th e
erevators. The oblique st riping o n th e
u ppe r w in g wa s no doubt in spired by
U det' s exper iences w it h Kirsch stein ' s
Or.l, and was sim ilar ly inten d ed t o
provid e prot ection trom pursuing
p ilots by optical ill usion. How ever, all
thi s adornment ta il ed to prot ect t he
O.VII from th e fire ofthe g unne r in a
Fren ch Brequet 14 w hic h Udet
attacke d o n J une 29. Ud et ba iled out
ot t he disabl ed Fo kk er and barely
eurvived a hazar dou s pa rachute
d esc ent trom 500 me t res. Th ough his
airc raft ha s lon g been a tavourite of
m odell ers an d ernste, q uest ions
remein conceming its tu ll colouration:
fo r exa mple the up per w ing may ha ve
had bJack an d w hite stri pes rath er
• 25
22. Even in a haltton e photo of
dubious quality, Ud et (w it h hi s Pourle
Mfkitej is instantly identi fi able in this
Jasta 4 group. Th e Fo kker O.VII(OAW j
at ta r r ig ht was one ot Ud et 's
machines; its serta t ts not k nown but it
cam e tram t he first OAW p rodu cti on
batch.
than red as oft- ill us t ra ted. The Jasta 4
Fo kk er in t he backg ro un d was
evi dently m arked w ith tne un tt's black
ncs e. to uche d off w it h a th in w hit e
border.
25. A ubiq u ito us photo of Udet w it h
o ne of hi s Fokkers, reported ly taken
w he n he land ed at t he airfield of FEA 2
at Fürth in early September 1918. Th e
w hite seri al lege nd on t he under side
of t he port ailero n ca n j ust be seen o n
a good print, and reads: 'Fok. 0 .7 2 07-/
18', w it h th e last d igit eit her 0, 6, o r 8.
Th e f uselage and wheel covers w ere
ov erpainte d w hil e t he w ings re ta ine d
t heir fo ur-colour p rinted fab ric f inis h.
Another Jasta 4 O.VII from th e same
production s e nes w as O.VII (OAW j
2063/1 8, trc m w hich U n. Julius
Bender parachuted successfully on
July 16 1918.
 Sandini Sammlung

26. Ud et 's last operat ional O.VIl was

F42 53/1 8, a Fok ke r product equipped
w ith BM W lila engine No. 1288, and
pro ba bty t he su bjec t 01 thi s p ho to .
Udet held th e BM W·e ng ined Fokker in
high esteem and attributed much 01his
g reat success in late 1918 to n, Fortu-
nate!y two of Udet's combat reports
survive describing the markings of
4253 /18, one lrom his 47th victmy of
August 8 and one I rom hi s fi nal two vtc-
tories on September 26. Both speci fy a
red l uselage with the letters 'LO!' on
both s tces, and one mentions leader's
pe nnants on the etevatcrs. At first only
two BMW-engined D.VlI s could be
spared tor Jasta 4, t hose 90in9 to Udet
and Ltn. Orek m ann; t he two Ilew ma ny
sorties toget her until Orekm ann fe ll o n
Juty 30. Even t uall y, though, the entire
Staffel was re-eq ui pped with the
superb BM W-powered Fok kers .

2Z It is pe rh aps a me asure 01 Ud et 's

sta t us in late 1918 t hat he m an ag ed t o
o bta in a Siem ens Sc huckert 0.111 l or
his perso nal use. Ja sta 10 member
Joseph Do erfling er st at ed,
" remember it we il that it wa s a t Metz
O.... I. .. . ~~ _. U d, ct
th at Ud et received a brand-new Si e-
"" ' '1 ftQ "'r CQn,...u t s mens Sc h uckert 'p lane th at h e
im mediately p ainted red. Then h e
pa in ted his sweetheart's in itials on tt. ,
re member his telling me ho w much
this de fig h ted h er. . . ou r nying wa s
no thing to the show Udet gave us in his
new 'plan e .. . he loo p ed, he stood ver-
ticaffy on a wing an d did some of th e
s tra nges t ccrvee', Co nt rary to m ost
previo us recon struction s of t his alr-
c ra tt, th e rudd er was w h ite as specl-
l ied in t he Ko g enluft order 01 17 M arch
1918 l or a lt Fro nt- line airc raft; a portion
of th e rud der is just v is ib le in this
phot o.
(Via N H Haupri ch )
.&27 "'28

28. An erroneous American ca pt io n

to t his photo c laimed that t he p ilot was
the, 'Germ an Ace officially credited
with shooting down Ouentin Roos e-
veft ' , This has led to speculation t hat
th e Ud et signat ure and Octo ber 1918
date on t he photo are a lorgery, but the
autho r believes t he pilot is indeed Udet
(w ho certainly d id not dow n Ro ose-
vett!), his leatures distorted by the "y-
ing helmeL At th is stage t he fuse lage 01
t he SSW D.m wa s paint ed red but 'LO!'
nas yet to be added. Ud et scored no
victories in the 0.111 a nd t he ex tern01it s
c om ba t use ls unk now n.

15
 Sandini Sammlung

Jasta 6
29. Vizefeldwebel Car l Ho ller of
Jas fa 6 appears o n th e far lett of thi s
interesting g roup posed in fr ont of a n
Alb atros 0 .1 11 of th e unit in 1917. Thi s
aircraft bore t he Jasta 6 u ni t marking
of black and w hite st ri pes on both
sides of th e tailplane, th e w hi te being
exte nde d 10 t he ad jacent fu sel ag e
are a. Th e remaind er of th e fu sel ag e
and t in was ove rpainted an unknown
cctc ur; w ith a w hite str ip e app a re n tly
pai nted o n th e side from th e nose 10
t he tau. An oth er white stripe o n t op of
t he fuse lage seems vi sible in th e
original pr in t Note th at t h is is an ea rly
pr oduction 0.111(0.1 910-2200/16 ) wit h
c entra lly- mounte d rad ia t or i n t he to p
wing .

Fig . 4. Albatro s 0.111, se rial unknown , Jasta 6, 1917. Tailplane and rear
fu selage pai nted in unit m arking of black and w hite st ripes. Fuselag e, fin
and possibly w hee l covers and st ruts overpainted an unknown c o lo ur;
w hite st r ipes on th e sldes and top of fuselage. Win gs probably remained
in c am ouf lage finish.

•
itl'l

"'3 D

3 0. Lln e-up ot Albatros O.V and 0 .111

\
fighter s of Jasta 6. The O.V on th e rert
is probably 1060/17, possibly f lown by
Ob erleutnant Ed uard D osti er. Se vera!
exa m ples of nose and fu selage
markings ar e in evtoence .

3 1. This Albatro s 0.111 wa s decornted

with an i nteres ti ng personal emble m
o n the fu sel age. H ow ever, no bl ac k
and whi te st ripes are to be seen on t he
tai l su rfaces or o n th e low er win gs.

32. Th e same 0.111 in a take-off

.&.3 1 ~3 2 attitude. Th e fuse lage insignia may
have been blac k and w hite, but IittJe
erse can be said about t he m aMl.in gs er
t hi s machine which is iUust rated o n
t he ccver;

Ä,34 T 35
33. Albatros O.V of Jasta 6 w hic h
bore a w hi te - bordered ob lique c cr -
oured ba nd as a n individu al mar kin g.
Thi s phot o was rep orted ty tak en in
Augu st 1917, w hic h m ay imp ly th at
black an d w hite unit st ri pes were not
init iated un til late Sum me r 1917. An
Albatros 0.111 tau ts seen in t he left
fo reground .
34. Albatro s O.V 1060/17 of the f ir st
production batc h ma y have been
f lown by Oblt. Do stIer (Iater Ri tter vo n
DostIer ), who took command of Jasta
6 in J une 1917. Personal ma rk ings of
two ccre urec bands are v isib le aft of
the coc kp it. How ever, there is no evt-
dence of th e b lack and w hite st r i ping
o n th e t eu surfac es w h ich eve nt ua ll y
bec ame so id entified wit h thi s unlt,
Con c eivabl y they were a pp lied at a
later date perhaps eve n th e day after
thi s photo was tak en? Th e dark-col-
o ured nose may have b een bl ack, if
on e may jud ge t rom th e u se of such
d ecor o n th is un it's lat er Fokker Tri-
planes.
Sandini Sammlung
35. An evo cauve photo of D.V 1060 /
17 t akin g off, w it h ot he r A lba t ros ty pes
in the ba ckground. J asta 6 co mman-
d er Do stI er was award ed th e Orden
Pou r le M erite on Au gu st 6 1917, w lt h
hi s vic to ry t aUy at 21. He wo uld fall in
act ion o nly 14 days later.
.• 3.
3 6. Two Ja sta 6 mecnamcs are seen
w it h the D.m f lown by Leutn ant Han s
Adam, one of t he unit's star p ilot s du r-
ing Summer 19 17. The nose of this
Albatros w as painted a dark, unknown
co lour, which may have been applied
to the rest of t he f uselage as we il. The
st ripes painted o n t ne un ders id e of the
bottom w ing are presumed to be b rac k
and w hite; tne possibility exists t hat
th e lighter co lour was simply the fac-
tory fini sh pal e blue un der surface
dope. Ho we ver, since similar st ripes
are seen on other Jasta 6 Albatros
fi ghter s, it seem s logical t ha t th ese
we re exte nsions of t he unit mar kin gs
usually applied to the ta il p lanes.
3 7. t rn. Hans Adam c ras he d hi s A lba-
t ro s D.V 1148 /17 whue landlng on
August 2 1917. He was unhurt, however,
and was named co mm ander of Ja sta 6
only weeks lat er following the d eath of
Oblt. Edu ard Oostler on Augu st 2 1.
Thi s vlew of t he salvag ing of Adam 's
D.V afford s a good look at the black
and w hite tau markings and simila r
d ecoration on the undersid e of th e
low er w ing. Th e white-bordered dark
band en circling th e fu sel age served as
in di vi dual id entificati on ; lt ma y have
b een bl ack, but thi s is not known and
other colo urs are possib le.
" 37
17
 Sandini Sammlung

38. Anot he rview of D.V 1148/17 as

groundcrew so rt out the re ma ins. Note
all th e fu sel ag e sect io n adjacent 10 the
tai lplane was w hite, but the fin and
rud d er rem ained apparently
unpainted (the se ri al number o n th e
fin is d iscernib le).

39. Albatro s O.V 1128/ 17 w hich bore

t he def initive Jasta 6 black and w hite
tau d ecoration w hich would become
associate d w it h this uniL Th e 0.111
beyond it was sim ila rly decora ted .
Note the black and (appa re ntlyj w hite
st ripes are a lso seen o n t he un de rs id e
ot tne low er wing. Th e extremely dark,
glossy nase may have been pain ted
brack and the colou re d band with
w hite edging just be hind t he cockpit
w as a personal marking. This atrcratt
w as so similar in appearance t o Ltn.
Hans Adam 's D.V 1148/17 th at it
invites sug gesti on that thi s may neve
a ls o been nown by Adam as a
rep lacement fo r 1148 /17 ...

40. Leu tn ant Robert j üxen in t he

cockp it of his A lbatros O.V, se ria l not
k nown, w ith lower w ing under surface
str ipes c lea rly in evi dence. It re mains
.038

18
 Sandini Sammlung

uncert ain il suc h str ipes we re ap plied

to every Jasta 6 Alb atros in this period,
but the y were appa rently a co mmo n
part of the sq uad ro n livery. At thi s time
personal markings typicall y took th e
lorm 01co lo ured bands aft of th e cock-
pit. j ü xen is beli eved to have used a
white band on his lat er Fokker Or.l; it is
perhaps possible th at th e ban d seen o n
this Albat ros was w hite as we il, its
shade disguised by t he poor quality,
thinned-down paint in use at Jasta
leve l. rullen ac hieve d two victo ries in
Juty 1917, most tikety while ftyi ng Alba-
tros lighters.

41. The damaged machine of U n.

Robert "rüxen, who poses with his
mechanics. J ust visible are the unit's
tail stripes, along with more st ri p ing on
lower wing undersides.

42. When Jasfa 6 received t he Fok ker

0 r.1 in earty 1918, th e unit marking 01
black and w hite stripes was retained
and applied to both sides 01 me tau-
plane. It is beli eved t he cowlings 01th e
unit's t ri planes we re add it io na lly
pai nted bl ack to tacnnate identilic at io n
from anea d. Or.l403/17 was on e 01sev -
eral triplanes flo wn by Un. J oha nn Jan- " . ",.

zen, a successl ul pil ot w ho ro se tc th e .&42

command 01 Jasta 6 on April 28 1918.
The person al insig nia on thi s aircraft
was a w hite wavy lin e o n a possibly
blac k band, wi th a narrow w hite bord er
on it s leading edge. Th is band co nti-
nued cve r th e top d ec kin g ; such
banded markings we re very common
on Jasta 6 Or.l l ig hters. Note t hat th e
rudd er was overpa inted in solid olive or
bla c k to produ ce a 5 cm-wide w hite
c ross border. The rectang ular in spec -
ucn panel ju st behind th e cowling was
a li eld modilicati on c harac te rist ic ot
this unit's triplanes. (Via N Burlt)

43. U n. Janzen ac hieve d 13 co n-

l irmed victo ries bel or e he was l o rced
down behind French nnes in a Fokker
O.VII on June s.a ml stcrtune whi ch w as
du e to a matlunct ion of his sy nc hro ni-
zat ion g ear. Fuselage markin gs similar .&43 1'44
to th ose on Or.l 403/17 are seen on
oth er Jasta 6 Fok kers, so me 01 th em in
use lon g afte r Janzen was ca ptured.

44. As t he co m ma nder 01 J G I, vo n
Ric hthofen sometimes f1 ew aircraft
lrom any o ne 01 t he lour compone nt
units, not just Jasta 11. On Ma rc h 17
1918 he pa id a vtslt to t he Jasfa 5 atr-
Held at Bo ist ran court in Or.l 525/17 01
Jasta 6; t here a photograp he r
rec ord ed this c1assic view wi t h th e
unit's (uneq ual here ) te u st ripes. Not e
tha t th e rudd er has again been over-
painted . Th e Rittmeister is seen ha p-
pil y c hatti ng with severa l J asta 5
pil ot s. From left: vo n Richtholen,
unknown mechani c, Un. vo n Hippel,
Obft. Flash aar (Ja sta 5 c om ma nder),
unknown, Un. Schlöm er, and Un.
Lehmann.

19
 Sandini Sammlung

45. A fam ilia r b ut fin e vi ew of Or.l

525/1 7, w hich vo n Ric hthofen fl ew to
Boi stran c ourt o n 17 M arc h. Note th e
Pfalz 0 .1 11 ct J asta 5 in tne
b ac kground han g ar. Of interest e re
th e lead ing- ed ge wing tip m arkin gs.
Th ese were pro bably of a hi ghly
visib le, cont rast ing co tcu r such as
red or ye llow and were for personal
identil ication from ahead.

46 and 47. Two vrewe of Ltn. Han s

Ki rchstein's Jasta 6 Fo k ker Cr.! when
taken over by Ernst Ud et of Jasta 4
who added additional m ar kings - see
co lo ur plate on page 10. Note dark
overpainting of anercns (81 fight) when
the wing in signia was converted to its
uttimate configuration.
.6 .45 "'46 ....47

Fig. 5. Un. Hans Ki rsc hst ein had

joined Jasta 6 in M arc h 1916 ; due
to his except io nal a bilities and
rapidly risin g score, he w as
nam ed ac ti ng co m ma nder on
April 27. In Ja sta 6 neuew th e
diagon all y-striped tripl ane
d epicted in th e b lack and w hite
d rawi ng. Thi s Cr.! w as ca lled ' d ie
Op tische Täus chung ' (t he opt ical
illusi on ), and was so pa inted in t he
belief t hat th e d isru ptive pattern
would throw off th e aim ct a
p ursuer. K irsch st ein too k t he Cr.!
along w he n he went to Jasta 4 as
ac t ing Staffelführer of th at unit,
fro m M ay 9 to 15. H e appa re ntly
rert the tripla ne at J asta 4 w he n he
retu rned to J asta 6 (which was re-
eq uipped w it h th e O.VII), w here it
was taken over by Ernst Udet upon
his retu rn f ro m leave (see page
11). Kirsc hstein contin ued t o use
disruptive striping o n his Fo k ker
C.VII, untH he was k illed in t he
crash 01 a Hannover twc-seater (in
which he was a paseenqert c n
July 16 1918.

2.
 Sandini Sammlung

48. The triplanes of Jasta 6 present a

co lourf ul sig ht lined up on Lech ell e
airfield, w hic h JG I ha d o nly rec ently
occup ied o n M arch 26 du rin g the
adva nce made d uri ng th e g rea t Sp ri ng
Offen sive. Th ese aircraft were in th e
m id st of chang ing to Balkenkreuz
nat ion al mar kin gs as ma nd ated o n
March 17. The Dr.! on the far right bo re
part 01 the horizontal wavy une
insignia of Ltn. Fran z Hemer, and may
trave been 595/17. The second ai rcraft
fro m the right (possibly 568/17) was
the triplane 01 Un. Robert Tüxen,
identified by a white band (albeit thinly
painted or weathered) with narrow
black borders (see colour plate on

page 25)what
sported . The may
fifth have
aircraft
beenin line
and white fuselage bands and an
black !:::-;::':'__":2i.i:~~:: [~~::::::~~ ~:~=~
.&48 1' 49
overpainted rudder (see colour plate
on page 25) .

49. A further view 01 Lechelle airfield,

taken at the same time and from the
same viewpoint as the previous photo.
The four Bessonneau hangars were
captured in a partialty damaged
condition . An observer scans the skies
for hostile aircraft us ing tripod-mounted
binoculars. The nearest Dd was lrom
Jasta 6, and the distant end of the
triplane line-up in the previous photo is
at the Iar right (Via H J Nowarra)

so. Un. Robert j uxe n w it h his Cd ,

pe rhaps 568/17 ; nts pe rsonal markin g
01 a w hite ba nd is visible. Details to
note include t he c lear-doped under
w ing c ross pa ne ls and the
deterio rat io n of the black cowli ng
pa int. ln co m mon w it h oth er triplane
unit s, Jasta 6 had prev io us ly rec eived
exa mples 01 th e Fokker C.V to
l amiliari ze pilots w it h rotary engine
o pe rat io n prior to th e a rrival 01 t he
ür.ts. j üxen had c ras he d in Fo kk er C.V
26 42/ 16 o n No ve mber 11 1917,
d est roying th e aircraft but emerg ing
unsc ath ed .

5 1 and 52. Fu rth er vrew s ct j üxen's

Dr.! w he n th e nat ional in si g nia had
been co nve rte d to Balkankreuz
co nf ig urat io n - thi s was offen
hurried ly d on e. (Dr. V Koos)
.&50 1' 51 ....52

21

· 53
53. Sattle damage to th e wing of his
Dr'! gels the attention of Fra nz Herner
following hi s return trom a patroL Hi s
Jasta 6 comrades nicknamed Herner
Loc ken d ue 10 his curly blond hair, and
the wavy lin e pe rsona l mark ing wa s a
vrsua t reference 10 t his. Whe n
intervi ewed by hi storian Neal W
Q'Co nnor, Hern er rec all ed th at th is
ma rki ng was ye llow; a very p al e yellow
might we il produc e th e li ght to nal
vaiue see n her e, o r th e ban d may have
be en w hite. Herner also reporte d that,
becau se of h is n ick name, he o nce
used an in si gnia of a brennsch ere
(curlin g iron) on another of his aircraftt
Herner wo uld recei ve c o nf irma t ion tor
18 victories before belog wo unde d on
Augu st 8 1918 and put out ot acttcn fo r
th e remainder of th e w ar. He was
promoted 10 Leutnant w h ile
recovering in September. (Via H H
Munte)
T56
22
Sandini Sammlung
.5' T 55
54. On May 19 1918 Jas ta 6 made its
fi rst war fligh t comp letely equipped
with t he superb Fo k ke r O.VII. About
t hat sa me ti me, U n. Rich ar d Wenzl
tra nsferred t o Jasta 6 I rom Jas ta 11,
a nd his O.VII displays t he manner i n
w hich th e u nit 's black and w hite ta il
stripes w ere l u rt he r app he d to b oth
th e met al cowli ng p an el s and to th e
o ute r w heel covers . As seen o n his
Ja sta 11 Or.!, Wen zl 's per son al
marking w as a black a nd w hite
luselage band, in th e prop orti on s 01
th e Iron Cross r ib bon w it h colo u rs
reversed. The national insignia o n t he
l uselag e and w ing s bear ev idence 01
co nversio n Irom th e ear tie r tull-
b ordered type. Thi s wa s a Fokker-
built aircraft Irom a lairly early
production seq ue nce; th e st yle 01
ex ha us t ex it and the abundantly-
lou vr ed c owli ng panels are 01
mtere st.
55. This view 01Ltn. Werner Nöldecke
01Jasta 6 w it h a D.VII p rovides a ctc se-
up 01th e un it c olours o n th e nose and
wheel. Note t he exhaus t exit and a
personal insig nia 01a wh ite and bla ck
(1) diagonal ban d w hic h extended from
the c owling back t o t he battom 01the
ru dder post. Nöldeck e was cred ited
w it h a si ng le vic tory, on July 3 ; on th e
22nd of that mont h he was lig htly
w ound ed but rema lned w it h th e
Jagdstaffel.
56. In another photo from Rich ard
Wenzl's book ' Ric hthofen Flieg er , this
D.Vlllpresumably Wenzl 's) shows off its
Ja sta 6 nose markings. It is apparent
that each of the lour component
Jagdstaffefn 01the Geschwader
marked the noses 01their D.VII fighters
w ith identifying unit colours to faci lilate
identification in large lormations. This
photo illustrntes just how ertecuve the
Jasta 6 markings were.
 Sandini Sammlung

57. The Fokker-built D.VII at lar lelt

appears to bear diagonal markings and
the air cralt seen larthest to the right
may have been Wenz l's. Note the lully
striped aircralt in the di stant
background.

58 and 59. Brief splendo ur. the st rik ing

Ja sta 6 markings app lied to these
Fokker E.Vmon oplanes are t he most
fam iliar and popular co lou r scnemes
known l or the typ e, yet t hey did not extst
in service lor long. This line-up shows
nine E.V fighters and l our D.VlIs on .&57 ....58
Berne s airfie ld in August 1918, all
sport ing Juli unit decor. The fi rst in une ls
153/1 8, which was the mach ine of U n.
Ric hard Wenzl and wh ich bore his
customary black and white Juselage
bands. The second aircratt is 154/1 8
which was decorated w ith a horizont al
whi te arrow; most 01tne other fighters
were identified by personal markings
between the lu selage c rc se and nose.
Jasta 6 was one 01the first units to
receive the E.Vin any quantity.

60. Fokker E.V 148/18 displays th e

manner in which the black and wtnte unit
colours were pain ted on the cowling.
Since the stripe patte m seen on the D.VII
noses was hardly prac tical lor t he rotary
engi ne cowting, a beautifut 'flower petal'
patte rn was designed l or use on the E.V.
The tailplanes and wheel covers
cont inued to bear the unit cereure as
weil . Jasta 6 was resp onsibl e l or the first .&59
E.V victory, w hic h was achieved by Un.
Emil Rolft on August 16. Only three days
later Rolft was kill ed w hen his E.V
crashed due to struc t ural tauur e ct th e
w ing, one 01several such acci dents that
soon led to grounding and w ith drawa l 01
th e typ e.ln an, Jasta 6 prob ably
operated the E.V tor Iittle more than ten
days, and the pHot s sutt ered 30 forced
landings in th at tim e due to th e Volt ol·
based lubricant used in t he engines.

61. Areplacem ent panel was installed

just beh ind th e cow ling on th e up per
lu selage 01thi s E.V. The personal
marking on th e l uselage will remind
many readers 01U n. Johann Janzen's
Dr.l 403/7, but t his E.V co uld hardly have
been Janz en's since he had been taken .. .
. ....
~ .'
'~
...
prisoner on June 91918.

62. During th eir short stay at Ja sta 6,

the un ~quely d ifferent Fokk er
monoplanes no doubt aroused th e
curiosity and profession al interest 01eu
the Jagdgeschwader pilots. Oblt Erich
Loewe nhardt 01 Jasta 10 took the
oppo rtun ity to test f1y t he new type and
was at the ccntrors w hen tms photo wa s
ta ken.
".2

23
 Sandini Sammlung

63 . Following the withdrawal of t he

E.V, Jasta 6 resumed operations with

... the still-formidable Fokker D.VII. Un.

Nöldecke flew this OAW-built D.VII,
seen here at Bu signy airfield in
September 1918. Nöldecke's personal
markings at thi s time were the twc-
ccrour bands ahead of t he national
insig nia. Although these ba nds
ceseure most of the serial number, it
I wa s repainted on the horizontal datum
line next 10 tne cowting and appears 10
be either 4552 or 4532/18. Note the

.'.
rear-view mirror and the OAW plaquette
mounted just beh ind t he cockpit on to p
, of th e fuse lage.

64. Un. Schliewen was p osted 10

I
Jasta 6 from J astaschufe I on Augus t
15 1918 and Is seen here w it h hi s
Fokker D.VII(OAW). The in dividual
m ar king was a fuselage ba nd
.&64 'f65 displaying the Bavarian colo urs 01
fl
brue and white diamonds, th ou g h the
fo rmer colour is rendered nearly
invisible by the orthochromatic film.
This band b ore narrow black borders
and covered the se r ial number; a s on
N öldecke's machine tnr s was
,.
repainted on the datum line but is
sad ly iII egible due to heavy staining 01
the tabrjc . It is probable that the seri al
number w as so mew h ere in the 4500-
4600/1 8 ra n ge.

65. Al ways inten t on maintaining

g ood relations w it h co m b at pucte,
Anthon y Fokker (Iett) poses with Un.
Arthur Laumann of J asta 10 in Iront of
D.V II(OAW) 4524 /18 01 Jasta 6. lt is
apparent that Jasta 6 received a
number 01 th e se fighters I rom t he t hird
batc h ordered from OAW (seri als
4450-4649 /18). These airc ra ft were
co vered with lour-colo ur printed l abric
and h ad lig ht -colou red rib tape s,
probab ly light blue or san n e n pink.

24
 Sandini Sammlung

D.1148/~
~- -
1 11 -

1... ,.~ , ... . ...... "\ .

& i
."
'

-= ===r '
'·'~'·····"'''·-b Plate 10A
I
-~~--
---.~ Typical Dr.1 finish of olive streak-
ing over clear fabric; lower sur-
faces of wings and tailplane were
turquoise blue. The unit stripes
on the tailplane were not of equal
width on most machines - check
Plate B) Albatros D.V 1148/17, Ltn. Hans Adam, 1917. photos. This top view (which
Finished in typical factory style of varnished fuselage , qreeri/ depicts Tüxen's Dr.l) also serves
grey metal panels and struts with dark green/mauve camouf- as a general guide for Plate 9.
Plate BA)
C~ ~ lage , pale blue below wings and clear-doped rudder, Adam's
Speculative camouflage pattern
for Adam's D.V; position of upper
~ ,-, ~ machine also bears Jasta 6 tail stripes and additional mark-
ings under the lower wing. Fuselage band is a dark colour as
wing crosses slightly further out-
is the nose, probably - shown black on the profile: see
board than OAW-built machines.
Photos 37and 38, pages 17 and 18.
Plate BB)
Plain black national insignia were
common, but not universal, on the
lower wing under surtaces of
Albatros D.Vs. The unit black/
white markings ofter strong ident-
ification from below.

Plate 9) Fokker Dr.l, serial number and

pilot unknown, 1918.
Th is factory-finished machine bears typical
Jasta 6 markings for March 1918, with all
visible white cross fields overpainted in
olive or black. The black and white stripes
on the tailplane and elevator were applied to
both upper and lower surtaces. The per-
sonal markings of coloured fuselage bands Plate 10) Fokker Dr.l, possibly 568/17, Ltn. Robert Tüxen.

,~/
are illustrated conjecturally as black and Finished in similar fashion to the machine in Plate 9, Iüxen's
white, although the dark central band might Dr.1 carries the unit's striped tailplane and black cowling, the
have been some other dark colour - see rudder cross has been converted by overpainting in white ;
Photo 48, page 21. see Photos 50,51 an d 52, page 21.
'"
()1

Jasta 6 profiles © R Rimell/Albatros Productions Ltd., 1995.

Sandini Sammlung
 Sandini Sammlung

66. Leutnant Ulrich Nec ket wa s posted

to th e co mmand of Jasta 6 in
Sept ember 19 18, already having
attai ned a vic tory ta lly of 24 in
Jagdstaffefn 12 and 19. Like Ki rsch stein
before hirn, Neck el exte nde d the unit's
black and w hite co lou rs to th e entire
fu selage ot his aircraft, in thi s case a
Fo kker D.VIl(OAW). 'rh rs was done in
hop es of putting hostil e pilots off th eir
ai m, but It also undoubte dty provided
immediate identification of the
Staffelfüh rer in th e air, Notewort hy is
how t he w hite bo rd ers of t he fu selage
cro ss we re carefully outlined in blac k.
(Heinz J Nowarrn )

67. Neckel in t he cockp it of his OAW·

b uilt Fokker (serial probably in t he
4500-4600/ 18 seri es). Th e t ed dy bear
ma scot moun te d on the reer-vtew
m ir ro r was a po pular, if incong ruous,
touch. Necket score d his th irtieth and
f ina l victory o n No vember 6 1918, and
w as awarde d t he Pour Je Merite o nly
t hree d ays befo re the end of the war.
(Heinz J Nowarra)

68. This D.VII ts be lieved to be th e

same aircraft seen w it h Neckel in th e
two pr ec ed ing ph otos. Th e form of
ex haust exi t a nd the style of rudder
c ross serve to ide nt ify this as an OAW-
buill mactune in th e ap propriate seri al
ran g e. The sta rbo ard w heel w as
appa rent ly a repla cement item and
has not yet been de corated with the
unit st ripi ng , w hic h nonetheless
a ppe ars o n the in side of t he port
w he el cove r. Stud y of the followi ng two
photos sug gests that t here we re two
other Ja s ta 6 Fokkers (most likely
flown by Nec kei ) w hic h bore sfm uar
fu selage st ripes in late 1918.
.&67 "'68

27
 Sandini Sammlung

. ..
69. By September 28 t he Geschwader 70. A lonely O.VII si ts o u tsid e th e
had co mpleted a tran sfer 10 Metz, wco de n h angars at M a rvill e airfield,
where thi s photo was taken. Onl y three o c c up ie d b y th e Ge s chwader from
of the Fokkers in t his li ne-up bear Jasta D ctobe r 9 10 Novembe r 6 1918.
6 un it marking s- The fu lly-striped D.VII Slig ht d iscrepanc ie s i n the stri pe
was evi dently a Fo kker-built aircraft, p atterns of t his D.VII and thai in the
and elose inspection reveet s a subtle p reced ing pho to ind icat e that th ey
d ifferenc e w it h the prev iou s D.VII. The were t w o se p a rat e a ir c ra ft
unpa inted 'tozenge' fab ric of th e fi n of (or p erhaps o ne wh ich wa s
t he thirt! ma chin e t rom th e left repa mte ds].
indicates anothe r Fok ker produ ct, The Fo k ker·bu ilt fighter se en here
w hich bore more exte nsive nc se a p pare n tly h ad at least o n e st rea m er
stripe s l han usual but non e on th e a ffixe d t o its etevatcr an d w a s
w heel cover. A lengthwise w hite p ro bab ly f l o wn by Sfaffelführer
marking lan arrow or lance?) served as N eckel i n the fi na l, d e sperate weeks
an individual insignia. o f th e con flict .

Fig. 6. Fokker D.VII of Jasta 6, its sert al is

unknown, but p erhaps in the 5050-5149 range.
Photographed late in th e war, thi s aircraft
displayed a more extensive vertauen of th e
unit' s black and w htte no se stripes. A personal
em ble m of a w hite 'Ianc e' or arrow appeared
o n t h e fu selage sid e, and the u su al Staffel
m ark in g s w ere carr ied o n t he ta il - t ho ugh
note th eir absen ce on th e wheel ccvers. sfve-
co tour fabric is ilI u strated as the basic f inis h,
though tour-cot cur Is also a possibility - see
p h oto 69 above.

71. In astilI trom a w ell -known

motion p ic ture seque nce, a Fokker
D.VII (OAWI in f ull Jasta 6 decortakes
off. Th e unidentified pilot 's p ersonal
em b lem seem ing ly co ns ist ed of a dark
sp ade or arrow point placed upon a
w hite shield. Aside from unit an d
individual m arking s ttns atrcrart w as
probably fini shed i n printed
c am o ufl age fabric ov era ll, p erhaps
tour-cctcur;

Fig. 7. Another exa m ple of a J asta 6 D.VII {see ph oto 71 abcve] w it h

whi te shield fu sel ag e m ark ing. Th e ta ilp la ne m arkin g s of Jasta 6 were
normall y p ai nte d o n b oth u pper an d low er su rfa ces - wi dt h of st ripes
c ou ld vary ...

28
 Sandini Sammlung

Jasta 10
72. Jas ta 10 pilots pose for a group
photo in rate Ju ty 1917, about o ne
month after Jag dg eschwader I was
founded. Fro m left they are: 1) Uffz.
Hermann Brett ei; 2) Vzfw. Bausner; 3)
Vztw. Adam Barth ; 4) U n. Offerm an n; 5)
Oblt Ernst von Atthaus (commander);
6) Ltn. Malt Kühn; 7) Oblt Ern st
Weigand (deputy commander); 8) Un .
von Beber-Palubizki; 9) U n. Erich
Loewenhardt; 10} Vzfw. Aloys
Heldmann. ln the background is
Albatros O.V 1119/17, the machine of
Oblt von Althaus (note the high
headrest). This aircraft was marked
with the chrome yellow nose of Jasta
10, with the remainder ct the fuselage & 72
overpainted an unknown dark cctour;
The fuselage was further marked with a
prominent number 1 and an enigmatic
marking of five white dots and a bar.
This has been interpreted as (from the
port side only) as internatio nal Morse
code rcr H A, w ith th e suggested ...
association being for 'Hussar Atthaus',
in reference to his earlier service in th e
1st Regiment of th e 18th Hussars. (Via
\/
H J No warra )

73. Alba tros O.V 1119/ 17 of

Oberleutnant Ern st Frei herr vo n
Althaus , CO of Jast a 10, J une-July 1917.
Colours are un known - w ings and
tailplane are standa rd green/mauve
camouflage. The ' 1' was p rob abl y a
holdover from an earuer pe riod w hen
Jasta 10 used numbers for per son al
identification. Significan c e of th e .~, .
fu selag e marking ts un cl ear. (Dr. James
J Parks/Lafayette Foundation)

74. xe ver Leinmüller, a long -serving

Jasta 10 mechani c, sits in th e Albatros
0.111 ass ig ned to Vzfw. Burggaller. Like
other 0 .111 and O.V ty pes of thi s unit in
late Summer 1917, thi s airc raft bor e a
chrcme yeuow nose and a bl ack
individual number (in th is case a '7') o n
th e fu selage side benea t h th e ce ntre
st ruts. A personal marking of a w hite
ba r extended back to th e fu selage
cross, and the w hee ls were additio nalty
marke d; t hese have been interpreted as
vencw and w mte, thoug h bl ack tor red)
and w hite are also possible. Previous
profile depictions of this aircraft have
missed a few un usual features. This
0 .111 was equipped with auxiliary
bracing st rut s at t he base of the
interplane 'vee' st ruts, a rack for tlare
cartridges, and - most un iquely - a
headrest similar to those see n o n early
D.V machines was attached behind the
cock pit The serial number of th is
Albatro s (Jo hannist hal)-b uilt 0.111 is
unfortunat ely obscured, but its ce ntrat
radrator reveals it was in th e 0 .1010-
2 199/16 ran ge. (Via H J N owarra)

29
 Sandini Sammlung

75. Vzfw. Ad am Barth served in Jasta

10 f rom it s formatio n un t il his d eath in
ac t io n on Ja nuary 301918 . Hi s
Albatros D.lII (OAW) bore a w hite
'd um b-bell' emblem as a pe rsona l
m arkin g, alo og w ith t he b lack '8' abcve
the wi ng roct. Th e wheel covers were
eit her wh ite or pa le btue , and the
w ings and ta ftpla ne would have been
ca mouflaged in ty pical OAW fashion .
Note the 000 bracing cables affixed 10
th e yellow nose. The forward positio n
ofthe fuselage cross and the rounded
rudder identity t his 0.111 as o ne of
t hose built by the Albatros subsidiary
at Schneidernü hl, th e Os tdeutsche
Albatros-Werke, or QAW. (Via H J
Nowarra)
.... 75 ""6

76. Ground crew of Jasta 10 pose in

front of an impressive une -up of
Albatros 0.111 and D.V types, probab ly
at Marcke in late Summer 1917.
Tentat ive identification ot t he aircratt
f ro m lett to rig ht are: Aloys
Hel d mann' s D.V, wi t h hi s pe rson a l
w hite tau and a banded marking aft of
th e cockpit; D.l II(OAW) marked w ith a
w hite 's na ke line' on t he f uselage; Vztw.
Barth's D.l II(OAW) with t he w hite
dumb-bell is next vis ible; Ob /t.
Weigand's D.V (possibly 118 7/ 17) and
Offz.Stv. Pau l Aue's D.V marked w it h a
w hite ci rc le wrapped aro u nd th e
fuselage. A ll c r m ese mac hi nes ex hibit
t he unit's ye llow noses, and mo st
prob ably we re ma rked w it h bl ack
number s in th e p ositio n no ted above,
t ho ug h th e tatter a re di ffic u lt t o make
out in thi s photo.

77. A mixed bag of airc raft typ es in

use, ci rca Septe mber 1917. At th e far
left is an OAW-b uilt Alb atros 0.111 , tt s
f uselage c ross sta nd ing out agains t
black (1) and w hite ban d s - also
v isib le is th e ' 19' o n th e f uselage an d
ye llow nose a nd, apparently, w heets. ,
Fig . 8. Vzfw. A loys Heldmann's Albatros D.V, d ec o rat ed w it h th e unit's
ye llow nose an d hi s persona l marking of a w hite ta!l. Th e colour of th e
Next t o It ts th e D.III(OAW) w it h t he
w hite wavy snake line; t he number '15'
\
w hite- bcrdered d ark band o n t he fuselage ts unrec or d ed . ts legi bl e w it h m agnificati o n o n t he f
A representative '6' Is shown in th e pos it io n occupied by such numbers o rig inal print . Ob /t. Weigand's D.V
on Jasta 10 Albat ros fighter s. Th e w ings we re in factory f inis h painted (seria l apparent ly 118 7/17), also
ca mouflage o n th e to p surfaces wltn sky blue understdes. ma rke d w it h co loured ban d s in th e
area c t th e nat ion al in signia and an
T77 u nusua l w hite fi gu re on t he f usel ag e;
t hen another D.V, foll ow ed by a Pfalz
0.111 with a cross ot uniqu el y t hi c k
p ro portio ns. The last two aircraft are
an Albat ros 0 .111 mar ked wi t h a w hite
c hevron (barely v is ib le) th ou ght to
have been fl ow n by Lt n. Max Kü hn,
and Ba rt h's D.III(OAW). Note t he
di ffe r ing to nalit ies p roduc ed by the
chrome ye llow noses of t hese verre ue
aircraft.

30
 Sandini Sammlung

78. In ear ly Sept embe r the Au stro-

Hungari an Crown Prince , Otto von
Hap sburg, paid a vis it to the Jasta 10
airlield at Marcke w hic h was re corded
by numerous photographs. Th e
crücra ts identifiable are, tert to rig ht:
Ob lt. Bod ensch atz (J G I adjutant ];
Ob lt. von Oöring (usu al co m mande r of
Jasta 4 an d act ing CO of J G I d uring
vo n Ric hthofe n's leave]; Hauptmann
Wil be rg, t he Ko mmandeur der Flieg er
(Ko f/) of t he 4. Armee; the Crown
• e" ...
Pri nce, w it h binoculars and wa lk ing
., ~. .' "} st ick; Ltn. WernerVoss (CO of Jasta
10). In th e backgro und is th e A lbat ros
r .. '~
D.l II(OAW) No. '19', iIIustrat ed o n page
39. White bands w it h nar ro w bl ack
bo rders f la nked a da rk (bl ac k 1) band
w hic h back ed up t he fu selage c ross.
.Ä 78 ,,"79

79. Ltn. Voss (at ri g ht ) chats w ith th e

Crown Prince; second from Iett is von
Oöring. The O.lIl (OAW) cou ld have
been f lown by Eri ch Lo ew enhar dt, and
th is view revea ls the w hite wavy line
was painted o n the t o p wing as we il as
the f uselage, t ho ugh t he full extent er
this marking remains co njectural.
Loewenhardt's career was at this
period on t he rise. He was credited
with his fourth victory (a ba lloon) on
September 9, and another balloon on
the 23 rd. He would , of course,
eventually become Btaffe/führer in
April 1918 and sccre 54 victories
before his death fo llowing amid-air
cctnsron on August 7 1918.
80. Jasta 10 pil ot s sta nd fo r
inspection in front of Voss' tri pl ane F.I
103/17 during th e Crown Prince 's v is it;
severat familiär ph oto s ot thi s fa mous
triplan e were t axen on thi s day. l n t he
ce nt re of t h is photo is th e Crown
Prin ce, in front of a ca mo uflage d Pfalz
0.111 w it h t he unit 's yeuow no se;
beyo nd th at is the Pfal z 0.111 wi t h th ick-
style c ross insignia, and Albatros
fighters furth er on.
t.,

81. A Jasta 10 Pfal z 0.111 w ith-

reportedl y - WernerVoss in th e
cock pit. Thi s does not nec eeearuy
make it one of 'his ' machines, of
co u rse. Th is 0 .111 has been depic te d in
t he past w it h red nose and f usel ag e
bands; c1early th e nose was t he Staffel
ch ro me vencw, but at t his early date
thi s ccrour was con f ined to the
sp inner and met al cowli ng ring. Th e
f usel age ban d s may nave been bl ac k.
In fact , th eir sim ilarity to Hecht's 0.111
0.1370 / 17 suggests t hat t his may have
in fac t been that machine, w ith
add it io na l yellow paint an d a green tau
added later - but thi s is m ere
speculat io n.
31
 Sandini Sammlung

82. A tew of the early producti on

Pf alz D.l1t fi ghters were ca mo uflaged
in ton es of (probably) g ree n an d
mauve on t he uppe r surraces. wi t h th e
understdes most likel y th e usual
silbergrau f ini sh . At lea st two cr three
of th ese camouf laged aircraft were
assigned 10 Jasta 10, one ofw hich
was ttus D.l lI crashed by t.tn. Gustav
Be llen on September 11. A w hit e band
encircled the fuselage w it h the c ross
outli ned in the base colo ur. No te th e
f lare cartridge raek end p istol
m oun t ed on t he side 01t he cockpiL

83. In another photo f rom hi s album,

Gefreiter Xave r Le inm üll er (in t he
cent re) arid t w o other groundcrew
m embe rs pose w ith Be llen's Pfa lz.
Clea r ly seen is t he fu selage 'j oint line'
and th e al uminium un der surtaces ot
w ings, fu selage and t allptan e. Ltn.
Be llen would achieve hi s fi rst and only
victory on Se ptember 21 when he
downe d a balloon; two days rat er he
was o ne ot th e unit m em ber s w ho
accompa nied Voss o n his fatal fli gh t.

84. Th e leg en dary fighti ng

combinatio n of We rne r vcss and
Fok ker F.l1 0 3/ 17. Thi s triplan e was
pa inted ove ra ll in t urq uoise w it h a
da rk olive dope brus hed on to t he
upper surtaces to produce th e
st re ake d ca mouf lage effect . As most
read ers know, Alex rmrte has rec en tl y
offered new t ho ughts (based on
resea rc h by Manfred Thiemeyer)
about the orig in of th e famous 'face'
pa in ted on th e cow ling: based o n the
fi erc e visages t hat adorned Japanese
f ightin g kites. Th e link between th e
two was t he fact th at, d ue to bus iness
ti es between Japan and textile
ma nufacture rs i n Voss 's home city of
Kre fe ld , several such kites were
owned by Krefeld c hucren. Fo llowing
hi s death in an epic combat against
seven SE5as of No.56 Sq ua dron, t he
ru d der of F.1 103 /17 (and a fe w ot her
co m ponent s) was sa lvaged and sent
to APF Rhy s Dav id s ct No.56 Sq uad ro n
as a souveni r. After Rhys Davi ds'
death, hi s fami ly donated t he ru dd er to
the Imperial War M useum. Th ere ts
currently speculation among t riplane
hist orian s that t he ye llow-painted
Fokker Triplane rudder now held by
the IWM might be from F.l103 /17. Even
though no photo shows this aircraft
w it h a ye llow rudder, the po ssibility
remains that thi s co mp one nt coul d
have been painted in suc h a manner
sho rt ly before voss's death. Further
rese arch into this intriguing possibility
Is st ill being ca rried out.

32
 Sandini Sammlung

" ,,*~
.. , -
.

8 5. Fokker F.l10 3/17 at Marcke

".5
short ly atter lt s arrival, w it h Gefreiter
Aü ser and Fli eg er Karl Timm, Voss's
trusted me chanics. A lex Imrie has also
sta ted th at the cowling of thi s triplan e
w as pa inted in th e Jas ta ceroc r of
c hro me yenow (Via N H Haupric h)

86. Anotherview ot F.1103/17 wi t h an

u nide ntified ca mo uf lage d Pfalz 0.111 at
lett. Note lac k ofwing t ip skids w hich
c harac te rised t he pre-p ro d uct io n
tripl anes.

8Z Un. Aloys Heldmann , w ho w o uld

survlv e the war w it h 15 vic to ries,
poses w ith hi s ca mouftag ed Pfalz 0.111
1395/ 17. Th e upper surtace s were
probab ly painted in ton es of green and
mauve or Iila c; th e stenc illed weight s
t abl es a nd ot her markings indicate
t his fini sh w as a pp lie d at th e fac to ry.
Note th e Pfalz t rade mark at th e base of
th e in terplan e st rut and the white
out lines on the low er wing insig nia.
Thi s 0.111 d oes not yet bear th e
Jasta 10 ye llow nose, w hic h ma y have
be en app lied later. The w nee ! ccvers
ap pear to be w hite, a co lou r Heldmann
was usin g as a per sonal ma rk ing at
thi s time. When fnterv jewed by Jon
Guttma n in November 1981, Hel dmann
did sta te th at thi s Pfalz 0 .1 11 had a
w hite tau (as di d hi s ear lier A lbatros
O.V) and that he beli eved he tater fl ew
an aluminium Pfalz w ith a w hite t en as
we il . He a lso stated that streamers
from his etevatcrs were a surer m eans
of ident if ication as a Kette leader than
markings . . . (A/oys He/dm ann via the
Lafay ette Foundation)
 Sandini Sammlung

,. ,
'.

88. A c lassic photo w hich is st ill

w ort h repeating. Jasta 10 Pfalz 0.111
fighte rs show off t heir chrom e ye llow
noses , st ruts and wheel covers.
Sec o nd from left is 1384/17, w hlle
third from rig ht is 1370/ 17 in w hic h
Vzfw. Hecht was captured on
December 27 1917. The 0 .111 at far right
bear s Vztw. Barth's du mb- bell
emblem, and th e s ixt h airc raft from th e
r ig ht - marked w it h a len gthwi se dark
st r ipe - ma y be Ltn. Hans Klein's.lt
was previou sl y thought th at all th e
dark markings se en in thi s Hne-up
we re th e unit c hro me yell ow colo ur,
but this is not necessa ril y 50. 1370/ 17
had black band s o n it s fu selage and
upper w ing, w it h a green tail
(co nf ir med by the rudder of thi s
mac hine, held in st orage at the RAF
Mu seum). Note t he whi te tail ofthe
t hird 0 .1 11 f ro m the left, probably
Heldmann's. lt is pessäble t hat severa ! .,.
of t hese machi nes had different
c oloured ta ils, as specifi ed for
id ent if ication by vo n Richthofen
hirnse lf.
-. -. ../.
' - :;.-

89. After capture o n December 27 -'.89 "'90

Hecht 's 0 .11113 70 /17 is to w ed aw ay.
Thi s photo reveals t he original unit and
persona l marking s priorto repain ting
by t he RFC.

90. Pfalz 0.1111 370/17, fl own by Vzfw.

Hecht , after hi s capture and
ap plica t ion of Brit is h markings. This
mach ine has been t he subject of
severa! inaccurate de p ictions in the
past, d ue to th e in co m pl ete
informat io n then generally avattabre.
Updated analyses ofthe ma rking s
have appeared rnore t han once in
va rio us Albatros publicat ions, but old
myths d ie hard. Ac cording t o official
RFC report s on fil e at t he Public
Records Offic e, the ban ds on th e
fuse lage and top surface of the upper
w ing were blac k, and t he tau was
green (as seen o n t he st ill extant
rudder). Th e no se, und erc arriage, and
interplane st ruts were ye llow in ty pi cal
Jas ta 10 fas hio n. Th e rest ofthe
aircraft was t he usu al Pfa lz silbergrau.

34
 Sandini Sammlung

91. Un. 'Fritz' Friedrichs sits in his

Pfalz 0 .111 in this ctt-seen but usetu t
photo. The amount of chrome yellow
on the nase was less extensive than
thai seen on same other Pfalz fighters
of the unit - tnere were several
va riat ions. Also iIIustrated are the
r igging data panel, rnanufacturer's
p late, and weights table. Note the
arrow markings on the c irc ular tue!
tank filling loeation and circular
in spection panels. Friedrich s would
bec ome one of th e 'star turns' of Jasta
10 and a sp eciali st in downing
balloons.

A" 92. Ern st Eversbusch, one ct the

founders o f the Pfa lz Flugzeugwerke,
visited seme able exp onents ot h is
ürm's product at Jasta 10. From lett
are : unknown, Hauptmann Kurt
Schwarzenberger of Idflieg, Ltn. Klein,
Un. Kühn, Eversbusch, Ltn.
He ldmann, and an unknown airman.
The dark (black 1) bands on the top
wing are noteworthy, and may have
been format ion leader's markings.

93. Idffieg official Kurt

Schwarzenberger (Ieft) and Han s Klein
(centre) with Klein's 0 .111. The personal
rnarking s of a coloured tail and
fu se lag e ba nd are evidently t he same
c hro m e yellow as the nose - see the
fifth Pfa lz in th e li ne -up p hot o
opposite. Staffelführer Klein would be
badly wounded in Pfa lz O.llla 4283 /17
o n February 19 1918 ; th e loss of his
right ln d ex f inger groun ded hirn for the
duration 0 1 t he w ar.

35
 Sandini Sammlung

94. Jasta 10 grou nd cre w pese w it h a

Pfalz n.ute, exam ples ofw hic h
p ro babl y beg an t o arr ive atthe unit in
November 1917. Thi s mactune borethe
Staffel marking s of c hro me yellow
nc se. st rut s and w heel covers, but t he
airscrew sp inner appea rs t o be bri g ht,
u npainte d m etal.

95. Un. Franz Bohlein survived thi s

ac cident in Albat ros O.V 457 1/17,
evide ntly with no sig nificant injury. The
aircraft d isp layed Jasta 10 ye ll ow on
it s nose and perhaps struts, but not on
th e wh eel ccvers. Thi s view ill ust rates
t he app lication 01a white border to the
und erwing c rosses f or vi si bility
against printed ca mouf lage tab rtc. The
teu was pa inted an unrecorded dark
colo u r as a pe rs onal mar1dng , but
ca ref ully lea ving the seri al number
u ntouched. Bohlein w as c red it ed with
his first vi ctory, a ba lloon, only four
da ys bercre his death on March 16
1918.

9 6. Elem ents of J ag dg esc h wad er I

on th e landing ground at Awo ingt ,
w hic h the Gesc hwader had m oved to
on April 20 1918 in read i ness f orthe
great Spring Offensive. In t he
foreground appear Pfa lz O.llla and
Albatros f ighters of J asta 10, c learly
identified by their ye llow noses.
T he O.lII a fo urth fro m r ight had tt s
fusetage completely ove rpain ted
(probably in red or bl ac k) with a w hite
ba nd aft of th e cross. The Al b at ro s
O.V (1) in the middle di stanc e was a
Jasta 10 ai rc raft w it h a w rapa rou nd
ribbon p er sonal markin g of unknown
co lo ur. In th e di st an c e at extreme lett
are J asta 4 Pfal z a nd Albatros
figh te rs, marked w it h the bl ack s p ira l
stripe unit in signia and vari-col oured
tail s.

97. It Is th ought thi s photo show s

Manfred von Ai chthofen on a vi sit to
J asta 5. Thi s Albatros O.V m ay be th e
same J asta 10 a irc raft see n in the
prec eding p hoto, de c o rated w it h an
ind ivi dual m arking of a sp iral st ripe of
un confirm ed hu e (but w hic h is not
Jasta 4 black) . Th e t au was
overpainte d as weil, a nd th e w ings
we re c overed w ith pri nte d camou f lage
fab ric . (Via H H Wynne)
....95 . 96

3.
 Sandini Sammlung

98. In late Ap r il -early M ay 19 18 some

01the first producti o n Fo kk er O.VII
biplanes we re de livered to Jast a 10 t o
replace tne un it 's weary Pfalz and
Albatros fig hters. These Fok kers we re
finished in st rea ked olive d op e o n the
upper l uselage and tau surfaces, w it h
four-colour printed l abric on th e
wi ngs.ln land ing O.VII 234 /1 8, Un.
Fri edri c hs unfortunately ran past t he
landing area and into two parked O.VII .&9 7 "'98
aircra ft and tents. Thi s v iew reveals
howthe iron cross ins ig nia on th e
fuse lage and ten we re alte red to
Balkenkreuz torm as o rde red on
March 17, and that th is change had not
yet been effe cte d on th e ress-
accessible wi ng insig nia. The c rosses
were c onverted by usin g th e w idest
portion ot th e iron c ross ar ms as th e
bar wrc tn. resu lting in the 'thlck ' sty le
01cr osses seen her e. Not e th e w hite "
verncet st ripe just ah ead 01th e f
fusel age cro ss.

99. A differ ent view er Fri edric hs'

accident, w hic h ittustrates the
turquoi se bl ue unde r surfac e of t he
D.VII fu selag e and t he c ross positions
on t he Icwer w ing . The national
insig nia on th e low er w ings of th e D.VII
at far left have been c hang ed to
Ba/kenk reuz in signia wi t h th ic k w hite
borde rs. Th e wheel cov ers and st ruts
ofthe se airc raft were en ev ide ntl y in
lactory fin ish; it is difficu lt to say
w het he r or not t he unlt's c hro me
yenow colour wa s yet appli ed to t he
noses 01the se machines.

100. An ot her ear ly pro d uc ti o n O.VII

assign ed t o Jasta 10 was 24 4/1 8,
w hic h wo uld bec om e th e ma ch ine ct
Ltn. Aloys Hel d mann. lt is see n here
very early in it s career; wit h markings
.,.
in appa ren t t ran siti on . Th e iron c ross .&99 "' 100
ins ig nia on th e top w ing we re further
outboa rd th an th ose see n o n
Friedri ch s' 23 4/ 18. The peculiar
crosses o n th e fu sel age and ru dd er
are unexpl a ined, b ut were pe rha ps the
res ult 01a mis inte rp retat io n of th e
Ma rc h 17 directive. Th e pain t i ng of t he
lower see tion of the rud de r in olive
dope was a feature see n o nly on a few
ai rcraft ea rly in th e production
seq ue nce. Not e t ha t some cowting
pane ls were re moved t o fac ili ta te
cooling. The uniqu e crosses on th is
rudder an d fuselage were prob ab fy
soo n al te red to m or e co rrect fo rm by
Jasta 10 p er sonnel.
37
 Sandini Sammlung

101. The c hro me yellow of Jasta 10

was appl ied tothe nose of 244/18, but
perha ps not to the st ru ts or w heel
cove rs. Heldm ann 's persona l marking s
took the form of his imtials in sty listic
script on t he starboard top wing (also in
chrome yellow) and a black and w hite
cheq uerboard pattern on the tai lplane
surfa ce s. Heldmann rec alled t hat he flew
this D.Vll from April until Augu st 1918
and scored several victories in lt,
lronicalty, the well-k nown ph oto s of 244 /
18 were taken circa Ju ly 1918 when it
was borrowed by Lothar von Richthofen
(Ja sta 11 commander). When
interviewed by Jon Guttman in 1988,
HefT Heldmann slressed th at it was
ind eed his aircrafL Loth ar ts seen here
with his tather Major Albrec ht von
Richthoten; the occasion tor thi s sert es
of ph oto s is said to have been Lothar' s
30t h victory (the 500th tcr th e
Gesch wad er ). If tru e, it dates th e ph oto
as taken on July 25, shortl y afte r Lotha r's
return from con valescence from his
mo st recent wounding.

102. A tess familia raspect of 244 /1 8,

with Lothar von Richthofen in the
cockpiL The starb oard cuter wheel
cover was an unre corded light colour,
not chrome yellow, and the port wheet
covers were mi ssing entirely. The
national insig nia on the rudder and
fuselage were converted from t he initial
form in the same manner as thc se on
234 / 18, to produce the 'thick' sty le of
cros s bars of rough ly 1:3 ra tio (wid th to
length). While the fuselage cro ss had tne
white bord ers applied corr ec tly to t he
length of the cross bars only (as
speci fied on May 131918), such 'thick'
style crosses were di stinctl y cu t-ot-date
by thi s time. The c rosses on the w ings
were altered by painting over th e thi cker
ends of th e iron cross bars to ac hleve
more co rrec t proportion s. The form of
exhaust extt should also be noted.
....103 "'104
103. A nother v ie w 01 Lothar in D.VII
244/18, w hich e mp hasizes the
di spa ri ty of areas 01 the s t re a ked olive
camo uf lage. Th e w hit e panel w hich
fo rmed th e background lor th e o rigina l
fuselage cross was apparentJy
overpainte d w ith so li d o live d o pe
which ap pears practically black.

104. As his lather loo ks o n, Lothar

von Ric hthofe n p repares for a flig ht in
D.VII 244/18. Hel d mann' s 'A H' emblem
ca n ju st be see n o n th e to p w ing .
Held man n achieved hi s sevent h
v ic to ry i n thi s arrcrart on June 23, a
Sp ad S7231 ct Spa. 62 (described as
having a, ' re d motorhood and blue
Gallie ro oster on the fu selage' in his
co m ba t report) üown by Sgt. Voi sin,
w ho wa s taken prisoner. Having
served in Ja sfa 10 since November
1916, He ldmann would finish the war
w it h 15 v ict ories and live to be one 01
the last survivo rs of the Richtholen
Geschwader.

38
 Sandini Sammlung
• •

jI
'.'- •:=--,,;;;;:--;
~-
_t:\~ dl ~

~
-h ~~

Plate 14} Alb atro s D.m (O AW j , s e ri a l number an d pilot unknown, 1917.

Finished in typical style with vamlshed rcseiene. d ar k green and mauve camouf-
'e::" lage with pale blue under wings and la ilplane, clear-doped rudde r and grey/
green melal pan ets and struts. The Jasta 10 colour has been applied 10 l he nose
,lI! ..
and tau. lhe euere personal while 'anake' marking along t he f uselag e - see
Photos 76 and 79, pages 30 and 31.

Plate 15) Albatro s D.lll IOAW), s e r i a l

Plate 14A}
number an d pilot unknown,1917.
Typica l under surtace
Finished as pe r Plate 14 but with yellow

He
scnerne of dark green anc ._ ~--
wheel cove rs and black (1) and w hite
mauve segments - in Ihis
case auqm ented by per- . -==~ . rear fuse lage b and s - note how t he
sonal white snake marking,
eJ Ja sta marked these machines with indi-
vidual numbers under t he cen tre stru ts
- see Photo 78, paqe 31.

\, ~~>'"
, •o
6
.'J
-" -r-c-; -~

--L--1-'
1+
0 0 111 /17
o c
,~
,
~,
Plafe 15 A}
Uncer surtace delail ccm- Plate 16} Pfalz n.m, se r ta t number a n d pil ot unknown , 1917.
mon 10 Jasta 10 O.lIls; This profile is ba se d on the third Pfal z from the fett in the famous Pfa lz D.lllline-up
while-outlined lo wer w ing (see Pho to 88): It clearly had a white tail. W hile tne serial is unknown , Alo ys Held-

I; '"',
crcsses and their positions mann did say his earlier camo uflaged Pfalz had a wh ite ta il and probabl y a laler
were hal imarks ot OAW- aluminium one did too. Held m ann is recorded a s havin g f lown a 0 .111 seria l411 7/
/ built verslcns. 17. Fo r upper w ing markings style see Pla te 22A.

Ja sta 10 profiles © R L Rimell /Alb atros Productions Ud., 1995.

 Sandini Sammlung

,..

~
Piste 11) Pf all D.IUa, sa rl s l and pilot u nk nown, 1918 .
Thill lIom8wha l IIpecu la li ve rec cn str ucncn i s bas ed on Pho to 96 (page 36 ).
Tha tuse'a ga l s shown pajn te d red bul eq uaUy I1c o uld have been blac k - yo u
cnoce e: The wh ite c utnnee 10 th e luselage and rudder markings ere unu llually
• •

~
la rg e.
• Piste IB A)
The wing s are lour-colour printed
labri c wilh tapes cu! trom tne

PIste 11A )
Upper su rrece del ail , Plate 17;
---- sam e material ; Ihe original 'iro n
c ross' markings have bee n con -
verted using a n eut ra l corou r a nd
the pilot's ini tia ls painted on Ihe
ste rboard etoe 01 th e wing in yet-
low.
lar ge u p pe r· win g ins ig ni a.

Plate t81 Fok k er D.VIl 244 / 18 , U n. Al o~ s Hel dman , 191 8 .

This weil documenled D.VII (s ee p hot os o n page 38) wa s a n oarly Fokker ·bu il t
m ac nin e wilh o live streaking o n IU5ela g e and tenpte ne. tu rq c ctse eercw solid
oli ve axle la iring (a s m osl D.VlI s) and tc ur-c oto ur prin ted l abri c o n w ing s a s Ihe
laclory fini sh. The ur nt c otocr ha s be en appl ied to th e nase and th e t ailp la ne
c ec cratee in b lack a nd wh il e s c oere s - not e I he b la ck /wh ite /red etre am era.

Plafa 19} Fokker D.Vll, s e r tet numbe r u n k n ow n, Offiz i er - S te llvertre te r

Paul A ue, 191 8 .
Fini shed in simi lar sty le 10 He ld ma nn 's D.VIl b ut with yell ow wh eel s and str ure.
Ih e c o nverte d cross s tyle o f Ih e lu selage ls diHe renl and simil ar tr eatm ent may
have b ee n ap p lied to the wi ngs bu t Ih is ts u nc lear !ro m Pho to 106 o n o p posil e
p ag e (41). The machin e b ears t he Sa xon cc at 01a rm s on it s l u selag e but p re- Pi ste ' SB1
cis e d etail s 01it are lack ing hence Ihis provislc nal re co nstrucuon. Lower win g c erau.

Ja sr a 10 profiles 0 R L Rimell /Albatro s ProducUon s Ltd., 1995.

 Sandini Sammlung

105. Un. Friedrichs and his Fokker

(seria l unk nown, but pos sibly 30 9/1 8)
in typ ical early pro du ction model fini sh.
Besid es a yellow ncse, thls D.VII was
em blazo ned w it h a heraldic crest as a
persona l m arkln g. Th e de rivat io n of this
insignia is un c on firmed , but Aloys
Heldmann recalled that Fried ric hs'
aircraft bare the ccrcurs 01Schl eswi g-
Hol stein. A native Westphalian,
Fried ric hs did serve l or a time in th e
Hol stein l nfan t ry Regi m ent No. 85; a
promine nt emblem in t he 19th Cen tu ry
military heraldry 01the two duchie s
was a double-hea ded eag le, w hic h m ay
have formed part 01t he ins lg nia see n
bere. The tans 01aircraft w ere st ill
lav oured locations lor pe rsonal co lours
also, as evidenced by th e D.VlI in the
ba ckground. A 2 1-victory ace,
Fried ri chs d ied on July 15 1918 w hen
th e un stable phosphorus am munition
in his O.V1I 309 j 18 ig nited an d set th e
aircraft aflame. He was ab le to take to
hi s parachute, but the hamess snag ged
A g. 9. An ea rly -p roduc tion Fo kker D.VII Ilown by U n. Frte d n c hs, with on th e ta ilp lane and t he 'chut e fai led.
typical st rea ked cam o ufla ge fin ish. lt bore sta nda rd Jas ta 10 yellow He had only recently bee n nominat ed
colourati on on t he nose, w he el c ov ers an d c abane and un derc arri age for t he Pour le M erite. (USAF M useum
st ru ts. Ap pare ntly a coloured ba nd w as ap plied j ust a head of th e via Jon Guttman)
fuselag e c ro ss, an d a heral d ic c rest 01unknown sig nifi c anc e wa s
added as weil . An y d esign w hich ma y have appea re d on th e dark left 10 6. His Fo kker D.VII p rovides an
std e 01thi s shield d evic e ls d ifficu lt t o disc ern, thu s is left undeflned. impressive bac kdrop for th e d im inutive
Offizier-Stellvertreter Paul Aue. Thi s
m achine was evidently an other early
Fok ker product w it h strea ked o live
dope on the fu sela ge. Strong sunlight
has nearly washed out t he o liv e sec t io n
01t he veruce t sta bilizer (which is just
visible in th e ori ginal ph oto) and has
ma d e the chrom e ye llow no se, and
po ssi b ly w hee ls, lig hter th an usuat. Aue
dec ora ted hi s D.VII w it h the coat or
arm s of hi s native Saxony on the
l usela ge, and appa rent ly litted a non-
standa rd windscreen. Aue sc ored his
lirst vi ct ory as a tw c- seete r pilct in
Kag ohf 5 in October 1916, and added
nin e more duri ng his long servic e in
Jasta 10. By hi s own account Au e was
an intensely dedicated pilot; atter bein g
wounded on Sep te m be r 19 1917, he
co nt inue d on acuve service fo r nearl y a
year bet or e bei ng l orc ed to se ek
hospi tal treatm en l
( Dr Volke r Koos)

10 7. Th e fin al comm ander 01

Jagdstaffe/1 0 wa s U n. Arthur
Lauman n, wh o ma rk ed his D.VII w ith a
personal insig ni a 01his in itials app lied
omately on a band ot un re c orded
colour. This aircra ft was a later produ ct
01th e Fo kker fac tory, fin ish ed in tcur-
colour l abric overall ; it would have m o st
certainly sported t he un it's yellow
m ark in gs o n its nose and pe rhaps
struts and wheel ccvers as weil. Having
ac hieved 22 vrctcoes. Laumann was
posted to Jasta 10 fro m Jasta 66to
ta ke command followi ng
t oewenberdt's tragic deatn Th e war's
end wculd fi nd him with the Pour le
M eri te and 27 victories to his credil

r
 Sandini Sammlung

Jasta 11
108. Th oug h blemlshed, th is photo is
importa nt as it ts b etieved 10 show U n.
Georg Si mon's Albat ro s 0.111 0 .2015/
16 on t he Jasfa 11 airfield before its
capture on June 4 19 17.11 was painted
in t he uni t's red co lour over the entire
fuse lage and tau, with the exceptio n of
a persona l marking of a light green
band aft of th e cockpit From this
photo it seems likely that, in common
with same other J ;;,sta 11 Albatros
fighte rs, t he national markings o n the A 108 T 1Q9
fuselage aod vertical lall surreces
were overpainted with red paint 35
weil, no white cross outlines are
visible. A well-documented example of
the uni! practice (common in May·
June 19171 of applving red 10 most of
the fuselage and ta il, with aseparate
colour on a portion of t he airlrame 10
identity the pilot. (Via H H Wynne)

f09. 0 .20 15 / 16 was shot down on

J un e 4 by Capt. Chapman of 29 Sqdn.
RFC and Simon was taken prisoner.
Official reports on t his Albatros
recorded the colours in cetan. British
national markings were later painted
on t he aircraft, but the rest of its
co lo urs re ma ined unaltered. Note the
sheen reflected off tne ncse. apparent
in severa! p hotos. This 0.111 wa s given
t he Bri ti sh capture number G.42.

110. As w ith all early 0 .111 machines in

the 0.1910- 0.2199/16 range, 0 .20 15 /
16 featured a ce ntra lly-mounted
rad iator in the upper wi ng. Th e reports
on thi s aircraft ma ke It c tea r that th ere
we re three camouf lage co lo urs o n th e
top wi ng (and pro bably t he bottom as
we il) thoug h th e o live green on t he
starboard wing ts nea rly
in di stin gu ishable from t he dark
' Venet ian Red ' on t ne middle sect ion.
The reports also me ntion that a small
tube (about 3c m intern al diameter)
was f itted , '. . . in th e side ot the p i/o t 's
cockpit about th e level of the pi/ot 's
e/bow, projecting ou tside the fuselage
and p ointing sfightly downwards and
bacJ<wards ••• (it) is p ro bably ofuse & 110
whe n fi ring a fight from a signalling
pisto /'. This tube was appa re ntly I
mounted o n th e port side of t he
cockpit

111. This vtew ofthe m uch-

photographed G.42(0 .1II 0 .2015 / 16 ) is
one that indicates t he re were indeed
\
three sections of camouflage colour
on tne top wi ng .

112. The eteeelc example ct Jasta 11

markings for late Spring-early
Summer 1917 is U n. Kar!
Atlmenräder's 0 .111 0 .6 29 / 17. The red
coJour of t he Sfaffel was applied to the
-- •
42
 ,
Sandini Sammlung
I

....112 ....113
entire fuselage aod tail, with t he
exceptio n of a white nose and erevator
which served to identity the pltot, Th e
wings remained in me usual
camouflage, probably stmnar 10 tnat
seen on Simon's 0 .111. Allmenröder was
cne of the leading pilots of the Jasta in
May end June, eaming the Pour Le
Merite on the 14th of the latter month.
He was eventualty credited with 30
vlctcrtes, (Via N H Hau p rich)

113. Allme nräder in the cockpit 01his

0 .111 (Note the offset rad iator w hich
c haractertaed 0.111 m achines from
0 .2200/1 6 o nwa rds). Up on fonnatio n of
Jagdg esch wader I, A llmenröde r was
nam ed commanderof Jasta 11; o n
June 26 he downed hi s 30th victory.
How ever, he d id not enj oy his success
for lon g, as he was ki lled in action th e
next day. Contra ry to a la ng-held be lief,
Al lm enröder did not fall to the fire of
Ca nad ian ace Raymond Collishaw ;
Allm en röder was kilted in the m oming
and Co ll ishaw's act io n took place in th e

\/ eve ning. It now se ems Iikely th at the

Germa n ace fell to ground ure. (Via H J
Nowarra)

114. Th e redoubtable Jasta 11 ace

Kurt Wolff po ses w it h dark-painted
Albatros D.l1I 632 /1 7. Wolff would attain
th e Pour le M erite and co mma nd of
J asta 11 before hi s death on
Se pte m be r 15 1917. The c olou rs ofthi s
Albatro s ca nno t be confirm ed, th ough
th e dark fu sela ge paint was applied
ove r the nationa l in signia on t he
fu selage in ty pical Staffel fashi on, while
Ih e c ross o n th e fin and rudde r
remained visible.

115. This photo was previous ly

pub lished w ilh ca pti ons d esc ribin g tt es
t he crash of Ltn. Kurt Wolft on th e
rai lrway tracks near Courtrai on J uly 11
1917,after he was wounded and shot
down by Sopwith Tripl an es of NO.10
Squadron RNAS. The truth of this
description cannot be established by
the author, but this ciear print of the
photo was deemed of sutnclent inlerest
regardless. The serial number 2099 /16
ls seen repainted in a light colour
against the dark coloured fin. The entire
rear fuselage was an unknown dark
cotcur; while the forward fuselaqe and
the underside of the wings and tailplane
were in standard factory finish.

43
 Sandini Sammlung

116. In a photo possibly taken at

Armee Flug Park 4, brand new
Albatro s O.V fight ers ofthe ttrst
producti on bat ch aw ait delivery to
combat units. Note the di spari ty of th e
d ark g reen and mauve ca mouf lage
co lo urs on t he wi ng s and t ai lplan es,
as we il as t he high head rest s
c haracte ris tic of so me early
prod ucti on O.V ai rcratt; t hese we re
u npo pular w it h pucts and we re ofte n
removed at th e Jasta level. The
seco nd m actune t ro rn t he fo reg ro un d
ts 0 .1 177/ 17, wh ich was delivered to
Jagdg esc hwad er I and was üown by
Manfred vo n Richthofen. At that t im e tt
w as ove rpa inte d t o so me extent, as
von Ri chth of en' s co m bat report 01
June 23 desc ribes this airc raft as
having a, 'red body'.

117. Arou nd th e end of J un e 1917,

Rittmeist er vo n Rich t hofen paid e vtst t
to Gon tro de, appare ntly in co mpany
wi th ano t her J G I member; th e two
A lbat ros O.V airc ra ft f lown by t he pair
we re photogra phe d th ere at the
headquarters base ot Kag ohl 3. One
Germ an albu m in w hich th is phot o
appears identi fi es the O.V in the
for eg rou nd specifically as von .A117 "' 118
Aic ht hofen' s ' red fi ghter aircraft' . lt
has been presumed that thls O.V is
0 .1177/ 17 w ith t he head rest removed .
Thi s is certa inly possible bu t lt ca nno t
be proven . Glos e ins pec tion ct t he
ph oto seem s t o mdrc ate th e enti re
fuselag e, tau assem bly, and
underc arriag e we re overpaint ed red ,
ob scuring alt national markings. The
fa ct th at t he upperwi ng cros ses we re
also appar en tl y overpainted may ju st
indicate th at t he w ings w ere give n a
thin cc at of red paint, throu gh w hi c h
the factory ca mo ufla g e pattern
remains visib le. This O.V ma y in fact
have been o ne of th e rare vo n
Aichth ofen airc ra tt that actu all y was
'a u red', alt ho ug h this is im pos si b le to
d efine, es pecially wi t h regard s to th e
u ndersides of th e wi ngs. Th e Albat ro s
O.V in t he backg ro und is also largel y
ove rpainte d . The gi ant airship ha ngar
housed Gotha G.lV bombe rs of Kagoh l
3. (NASM via Suzanne Hayes)

118. Manfred vo n Ri chth ofen (fa r

rig ht ) c hat s with Kagho/ 3 co m ma nder
Haup tm ann Rudolf K le ine (Ie tt ) in a
view of th e same c c caston as th e
previ ou s photo. In t he centre of th e
group is Ob/tn. Gertich, th e adjutant of
Kagoh/ 3. Thi s ph ot o emphasizes th e Fig . 10. Albat ros O.V flo wn by Rittmeister von Ri chth of en in J une 1917.
visib ility of th e c amouflage o n the Red paint was app lie d to th e ent ire fus elag e, tat! a nd land ing ge ar,
up per wing of vo n Ri ch th ofen' s O.V at almost co m pletely obliterating t he nati on al markings. lt is suggest ed
l ar lett, yet it remains po ssibl e thi s wa s t hat th e win gs w ere co mp letely overpainted as we il w ith a t ranslucent
st ill di scernible under a t hin coa t of layer 01red, though thi s c anno t be co nf irme d . 1tIs beüeved thi s was D.V
red paint of poor co vering quality. seria l nu m ber 0 .1177/17.
(NASM via Suzanne Haye s)
44
 Sandini Sammlung

&119

119. Ja gdg eschwader I com ma nde r

von Richthofen flew a different D.V o n
th is vts u 10 o ne of th e German naval atr
unit s in Flan d ers. Th is is atmest
cert ainl y t he sam e aircratt in w hi ch he
was tater w oun ded o n July 6 1917.
Al t hough f req ue ntly iIIustrat ed end

\ modelIed, t hi s D.V presents se m e

puzzli ng as pe c ts in it s ap pea rance.
After ye ars 0 1 discu ssi on and re search
th e t ru e identity 0 1 t hi s m achin e, w hic h

\1 von Richthofen's com bat report 01 Ju ly

2 describes as d ecorated w it h, 'red
c o wli ng, ten and wings', remain s
unknown. This D.V see m s to match
thi s d escription, yet th e black and
w hite lusel age c ross presents a
' toneo-d ow n' appearan c e, sug gest ing
an attem pt was m ad e to subd ue it in
so m e way.

12 0. On JuJy 6 1917 von Rich tholen

Fig. 11. The Albat ro s D.V in w hich vo n Richth ofen was shot down on suHered a head wound in an attack on
July 6 1917. Red paint was applied 10 th e teu, struts , ncse, w hee l cover s th e FE2d 0 1 Ca pL 0 C Cunnell an d LL A
and th e u pper su rfac es of bot h w ing s. Th e subd ued appearanc e of the E Woodridge 01 No. 20 Sq uad ron RFC.
w hit e o utline of th e c ross o n the p lywood fu sel ag e possibty ind ica te s H e su bseq ue ntl y made a lorc ed
an overpai nti ng or an att em pt 10 remove iL Th e ser ial number of thi s lan d ing as recorded in thi s and the
D.V is unknown, although sim ilar ma rki ng s are rec ord ed tor D.V 4693 / foll owing photo . Th e red paint o n th e
17,w hic h wa s flown tate r, nose was co nl ined to the spinner and
a ban d aro u nd th e c ow li ng , and a
'band' 01 d arker c olour see ms to
appear i n lront of th e red teu. Ag ain,
th e 'hazy' w hite outli ne around the
national i nsi g nia o n the fu selage ts
not ed ; perhaps the entire fu se lag e
w as g iv en a translucent c oat 01
thumed-down paint?

12 1. An otherview 01 t he sam e D.V

shows th e d efinite ov erpainting 01 t he
wi ng c rosses, and probably t he w ho le
upper surfaces 01 both w ings, in red
paint.
45
 Sandini Sammlung

122. At some period during Summer

1917, th e red d ecoration w hic h had
been th e hallmark of Jasta 11 airc raft
was stand ard ized inte t he following
unit marking: a red ncse back 10 th e
leading edge er the c c ckplt, re d
w h eels, a nd r ed struts. Th ough t he
un c ertamnes ot wart ime supply and
maintenanc e must have prevented t ne
preci se ap p licat io n of the se m arkings
10 every unit airc rafl, ph ot ographs
indicate t hey w ere in w id es pread use.
Th is c o lo urlul line-up of Jasta 11 D.V
fi ghters iIIustrate s th e extent of th e r ed
nose m arking co ns iste ntly on each
m achin e. Th e cuot e' pe rs o nal co lo urs
ha ve b een ap p lie d 10 a ll s u rl aces of
th e t ail units, w hic h vo n Richth ofen
had procla imed as me best method ot
pe rso na l identificati on .ln add it io n, th e
first t w o Albatros mach ines we re
furthe r d eco rated w it h in di vidual
fusel age markin gs to sup plement t he
tail co lo urs. Th e second D.V from th e
left is th at of Un. Franz Müller and
s ported a wh ite ta il w it h th e rear
fu sel ag e overpa inted in green
(incl ud ing the o ut lines of th e c ros s)
with a narrow w t nteband at it s to rw ard
ed ge. Th e colo urs ap pli ed to t he ot her
airc raft are not known , alt ho ugh th e
t hir d machine ap pears to have had
o nlya w hite t ail in addition to t he unit
marking . Th e two ce nt ra l D.V airc raft
di sp lay painted cam o uflage o n th eir
w ing up per surfaces, in g reen and
mauve an d p erh aps a t h ird colour, Th e
othe rtwo have printed fabric on th eir
w ings. (Via H H Wy nne)

f23. A ctoser vtew of th e same line-

u p, as Jas ta 11 pe rs o nnel rea dy the
atrcrart tc r flight. The D.V in t he
fo reg ro u nd is Mü lle r's. The
camouflage patterns o n t he w ings and
the red unit markings are c lea rly in
evldence her e. Whe n intervi ewed by
J on Guttman in 1981, Jasta 11 ace c ar!
Aug ust vo n Sc hoene bec k recalled that
hi s A lba tros D.V wa s decorat ed in a
tasht cn sfm nar tc these .lt b ore the red
unit d ecoration in identical manner, a
liIac t ail for personal id entification,
a nd w ings in printed camouflag e
fabr ic, probably four- colour.

f2 4. 'rtns Jasta 11 Albatros D.V was

at th e Fli eg er Abte ilung 33 airfield at
Moorseel e w he n p hotog ra phe d, w it h
Manfred von Ric ht hofen himself in th e
cockp it. Anothe r vrew of t his oc ca si on
(see o ver the Fron t, Volume 2, Number
3, Autumn 1987, paq e 272 ) s hows th at
this D.V was pa inte d almo st exac tly
like Fran z Mü lle r's ai rcratt, and may
have been the same machine after
f urthe r d eco ration was add ed. The t ail
was no lon ger ent irely w hit e, but was
largel y overpainted in a d ark colour
w it h th e rudd er remaining w hite. The
demarcation line of the red nose
co lo ur ju st ahe ad ofthe co ckpit ts
v isib le in thi s photo, although
so mew hat obscured by the shad ow of

46
 Sandini Sammlung

the top w ing. A Jasta 11 Albatros Doll!

was also pr esent, its tail just
discernible on the or ig inal print.

125. In an autographed photo from

his book Jagd in Flanderns Himmel,
th e Gesch wader adjutant Karl
Bod ensch atz pl ays w it h a unit mascot
• ~ .

in fron t ct severat Ja sta 11 A lbat ros

D.Vfighters. Alt ho ug h thi s poor-
quality ph oto suff ers from retouching,
it does serve to furth er iIIu strate t he
consistent pattern of red noses,
whee ls and st ruts on aircratt from this
unit. (Karl Bodenschatz via Georg e H
Williams) •

126. Von Richthofen reportedfy

land ed thi s OAW-built Albatro s 0.111 at
the Varsenaere airlield of the 2. Ma rin e ';"125
Feldflieger Abteilung in mid-Augu st
191 7. Perh ap s bec au se th e Albat ros
D.V cont inued to b e plagued w it h w ing
teuer es and the D.lII(OAW) had
reinforced tower w ing s, exampl es of
the lattertype sup pleme nte d the D.V
in Ja gdgeschwader I in lat e Sum mer-
Aut umn of 1917. In tact , Idflieg
considered the Doll! to be m or e
robu stly con structed t han th e D.V, and
von Richth ofen was t ho ro ughly
crslnu ston ed and disgust ed w it h all
Albat ros fi ghters by thi s t ime. Thi s
D.lII(OAW) bore ty pic al Ja sta 11
marking s o n it s w hee ls, st ruts, and
noee, w hile th e remaind er of t he
fuselage was va rn is he d plyw ood.
Beyond th e fa ct th at t he w ings w ere
fini shed in g ree n and mauve
camo uflage on th eir upper surfaces, it
ls difficul t to say a nyt hing furt her
regard ing t he co tou rs ofthis machine.
(Via H H Wynne)

127. Familiar photo of vo n Richthofen

introduc ing Jasta 11 p ilots to Genera l
Lud en dorff, dated as Aug ust 19 1917 in
Jag d in Flanderns Himmel. The D.V in
t he bac kg rou nd ts 0 .20 59/17, one ot
severat tto w n by von Richth ofen. The
st ruts, w heets, tu sel aqe and hori zont al
ta lt surtac es w ere apparent ly
over pa inted red, ob scuring the black
and w hit e fu selage cro ss in co mmo n
Jasta 11 fashi on. Th e w ings seem t o
have remained in fact ory fini sh green
and mau ve camouflage.lt has
prev io usly been as sumed t hat t he fi n
reta ined Its o rig inal varnished pl y
fini sh (since th e seria l number is
vis ib le) and t hat t he rudd er w as printed
fab ric. Howe ver, goo d q uality prints
revea l no 'Iozenge' pattern on t he
rud der, w hic h wo uld more likely have
or ig inally been clear-doped fabric for
an aircraft in thi s se ria l number
sequence. lt ts t he aut ho r's beli ef (and
th at of so me ot hers) t hat bot h th e fin
and rudd er w ere t hinly overpa inte d in
red, b ut w it ho ut to uching th e w hite
ou tline of th e nat io nal in signia j tn e
seria l num be r co uld we il have
rem ain ed di scernible throu gh th e
translucent coat ing. (Via H H Wynn e)

47
 Sandini Sammlung

..6.126

128. cr essrc portrait of t he

Jagdgeschwader I Kommandeur
Ma nfred von Aichthofen in the co c kp it
01an Albatros O.V. T he alrcratt clearJ y
display s the definitive Jasta 11 unit
marking of a red to rw ard f uselage, the
demarcation Une be ing a vertica l li ne
atthe lead ing edge olthe co ck pit. The
luselage aft 01the unit c o lo ur is
varn is hed p ly, as evidenced by th e
weig ht s table just visib le on the
original print. (Via H Hugh Wynne)

129. A pparenUy a lew examples 01 ..6.130 "'131

the Pfa lz 0 .111 and O.l lla occasionally
served aJongside Albat ros fig hters in
Jasta 11.0. 111 1369/1 7 exh ib ited dark
marki ng s o n th e nose, wheels and
struts in a pattern preci sely co nststent
w ith Jasta 11 marking practice, and it
is assu med it d id in deed be lo ng to t he
un it. The teu assem bly w as paint ed
w nue as a pnot's pe rs o nal mar king,
sup ple me nte d by a d ar k fu serage
ba nd w hich may have been red or
b lack. Also notewo rthy Is t he non -
st and ard w hite border s wh ic h we re
applied to th e crosses on t he f userage
and th e un der sid es 01t he wings. The
A lbatros 0.111 (OAW) in t he backg round
appears to bearthe Jasta 11 unit
marking s as we il .

130. A d ifferent aspect of the

presumed Jasta 11 Pfalz 0.111, showing
th e w hite outline on th e underwing
in signia. At least one Ja sta 11 pilot ls
recorded as ha ving üown a Pfal z O.llla;
Leutnant von Linsingen cra shed O.llla
4223/17 on January 24 1918 and was
hosp italized .

13 1 and 132. In late August 1917 the

f ir st t wo op erational Fokker triplanes

48
 Sandini Sammlung

(mo dif ied VA typ es, military

desig nat io n 'P ) w ere allocate d to JG I.
Ant ho ny Fok ker himself 500n arrived •
as we il, 10 p romote a nd f il m hi s tat est
product. He is seen in t he cockp it of EI
102/17 at Marckebeeke a irtield ne ar
Co urtrai, d iscussing hi s desig n wi t h
Major-General vo n Lossber g (Chie f of
the General Staft ofthe Germa n 4.
Armee) a nd Ric hth ofe n. 102/17 wa s
assigned 10 Jasta 11 and was f lown by
Richthofe n and by Sfaffelführer Kurt
Wolft. Th e Rittmeister achleved h is
60th and 61st vic to ries in t his
mac hine, but Oblt. Wo lffwas shot
down and ki lled in it o n September 15
1917. Bc th F.I tripla nes w ere fini sh ed in

I turquoise cverau be fore th e st reaky

olive camouflage dope was applied 10
the upper surtaces. The lac k ofwingtip
skids and t he curved leading edge of

I the ta ilplane were features peculiar to

tne F.I aircraft. The Werk Nr. 1729 is
visible at the base of t he w hite ru d der
on t he p hoto at rig ht.

133. Seventeen of t he first Dr.l f ighters

to leave the Fokker factory were
dispatc hed to Jasta 11 in late Sept emb er
and October 1917, makin g th at uni t the
first to ope rate t he ty pe in strength. The
Dr.1was still so relatively unkn own that it
was somet imes mistaken fo r t he
Sopwit h Triplane, a fact whic h wo rked
both for and aga insl th e Jasta 11 pilot s.
Vizefeldwebel Josef Lautenschl ager
died f lying Dr.l113/17 w hen he was
mistakenl y shot dow n by a pilot of
another Jasta on Octo ber 29. His aircra ft
crashed north ct Hcuthuls t Forest and is
seen here under guard. The visible
co mpo nents of the machin e bore only
t he sta ndard fact ory fini sh, and the
varying angles of th e st reaking are
c learly delin eated.

134. In time, t ne red colour ot Jasta 11

was applied to t he unit's triplane s. In
theory, thi s was t o be ca rried out on th e
eng ine cowlings and interplane st ruts ,
and orte n on tne cther struts and w heel
&133 "'134 cove rs as we il. In pra ctice thi s
applicatio n was hardly universal.
Warti me co nd it ions of suppJyand
maintenan ce ensure d that so me
triplanes wo uld serve in partial unit
mark ings or none at an. as evidenced by
photographs. Thi s Dd - reportedl y w ith
Lln. Günther Pastor in t he cockp it - may
have bee n painted red in so me or all th e
described locations.l n addition, t he
white fields be hind t he crosses on t he
f use lage and rudder we re painted over
in solid olive to atta in t he officia lly-
mandated 5cm -wide borders (this was
incorrect fo r the rudder, w hic h shou ld
have rema ined w hite). This was a
common Jasta 11 practice. Pastor was
killed on October 31 1917when his Dr.!
121/17 crashed due to the structural
failu re of t he to p w ing, one of two fatal
acc idents which led to t he grounding of
all Or.ls pending an official investigation.
(Via PS Leaman)

49

137. These Jasta 11 tripl a nes were
photog rap hed during abr ief vtstt to
t ne airlield of Jasta 17, p ro babl y in
Ja nua ry 1918. Th e machine on t he left
has t he re des ig ned aile ro ns of greater
area o n bo t h upper w ing tips. Th e shiny
finish ofthe cowlings ma y indicat e
t ha t th ese comp onents we re painted
red, but th e interplane st r uts we re
clea rly tu rquo ise blu e w he n tbls
"'13 7
5.
Sandini Sammlung
phot ograph was t ak en. Th e c ross
field s of th e Dr.I on th e left have been
overpainted , but not tho se o n th e
ot her airc raft. The second person from
th e left tat the w ing t ip, hands in
pockets ) ts Karl Wasenmüll er, th e
Jasta 17 c ter k in w hos e album th is
ph oto or ig inat edi m ost of th e rest of
t ne pers onnel are J asta 17
g ro undc rew.
135. Th e investi g ati o n of th e Dr.l w ing
ta uures led to orders for the
pro d uctio n ct st rengthened top w ings
and red esign ed ailero ns. ln late
Dece mber 1917 t he l irst batch 0115
t r ipl anes w ith mod ilied w ings arrived
at Jasta 11, an d one of th ese was 144/
17. Like so me ot hers in t his batch, th is
tri pl ane was litted w ith asym me t rical
auerons as a method of usin g up
ex isting stocks of t he old fo rm (and
a lso increasi ng th e aircraft's rat e 01
roll t o th e ri g ht). Th e sta rboard ailerc n
was 01th e f irst design, w hic h orig inally
had an aerodynam ic ba lance of
greater c hord and area, but w hich was
now red uced. Th e port aile ro n was 01
the new d esi gn w ith g reater area. As
most reade rs kn ow, 144/1 7 was t he
f irst Dr.l t o fa ll into Allied hands intact
w hen Un. Eb erh ard Stapenhorst was
brought down by g ro und lire w hile
attacking a Brit is h ba Uoon on Ja nua ry
13 1918. Sta pe nhorst was t ak en
prisoner and t he triplane was
th oroughly exa mined and reported on
by Briti s h aut hcritles.
136. Dr.l 144/17, t ho ug h so mewhat
the wo rse fo r wea r, was a valuable
prize and became t he s ub ject of
repo rt s by both t he Minist ry ct
M unit io ns and by Fli ght maq azin e
w hich describe it s marking s.lt was
f inis hed in standard Fokker 'streaky'
ca mouf lage with t he usu al ste nc ill ing.
A pe rs o nal marking of a b lack and
w hite c heque r band was pa inte d on
t he fuselage, th ou gh much ofthis
pa int had f laked away by t he t ime t he
ph otos we re t aken . Th e st ruts a nd
w hee l covers we re obv io usly rectcrv-
fini shed onl y. To t he aut ho r's
kn owl ed ge, no m ention is mad e of the
colo ur ofthe cowling in any 01th e
reports; how ever, c ne migh t assurne
t ha t il the cowli ng had be en red it
p roba bly wo uld have b een mention ed
a nd it see ms likely th at th e cowling
w as t he usu al so li d olive cctour;

139. Vizefeld web el Edgar Sc ho lz ts
show n in on e of hi s J asta 11 tri planes
(seri al unknown ) w hich was m arked
wit h a d ark-coloured band ad ja ce nt to
the nat io na l in signia. Th e cross f ie lds
were paint ed over in ty p ica l Jasta 11
fas hio n, but th e most not ew orthy
reature ofthis Dr.l was t he remova l ct
th e axle w ing. A seven-victo ry ac e,
Scholz was a m ember of th e Kette
(flig ht ) led by Rittmeist er vo n
Richtho fen in the fatal encounter of
April 2 1 1918. s etrote surv ive d hi s
Geschwader-Kom mandeur by o nly
eleve n d ays, c ras hi ng fataUy in Or.l
591/17 w hen he steuec o n t ak e- off
from Cappy on Ma y 2. l ro nic ally, t he
orde r promoting him t o Leutnant
came through only brietl y after ht s
death, and he w as promoted
po sthumousl y. (Via P 5 Leaman)
140. Ltn. Werner Ste inhä use r ts
pic tured sw inging t he Ax ial arrscrew of
this Jasta 11 Dr.I tor anothe r
(un ide ntified) p ilot. Thi s co lourlul
tripla ne was fitted w it h two orig ina l
sty le ailerons th at have had th e c hord
of t heir aerodynamic ba lances
red uced. Th e dark w hee l covers,
Sandini Sammlung
138. Dr.l 139 /17 was one ofthe batch
of tri planes with modified w ings
dispatch ed to Jasta 11 in Oecember
1917, but both of its aile rcns we re of
the ne w design w it h greater area. Ltn.
von Conta f lew this and severat other
Or.l fig hters during February 1918 ;
her e it ap pears during a vrstt t o
Vale nci ennes, at th e f ield of
Ja gdstaffelschufe I (fighter sq uad ro n
sc ho ol l). The wheel covers , though
w orn , m ay have be en red along w it h
the cowling. Per sonal markings
c on sisted of a li g ht -c o lou red c trcle
ahe ad of the fu se lag e c ross, w it h a
w hite band su perim posed on n, This
long-serv ing Or.! w as transferred to
Jasta 5 in early May, w here it was
f lown by Offizier-Steffvertreter Josef
Mai in su bstant ially altere d markings.
, J
\
.&.139 T140
141. Or.l161/17 was dlspatched from
Sc hwerin on Oec ember 16 1917. In
March 1918 t his Jasta 11 triplane was
f lown by Manfred von Richthofen on a
vis it to J asfa 5, where thi s p hoto was
taken . The cow ling, interplane struts
and possibly ca ba ne st ru ts w e re
ap parently red , and th e rern ain der of
the ma chin e fini shed similarly to 152/
17.
T141
cowlings, and struts we re ali li ke ly red,
b ut th e co lours of the diago na l cross
an d f uselage band are not es
Ic entrnabre. The 'facial' ma rk ings on t he
cowling (in yellow?) were no do ubt
inspired by Voss' F.I103/ 17. The rudder
was w hite, and t he possib itity of
te ilplane markings can no t be ruled out.
51
 Sandini Sammlung

.:;."-

"' 142 "'1 43 ..,144

142, 143 an d 144. Jasta 11
comma nde r Ltn. Loth ar vo n
Rich th ofen was badly injured o n March
131 918 w he n hi s Dr.l454/17
underw en t ta uure ct t he top w ing -,
leadi ng edge and c rashe d. He had
engaged in a dogf ig ht between a
m assed formati on er JG I fi ghter s led
by hi s brothe r and an equally large
numberof RFC alrcratt. Both Capt. A H
Orlebar of No.73 Squadron (Sopwith
Ca mels) and t he No. 62 Sq uadro n c rew
of Capts. G F Hu g hes and H Claye
c1aimed to have downe d a Dr.l that lost
it s upper w ing, t he latter two
describ ing t he 'red nose d tr iplane' in
t nelr co mbat repo rt . Th e degree to
whlch t hey co ntributed to Loth ar 's tall
ts un kn own . In any case the aircraft d id
not lose the entire w ing and Lot har was
ab le to bring it down in a g tide, until ne
.
c ras hed near Awoingt Th e rear
'.. , .,
~. ~ ~ -
. ' ,. '.,?,," ' ".Jtt;-
fuselage t ailplane and ru dder we re • ~. .. .14,. .

painted in Lothar' s p ers onal light "'145

yeltow cotour; It has bee n suggested
t he top w ing was also ove rp ainted
yeltow - if so t he camoufla ge
st rea king showed throu gh thi s t hin
ove rccat in a very pron ounced m ann er.
Th e c ross fi eld s o n t he upper w ing
we re clear ly ct a darker sha de, and thi s
app lies so m ew hat to th ose o n th e
f us elage as w e!l. Not e th e s hee n o n th e
lig ht ye tlow paint o n th e t allplane.

145. JG I g ro und pe rso nne l have

begun t he satvaqe ofthe remains ot
45 4/17 in t his photo. The da maged t op
w ing has been rem oved an d tu rn ed
over, revea ting it s t urq uo ise u nders ide.
The red cow ting and ca bane struts are
c1earl y seen. Loth ar's use of a lemon
vencw as a pe rso na l m arking
stemmed f ro m t he co lo ur of his o ld
regiment, Dragoner-Regiment von
Bredow Nr.4. Th e severe teera t injuries
Loth ar suffered in t his inc iden t wo uld
keep him out of actio n fo r Jour months.

S2
 Sandini Sammlung

146, 147 and 148. The se familiar

photos of Dr.l 163/17 we re t aken on
Ma rc h 17 1918 w he n Un. Hans Karl
vo n linsin gen f lew it t o t he
Bo istranc ourt airf ield ot Jasta 5in th e
co mpa ny of Rittmeis ter vo n
Ai chthof en, w ho fl ew th e Jasta 6 Dr.!
525/17. Fokker Dr.l1 63/17 was f lown
by seve rar pil ot s, and the orig in of the
b leck-bordered w hite band fo r
personal identifi c ati on is un cl ear. U n.
vo n Conta f lew th is machine
operat io na lly in February, and the
aircraft con t inued in Jas ta 11 service
un til it was 'handed down' t o Jasta 34b
in ea rly May. The cowling of t his Dr.1
may have been red , but no other untt
markings are apparent; the starboard
w hee l cover ts c1early in factory f inish,
w hite th e ot her ts a li gh t co lo ur. ln t he
backgrou nd are t he familiar
Boi stran cou rt hangars of Jasta 5 and
so me of t heir Alba tros D.Vs.

- -
 Sandini Sammlung

Plate 20AJ
Based on capture repcrts
which st ete the upper wi ng
cala urs as : 'Pale Brun-
swiek Green and Whitej
Dark veneuen Red /Oli ve
Green': Lcwer ", ing pattem
Ie specutalive. The th in red
pamt u s e d on Ihe luselag e Pla !e 2 0 } Albat ros D.lll 2015 /1 6 , U n. Gllo rg S iman, 19 17.
8nd ta il ha s allowed the Lln. Siman was ehc t do wn by Cap!. CM B Chapman ct No.29 Squadron, RFC on
natio na l markings and ser- June 4 1917 end l aken pri soner. This eirers " becam e Ihe subjecl 01 RFC
tattc s ho w Ihrough. reo crte. num erou s photo. end given th e ca p lu re number G42. Though in
All ied han ds some Ih ree w eeke betcre tne to rm aue n 01 Jagdgesc hwader I, it s
cctc ur sc he m e is th ough 10 be morceuve 01 Jasfa 11 practi c e 0 1t hi s penod.
Th e cere ure shown are b ased c los e ly on lhe rep ort descrip tion. - see p h oto s
o n pa g e 42. ~

_ ;o;,:..J

~
Pl ate 22AJ
Upper eurrac e d el ail -
no le orem . sm all sl y le wing
c rosses.

~
Pla t e 21 ) A lbatro s D.V, s e eta t u nk., U n oCar l Augu s t v o n SCho e n e b e c k .
Thts machin e le N I he la ct ory wilh cl ea r·va rnished p ly l use le ge ; wings and tau-
p lane cover ed in Iour- or uv e-c otccr pnnted fa bric and whi te-outlined in signia
in I he usua r eight c csmcns. H ere it i s depict ed in typic al J a sta 11 la shi on wi lh
torward luselag e. strut s and wh e el cove rs in unil red and Ih e l ail eu rtecee in
the pucrs per sona l co lo ur; hla c in von Schoenebeck's c ase. Th is p ra hle is
bas ed o n the euere o wn descripl ion rather t han trom p holograp hlC evlce nce .

'Cl

'+/
.~

Pl ate 2 2 J Pfal z 0.111 13 6 9 /1 7, pi lot unkn ow n, 191 7.

Finished evarau in Silbergrau with red ncse. s truts and Whe el ccvers. th is
mactune had a whita tailplane and dark rear lu s el ag e b and s ho wn her e as
biack. but il c o u ld have been red. No ta lhal lus el ag e an d low er wi ng c rosse s
onl y were white o ul! ined - at least when the un eto s on page 48 we re take n...
~
J as ta 11 p rofiles C R L Rlm ell / Al batros Productio ns Ltd., 19 9 5.
 Sandini Sammlung

Plate 2 3A J
Weiss' DrJ fro m
above - wing
croes style is "'A
speculative. ~ ~

Pla t e 2 3} Fokker Cr.l 545 /17, Ltn. ~

Hans We is s , 191 8.
Finished in tne usual olive streaked Plate24A)
cemocneae with turquoise lower sur- Tailplane stripe
races. typical Jaste 11 decor has been widths are
applied - red cowling, wheel covars and somewhat
struts. The personal co lour of Ihe pilot scecuretlve and
has been applied 10 the rear and upper riete the altered
fuselage as weil as Ihe top wing - see u p p e r wing
Photo 160, page 59. markings differ
in r atio from
tncse on tusef-
age and rudder.

Plafe 25AJ
. • r
': ....
v-
~

U p p er fuselage and tailplane detail. Plate 2 6A) Upper surface cetan.

Plate26.

--* ~

l$l
~"t")
i 'iflt.'WI ~-:~37 .
I. L',
~
Plafe25 ) Fokker D.VII 2 86/1 8 , Un. Willy Gabri e l, 1918 .
This colourlul machine is weil documented (see p age s 60 and 61) and is Plate 26) O,V 1I 286/18
shown here in its interim cctcurs. The Fokker faclory scerne of cnveyturqucrse AI a tate r date, Gabriel had orange strlpes applied
luselage and lou r-colou r printed tebnc-cc vered wings has been enhanced by to the f uselag e top and stoes an d the unit colour
partial application 01 tne Jasta colour and Gabriel's personal sky blue and extended tc the undercaniage legs and wheel
orange markings on tusetece and taüptane . cove rs - see Photo 165, page 61.
~
Jasta 11 profiles © R L RimelljAlbatros Productions Ud., 1995.
 Sandini Sammlung

149. Thi s ubiquitous photo of

Richthofen' s 152/ 17 is st ill deserving
of inclusion a nd fre sh exam inat io n.
Th e co m ba t reports from Richthofen's
64th th rou gh 66t h victcries (m id -
M arch 1918) describe its marking s as ,
' red top wing, re d co w ling, re d wheeJs
and red tail', and t he struts were
obvio us ly thi s c olo ur as we il. Triplane
tnst ort an Al ex Imrie has revealed th at
th e re d was exte nd ed up t he fuse lage
top decking t o a line ju st aft or t he
coc kp it. Thi s would have resu lted in a
basi call y 'a n red' appeara nce w hen
viewed from above, and thi s manner of
co lo ur di spl ay was used by other
fo rmatio n lead er s in J G I as we il. Th e
li gh ter appearance of th e cross fi eld s
on t he up per w ing was t he res ult of t he
overpa inting of the w hite square
bac kg round s w it h red .

.... 150 Y 151

150. Impressive group of Jasta 11
t riplanes on t he tormer Brit ish airf ie ld
at t een eue in late March 1918,
display ing a var iety ot national in signia
alterations. The rear f uselage and ta il
of the swastika-decorated machine
may have been a shade of sky blue or
t urquo ise; forwa rd fuse lage is a dark,
so lid co lo ur (red?). Th e second Dr.l is
502/17, its white tau striped in red or
b lac k; note the in co m pl ete
overpa inting of t he fuselage c ross
f ield, wh ich und o ubtedl y appeared on
t he port side on ly. Th is was one of
severat Jasta 11 triplanes w hic h
spo rted co lo ured or striped ta ilp lanes
as a method ot individual
identificatio n, and such decoration is
likely on some ofthe other atrcratt in
t his line-up. Most ot t hese aircraft
would probably have borne t he unit's
red co lo ur on t heir cowlings, and .~.

perhaps o n some of the struts and

w hee l covers as we il.
56
 Sandini Sammlung

1St (See bottom ot page 56). The

same Lechelle line-up of Photo 150 is
seen in th e background of t hi s phot o,
whic h was rabeneu in a c ontem pora ry
Germ an album as 'Manfred von
Richfho fen 's friplane ' . Th e relative
illeg ibility ct t he We rk Nt: on th e
und erside of the top w ing centre-
secticn has led to differing
interpretat io ns of (and heated d eb ate
over) t he seri al number of thi s ai rcraft.
60th 48 6/ 17 a nd 477/ 17 ha ve b een
quoted, the latter be ing the ma chin e in
whic h von Ric hthofen achieved nine
victo ries in March/April 1918; t he
act ual identificatio n of thi s Dr.l
remains ce nt revers tat. What can be
determined from t he photo is t hat the
cow lin9, w heel covers and at least th e
____. ........
'.
..-_ ~n_
. l.i<"
( , .
,: ~"7'
'.
.&152
interplane struts w ere mo st pr ob abl y 153. A nother aspect of 425 /17 in lt s the atrscrew and the engine wear
red, and the upper surfa c e of th e top f ir st st ag e of ma rking s, in f ro nt of o ne pr ot ective c overing s. Note th e upside-
wing ap pea rs t o ha ve be en of the Be ssonneau hangars at d own 'v-s ba pec' blemish or marking
overpai nted aso li d c olou r as weil. Th is Lechelle w hic h formert y housed the ju st be low the co ckpit, w hi c h w ill be
Dr.l and othe rs in th e unit we re in t he RE.8 ai rcraft 01 No.15 Sq uadron. Both seen aga in in Ph ot o 159 on page 59 .
midst 01modificat ion of th e nati on al
insig nia to Bafke nkreuze, and both th e
cross es on the rudd er an d fu sel age
appear on w hite backgrounds.

152. While prev io usly id entified as

477 /17, t his Dr.l has now been
conclusively shown to have been 42 5/
17 - one 01two 'au-red' t riplanes
tlewn by Richt hoten, and i n w hich he
attained his final two vic to ries
(allhoug h it was not in these mar kin gs
at t hat time). Seen here at Lech ell e in
late March , it wo u ld so on underg o th e
fi rst 01two c hanges in it s form of
national in signia. Thi s atr crart was
clearly red ove ra ü, w it h th e exception
of t he black and w hi te iron cro ss
marking s. Th e Dr.l beyond lt wa s
marked with f ive a lte rnating black (1)
and w hit e bands aro und the fusel ag e
as a personal emblem.
.&153 T 154
-.
154. Un. Ern st Udet wa s personalJ y
recruited for JG I from th e command
ct J asta 37 by Richthofen, and he
reported tc Ja sfa 11 in tate March
1918. He soo n re warded t he
Ritfmeiste"s confidence by achieving
his 2 1st vict ory and sho rtly th ereaft er
was na med ac t ing CO of the Staffel. In
hi s b ook M ein Fli eg erleben thi s ph oto
is ca pti oned as having been tak en
immedi at ely following his hard·fought
duel w it h th e Sop with Camel of Ll C R
M aasdorp from No. 47 Squadron, w ho
w as kill ed afte r a ten aci ou s dogfight
(indeed, Udet's tac e still see ms to
show th e st rai n of de sperate ccmbat].

-- If true, thi s dat es the photo as taken on

M arch 28. Ud et no doubt applied hi s
usu at 'LO' in signia to t his Ja sta 11 Dr.l ,
but unfortunately tittle else is known of
it s m arking s. Udet did not stay at J asta
11 for long, b eing se nt on
co nva lescent leave fo r a wo rse ning
ear infecti on short ly aft er his 23 rd
vic tory on Ap ril 6.
57
 Sandini Sammlung

155. The Dr.l ot U n. Ric hard We nz l,

thoug ht 10 be 588/17, at Lechelle in
ea r ly April 1918. Th ou g h only rece ntly
arrived from Jasta 31, Wenzl had
already applied his persona l markings
10 t hi s rnach ine in t he form of a black
and whita fuse lage band in the
proportions of t he Iron Cross rib bon
w it h colours reversed. Furthermore,
the lead ing edges of the w ings have
been decorated In black and wh ite
also to ensure personal id entif icat ion

., .
.. - from ahead. Next to Wenz l's machine
is one of Richthofen's an-red triplanes,
either 425/17 or m ore Iikely 152/17.
T he national ma rk ings o n bot h th e s e
•..
.. '~'
•
machines have on ly recentJybeen
a ltered 10 the initial fo r m of
&155 "'1 56 Balkenkreuz used at JG I, w ith thi c k
cross arms ot roug hly 1:3 ratio 01
w idth to len gth .

156. A rear vrew 01 Wenzl's Or.! which

d isplays t ne method er m ar kin g t he
new c ross lorm o n the wi ngs. Th ere is
littl e doubt t hat thi s and other Or.ls 01
Jasta 11, by thi s period, bo re th e
Starters red co lour on cowlings, w hee l
covers, and interplane st ruts, il not all
struts.

15Z A broad view 01 the triplanes 01

Jasta 11 at Lec helle. probably taken
at the same time as ttte previous t wo
p hctos. The t hree p ilots in the
loreground are, lett to r ig ht: Uffz.
Robert Eiserbeck, Ltn. Ha ns We iss,
and Vzfw. Edgar Sc holz. Eise rb ec k
died on April 12 and the lalte r two
we re both k illed on May 2. Th e
second t r iplane Irom t he rig ht Is
certain ly t ne same swastika-ma rked
Or.1seen before, now b earing a white
ru d de r and ea r ly Balke n kreuze. To
t ne lett 01 it is Wenzl's m achin e w it h
t he disti nctive w ing leading edges,
a nd th e next airc ra tt is pro bably
Richt hofen's red Or.1 (most like ly 15 2/
17). Th e sixth Or.! f ro m the right also
bears so m e k ind 01 striped o r
c heque red deco ratio n visible on it s
top w ing. British combat reports of
se pa rat e encounters w it h J asta 11 o n
bot h Ap r il 20 a nd 21 descri be a, 'b fue-
ta iled trip fane', but one ca n o nly
wonoer il it m ight na ve been tne
swast ika-decorate d airc ratt?

158. In hi s bo ok The Fokker Tri plane,

Alex Im ri e orters co nvinci ng evi d enc e
t hat t h is was Ri chth olen 's Or.l152/17
in it s red fini sh ; it was preserved a nd
ex hibite d in th e Zeughaus Museum in
Be rli n. Th e crosse s are 01 the initial
't hick' style. At one tim e th e c ross o n
th e f uselage was co mp lete ly enc losed
in a stra ig ht w t ute border as seen in
t he preceding photos, bu t the red
dope used to co nve rt th e in signia was
of suc h poor quality th at it
de te rio ra ted to reveal t he w hite paint
be low, even exposing pa rt c t t he
c urved w hit e border to the orig inal
iron c ross.

58
 Sandini Sammlung

--'----- -

159. Probabl y th e last surviving

photo t axen of Ri c ht hofe n's re d Or.l
42 5/17, sho rt ly before it c arried him to
the fateful encounte r over th e Somme
o n April 21 1918. Hi s 79 t h and 80 t h
vlctortes we re rec o rd ed in t his
m achin e. The c ross bars on th e
na t ional markmqs have been c ha nged
to t h e tr ul timate c o nf ig ura t io n a nd t he
rudd er ove rpa inted w hite. Th e sm all
blemish on th e fa bric seen ju st below
th e cock pit indicates th at thi s ls t he
same Or.l seen ea rüe r at Lech elle. This
p ho to w as appa rent ly taken w hen
Richthofen v isited th e aero d ro me of
Fli eg er-Ab teilung (A) 22 7.

160. Un. Han s We iss, a Jas ta 11

Kettenführer (Flig ht leader ) ge nerally
c re d ited w it h 18 c onfir med claim s, ha s
long been re ported to have f lown an
all -w hite Or.l.ln t his photo hi s Or.l5 45/
17 had a w h ite rear fu selag e and t ail,
th e c olour evidently extend ing up t he
fu selag e decking t o ju st aft of th e
cockp it. In co m mon w it h so me oth er
Kette and Staffel leaders in J G I,
Weiss also applied hi s per sonal cclcu r
t o th e up per surface of t he to p w ingj
an t t ns res ulted in a basica lly w hite
ap pearance w he n see n from above.
Once aga in, t he w heel cove rs, cowling
and st ruts o n t his aircratt were
ce rt ainly red. Th e effect ive ne ss of t hi s
p er son al colo ur display (ch osen , of
course, because 'weiss' trans lates as
'white') ca n be judge d from t he
co m bat repo rt of lt. M S Taylor of
No .20 9 Squadron, RA F, w ho sho t
We iss down o n M ay 2 1918 and
described the arrcratt as a 'white
triplane'. (Via H H Wynne/P S Lea m an)
.&160 "' 161
161. In tat e April 1918, Jasta 11
comrades Ste inhä us er (Ieft) and We nz l
pose w ith We nzl's Dr.! et Ca ppy
aero dro me. Thi s familiar p hoto shows
t he fu selag e cross bar s re painted 10
the almost co rrect speci f ied ratio
(w idth 10 len gth 1:4). Thi s would also
have applie d 10 t he unseen rudder
cross, but t he w ing insig nia (beiog
harderto aceesst remain ed in th ei r
earlier proport io ns. Since Ltn. Wenz l's
black and w hite f uselage ba nd
obscured t he milit ary serial nu mb er
(apparently 588/ 17) itwas re-marked
between t he ban d and t he lower arm 01
the fuse lage cross. Ltn . Wenz l wou ld
later serve in both J astas 6 and 4,
surv iving the wa r w it h 11 er 12
con firmed cl aims. Hi s book, ent itled
Ric hthofen-Flieger, is a vatu ab le
refe rence on JG I.
59
 Sandini Sammlung

-----------------. ~ .•"fLt...~t.(": .,............" . ,

162. Ltn. Wern er Ste inhäuser w ith

his co lourful Or.l564/17 in late April at
Cappy. The c rosse s in au visib le
locations were ident ical in fo rm to ~_.

I
.
those of Wenzl's triplane. The ratnce
design on t he da rk f uselag e band was
Ste inhäuser's persona l insignia. The
c olours are t hought to ha ve been red
and go lden ye llow, those being the
co lours of his fo rmer regiment: Feld-
A rtillerie Rgt. Nr.61. These same
co lours we re repe ated as st ripes on
th e t ailplane, a co m mon Jasta 11 form
of id entific ation; however, their preci se
layout is difficult to d etermine. Aft er
ac hieving ten victorle s, Ste inhä user
fe ll on June 26, at t he ccntrors ct a
Fok ker D.VII.

163. Ja sta 11 probably rece ived It s .&1 62

first Fok ker D.VII biplanes in mid-May.
Undoubtedly the most fam ou s
exa mp le of a O.VII from thi s unit is
Vzfw. Willy Gab rie l's 286/1 8. 1nd eed ,
it s c eroc r sc hem e has b ec om e atmest
a ctich e among modeller s and a rt ists ,
bu t it remarns on e ot th e few wen-
d ocumented Jasta 11 n .vus known to
this aut ho r. Herr Gab rie l describ ed it s
co lours to Alex Imrie and other
hist ori an s over 30 yea rs aga and
numerou s photos rec ord it s
appearance. A Fokker-built ma chin e of
th e first pr oduction batch , it s fu se lag e
1eft th e factory in th e t ypical st rea ke d
o live-b row n fini sh w h ile th e w ings
bore rour-c otou r printed t abrtc. At the
time t hi s photo was taken th e ca bane
and int erpl ane st ruts, as we il as th e
ncse. were red ; w hile t he
undercarriage struts and w hee l co vers
w ere st ill in factory fini sh at t hi s sta ge,
they were later palnted in the umt's
co lour as weil . Gabriel followed a
typical Staffel practice in painting the
ta il in personal co lours, in t his case
o range and li ght sky blue stripes. .&163 "'164
Later lengt hw ise o ra nge st ripes w ere
added to the sides and top of t he
f uselage.

164. Vzfw. Gabriel in c haracte rist ic

pose behind hi s O.VII. Thi s view ••
provide s detans of t he c hevro n-s t riped
t ai!, the application of the st reaked
cnve-b rc wn camouf lage, and th e st yle
of exhaus t exit on the st ar boa rd
eng ine co wling. The m etal c owling
panel s on thi s early production Fokker
lacked t he lou vres and ac cess doors
seen on later examples. On Ju ly 16
Gabriel used a BM W·powered D.VlI
(not this alrc raft) to good ad vantage,
achieving four vict o ries to bring hi s
total to eleven. How ever, hi s ' to ne
hunter ' tactics on that day w ere in
di rect def iance of the st r ict formati on
f ly ing rule s im posed by th e new
co mmanderof JG I, Ob lt. GÖring. His
f lag rant di sreg ard for di sciplin e
earne d Gabrie l a postin g to a n
Armeeflugpark for the durati on .

60
 Sandini Sammlung

166. The ce lebrate d red -n osed D.VJls

of Jasta 11 Iined up o n Beu gneu x

• airliefd in J u fy 18 . ft rs high'y fikely thaI

aJl th ese fig hters bo re t he unit's prized
colour on theirwheel ccvers and an
st ru ts as wen. Gabriel's 286/18 is at
th e tar lett. Several of t hese ai rcratt
appear to ha lte been marked with
coloured o r striped rear fuse lages and
teil s, but precise details are difficult to
discern. The third O.VII f rom t he left
wa s m ar ked w ith a vertical band
ahead of t he c ross an d twc-corour
hor izontal str ipes on t ne fuse lage
below t he t ailpl an e (vis ib le o n th e
origina l), and t he fourth a ircraft c1early
ha d a w hite tau. O.VII F 294 /1 8, in
w hich Gö ring c1aim ed hi s 22 nd victory
on J ul y 18, was proba b ly s imila rto

~.
• j"' , , ' J.'
, p.
th ese - hi s combat report d escribed it
as havin g a, 'red fo rward fuselag e, w ith
': ' l ye llow tai/'.
. . ,..:·t)ft:
','" t6 7. A n evccauve scene or nve O.VII
;.r, t . ':
~~~~;A ,
f ighters of Jasta 11 bei ng p repar ed for
takeoff from Beu gneux. At fa r lett Is
~", . :'!>"' . Vzfw. Gabriel (abave th e ' X') next to hi s
.,65 O.VII286/18 which appears in its fin al
165. Gabriel's mechanics, with Uffz. urnmate co nfiguration, roug hi)' decor wi th orange st ripes on the
Schwi ckert in the centre, in front of matching the fo rm ofthe fu selage fu selage. Oonning his flying suit by the
286/ 18 in its rater guise . The aircraft c ros ses. The D.VII et lett bore a vertical second Fokker Is Oblt Eri c h Rüd ig er
now bore lengthwise orange st ripes dark band ; it s serta t is obscured by a von Wedel, w ho would later command
on t he tu selage sid es and decking. blemish on the original print, but it th e St affel a nd su rvive t he war w it h 11
The w ing c rosses were alt ered 10 th eir may have been 272/18. c red ited claims.

A16 6 "" 167

er
 Sandini Sammlung

168. Th e sad w reckage of the Fokker

D.VII in w hic h U n. Steinhäu ser died,
o n June 26 1918. lt is appa re nt th at
Ste inhä user co nt inued th e use 01th e
red a nd golden yellow cereure 01hi s
o ld reg iment o n the tau 01 t his D.VII. as
we re seen on hi s previous 0 r.1- see
cotovr plate on page 56. The lig ht blue

~1 6 9
under side of th e lu sel ag e indicates 170. Ob lt. Göring in a c loser loo k et fi el d 01vision and reduce thei r
t hat thi s was an early production hi s red and w hite O.VII. Th e aircraft di stracti on . Additionallythe rim 01 the
Fokker -built O.VII, w it h st re a ked was equipped w it h a tel esc opic s ig ht cock pit on thi s side was evidently c ut
cam ouflage o n t he sides and to p of and s he et m et al baffles o n th e down, prob ably ror ea sier entry. M any
t he lusel ag e. coa ming in Iront of t he co c kp it, t he read er s w ill b e temutar w it h motion
latter designed to de fl ect empty pict ure loot ag e 01Göring seated in
169. A poo r-quality bu t importan t cart ridg e cases away lrom t he pnct'e thi s airc ra ft , re moving h is Il ying to g s.
photo 01 Obi'. Hermann Göring, f ina l "'170
Komman deur of Jagdg eschwad er
Fre iherr von Ric htho fen Nr.I, a nd one
of hi s D.VII lighters. Contrary to
previ ously pu b li shed ca ptions, thi s
was not O.VII F 294/18, w it h a red nose
and ye llow rear fuselage. It w as in fac t
D.VII F 425 3/1 8 (Werk Nr. 29541 w it h
BMW engi ne number 1288 ; ale rt
rea ders wi ll q ui c kly p ic k up th e fact
t hat thi s was t he same atrcratt used by
Ern st Udet to score his fina l two
vtc tcnes (September 261 and
d esc ribed as having a red f uselage.
Obviously, Göring üew this aircraft
eit her berc re o r atter Ud et did, in
different m ar k ing s. Our ing Göring's
use the st ruts, wheel covers a nd
l uselage ahea d of t he cock pit we re
undo ubtedly re d. The rest 01th e
fuse lage aft 01th e cockpit certai nly
was white, a co lo ur Gö ring used as his
pers on al id entilicati o n on at least to ur
ai rcraft he üew in Jasta 27.

62
- Sandini Sammlung

fO~.D iIl F ~ 1~5 ..

&171
171. Hermann Göring in th e cock pit
of hi s red and w hite BMW-pow ered
D.VII. Thi s view gives a ctoser look at Fig . 12. Oblt. Hennann Göring's all -w hite O.VII as iIIustrated bel ow. D.VII
t he c ut-down cockpit side and a F5125/1 8 was in a il l ike li hood painted at the factory since th e we ig hts
hand le er gri p atta c hed 10 th e teer e. serta t numbers and w ing handling are as are presen l
adj acent co am ing.

172. Th e fin al D.VII used by Göring

I
d id not bear the co lo urs of Jasta 11 or
any of th e ot he r com po ne nt units ct JG
I. Fok ker D.VII F 5125/ 18 was in st ead
finished a1l o ver in Göring' s p ers onal
w hit e. Thi s BMW-powered O.VII w as
test ed and ac c epted o n Septe m ber 11
1918 and pro babl y di d not reach the
Front until a we ek er two tate t; Th e
hnmaculate fini sh and precisely-
applied se ria l and we ig hts table
stencil1ing may suggest t hat th is
airc raft was painted in thi s way at t he
factory ; Göring and Anthony Fo kker
k new each othe r quite we il. Agai n, the
cockpit rim ap pears to be c ut d own ,
and a han dle ts eve n affixe d j us t a head
er rt. An ea rne r hi p wo und and t he
arthritis Gö ring periodically suffered
from may have been t he reasons for
th ese m odif icatio ns.

173. Wearing the strengthened and

modified Heinec ke parachute harn ess,
Göring hol d s th e Geschwader-Stock, a

=~
.' >
.... ,~........_--""','""......" "
. symbol of authority passed down from
the previcus J G I commanders
Ri chth ofen and Reinhard.

63
 Sandini Sammlung

COLOUR NOTATIONS
174. As no te d previously
Jasta 4 marked the lusel ag e
lo ngerons w it h co loured
'borders', usually i n black
and w hite. Fo kker D.VII F
4330/18 is th ou g ht to have
been one 01 tnese aircraft,
but in this case the d ar k-
c ctoured border d oes not
appear to have b een b lack
alt ho ug h thi s may be d ue to
th e thin nature c t t he pai nt .
Th e loc ati on is t hought to be
M etz -Fresc aty airfield,
occupied bythe unit in early
Octo ber 1918.
COlOUR$ TYPtCALAPPLlCATION RECOMMENDEO METH UENJFSS9S REFS
(Ba sed on Jt udy cf
fobrla)
~R~:GRt:[ N Allxmooll'fall upper ", rlace c....... 3Of6/FS34069 . J(lf8J1$34151
f!EDBRQWN Alba lros upper ",rlace calour 6fl/FS 100591appro>/ . 6E8/FS31090 {apprrY(!
PAU BlU[ Albal'os lowe, wrface colour 2484IfSI5526!appro.!
PALE GIEY Melal pa""l~ "n,I,. elc. ICI/ID I - No di,..a FS march.
UlACIMNJVEI Albol' O,/F'lol, uPP'"r 'u rloee colau' 1806/F537144 - do. e,r bur, Iighrl" 100 ,ed,
CHROME YELLOW Jo,ro 10colou' ·wide "" ,;ol;an, 4A8JF523538
OLIVEBIOWN Drl/early D,VII uppe' surtace. 26F3IF5 14064/0l'pro.!
TUlOUOlSE Dr.l/earfy DVII unde' surface. 25C5IFS2424/oPP'O'I
RED lcsro 11 colour.wi(le YCIriahons 9A8IF512199,
No le : TheseroIours ore not lied Ia partocular ",,trames ond sornplesmay be sub;ecrro tocIing. oge ond weolhering. however they
a'e oHeredos reosanabIe guides fo.- repe_lQt...... colour-s used on _ aI the rroadw>es .... troled ... ..... boolr. RLI
Pubnsbers ' not e A Kornerup and J H wen scher
For t he co nvenience 01 modellers, published by Methuen and Co., Ud.,
M ethuen colour refer ences have been wh ile FS595B col our cards are
quot ed and ca n be found in the avanabie in th e UK Irom H G Hannant
Methu en Handb oo k of cotour by Ltd., Lo westoft, Suffolk.

175. Nin e Fok ker t ri pl anes

01 Jasta 11 o n t he fie ld at
Awoingt; t he aircratt 01 the
Geschwader had all been
moved 10 lhis location by
Ma rch 20 19 18 in
pr eparati on lorthe great
offensive w hich would sta rt
t he l o llowing day. A va riety
01 per sonal m ark ing s ts in
evidence o n th e triplan e
luselag es between t he
nat ion al insignia and t he
cockp its. Under c lo se
examina t io n it can also be
not ed that at least t hree .Ä 174 '9'175
airc ratt in th is g rou p bore
striped ta ilplane s and
eleva tors as weil. On th e fa r
lett a re Albatro s an d Pfalz
lighters of Jasfa 4,
identified by th e un it 's spiral
ba nd insi g nia. (Via P 5
Leam an)

Imp wafm ~ ....I " I ~ ,," , rI! , ..

11 D ~ !PI l Li l Sl 1] mI. H'II! ll.1

o,,~ lurq..'", l U l - lSll 0.1 1" 1;' . 1611 _I1 J
G" ..
Oli" b" .. 1 "" , .11,. 1
8,.,.. ~Cl . SCl SVll llU -
0". bl..d y, II• • • ' "" I U lIO re l
P.. 1" .. 1 !G1IU / l 1 -
1101 - )(II S 1" 1;' · .. u ll U 91PIl 1111
u ..u.. '.. . I'IIUIJl
1H/Ji/SI·
,,111.\'''' ''~
171 ~-IH I
I H / l 11'l1 -
0.., 1P1U/tI B " lO / U
::::r ,•••• 1 UI - sn UlIU/U -
ISTI/S IISJ
BY/alll -
HTlI11tH
1..",,,,,. 1 ~"' !1I ]1­
'10• .
l U S- 1UI
l"H IIH
il l:l7/ l1 _
""i'~ "I, ll C ~- l1n

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141. · lU'
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DE TA ILS OF LOZENGE CAMOUFLAGE PA TTERNS. lJt'awn by I"" R Sta ll'

64
 Sandini Sammlung
•

BIBLlOGRAPH Y
'Detail Marlings ond f inish 01Fokker-bcrh D.VlI Airc;ra ff , D S Abbon, WWI Ae-o, N o.10 7, December 1985.
' Fckker DV lI Cove ring Pro cnces', D S A b bon, WWI Aero, No.102, Decemb er 1984.
Jagd in Flondems Himmel, I( 8odenscha tz, 1('1Orr & HiIth G mb H, 19 35.
5te pchild Pilot , J Doe rfboqer. Roben R Lonqo C o .. 19 59 .
'The Combo! Log 01 Jogdslolfel W . R Duiven and J Sands, Over Ihe Front, Volume 2, Nu mber l
The Red Knig ht 0' Germany. FGibbons, Doubledoy. 192 7-
' Reminiso:ences of laste 11 ', G W Groos (H J N Q'MJrro , 00-1. Cross& Codode Jovmo/ lUSt Volume 1.
Number 3.
'Found, The Los! Calors 01 Germony's Wor Birds', H D Hasting s ond P E Pa. ker, CO'l.''Olier. D ecem ber 19 60.
Warplane.~ on & lIle Dress 1914- 1918, H D Ha sting s and P E Parke r, Wal ke, Compa ny, 196 3 .
R'chrhofen : Be yond the Le g e nd 01 ,he Re d Boro n, P Ki ldu ff, Arms ond Armo ur Pre ss Lt d .,!Jo hn W iley & Sens.
1994
De Gebfijder Gobriel', A1eK Imrie, Cross & Cockode JoumaIIUS), volume 3, N umbe r 4. REAR COVER
'D.VlI: SidelighlS on foU::.er's Greal fighter', Ale KImrie, A;rcrofl lIIuslroled Extra Ncmber 7. Head ing illust rati on is vo n
1he foHer Triplone. A1ex Imrie, Arms.3. Armour Pre ss Ltd., 1992 . Rich thofen 's we ll·kn own red
Gennon fighter UmtsJune /917-1918, Alex lmrie, 'Osprey/Airwor No.l?', {)sprey Pub hsh ing , 19 78 . trip lan e 425 /17, t he f inish ct
'foI:; ker f a bric', P 5 leo mo n ond R G Gerrord, Cross,$ Cockode Journal (GB), Volume 6, N um ber 3. w hic h st ill eng enders
Von Rich,hofen and 'he f fying Ci rcus, H J Nowarro ond K 5 Brow n, Harl eyl o rd Pcbucc ucns Ud ., 19 64 . co nt rovers y. Th e painting
Aviarion Awords ot Imperial Germofl y in World War I, N W O'Co oo or, Poundono n Im Aviolian World Wo r I. show s th e m achine in one of
Vo lume I (19881, Vo lume 11 (19901, a nd Vo lum e 111119931. it s earllest guises, red
FoUer 0../ WINDSOCK DATAfllESpecial, R RimeU. ed .. Albatros P rodvclions Ltd.. 1991. overa ll w it h w hite outl ined
'Memoirs 01 Work! War I with Jagdslofleln 11 ond 4 ', G von der Oslen II Zocherias, edl, Cross ,$ Cooooe Eiserne Kreuz insig nia in
JoumoI tuS! VoIume 15, Nuraber 3. eig ht po siti on s and th e th in
The Fall of an Eagle, A van Ishoo-en IC Bowyer, ed.l, W,lliam Kim ber, 1977. red p aint bare ly c overing
'An Interview with Ralph A. O'Neill', N SOirley, e d .• ~r 'he troot. Volvme 2. Nvmber 2. t he bl ac k serial - see page
Der Rare Ka mpffliege r, M von Ric hlh o le n. Ulislein AG . 19 3 3. 57.
The Red Air fighrer, M von Richth olen, G ,ee nhill Bc ok s, 1990
M ein flieger/eb en , E Udet, Ullstein AG , 193 5 . Pro files
To p, Pfal z 0.111 1730/ 17
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS fl own by Vzhv. Hec ht of
lkdessOfhefw;se credited, the photographs in lhis bool:. were provided through the g eoerosily 01 P M Grou ond J asta 10. Overa ll Silbergrau
olso H Hugil Wynne, 10 whom I am deeply indebled. I would also ~ke 10 express my debtio the resecrch corried with yellow unit ma rking s,
out in this lield by Alex Imrie, fe Ier KildvH, end Ihe kne hislorians Hei nz J Nowarra and H D Ha sling s . Grotilude blac k f uselag e st ri pes (a
i5also edended 10 D 5 Abbat! lor his inpu t ond adv;ce, and 10 the lollowing who have reodered vcoous th ird ap peared on t he upper
osseto nce with photcs a nd informo tio n: Rich ar d Duive n, Howard fishe r, Jo n Gu ttmo n, Suzanne Ho ycs, N H p ort w ing ) and d eep g ree n
Hauprich, 5 T Lewsen. foul Lee mon. Dr Jam e s J Porks, Neo! W 0' Ccono; JeHrey Sands, a nd Geo rge H tau un il. Th e orig ina l rudd er
Willioms. Tha nks are also due rc the aUlhor's col leagues c n the sla U end Board 01 (),,-er the fron t fo r permission Is in store at t he RAF
to use som e ma lerial olreody publ ished in Ihor excellenl journoL The condusions ond opinions es pressed in rhis MlJse um's st orage fac ility at
publicalion ore lhe oulhor's ~bility olone. 'G VanWyn garden ' 0 Cardingto n a nd t rac es ofthe
origina l green pain t match
M ethuen 26F7/ FB - see
• . .and there's much much more! pag e 34 .

Cent re, Fo kk er O.VII F4253 /

~
FOKKER DYIII
18 (w/n 295 4) wa s at one
time ücwn by Ern st Udet, it
r'" ",! was also uowo by Oblt.
~"" Herm ann Göring who had
hi s 'pe rso na l' w hite
c' l o ."!-•• .,.
c o lo uration a pp lied to the
rea r fu selage - see page
62.

Fo ot, Siem ens Schuckert

0 .111, serial unk now n, ' Iown
If yo u e njoyed this book, we have further titles o n Ge rm a n WW I av ia t io n for your by U n. Ernst Udet, Jasta 4,
library. Th ere are lav ish SPECIALS cove rin g the ALBATR OS D.I·D.V FIGHTERS an d 1918. This machine was
th e FOKKER TRIPLANE (as w eil as Alli ed s u bjects) a nd DATAFILES o n t he FOKKER ove rpain te d in red and
D.VII an d D.VIII pl us m any m ore o n fi g ht er s, two -s eate rs an d bo m b ers . A ls o the re's marked wit h th e inevita b le
our w ell - res p ec te d bi m onthly j ournal WINDSOCK Internation al. Send SAE or 4 IRe s 'LO!' o n t he f use lage. The
forfull iist of ov e r 36 av ailab le ti tle s t o Al batros Production s Lid., 10 Long Vi ew, w ing s we re left in t he
Ber kh am st ed , He rt s, HP 4 1BV, UK. (Tel: 0144 2 6 75636 or Fax 0144 2 87601 8) . stand ard fo ur-c o lou r printed
fabri c - see pag e 15.

PUBLISHERS' STATEMENT.
Thisbook is publislled by Albatr o s Productian s . Lid ., 10 long View, Chiltern Pork blal e . Berkhomsled, He rrlor d shire, HP4 1BY, G rea l Briroin.
Copyrigh t CI 199 5 Albolro s Prod UClio ns, Li d . Prinre<! in G re a t Bnloi n.ISBN No . 0 948414 56 L Disiriburion 10 Na rlh Amer ico n ho bby an d crolt
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by RL Ri me ll Co-pu blisher: A M Haga n. Colo ur p rol ile s by RL Rirnell. Mo na d raw ing5 by G re g VonWyngarden. Mo no origi no tion. pr inling and
blooing in Greal Britain by The Magazine Prinr;ng Compony Limi te<!, Enfield, Middlesex, EN3 7NT. Calour originotion by Columbia Ollsel (UKand
Singaporel. The conlents of Ihis publicolion ore slricl/y copyright ond may rlOI be rep.-oduced or lransmil,ed in ony form whol:soe-.-e<; ei/her in
whoJe er in pari, wi,hool the prior. wrillen consent aI Albolros Productions. Lid 0
 Sandini Sammlung

uen ~llid,tI,ufento
'iJh,it'ß <fil'cUO

he very title of this book

T co njures up the image ct
Germ any' s legendary air ace in
his bright red Albat ro s or
Fokker tri p lane lead ing a
fo rmation ct eq ually colourfu l
aerop lanes over th e mud dy.
wer-tcrn battle fie lds of t he
Western Front during 'The m 1010 / 11
Great War.
Jagdgesch wader Nr. l was
Germany' s first Figh ter Win g
com prising four sq uadrons :
Jastas 4.6, 10 a nd 11, whose
pil ots unde r t heir reverec
co mmande r von Richthofen
p roved suc h fo rmidable
op po ne nts for Atli ed airman
during th e Jatter stages of
Wor ld War One.
In the first WINDSOCK FASRIC
SPECIAL, markings sp eci alist
Grag VanWyngarden provid es
extens ive ptctoriat coverage 01
JG I's fig hter aerop lanes in an
unr ivall ed, c ottec tlve reterence
pa ck age. Ove r 178 arc hive
ph oto s, a d ozen lin e drawings
and mor e th an eig ht p ag es ot
exc it ing new colour prc tiles
provid e sca le mod elt ers and
enthusias ts with a wide
selecticn 01colour sc hemes tor
th e bes t known Ger man
aeroplanes of the
First Wor ld War.

WINDSOCK
+
FABRIC
SPECIAL
No. 1 Pr lnted In Greol Brito in