A wander around the Shuttleworth collection

To close out the year some views from recent (ish) museum visits starting with the iconic Shuttleworth collection.

Ltn Roth Jasta 12 photo album - Paul von Osterroht, Manfred von Richthofen, ebay photo find #121

 

This very interesting album currently on offer for 10,000 euros from the estate of the former Feld. Fliegerabteilung 52 and Jasta 12 pilot Ltn Roth. The approx. 290 photos in the two albums include views of a number of well-known airmen and their machines including Osterroht, Tutschek, MvR etc. The Richthofen images are labelled " April 1917, Epinoy ". Here he is seen with Paul von Osterroht, MvR's first pilot. Von Osterroht was shot down and killed in this month in 1917. Also included are a range of captured British aviators and machines. Includes many views of Albatros fighters (without Bestellnr visible) Of interest are the views of D.II, D.III and D.V so close together, timewise.

 

Paul von Osterroht was serving in FFA 18 when World War I began. He was one of the first German airmen to be awarded the Iron Cross First Class, received on 7 October 1914. After FFA 18, he served with Brieftauben-Abteilung Ostende in 1914 and 1915; one of his aerial observers was Manfred von Richthofen. Together they downed a French airplane so far behind French lines the victory could not be verified.

On 30 January 1915, Osterroht was promoted to Oberleutnant. In May 1916, he transferred to Kampfstaffel (Tactical Bomber Squadron) 1 of Kampfgeschwader (Tactical Bomber Wing) 1. He was soon given command of the squadron. His service with them ended when he was appointed to command one of Germany's original fighter squadrons, Jagdstaffel 12, as it was being founded.The unit was founded with over-age Fokker D.Is; however, by March 1917, they had been re-equipped with newer Albatros D.III fighters. 

Osterroht claimed serial number 1958/16 for his own, and had it marked with a four square checkerboard in black and white. On 24 March, the Jasta received a telegram from their higher command congratulating the unit on its performance in downing 14 enemy aircraft.
Osterroht scored his first aerial victory on 19 March 1917; at noon of 23 April he scored his seventh. Later on the 23rd, he flew an evening patrol to Cambrai. There he engaged Sopwith Pups of 3 Naval Squadron, and fell to his death at about 1800 hours.

Fokker Dr I 503/17 of Jasta19 Lt Hans Korner

 Fokker Dr I 503/17 of Jasta19 Lt Hans Korner  (SDASM Images)

Paul Baumer's Dr 1

WW I German pilot training school album - ebay photo find #108

 

A selection of Rumpler and Halberstadt training types with rather odd Bestellnummern including C.13/18, C.14/18, C.20/18 (and probably C.9/18 as well. Also some odd biplanes with early Pfalz fins and a Fokker Dr.I and Halberstadt CL.II. Very interesting album indeed.

" Der Rote Baron " : Die ganze Geschichte des Manfred von Richthofen. Joachim Castan.

Joachim Castan. Der Rote Baron: Die ganze Geschichte des Manfred von Richthofen. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 2007. 360 S. EUR 24.50 (cloth), ISBN 978-3-608-94461-7.

Reviewed by Richard Byers (Department of History, North Georgia College and State University) Published on H-German (July, 2008) " De-mythologizing the Red Baron.."

"....Few figures of aviation history rank higher in popular consciousness than Manfred von Richthofen, the greatest air ace of the First World War, forever immortalized in Western culture as the "Red Baron." Historian and documentary producer Joachim Castan, with assistance from Richthofen's surviving descendants, has written a new biography of the air ace due to the need, in the author's view, to confront the mythological memory of the Red Baron, replete with "gross exaggerations, vulgar clichés, wishful thinking, pure fantasy, beloved legends and bright shining lies" (p. 15), with the "complete" history of his short but illustrious life. The work that results from this approach is a richly-detailed, more nuanced assessment of Richthofen than earlier works, which Castan rightly asserts based their arguments on popular mythological assumptions rather than documentary evidence. Castan's access to Richthofen's personal papers and family archival holdings, cited extensively throughout his account, reinforce his theses and provide a wealth of information for interested scholars and non-scholars, particularly into the family relationships of the Richthofen clan from the beginning of the twentieth century into the First World War and beyond.

Many aspects of this work warrant praise. Castan's documentary background makes him keenly aware of the importance of the role played by the German government and media in transforming Manfred von Richtofen from an unknown airman into a national celebrity. With the death of the previous air "idol," Oswald Boelcke, in late 1916, German military officials embraced and cultivated Richtofen as Boelcke's heir and successor. As a result, Richtofen's meetings with higher officials and the Kaiser were carefully choreographed to maximize their potential as propaganda, both for internal and external consumption. Castan is at his best here, as he narrates the growth of the Red Baron's fame and transformation, by 1917, into wartime Germany's most recognized hero. Additionally, Castan's concluding chapter on the use of Richtofen by the Nazis, and the development of the "Cult of the Red Baron" during their reign, is a valuable contribution to our knowledge of the air ace's posthumous legacy, and will be of interest to scholars of the propaganda and mythology of the Third Reich. When he moves into contemporary discussions of Richtofen's utility as an example for the Bundeswehr and NATO, however, he is on less solid ground.

More problematic, though, are Castan's attempts to analyze the Red Baron psychologically, a theme that recurs throughout the work. Correctly confronting the partisan nature of previous literature, which uncritically accepted wartime representations of Richtofen as a paragon of Prussian and German chivalry and honor, Castan draws from Richtofen's 1917 autobiography and unpublished family documents to paint a different picture of the air ace as a cold, amoral aerial predator who sought to hunt and kill his opponents in a manner reminiscent of a game hunter. In Castan's view, Richtofen never viewed his enemies as human; instead, he viewed them as "targets" to be shot, and their aircraft debris as trophies to be displayed at the squadron mess hall, like the preserved heads of vanquished game. Castan repeatedly attempts to explain these realities by resorting to psychological analysis of Richtofen's childhood, adolescence, and family relationships. This process does yield some interesting insights, such as the recognition that Richtofen never developed a normal maternal bond with his mother, but in my opinion Castan's approach never materializes into a convincing case that helps explain Richtofen's actions and motivations. As many readers will recognize, psycho-historical approaches are useful as a tool to help explain the actions of historical actors, but they rarely achieve this aim in isolation from other methodologies. Castan's approach is no exception. At times these sections become repetitive, lessening the impact of the overall narrative, and they tend to minimize the importance of the brutal wartime environment on Richtofen and his contemporaries. Castan correctly points out that Richtofen's perspective on aerial combat was hardly unique; nearly all of the most successful "air aces" of the war possessed the same detached, perhaps pathological attitude toward their actions.

Despite these criticisms, however, this important work furthers our understanding of the First World War's most recognizable figure. It also encourages scholars of German military history to consider a re-evaluation of the conflict and its protagonists, in line with recent research on the conduct and motives of combatants in the Second World War, and to take the ideological atmosphere of the First World War seriously. More similarities may be found between the two conflicts in these terms than previous scholarship has suggested. Additionally, his astute analysis of the problematic nature of German military heroism, and its legacy for present and future generations of German military personnel, is worth serious consideration...."

German WWI recce types - Aviatik, Rumpler C.I, Albatros C.I, LVG C.II Doppeldecker Flugzeug ! Luftstreitkräfte Fliegertruppe - ebay photo find #82

Above; Albatros C.I

Piloten im LVG C.II Doppeldecker Flugzeug ! Luftstreitkräfte Fliegertruppe 1. WK and below; Rumpler C.I

Jules Vedrines 'La Vache' Bleriot 160 - 1914, the French 'invent' air combat (1)

Frenchman Jules Védrines was a popular and populist aviator noted for a variety of stunts and record-breaking feats. Born 29 December 1881 in St Denis/Paris he obtained his 'brevet de pilote' in 1910. During the First World War he was largely involved in clandestine missions, landing behind enemy lines to drop or pick up agents. At the start of the war although a 'civilian' aviator he was mobilised. He was one of the first aviators to fly 'armed' sorties although his lack of military discipline soon saw him sent away from the front! His armoured Bleriot monoplane aircraft was named La Vache (The Cow) and was emblazoned with a picture of a cow, in homage to his family's roots in the Limousin region - or alternatively 'la vache' is a mild French expletive and starting the engine generally involved a bit of effort and swearing!

 It was designed for attacking balloons and airships and for ground strafing of troop concentrations..

 On 15 July 1915 Védrines was mentioned in the French Army Order of the Day for his work with the Sixth Army, for whom he had flown over 1,000 hours on reconnaissance missions.

 "... the winner of the Paris-Madrid (air race of 1911) has built a new monoplane and has given it a very symbolic name ( 'La Vache - a word that has a double meaning in French; the 'cow' or an exclamation 'blast it'), an indication that the popular aviator will once again pull off an act of bravoure as nothing is above his courage.."