AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK _Being the Field Reports of Oswald Bölcke, from August 1, 1914, to October 28, 1916_ TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY ROBERT REYNOLD HIRSCH, M. E. WITH A FOREWORD BY JOSEPH E. RIDDER, M. E. 1917 NATIONAL MILITARY PUBLISHING CO. 1919 BROADWAY, NEW YORK [Illustration: COLONEL OSWALD BÖLCKE'S LAST PICTURE] ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Colonel Oswald Bölcke's Last Picture _Frontispiece_ After His First Victory 32 The Enemy's Aeroplane in Ruins 33 The Master-Flier and His Men 64 Bölcke and His Brother Wilhelm, September, 1914 65 Donning His Flying Dress 96 An Aviator Bombarded with Shrapnel 97 Among His Comrades 144 German Marine Aviators on a Field Near the North Sea 145 Ready for the Start 160 Bölcke and His Brother Max in France (August, 1916) 161 One of His Last Victims 182 Starting on His Last Ride, October 28, 1916--5 P. M. 183 FOREWORD BY JOSEPH E. RIDDER An unassuming book, still one of those which grip the reader frombeginning to end. When the author started to write his dailyimpressions and adventures, it was to keep in touch with his people, to quiet those who feared for his safety every moment, and at the sametime to give them a clear idea of his life. Without boasting, modestlyand naturally, he describes the adventures of an aviator in thegreat World War. It could well serve as a guide to those who arestudying aviation. Although he has avoided the stilted tone of theschool-master, still his accomplishments as a knight of the air mustfascinate any who know aviation. For the aviators as well as theirmachines have accomplished wonders. They are rightly called the eyesof the army--these iron-nerved boys who know no fear. Admiral Schley'shistoric words after the battle of Santiago: "There will be honorenough for us all" can well be said of the aviators of all nations nowat war. For in spite of all enmity the aviators have followed theknightly code of old which respects a good opponent and honors him. Captain Bölcke's death, after his meteoric career, was mourned alikeby friend and foe. Great as is the damage done by this war, horribleas is its devastation, it has acted as a tonic on aviation. Before thewar, of course, there had been some achievements of note. Since theday when the Wright brothers announced their conquest of the air, mandid not rest till the problem was completely solved. And this war, which continually has spurred man to new murderous inventions, hasalso seen the airplane in action. While at the start of the war thecomparatively few airplanes in use were employed as scouts, a fewmonths saw them fitted with machine guns and devices for droppingexplosives. Hand in hand with this came the rapid development of theairplane itself. To-day we can truthfully say that a journey, even along one, by airplane is less dangerous than an automobile ridethrough a densely populated district. But one thing we must notforget, even though the invention of the airplane by the Wrights is anAmerican one (in spite of the fact that the Wrights give some creditto the German Lilienthal) the Europeans have far outstripped us in thedevelopment of this invention. As sad as it is to say it, we mustadmit that in regard to aviation America is still in its infancy. Every European nation has outdone us. When, in the summer of 1916, wesent our troops to Mexico, they had only six old machines at theirdisposal. Instead of relying on these for information, GeneralPershing had nothing but anxiety for their safety every time they madea flight. But here, too, if all signs are not deceiving, war hashelped us to awake. Aside from the activity in our training-schoolswhere thousands of our young men, surpassed by none anywhere, arebeing trained, the building of our airplanes is taking a great stepforward. The experience gained on the other side is helping us here. At first it was the automobile factory that furnished the satisfactorymotor. But now through the war the airplane factories have madeenormous progress and helped the aviator to attain new marks in speed, reliability and endurance. While this war lasts every improvement inthe airplane is utilized to make added destruction. Yet we can notdoubt that after the war we will see further progress made in theairplane in the peaceful contests which are to follow. INTRODUCTION BY PROF. HERMANN BÖLCKE, DESSAU Oswald Bölcke was born on the 19th of May, 1891, in Giebichenstein, asuburb of Halle on the Saale. Here his father was professor in thehigh school. His sister, Luise, and his two brothers, Wilhelm andHeinrich, were born before him in Buenos Ayres, Argentina. There hisfather had had his first position--rector of the German LutheranSchool. Later, Oswald's brother Martin was born in Halle and hisbrother Max in Dessau. Oswald was the first child born to the Bölcke'sin Germany. On the 17th of July, the wedding-day anniversary of hisparents, he was baptized by his uncle, the Rev. Edmund Hartung. This occurred during a vacation spent at his grandmother's, atFreyburg-on-the-Unstrut, in the same church in which his mother hadbeen baptized, confirmed and married, by the same minister. After ayear the family moved to Halle, where he could romp joyously on theViktoria-platz with his two older brothers and his sister. At the age of four and a half years he moved to Dessau, in 1895, wherehis father had received a position as professor in the AntoinetteSchool, connected with a teachers' seminary. He had another year and ahalf of joyous play in this city. Then he was sent to school, and heowed his education to the Friedrichs gymnasium at Dessau, from whichhe graduated in the Easter of 1911. When he was three years old he hadhad a severe attack of whooping-cough. This had left a strong tendencyto asthma, and was the cause of much trouble at school throughillness. In fact, it was a weakness that plagued him with continualcolds even to the last few weeks of his life. While still only ayouth, he fought this weakness by practising long-distance running, and in 1913 he won second prize in the Army Marathon at Frankfurt. Aside from this, he was perfectly healthy and was always exercising tokeep himself so. In his boyhood he learned how to swim while restingon the hands of his father, who was holding him in the waters of theMulde River. In a few moments, to the amazement of the spectators, hewas paddling around in the water like a duck. This is an example ofhis courage and self-confidence. In the same way he rapidly developedinto a skilled, fearless mountain climber under the tuition of hisfather, when, as a seventeen-year-old boy, he was first taken on suchtrips. In the Tux district trips were taken from Lauersbach, and themore difficult the climb the more it pleased Oswald. Only when therewas real danger was there any joy for him. His mother will neverforget the time she witnessed his climbing of the Höllenstein. She wason the lower Krieralpe watching. When it was time to descend he, taking huge strides, fairly ran down the slope covered with looseslabs of stone and waited, standing on his head, for his more cautiousfather and his brother Martin. His principal, Dr. Wiehmann, said in the words he spoke at Oswald'sburial: "He had no mind for books or things studious; in him thereburned the desire for action. He was energetic, dynamic, and needed touse his bodily vigor. Rowing, swimming, diving (in which he won prizesas a schoolboy), ball games of all kinds, and gymnastics, he chooseas his favorite occupations before he entered his profession as asoldier. " He might also have added skating and dancing, for he was avery graceful dancer. His favorite studies were History, Mathematicsand Physics. Treitschke's Works and the reports of the General Staffwere the books he said he liked best to read. So he was attracted bythe military life while still young. Before even his eldest brotherthought of it, Oswald wrote him that he yearned to become an officer. In order to fulfil this desire, he decided while still in the thirdyear of school to write to His Majesty the Kaiser that he would liketo be an officer, and ask for admission to a cadet school. His parentsdid not learn of this till his wish was granted, and though putting noobstacles in his path, decided it was better that he finish hisschooling before breaking away from "home life. " After this, hisparents let him join the Telegraphers' Battalion No. 3, at Koblenz, ascolor guard. They had full confidence in him and his strength ofcharacter, and let him leave home with no misgivings. Thanks to hisfine physical condition and his enthusiasm, the King's service in thebeautiful country of the Rhine and the Moselle was a joy to him. Herehe spent many pleasant years, rich in friendship and making everstronger the family ties. After finishing his schooling as a soldier, he returned to Koblenz from Metz and in the fall was commissioned as alieutenant. In this summer he and his brother Martin had the adventure on theHeiterwand, in the Lechtal Alps, which many heard of. He and hisbrother, in consequence of a heavy fog, lost their way during adifficult climb and after wandering for a day and a night, wererescued by the heroic sacrifices of Romanus Walch, an engineer, andseveral guides. It was his love for his parents that made him take theway which was impassable except in a few spots, instead of taking theeasier south way. On that day, July 26th, his father was to havecharge of the opening celebrations at the Anhalt Shelter, situated onthe northern face of the Heiterwand. He felt he had to take theshorter, more difficult route so as not to keep his father in suspenseon the day of the festivities. Even if he did not spare his parentsthis anxiety, still he and his brother arrived shortly after thecelebrations, in tattered clothes but fresh and shouting in spite ofthe strain and lack of food. He wrote with great satisfaction of his work with the telephonedivision and later with the wireless division. Especially he liked hiswork in the Taunus, the Odenwald and the Eiffel, with its varying, beautiful scenery which pleased the nature-lover in him. Service withthe wireless took him to Darmstadt with a battalion from Koblenz, andit was there that he first came into contact with the aviation corps. They had a school there on the parade grounds. He silently planned tojoin them, but not till June, 1914, was he able to attain his heart'sdesire, when he was transferred to the school at Halberstadt. Insix weeks his training was completed, and on the day before themobilization he passed his final examination. On August 1st, on hisway to Darmstadt, where he was ordered, he visited his parents inDessau for an hour. After they had pushed through the throng aroundthe station to a quiet nook inside, he made a confession to them. Hehad not been in the wireless service at Halberstadt, as they hadthought, but had instead been getting his training as an aviator. Hehad kept this from them so that he should not spoil their vacation inthe Alps at Hinter-Tux. This loving care was remembered in thisstirring moment and he was forgiven. Still they could not help beingfrightened at the dangerous work he had chosen; his brother Wilhelmhad already joined the aviation corps of the German army as observer. But in the face of the tremendous happenings of those days, personalcare and sorrow had to be forgotten. So they parted with him, commending him to the care of God, who rules the air as well as theearth. Though eager to be off to war, he had to be content with staying inDarmstadt and Trier with the reserves. Finally, on the 1st ofSeptember, he was allowed to fly from Trier to the enemy's country. His objective was Sedan. On the way, he landed in Montmedy to visithis brother Wilhelm, who was an observer with the aviation sectionstationed there. He was ordered to stay there for a time, and had thegreat satisfaction of being united with his brother, for the divisioncommander ordered him to report to his troop. So the brothers had thegood luck to be fighting almost shoulder to shoulder in the Argonnesand the Champagne. If it was possible, they were both in the samemachine: Wilhelm as observer, Oswald as pilot. Each knew he couldtrust the other implicitly. So they were of one heart and one soul inmeeting the thousand and one dangers of their daily tasks. [Illustration: AFTER HIS FIRST VICTORY] [Illustration: THE ENEMY'S AEROPLANE IN RUINS] FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR TO THE FIRST VICTORY HALBERSTADT, AUGUST 1, 1914 Where I will be sent from here, I cannot say as yet. My oldmobilization orders commanded me to report to a reconnoiteringsquadron in the first line, as commander. But these have beencountermanded, and I do not know anything about my destination. Iexpect to get telegraphic orders to-day or to-morrow. DARMSTADT, AUGUST 3, 1914 Arrived here safe and sound after a slight detour _via_ Cologne. I amvery glad that I can spend to-day and to-morrow with B. And my otherold friends. Then they go, and only poor I must stay with the Reserve. I think that we will get our turn, too, in two weeks. TRIER, AUGUST 29, 1914 Arrived here safely. Myself drove a 30 horsepower Opel _via_ Koblenz. Wonderful auto ride! I managed to get time to pass my third examination in Darmstadt beforeI left. F. , SEPTEMBER 3, 1914 Started last night with a non-commissioned officer at six o'clock andlanded here safely at seven. It was a very pretty flight. CH. , SEPTEMBER 4, 1914 Have been here with the division for two days. As I had no observeralong, Wilhelm has commandeered me. Of course, I like to fly best withWilhelm, since he has the best judgment and practical experience. Ashe already knows the country fairly well, he doesn't need a map at allto set his course. We flew over the enemy's positions for about anhour and a half at a height of two thousand eight hundred meters, tillWilhelm had spotted everything. Then we made a quick return. He hadfound the position of all the enemy's artillery. As a result of hisreports, the first shots fired struck home. When I reached the aviation field the next afternoon two of theplanes had already left; Wilhelm also. For me there were writtenorders to locate the enemy at certain points. At my machine I foundthe non-commissioned officer who had come with me from Trier; he saidhe was to go up with me. This seemed odd to me, because I reallyshould have been flying with Wilhelm. I got in and went off with him, since I knew the country from my first flight. We had quite a distanceto fly and were under way two and a half hours. I flew over thedesignated roads that ran through past the Argonne Forest, and with ared pencil marked on the map wherever I saw anything. Above T. , at aheight of two thousand five hundred meters, we were under heavy fire. I was rather uncomfortable. To the right, below us, we saw littleclouds pop up; then a few to the right and left of us. This was thesmoke of the bursting artillery shells. Now, I think nothing aboutsuch things. They never hit as long as you fly over 2, 500 meters high, as we do. At 7:10 I landed safely here at our camp. And what was the thanks Igot for having sailed around over the enemy's lines for over two and ahalf hours? I got a "call down. " I had hardly shut off my engine whenWilhelm came racing over to me. "Where were you? What have you beendoing? Are you crazy? You are not to fly without my permission! You'renot to go up unless I am along. " And more of the same stuff. Onlyafter I had given my word to do as he asked, would he let me alone. Wednesday evening we had a fine surprise: two of our "missing"returned. They had been forced to land behind the enemy's line becausetheir motor had stopped. They were hardly down when the "Pisangs"(French peasants) came running toward them from every direction. Theymanaged to get into a nearby woods by beating a hasty retreat. Behindthem they heard the yelling of the men and women. The woods wassurrounded, and they had to hide till night fell. Then they escapedinto the Argonne Forest, under cover of darkness although fired on anumber of times. Here they spent five days, avoiding French troops. As they had only berries and roots to eat, and could only travel atnight, they were almost ready to surrender. But on the morning of theseventh day they heard someone say, in German, "Get on the job, youfool. " Those were sweet words to them, for it was a scouting party ofGerman Dragoons. Thus, they got back to us. M. , SEPTEMBER 10, 1914 Yesterday I went along to the light artillery positions, and fromthere had a good view of the battlefield. There really was nothingto see. There were no large bodies of soldiers, only here and therea rider or a civilian. The only thing you could see was the smokefrom bursting shells and the burning villages all about. But if therewas nothing to see, there certainly was plenty to hear--the dullnoise of the light artillery, the sharp crash of the field piecesand the crackling of small arms. On the way we passed an encampmentof reserves. It was a scene exactly like one during the annualmanoeuvers; some were cooking, some strolling about, but most ofthem loafed around on their backs, not paying any attention to thebattle at all. At 5:30 we went up. Now I had a chance to see from the air the samescene I had just beheld from the ground. There was still heavy firing;as far as the eye could see villages were burning. At 7:30 we weredown again. B. , SEPTEMBER 16, 1914 Last night three of us tried to take some observations, but all had tocome back, as the clouds were too heavy. This morning it was my turnto go up, but it was raining. We have to have the fires going to keepour quarters warm. Next to me a log-fire is burning merrily. My backis baked to a crisp. When my one side gets too hot, I have to turn togive the other a chance to roast. Later some of the telegraphers arecoming over and we are going to play "Schafskopf" (a German cardgame). _C'est la guerre!_ B. , OCTOBER 12, 1914 This evening I received the Iron Cross. B. , OCTOBER 25, 1914 For weeks the weather has been so foggy that we began to considerourselves as good as retired. But three days ago it began to becomebearable again. We took good advantage of it. We were in our machinesearly in the morning and "worked" till 5:30 at night. I made fiveflights to-day. First, Wilhelm, as the observer, did some scout work, and later did some range-finding for the artillery. We had agreed thatwe were to fly above the enemy's positions and then the artillery wasto fire. Then it was Wilhelm's duty, as observer, to see where theshells struck and signal to our artillery, with colored lights, if theshots fell short, beyond, to right or left, of the mark. This we dountil our gunners find the range. On the 22d, as a result of this, wedestroyed one of the enemy's batteries. The next day we wiped outthree in three and a half hours. This sort of flying is very trying toobserver and pilot alike, as both have to be paying constant attentionto business. Yesterday Wilhelm was at headquarters, and returned with the IronCross of the First Class. He has covered a total distance of 6, 500kilometers over the enemy's soil, while I have covered 3, 400. OCTOBER 27, 1914 Wilhelm has discovered nine of the enemy's batteries south of M. Andsoutheast of Rheims, among them being one right next to the cathedral! NOVEMBER 5, 1914 As the weather is very poor for flights in mid-day, we do most of ourflying right after sunrise, about 7:30. Things began to liven up atdifferent points to-day. Our friend, the enemy, had to be taken down apeg, again. Shortly after 7:30 we started. Everything went well, sothat we were back in an hour. Then we payed another visit to ourartillery. We now fly for four of our batteries, and they only firewhen we give them the range. Whenever they have a target, it isdestroyed at the first opportunity. So we made two more flightsto-day, therefore, a total of three, and put four enemy batteries outof action. We are doing things wholesale now. NOVEMBER 10, 1914 Wilhelm has now flown a distance of 9, 400, I 7, 300, kilometers overenemy soil. LETTER OF NOVEMBER 15, 1914 Mother doesn't need to be afraid that continual flying will affect ournerves. The very opposite is more probable. We get most impatient ifwe are kept idle a few days because of poor weather. We stand aroundlooking out of the window to see if it isn't clearing up. Nerves canbe the excuse for almost anything, I guess. B. , NOVEMBER 30, 1914 I did not get the Fokker as yet. I was to get it at R. , Thursday. Toobad. To fly for the artillery, which is our main work just now, theFokker is very excellent, because of its speed, stability and ease ofcontrol. A new machine has been ordered for me at the factory, but Icannot say if I am going to get it, and when. P. , DECEMBER 9, 1914 Bad weather. No important work. Now, we ought to be in the East, wherethere is something doing. Yesterday I was in R. And got my Fokker, which had arrived in themeantime. It is a small monoplane, with a French rotary engine infront; it is about half as large as a Taube. This is the last modernmachine which I have learned to fly; now I can fly all the types wemake in Germany. The Fokker was my big Christmas present. I now havetwo machines: the large biplane for long flights and the small Fokkerfor range finding. This 'plane flies wonderfully and is very easy tohandle. Now my two children are resting together in a tent, the littleone in a hollow, with its tail under the plane of the big one. P. , JANUARY 21, 1915 Since Christmas we have made the following flights: December 24th, anhour and a half; December 25th, one hour; December 30th, one hour;January 6th, one hour; January 12th, four hours; January 18th, twohours. It was poor weather, so we could not do more than this. Thereisn't much use in flying now, anyhow, as long as we do not want toadvance. We are facing each other here for months, and each side knowsthe other's position exactly. Changes of position, flanking movements, and bringing up of strong reserves, as in open warfare, is a thing ofthe past when we stick to the trenches, so there is nothing to report. There would be some sense in flying to find the range, but as we donot want to advance at present our artillery does very little firing. It is sufficient at this stage that an airplane takes a peep over theline once in a while, to see if everything is still as they left it. P. , JANUARY 27, 1915 This morning our Captain gave K. And me the Iron Cross of the FirstClass. P. , APRIL 25, 1915 To-morrow I leave here; I have been transferred to the ---- FlyingSquadron, which is just being established. To-morrow I go to Berlin toreport at the inspection of aviators. P. , MAY 16, 1915 Safely back in P. The trip was made in comparatively quick time. P. , MAY 17, 1915 We had to leave here this afternoon, after we had hardly arrived. I amvery glad. New scenery and something doing. D. , MAY 22, 1915 I had hoped to have plenty to do here, but the weather cancelled ourplans. We had plenty of time to establish ourselves, assemble ourmachines and tune them up with a few flights. The city is entirely unharmed and the greater part of the inhabitantsare still here. The city gives an impression similar to Zerbst--amodern section with cottages and an old section with older houses: thecity hall, remains of the old city wall, and so-forth. The inhabitantsare prosperous. All the stores, hotels, coffee-houses and cafés areopen. Every day two of my friends (Immelmann and Lieutenant P. ) and Igo to one of these coffee-houses. D. , MAY 25, 1915 By chance, I witnessed a great military spectacle. As I did not haveto fly in the afternoon, I went to the artillery observer's post withour Captain. About four o'clock we reached V. ; from here we hadanother half hour's walk ahead of us. From a distance we could seethere was heavy firing going on. The Major, in the company'sbomb-proof, told us that the artillery would hardly have time now toavail themselves of airplanes to find the range for them. The Frenchwere just at the time trying to get revenge for an attack we made theday before, and the artillery was very busy. From there we went to theobserver's post and were very lucky. Our batteries were just firing atthe enemy's, our airplanes finding the range for them. Suddenly thenon-commissioned officer at the double-periscope yelled over tous that the French were bringing up reinforcements through thecommunicating trenches. The Lieutenant of Artillery ran over to thefield artillery and showed them the beautiful target. Soon after thata few of our shrapnel burst over these positions. Bang! And the enemywas gone. Suddenly a ball of red fire appeared in the first Frenchtrench. This meant--shells fall ahead of trenches; place shots furtherback. Just then, over a front of one and a half kilometers, a wholebrigade of Frenchmen rose from the trenches, shoulder to shoulder, athing I had never seen before. We have to admire them for theircourage. In front, the officers about four or five steps in the lead;behind them, in a dense line, the men, partly negroes, whom we couldrecognize by their baggy trousers. The whole line moved on a run. Forthe first four hundred meters (in all they had seven hundred meters tocover) we let them come without firing. Then we let them have ourfirst shrapnel. As the artillery knew the exact range, the first shotswere effective. Then came the heavier shells. We now opened amurderous fire; it was so loud that we could not hear each other attwo paces. Again and again our shells struck the dense masses and torehuge gaps in them, but, in spite of this, the attack continued. Thegaps were always quickly closed. Now our infantry took a hand. Our menstood up in the trenches, exposed from the hips up, and fired likemadmen. After three or four minutes the attack slackened in spots;that is, parts of the line advanced, others could not. After a quarterof an hour the French on our left wing, which I could see, reached ourtrenches, shot and stabbed from above, and finally jumped in. Now wecould plainly see the hand-to-hand combat: heads bobbing back andforth, guns clubbed (they seemed to be only trying to hit, not kill), glistening bayonets, and a general commotion. On the right wing, things progressed slower, almost at a standstill. In the middle agroup jumped forward now and then, and into them the artillery firedwith telling effect. We could see men running wildly about, they couldnot escape our artillery fire. The whole slope was strewn with bodies. After about a quarter of an hour the Frenchmen started to retreat. First one, then two, then three, came out of our trenches, looked allaround, and started for their own trenches. In the meantime moretroops came up from the rear. But after the first few started to runmore came out of the trenches, until finally all were out andretreating. Our men also got out to be able to fire at the retreatingenemy to better advantage. Again and again the French officers triedto close up their ranks, rally their men, and lead them anew to theattack. But in vain, for more and more sought safety in flight. Manydropped--I think more than in the advance. In the center, the Frenchhad advanced to within fifty meters of us, and could get no closer. Asthe retreat started on the left, some in the center also lost heart, and fled like frightened chickens. But almost all were killed. Isaw six running away when a shell exploded near them. The smokedisappeared; there were only four left. A second shell, and only onewas left. He was probably hit by the infantry. The following proveshow completely we repelled their attack: Four Frenchmen rose, wavedtheir arms and ran toward our trench. Two of them carried a severelywounded comrade. Suddenly they dropped their burden and ran fastertoward us. Probably their comrades had fired on them. Hardly werethese four in our trenches when fifty more of them got up, waved theircaps and ran toward us. But the Frenchmen didn't like this, and in asecond four well-placed shells burst between them and us; probablythey were afraid that there would be a general surrender on the partof their men. The retreat was now general. At 6:15 the main battle wasover. Afterward we could see here and there a few Frenchmen running orcrawling to their trench. I was very glad I had the opportunity to see this. From above, weaviators don't see such things. PILOT OF A BATTLEPLANE D. , JUNE 24, 1915 Yesterday the Crown Prince of Bavaria, our chief, inspected our camp. Here we have gathered samples of about everything that our knowledgeof aviation has developed: Two airplane squadrons and one battleplanedivision. Both airplane squadrons are equipped with the usualbiplanes, only we have an improvement: the wireless, by means of whichwe direct the fire of our artillery. The battleplane squadron is herebecause there is a lot to do at present on this front (the West). Among them there are some unique machines, for example: a greatbattleplane with two motors: for three passengers, and equipped witha bomb-dropping apparatus--it is a huge apparatus. Outside of this, there are other battleplanes with machine guns. They are a littlelarger than the usual run. Then there are some small Fokkermonoplanes, also with machine guns. So we have everything the heartcan desire. The squadron has only made one flight, but since then theFrench haven't been over here. I guess something must have proved aneye-opener to them. JUNE 30, 1915 Rain, almost continuously, since the 22d. I am absolutely sick of thisloafing. Since June 14th, I have a battleplane of my own: a biplane, with150-horsepower motor. The pilot sits in front; the observer behindhim, operating the machine gun, which can be fired to either side andto the rear. As the French are trying to hinder our aerial observationby means of battleplanes, we now have to protect our division while itflies. When the others are doing range-finding, I go up with them, flyabout in their vicinity, observe with them and protect them fromattack. If a Frenchman wants to attack them, then I make a hawk-likeattack on him, while those who are observing go on unhindered in theirflight. I chase the Frenchman away by flying toward him and firing athim with the machine gun. It is beautiful to see them run from me;they always do this as quick as possible. In this way, I have chasedaway over a dozen. [Illustration: THE MASTER-FLIER AND HIS MEN] [Illustration: BÖLCKE AND HIS BROTHER WILHELM, SEPTEMBER, 1914] JULY 6, 1915 I succeeded in carrying a battle through to complete victory Sundaymorning. I was ordered to protect Lieutenant P. , who was outrange-finding, from enemy 'planes. We were just on our way to thefront, when I saw a French monoplane, at a greater height, comingtoward us. As the higher 'plane has the advantage, we turned away; hedidn't see us, but flew on over our lines. We were very glad, becauselately the French hate to fly over our lines. When over our ground theenemy cannot escape by volplaning to the earth. As soon as he hadpassed us we took up the pursuit. Still he flew very rapidly, and ittook us half an hour till we caught up with him at V. As it seems, hedid not see us till late. Close to V. We started to attack him, Ialways heading him off. As soon as we were close enough my observerstarted to pepper him with the machine gun. He defended himself aswell as he could, but we were always the aggressor, he having toprotect himself. Luckily, we were faster than he, so he could not fleefrom us by turning. We were higher and faster; he below us and slower, so that he could not escape. By all kinds of manoeuvers he tried toincrease the distance between us; without success, for I was alwaysclose on him. It was glorious. I always stuck to him so that myobserver could fire at close range. We could plainly see everything onour opponent's monoplane, almost every wire, in fact. The averagedistance between us was a hundred meters; often we were within thirtymeters, for at such high speeds you cannot expect success unless youget very close together. The whole fight lasted about twenty ortwenty-five minutes. By sharp turns, on the part of our opponent, byjamming of the action on our machine gun, or because of reloading, there were little gaps in the firing, which I used to close in on theenemy. Our superiority showed up more and more; at the end I felt justas if the Frenchman had given up defending himself and lost all hopeof escape. Shortly before he fell, he made a motion with his hand, asif to say: let us go; we are conquered; we surrender. But what canyou do in such a case, in the air? Then he started to volplane; Ifollowed. My observer fired thirty or forty more shots at him; thensuddenly he disappeared. In order not to lose him, I planed down, mymachine almost vertical. Suddenly my observer cried, "He is falling;he is falling, " and he clapped me on the back joyously. I did notbelieve it at first, for with these monoplanes it is possible to glideso steeply as to appear to be falling. I looked all over, surprised, but saw nothing. Then I glided to earth and W. Told me that the enemymachine had suddenly turned over and fallen straight down into thewoods below. We descended to a height of a hundred meters and searchedfor ten minutes, flying above the woods, but seeing nothing. So wedecided to land in a meadow near the woods and search on foot. Soldiers and civilians were running toward the woods from all sides. They said that the French machine had fallen straight down from agreat height, turned over twice, and disappeared in the trees. Thisnews was good for us, and it was confirmed by a bicyclist, who hadalready seen the fallen machine and said both passengers were dead. We hurried to get to the spot. On the way Captain W. , of the cavalry, told me that everyone within sight had taken part in the fight, evenif only from below. Everyone was very excited, because none knew whichwas the German and which the French, due to the great height. When wearrived we found officers, doctors and soldiers already there. Themachine had fallen from a height of about 1, 800 meters. Since bothpassengers were strapped in, they had not fallen out. The machinehad fallen through the trees with tremendous force, both pilot andobserver, of course, being dead. The doctors, who examined them atonce, could not help them any more. The pilot had seven bullet wounds, the observer three. I am sure both were dead before they fell. Wefound several important papers and other matter on them. In theafternoon my observer, W. , and I flew back to D. , after a few roundsof triumph above the village and the fallen airplane. On the followingday, the two aviators were buried with full military honors in thecemetery at M. Yesterday we were there. The grave is covered withflowers and at the spot where they fell there is a large red, whiteand blue bouquet and many other flowers. I was very glad that my observer, W. , got the Iron Cross. He foughtexcellently; in all, he fired three hundred and eighty shots, andtwenty-seven of them hit the enemy airplane. LETTER OF JULY 16, 1915 . .. Father asks if it will be all right to publish my report inthe newspapers. I don't care much for newspaper publicity, and Ido not think that my report is written in a style suitable fornewspapers. The people want such a thing written with more poetryand color--gruesome, nerve-wrecking suspense, complete revenge, mountainous clouds, blue, breeze-swept sky--that is what they want. But if the publication of the report will bring you any joy, I willnot be against it. AUGUST 11, 1915 Early August 10th the weather was very poor so that our officer'phoned in to the city, saying there was no need of my coming out. SoI was glad to stay in bed. Suddenly my boy woke me up, saying anEnglish flyer had just passed. I hopped out of bed and ran to thewindow. But the Englishman was headed for his own lines, so therewasn't any chance of my catching him. I crawled back to bed, angry atbeing disturbed. I had hardly gotten comfortably warm, when my boycame in again--the Englishman was coming back. Well, I thought if thisfellow has so much nerve, I had better get dressed. Unwashed, in mynightshirt, without leggings, hardly half dressed, I rode out to thecamp on my motorcycle. I got there in time to see the fellows (notone, but four!) dropping bombs on the aviation field. As I was, I gotinto my machine and went up after them. But as the English had veryspeedy machines and headed for home after dropping their bombs, I didnot get within range of them. Very sad, I turned back and could notbelieve my eyes, for there were five more of the enemy paying us avisit. Straight for the first one I headed. I got him at a good angle, and peppered him well, but just when I thought the end was near mymachine gun jammed. I was furious. I tried to repair the damage in theair, but in my rage only succeeded in breaking the jammed cartridge inhalf. There was nothing left to do but land and change the cartridges;while doing this I saw our other monoplanes arrive and was glad thatthey, at least, would give the Englishmen a good fight. While havingthe damage repaired, I saw Lieutenant Immelmann make a pretty attackon an Englishman, who tried to fly away. I quickly went up to supportImmelmann, but the enemy was gone by the time I got there. In themeantime, Immelmann had forced his opponent to land. He had woundedhim, shattering his left arm--Immelmann had had good luck. Two daysbefore I had flown with him in a Fokker; that is, I did the pilotingand he was only learning. The day before was the first time he hadmade a flight alone, and was able to land only after a lot of trouble. He had never taken part in a battle with the enemy, but in spite ofthat, he had handled himself very well. AUGUST 23, 1915 On the evening of the 19th I had some more luck. I fly mostly in the evening to chase the Frenchmen who are outrange-finding, and that evening there were a lot of them out. Thefirst one I went for was an English Bristol biplane. He seemed to takeme for a Frenchman; he came toward me quite leisurely, a thing ouropponents generally don't do. But when he saw me firing at him, hequickly turned. I followed close on him, letting him have all I couldgive him. I must have hit him or his machine, for he suddenly shutoff his engine and disappeared below me. As the fight took place overthe enemy's position, he was able to land behind his own lines. According to our artillery, he landed right near his own artillery. That is the second one I am positive I left my mark on; I know Iforced him to land. He didn't do it because he was afraid, but becausehe was hit. The same evening I attacked two more, and both escaped by volplaning. But I cannot say whether or not I hit them, as both attacks took placeover the French lines. AUGUST 29, 1915 Day before yesterday I flew my Fokker to the division at ----, wherefrom now on I am to serve with the rank of officer. I am to get anewer, more powerful machine--100-horsepower engine. Yesterday I againhad a chance to demonstrate my skill as a swimmer. The canal, whichpasses in front of the Casino, is about 25 meters wide and 2-1/2meters deep. The tale is told here that there are fish in the water, too, and half the town stands around with their lines in the water. Ihave never yet seen any of them catch anything. In front of the Casinothere is a sort of bank, where they unload the boats. Yesterday, afterlunch, I was standing outside the door with T. And saw a French boyclimb over the rail, start in fishing and suddenly hop into the water. I ran over to see what he was doing, but he wasn't in sight. Thisseemed peculiar, so I wasted no time in thought, but dived over afterhim. This all happened so quickly that T. Was just in time to see mego in and did not know what was the matter. I came to the surface, butstill alone. Then I saw, not far from me, bubbles and someonestruggling in the water. I swam over to him, dived, came up under him, and had him. In the meantime T. And the chauffeur had arrived and T. Thought I was going to drown and got ready to go in after me. Finallywe got to a nearby boat and T. Pulled the boy and me out. When we gotto the land the mother of the boy came running up and thanked me mostprofusely. The rest of the population gave me a real ovation. I musthave looked funny, because I had jumped in as I was and the water wasstreaming off me. SEPTEMBER 18, 1915 To-day I went to see the boy's parents and they were very grateful. The boy had grown dizzy while standing on the bank and had fallen in. They said they would get the order of the French Legion of Honor forme if they could. That would be a good joke. Lately, I have flown to the front every evening with LieutenantImmelmann, to chase the Frenchmen there. As there are usually eight orten of them, we have plenty to do. Saturday we had the luck to get aFrench battleplane and between us chase it till it was at a loss whatto do. Only by running away did it escape us. The French did not likethis at all. The next evening we went out peacefully to hunt the enemyand were struck right away by their great numbers. Suddenly they wentcrazy and attacked us. They had a new type biplane, very fast, withfuselage. They seemed to be surprised that we let them attack us. Wewere glad that at last we had an opponent who did not run the firstchance he got. After a few vain attacks, they turned and we followed, each of us took one and soon forced them to volplane to earth. As itwas already late, we were satisfied and turned to go home. Suddenly Isaw two enemy 'planes cruising around over our lines. Since our men inthe trenches might think we were afraid, I made a signal for Immelmannto take a few more turns over the lines to show this was not so. Buthe misunderstood me and attacked one of the Frenchmen, but thelatter did not relish this. Meanwhile the second 'plane startedfor Immelmann, who could not see him, and I naturally had to go toImmelmann's aid. When the second Frenchman saw me coming he turned andmade for me. I let him have a few shots so that he turned away whenthings got too hot for him. That was a big mistake, for it gave me achance to get him from behind. This is the position from which Iprefer to attack. I was close on his heels and not more than fiftymeters separated us, so it was not long before I had hit him. I musthave mortally wounded the pilot, for suddenly he threw both his armsup and the machine fell straight down. I saw him fall and he turnedseveral times before striking, about 400 meters in front of our lines. Everybody was immensely pleased, and it has been established beyondall doubt that both aviators were killed and the machine wrecked. Immelmann also saw him fall, and was immensely pleased by our success. M. , SEPTEMBER 23, 1915 Sunday night I unexpectedly received a telegram saying I had beentransferred. As yet there is no machine here for me, so, for the timebeing, I have nothing to do. M. , SEPTEMBER 27, 1915 I was casually wandering through the streets; stopped to read thedaily bulletins, and there was my name. It happened the third day of my stay here. As my machines had not yetarrived, the Captain loaned me a Fokker. I was told to be ready atnine o'clock, as the others were to protect the Kaiser, who wasbreakfasting in a nearby castle. As I wanted to get acquainted with mymachine, I went up at a quarter of nine. I was up about three or fourminutes when I saw bombs bursting and three or four enemy 'planesflying toward M. I quickly tried to climb to their altitude. This, ofcourse, always takes some time, and by that time the enemy was overM. , unloading their bombs on the railroad station. Luckily they hitnothing. After they had all dropped their bombs (there were now ten ofthem) they turned to go home. I was now about at their altitude, so Istarted for them. One of the biplanes saw me--it seems they go alongto protect the others--and he attacked me from above. Since it is veryhard to fire at an opponent who is above you, I let him have a fewshots and turned away. That was all the Frenchman wanted, so heturned back. I again attacked the squadron and soon succeeded ingetting in range of the lowest of them. I did not fire till I waswithin a hundred meters, to avoid attracting unnecessary attention. Myopponent was frightened and tried to escape. I was right behind himall the while, and kept filling him with well-aimed shots. My onlyworry was the others, who heard the shots and came to their comrade'srescue. I had to hurry. I noticed I was having some success, becausethe Frenchman started to glide to earth. Finally, both of us haddropped from 2, 500 meters to 1, 200. I kept firing at him from behind, as well as I could. In the meantime, however, two of his friends hadarrived and sent me several friendly greetings. That isn't verycomfortable, and to add to it all, I was without a map above a strangeterritory and did not know where I was any longer. As my opponent keptflying lower and his companions followed, I had to assume I was behindthe enemy's line. Therefore, I ceased my attack and soon, owing to myspeed and lack of desire to follow on the part of the French, I leftthem far behind. Now I had to find my way back. I flew north, andafter a time got back to the district around M. , which was familiar tome from my days at the officers' school. When I got back I only knewwhat I have told, and could report only a battle and not a victory. By aid of a map I found I had been over P. à M. In the afternoon thereport came that the infantry on the heights of ---- had seen abiplane "flutter" to earth. The artillery positively reported that thebiplane I had fired on had fallen behind the enemy's barbed-wireentanglements. They said the pilot had been dragged to the trenches, dead or severely wounded. Then our artillery had fired at the 'planeand destroyed it. I can only explain the thing this way: I wounded thepilot during the fight; he had tried to glide to earth and land behindhis own lines; shortly before landing he lost consciousness or controlof his machine; then he "fluttered" to earth; _i. E. _, fell. This wasthe fourth one. OCTOBER 17, 1915 Yesterday, the 16th, I shot down a French Voisin biplane near P. R. , NOVEMBER 2, 1915 On the 30th of October we attacked at T. It was our business to breakup all scouting on the part of the enemy, and that was difficult thatday. The clouds were only 1, 500 meters above earth, broken in spots. The French were sailing around behind their front on the 1, 400-meterlevel. Attacked two through the clouds. The first escaped. I gotwithin 100 meters of the second before he saw me. Then he started torun, but that didn't help him any, because I was much faster than he. I fired 500 shots before he fell. Was within three to five meters ofhim. He would not fall. In the very moment when we seemed about tocollide, I turned off to the left. He tilted to the right. I sawnothing more of him. Was very dizzy myself. Was followed by twoFarmans and was 1, 000 meters behind the enemy's lines. Artilleryfired. Too high. Got home without being hit. The enemy airplane fellbehind his own lines. The wreck, about 200 meters from our lines, isplainly visible, especially one wing, which is sticking straight up. The attack was rather rash on my part, but on this day of greatmilitary value; the French did not come near our position after that. D. , DECEMBER 12, 1915 Am once more in the familiar town of D. Everything is the same asusual. The Captain was very glad that he could give me the life-savingmedal. It had just arrived. D. , DECEMBER 31, 1915 Christmas celebrated very nicely and in comfort. Christmas Eve wehad a celebration for the men in one of the hangars, which was alldecorated. They all received some fine presents. The authorities hadsent a package with all kinds of things for each one of them. In theevening we officers also had a little celebration at the Casino; herethey also gave out our presents. For me there was a very beautifulsilver cup, among other things. This cup was inscribed "To the victorin the air, " and was given to me by the Commander-in-Chief of theAviation Corps. Immelmann received its mate. Day before yesterday I had a fight with a very keen opponent, whodefended himself bravely. I was superior to him and forced him intothe defensive. He tried to escape by curving and manoeuvring, andeven tried to throw me on the defensive. He did not succeed, but Icould not harm him either. All I did accomplish was to force himgradually closer to earth. We had started at 2, 800 and soon I had himdown to 1, 000 meters. We kept whirring and whizzing around each other. As I had already fired on two other enemy craft on this trip, I hadonly a few cartridges left. This was his salvation. Finally he couldnot defend himself any more because I had mortally wounded hisobserver. Now it would have been comparatively safe for me to get himif I had not run out of ammunition at the 800-meter level. Neither ofus was able to harm the other. Finally another Fokker (Immelmann) cameto my rescue and the fight started all over again. I attacked alongwith Immelmann to confuse the Englishman. We succeeded in forcing himto within 100 meters of the ground and were expecting him to land anymoment. Still he kept flying back and forth like a lunatic. I, byflying straight at him, wanted to put a stop to this, but just thenmy engine stopped and I had to land. I saw him disappear over a row oftrees, armed myself with a flashlight (I had nothing better) and rodeover on a horse. I expected that he had landed, but imagine mysurprise! He had flown on. I inquired and telephoned, but found outnothing. In the evening the report came that he had passed over ourtrenches at a height of 100 meters on his way home. Daring of thechap! Not every one would care to imitate him. Immelmann had jammedhis gun and had to quit. JANUARY 8, 1916 On the 5th of January I pursued two Englishmen, overtook them atH. -L. And attacked the first one. The other did not seem to see me;at any rate he kept right on. The fight was comparatively short. Iattacked, he defended himself; I hit and he didn't. He had droppedconsiderably in the meantime, and finally started to sway and landed. I stayed close behind him, so he could not escape. Close to H. Helanded; his machine broke apart, the pilot jumped out and collapsed. Iquickly landed and found the 'plane already surrounded by people fromthe nearby village. The Englishmen, whom I interviewed, were bothwounded. The pilot, who was only slightly wounded, could talk German;the observer was severely wounded. The former was very sad at hiscapture; I had hit his controls and shot them to pieces. Yesterday Ivisited the observer at the hospital; the pilot had been taken away inthe meantime. I brought the observer English books and photographs ofhis machine. He was very pleased. He said he knew my name well. On the afternoon of the 5th, I made another flight, but everything wasquiet. I landed and rode to the city to eat with the rest, because itwas getting cloudy again. Just imagine my luck! I was hardly in when asquadron of ten 'planes appeared. I hurried back again and arrivedjust as they were dropping their bombs on our field. All the helperswere in the bomb-proofs. I howled as if I were being burned alive. At last someone came. I had to take an 80-horsepower machine, because Immelmann, who had remained behind, had already taken my160-horsepower machine. But with the 80-horsepower machine I could notreach the enemy in time. Then I saw one somewhat separated from therest. One Fokker had already attacked it, and I went to help him, forI saw I could not overtake the rest. When the Englishman saw both ofus on top of him, he judged things were too hot for him, and quicklylanded at V. , both of us close behind him. The Englishman was alone, still had all his bombs, was unwounded and had only landed throughfear. [Illustration: DONNING HIS FLYING-DRESS] [Illustration: AN AVIATOR BOMBARDED WITH SHRAPNEL] JANUARY 15, 1916 Now, events come so fast I cannot keep up with them by writing. On the 11th we had a little gathering that kept me up later thanusual, so I did not feel like getting up in the morning. But, as theweather was good, I strolled out to the field and went up about nineo'clock. I flew over to Lille to lie in wait for any hostile aircraft. At first, I had no luck at all. Finally I saw bombs bursting nearYpres. I flew so far I could see the ocean, but am sorry to say Icould not find any enemy 'plane. On my way back, I saw two Englishmen, west of Lille, and attacked the nearer one. He did not appreciate theattention, but turned and ran. Just above the trenches I came withingunshot of him. We greeted each other with our machine guns, and heelected to land. I let him go to get at the second of the pair, andspoil his visit, also. Thanks to my good machine, I gradually caughtup with him, as he flew toward the east, north of Lille. When I wasstill four or five hundred meters away from him, he seemed to haveseen all he wanted, for he turned to fly west. Then I went for him. Ikept behind him till I was near enough. The Englishman seemed to be anold hand at this game, for he let me come on without firing a shot. Hedidn't shoot until after I started. I flew squarely behind him, andhad all the time in the world to aim, because he did not vary a hairfrom his straight course. He twice reloaded his gun. Suddenly, afteronly a short while, he fell. I was sure I had hit the pilot. At 800meters, his machine righted itself, but then dove on, head-foremost, till it landed in a garden in M. , northeast of S. The country is veryrough there, so I went back to our landing-place and reported bytelephone. To my surprise, I heard that at the time Immelmann had shotdown an Englishman near P. I had to laugh. The greatest surprise came in the evening. We were just at dinnerwhen I was called to the 'phone. At the other end was theCommander-in-Chief's Adjutant, who congratulated me for receivingthe order _Pour le mérite. _ I thought he was joking. But he told methat Immelmann and I had both received this honor at the telegraphicorder of the Kaiser. My surprise and joy were great. I went in andsaid nothing, but sent Captain K. To the 'phone, and he receivedthe news and broke it to all. First, everyone was surprised, thenhighly pleased. On the same evening I received several messages ofcongratulation, and the next day, January 13th, had nothing to doall day but receive other such messages. Everybody seemed elated. One old chap would not let me go, and Ididn't escape till I promised to visit him. From all comers I receivedmessages: by telephone and telegraph. The King of Bavaria, whohappened to be in Lille with the Bavarian Crown Prince, invited me todinner for the 14th of January. Now comes the best of all. On the 14th, that is, yesterday, it wasideal weather for flying. So I went up at nine o'clock to look around. As it was getting cloudy near Lille, I changed my course to take mesouth of Arras. I was up hardly an hour, when I saw the smoke ofbursting bombs near P. I flew in that direction, but the Englishmanwho was dropping the bombs saw me and started for home. I soonovertook him. When he saw I intended to attack him, he suddenly turned and attackedme. Now, there started the hardest fight I have as yet been in. TheEnglishman continually tried to attack me from behind, and I tried todo the same to him. We circled 'round and 'round each other. I hadtaken my experience of December 28th to heart (that was the time I hadused up all my ammunition), so I only fired when I could get my sightson him. In this way, we circled around, I often not firing a shot forseveral minutes. This merry-go-round was immaterial to me, since wewere over our lines. But I watched him, for I felt that sooner orlater he would make a dash for home. I noticed that while circlingaround he continually tried to edge over toward his own lines, whichwere not far away. I waited my chance, and was able to get at him inreal style, shooting his engine to pieces. This I noticed when heglided toward his own lines, leaving a tail of smoke behind him. I hadto stop him in his attempt to reach safety, so, in spite of hiswrecked motor, I had to attack him again. About 200 meters inside ourpositions I overtook him, and fired both my guns at him at close range(I no longer needed to save my cartridges). At the moment when Icaught up to him, we passed over our trenches and I turned back. Icould not determine what had become of him, for I had to save myselfnow. I flew back, and as I had little fuel left, I landed near thevillage of F. Here I was received by the Division Staff and was toldwhat had become of the Englishman. To my joy, I learned that, immediately after I had left him, he had come to earth near theEnglish positions. The trenches are only a hundred meters apart atthis place. One of the passengers, the pilot, it seems, jumped out andran to the English trenches. He seems to have escaped, in spite of thefact that our infantry fired at him. Our field artillery quicklyopened fire on his machine, and among the first shots one struck itand set it afire. The other aviator, probably the pilot, who waseither dead or severely wounded, was burned up with the machine. Nothing but the skeleton of the airplane remains. As my helpers didnot come till late, I rode to D. In the Division automobile, becauseI had to be with the King of Bavaria at 5:30. From D. I went directlyon to Lille. King and Crown Prince both conversed with me for quite awhile, and they were especially pleased at my most recent success. Once home, I began to see the black side of being a hero. Everyonecongratulates you. All ask you questions. I shall soon be forced tocarry a printed interrogation sheet with me with answers all filledout. I was particularly pleased by my ninth success, because itfollowed so close on the _Pour le mérite_. S. , MARCH 16, 1916 Since March 11th I am here in S. As the lines near Verdun have allbeen pushed ahead, we were too far in the rear. We saw nothing of theenemy aviators; the reports came too late, so that we were not astimely as formerly. Therefore, they let me pick out a place nearerthe lines. I chose a good meadow. I am entirely independent; havean automobile of my own, also a motor truck, and command of anon-commissioned officer and fifteen men. We are so near the frontthat we can see every enemy airplane that makes a flight in ourvicinity. In the first days of our stay here, I had good luck. Theweather was good on March 12th. We had a lot to do. I started abouteleven to chase two French Farman biplanes, who were circling aroundover L'homme mort. By the time I arrived there were four of them. Iwaited for a good chance, and as soon as two of them crossed our frontI went for the upper one. There now ensued a pretty little game. Thetwo Frenchmen stuck together like brothers; but I would not let go ofthe one I had tackled first. The second Frenchman, on his part, triedto stick behind me. It was a fine game. The one I was attackingtwisted and spiralled to escape. I got him from behind and forced himto the 500-meter level. I was very close to him and quite surprisedthat he had stopped his twisting; but just as I was about to give himthe finishing shots, my machine gun stopped. I had pressed down toohard on the trigger mechanism, in the heat of the battle, and thishad jammed. The second Frenchman now attacked me, and I escaped whileI could. The second fight took place over our lines. The firstFrenchman, as I learned later, had gotten his share. He was just ableto glide to the French side of the Meuse, and here he landed, according to some reports; others say he fell. I am inclined tobelieve the former, but probably he could not pick a good spot inwhich to land, and so broke his machine. From Lieutenant R. I heardthat the machine, as well as an automobile, that came to its aid, wereset afire by our artillery. I learned further details from LieutenantB. After landing, one of the aviators ran to the village, returnedwith a stretcher and helped carry the other one away. Things seem tohave happened like this: I wounded the pilot; he was just able to makea landing; then, with the aid of his observer, he was carried off, andour artillery destroyed his machine. On the following day, the 13th, there was again great aerial activity. Early in the morning I came just in time to see a French battleplaneattack a German above Fort Douaumont. I went for the Frenchman andchased him away--it was beautiful to see him go. In the afternoon, Isaw a French squadron flying above L'homme mort, toward D. I pickedout one of them and went for him. It was a Voisin biplane, thatlagged somewhat behind the rest. As I was far above him, I overtookhim rapidly and attacked him before he fully realized the situation. As soon as he did, he turned to cross back over the French front. Iattacked him strongly, and he tilted to the right and disappearedunder me. I thought he was falling; turned to keep him in sight, and, to my surprise, saw that the machine had righted itself. Again I wentfor him, and saw a very strange sight. The observer had climbed out ofhis seat and was on the left plane, holding to the struts. He lookedfrightened, and it was really a sorry plight to be in. He wasdefenseless, and I hesitated to shoot at him. I had evidently puttheir controls out of commission, and the machine had fallen. Toright it, the observer had climbed out on the plane and restored itsequilibrium. I fired a few more shots at the pilot, when I wasattacked by a second Frenchman, coming to the rescue of his comrade. As I had only a few shots left and was above the enemy's line, Iturned back. The enemy 'plane glided on a little distance after Ileft, but finally fell from a low altitude. It is lying in plainsight, in front of our positions east of the village of D. We have now spoiled the Frenchmen's fun. On March 14th I againattacked one of their battleplanes, and it seemed in a great hurry toget away from me. I accompanied him a little way, playing the musicwith my machine gun. He descended behind Fort M. , as reported laterby our soldiers. MARCH 17, 1916 Last evening I was invited to dine with the Crown Prince. It was verypleasant. He does not value etiquette, and is very unassuming andnatural. He pumped all possible information out of me, as he himselfadmitted later. We had quite a long talk, and on my taking leave hesaid he would wish for me that I would soon bring down the twelfthenemy. S. , MARCH 21, 1916 Twelve and thirteen followed close on each other. As the weather wasfine, we had a lot to do every day. On the 19th I was flying towardD. , in the afternoon, to get two Farmans, who were cruising aroundbehind their front. About 12:45 I saw bombs bursting on the west sideof the Meuse. I came just in time to see the enemy flying back overhis own lines. I thought he had escaped me when I saw him turn andstart for one of our biplanes. That was bad for him, because I got thechance to attack him from above. As soon as he saw me, he tried toescape by steep spirals, firing at me at the same time. But no one who is as frightened as he was ever hits anything. I neverfired unless certain of my aim, and so filled him with well-placedshots. I had come quite close to him, when I saw him suddenly upset;one wing broke off, and his machine gradually separated, piece bypiece. As there was a south wind, we had drifted over our positions, and he fell into our trenches. Pilot and observer were both killed. Ihad hit the pilot a number of times, so that death was instantaneous. The infantry sent us various things found in the enemy 'plane, amongthem a machine gun and an automatic camera. The pictures weredeveloped, and showed our artillery positions. This morning I started at 9:50, as our anti-aircraft guns were firingat a Farman biplane above Côte de ----. The enemy was flying back andforth in the line Ch-- to Ch--. At 10:10 I was above him, as well asanother Farman, flying above M. As the Farman again approached ourposition, I started to attack him. The anti-aircraft guns were alsofiring, but I imagine they were only finding the range, since theirshots did not come near the Frenchman. At the moment when the oneFarman turned toward the south, I started for the other, who wasflying somewhat lower. He saw me coming, and tried to avoid anengagement by spiral glides. As he flew very cleverly, it was sometime before I got within range. At an altitude of five or six hundredmeters I opened fire, while he was still trying to reach his ownlines. But in pursuing him, I had come within two hundred meters ofthe road from M. To Ch. , so I broke off the attack. My opponent gavehis engine gas (I could plainly see the smoke of his exhaust) andflew away toward the southeast. The success I had two hours laterreimbursed me for this failure. In the morning, at about eleveno'clock, I saw a German biplane in battle with a Farman west of O. Iswooped down on the Farman from behind, while another Fokker came toour aid from above. In the meantime, I had opened fire on the Farman(who had not seen me at all) at a range of eighty meters. As I hadcome from above, at a steep angle, I had soon overtaken him. In thevery moment as I was passing over him he exploded. The cloud of blacksmoke blew around me. It was no battle at all; he had fallen in theshortest possible time. It was a tremendous spectacle: to see theenemy burst into flames and fall to earth, slowly breaking to pieces. The reports that I have been wounded in the head, arms, neck, legs, orabdomen, are all foolish. Probably the people who are always inquiringabout me, will now discredit such rumors. APRIL 29, 1916 Thursday morning, at nine, as I arrived in S. , after a short trip toGermany, two Frenchmen appeared--the first seen in the last fourweeks. I quickly rode out to the field, but came too late. I saw oneof our biplanes bring one of the enemies to earth; the other escaped. I flew toward the front at Verdun, and came just in time for a littlescrape. Three Frenchmen had crossed over our lines and been attackedby a Fokker, who got into difficulties, and had to retreat. I came tohis aid; attacked one of the enemy, and peppered him properly. Thewhole bunch then took to their heels. But I did not let my friendescape so easily. He twisted and turned, flying with great cleverness. I attacked him three times from the rear, and once diagonally infront. Finally, he spiralled steeply, toppled over and flew for awhile with the wheels up. Then he dropped. According to reports fromthe ---- Reserve Division, he fell in the woods southwest of V. , after turning over twice more. That was number 14. S. , MAY 9, 1916 On May 1st I saw an enemy biplane above the "Pfefferrücken, " as I wasstanding at our landing station. I started at once, and overtook himat 1, 500 meters altitude. It seems he did not see me. I attacked fromabove and behind, and greeted him with the usual machine-gun fire. Hequickly turned and attacked me. But this pleasure did not last longfor him. I quickly had him in a bad way, and made short work of him. After a few more twists and turns my fire began to tell, and finallyhe fell. I then flew home, satisfied that I had accomplished my task. The whole thing only lasted about two minutes. JUNE 2, 1916 On the 17th of May we had a good day. One of our scout 'planes wantedto take some pictures near Verdun, and I was asked to protect it. Imet him above the Côte de ---- and flew with him at a great altitude. He worked without being disturbed, and soon turned back without havingbeen fired at. On the way back, I saw bombs bursting at Douaumont andflew over to get a closer view. There were four or five other Germanbiplanes there; I also noticed several French battleplanes at adistance. I kept in the background and watched our opponents. I saw aNieuport attack one of our machines, so I went for him and I almostfelt I had him; but my speed was too great, and I shot past him. Hethen made off at great speed; I behind him. Several times I was verynear him, and fired, but he flew splendidly. I followed him for alittle while longer, but he did not appreciate this. Meanwhile, theother French battleplanes had come up, and started firing at me. Iflew back over our lines and waited for them there. One, who was muchhigher than the rest, came and attacked me; we circled around severaltimes and then he flew away. I was so far below him that it was hardto attack him at all. But I could not let him deprive me of thepleasure of following him for a while. During this tilt, I droppedfrom 4, 000 meters to a height of less than 2, 000. Our biplanes hadalso drifted downward. Suddenly, at an altitude of 4, 700 meters, I saw eight of the enemy'sCaudrons. I could hardly believe my eyes! They were flying in pairs, as if attached to strings, in perfect line. They each had two engines, and were flying on the line Meuse-Douaumont. It was a shame! Now, Ihad to climb to their altitude again. So I stayed beneath a pair ofthem and tried to get at them. But, as they were flying so high andwould not come down toward me, I had no success. Shortly before theywere over our kite-balloons they turned. So fifteen or twenty minutespassed. Finally I reached their height. I attacked from below, andtried to give them something to remember me by, but they paid noattention to me, and flew home. Just then, above Côte de ----, I sawtwo more Caudrons appear, and, thank goodness, they were below me. Iflew toward them, but they were already across the Meuse. Just intime, I looked up, and saw a Nieuport and a Caudron coming down towardme. I attacked the more dangerous opponent first, and so flew straighttoward the Nieuport. We passed each other firing, but neither of uswere hit. I was only striving to protect myself. When flying towardeach other, it is very difficult to score a hit because of thecombined speed of the two craft. I quickly turned and followed closebehind the enemy. Then the other Caudron started to manoeuver thesame way, only more poorly than the Nieuport. I followed him, and wasjust about to open fire when a Fokker came to my aid, and attacked theCaudron. As we were well over the French positions, the latter glided, with the Fokker close behind him. The Nieuport saw this, and came tothe aid of his hard-pressed companion; I in turn followed theNieuport. It was a peculiar position: below, the fleeing Caudron;behind him, the Fokker; behind the Fokker, the Nieuport, and I, lastof all, behind the Nieuport. We exchanged shots merrily. Finally theFokker let the Caudron go, and the Nieuport stopped chasing theFokker. I fired my last shots at the Nieuport and went home. The wholefarce lasted over an hour. We had worked hard, but without visiblesuccess. At least, the Fokker (who turned out to be Althaus) and I haddominated the field. On the 18th of May I got Number 16. Toward evening I went up and foundour biplanes everywhere around Verdun. I felt superfluous there, sowent off for a little trip. I wanted to have a look at the Champagnedistrict once more, and flew to A. And back. Everywhere there waspeace: on earth as well as in the air. I only saw one airplane, in thedistance at A. On my way back I had the good luck to see two bombsbursting at M. , and soon saw a Caudron near me. The Frenchman had notseen me at all. He was on his way home, and suspected nothing. As hemade no move to attack or escape, I kept edging closer without firing. When I was about fifty meters away from them, and could see bothpassengers plainly, I started a well-aimed fire. He immediately tiltedand tried to escape below me, but I was so close to him it was toolate. I fired quite calmly. After about 150 shots I saw his leftengine smoke fiercely and then burst into flame. The machine turnedover, buckled, and burned up. It fell like a plummet into the Frenchsecond line trenches, and continued to burn there. On May 20th I again went for a little hunting trip in the Champagnedistrict, and attacked a Farman north of V. I went for him behind hisown lines, and he immediately started to land. In spite of this, Ifollowed him, because his was the only enemy machine in sight. I stuckto him and fired, but he would not fall. The pilot of a Farman machineis well protected by the motor, which is behind him. Though you cankill the observer, and riddle the engine and tanks, they are alwaysable to escape by gliding. But in this case, I think I wounded thepilot also, because the machine made the typical lengthwise tilt thatshows it is out of control. But as the fight was too far behind theFrench front, I flew home. The next day I again had tangible results. In the afternoon I flew onboth sides of the Meuse. On the French side two French battleplaneswere flying at a great altitude; I could not reach them. I was aboutto turn back, and was gliding over L'homme mort, when I saw twoCaudrons below me, who had escaped my observation till then. I wentafter them, but they immediately flew off. I followed, and at adistance of 200 meters, attacked the one; at that very instant I saw aNieuport coming toward me. I was anxious to give him something toremember me by, so I let the Caudrons go and flew due north. TheNieuport came after me, thinking I had not seen him. I kept watchinghim until he was about 200 meters away. Then I quickly turned mymachine and flew toward him. He was frightened by this, turned hismachine and flew south. By my attack, I had gained about 100 meters, so that at a range of 100 to 150 meters, I could fill his fuselagewith shots. He made work easy for me by flying in a straight line. Besides, I had along ammunition by means of which I could determinethe path of my shots. My opponent commenced to get unsteady, but Icould not follow him till he fell. Not until evening did I learn froma staff officer that the infantry at L'homme mort had reported thefall of the machine. In the evening, I went out again, without anyparticular objective, and after a number of false starts I had somesuccess. I was flying north of Bois de ----, when I saw a Frenchmanflying about. I made believe I was flying away, and the Frenchman wasdeceived by my ruse and came after me, over our positions. Now Iswooped down on him with tremendous speed (I was much higher than he). He turned, but could not escape me. Close behind the French lines, Icaught up with him. He was foolish enough to fly straight ahead, and Ipounded him with a continuous stream of well-placed shots. I kept thisup till he caught fire. In the midst of this he exploded, collapsed, and fell to earth. As he fell, one wing broke off. So, in one day, Ihad gotten Numbers 17 and 18. LEAVE OF ABSENCE JULY 4, 1916 I was at S. Collecting all the equipment of my division. As all theauthorities helped me quickly and well, I was ready to move on June30th. Imagine my bad luck: just on this very day I was destined tomake my exit from the stage. It was like this: Near Verdun there was not much to do in the air. Scouting had beenalmost dropped. One day, when there was a little more to do thanusual, I had gone up twice in the morning and was loafing around onthe field. I suddenly heard machine-gun firing in the air and saw aNieuport attacking one of our biplanes. The German landed and told me, all out of breath: "The devil is loose on the front. Six Americans are up. I couldplainly see the American flag on the fuselage. They were quite bold;came all the way across the front. " I didn't imagine things were quite so bad, and decided to go up andgive the Americans a welcome. They were probably expecting it;politeness demanded it. I really met them above the Meuse. They wereflying back and forth quite gaily, close together. I flew toward them, and greeted the first one with my machine gun. He seemed to be quite abeginner; at any rate, I had no trouble in getting to within 100meters of him, and had him well under fire. As he was up in the cloudsand flew in a straight course, I was justified in expecting to bringhim to earth soon. But luck was not with me. I had just gotten mymachine back from the factory, and after firing a few shots my gunjammed. In vain I tried to remedy the trouble. While still botheringwith my gun the other "five Americans" were on me. As I could notfire, I preferred to retreat, and the whole swarm were after me. Itried to speed up my departure by tilting my machine to the left andletting it drop. A few hundred meters, and I righted it. But theystill followed. I repeated the manoeuver and flew home, littlepleased but unharmed. I only saw that the Americans were again flyingwhere I had found them. [A] This angered me and I immediately got intomy second machine and went off again. I was hardly 1, 500 meters highwhen with a loud crash my motor broke apart, and I had to land in ameadow at C. [Footnote A: The result of this was that the English wireless newsservice asserted the next day: "Yesterday Adjutant Ribière succeededin bringing down the famous Captain Bölcke in an air battle atVerdun. " In the meantime I have relieved him of this misapprehension. ] We made another pretty flight this day. The district around B. Andwest of Verdun was to be photographed by a scout division. Captain V. Was to go over with the squadron, and asked me to go with two otherFokkers to protect them. I went with them, and as I kept close tothem, I was right at hand when two French battleplanes attacked. Thefirst one did not approach very close, but the second attacked thebiplane which carried Captain V. As he was just then engaged inlooking through his binoculars, he did not see the machine approach. The pilot, also, did not notice it till the last moment. Then he madesuch a sharp turn that Captain V. Almost fell out. I came to theiraid; the Frenchman started to run. I could hardly aim at him at all, he flew in such sharp curves and zigzags. At 1, 800 meters' elevation, I fired a few parting shots and left him. I was sure he would not dous any more harm. As one of the wires to a spark-plug had broken, myengine was not running right, so I turned and went home. The squadronhad all the time in the world to take photographs, and was quitesatisfied with results. The machine I had attacked was first reportedas having fallen, but later this was denied. Now came the extremely sad news of Immelmann's death. One evening wereceived word he had fallen. I first thought it was one of the usualrumors, but, to my deep sorrow, it was later confirmed by staffofficers. They said his body was being taken to Dresden. I, therefore, immediately asked for leave to fly to D. It was very impressive. Immelmann lay in the courtyard of a hospital, on a wonderful bier. Everywhere there were pedestals with torchesburning on them. Immelmann lost his life through a foolish accident. Everything thepapers write about a battle in the air is nonsense. A part of hispropeller broke off and, due to the jerk, the wire braces of thefuselage snapped. The fuselage then broke off. Aside from the greatpersonal loss we have suffered, I feel the moral effect of his deathon the enemy is not to be underrated. I made good use of my chance to again attack the English at D. I likedit so well, I kept postponing my return to S. One evening I flew aHalberstadt biplane; this was the first appearance of these machinesat the front. As it is somewhat similar to an English B. -E. , Isucceeded in completely fooling an Englishman. I got to within fiftymeters of him and fired a number of shots at him. But as I was flyingquite rapidly, and was not as familiar with the new machine as withthe Fokker, I did not succeed in hitting him right away. I passedbeneath him, and he turned and started to descend. I followed him, butmy cartridge belt jammed and I could not fire. I turned away, andbefore I had repaired the damage he was gone. The next day I had two more opportunities to attack Englishmen. Thefirst time, it was a squadron of six Vickers' machines. I started asthey were over L. , and the other Fokkers from D. Went with me. As Ihad the fastest machine, I was first to reach the enemy. I picked outone and shot at him, with good results; his motor (behind the pilot)puffed out a great quantity of yellow smoke. I thought he would fallany moment, but he escaped by gliding behind his own line. Accordingto the report of our infantry, he was seen to land two kilometersbehind the front. I could not finish him entirely, because my left gunhad run out of ammunition, and the right one had jammed. In themeantime, the other Fokkers had reached the English. I saw one160-horsepower machine (Mulzer, pilot, ) attack an Englishman in finestyle, but as the Englishman soon received aid, I had to come toMulzer's rescue. So I drove the one away from Mulzer; my enemy didnot know I was unable to fire at him. Mulzer saw and recognized me, and again attacked briskly. To my regret, he had only the same successI had had a while before, and as Mulzer turned to go home, I didlikewise. In the afternoon, I again had a chance at an Englishman, buthe escaped in the clouds. Meanwhile, the Crown Prince had telephoned once, and our staff officerseveral times, for me to return. I had at first said I would wait forbetter weather, so they finally told me to take the train back if itwas poor weather. So I saw it was no use, and the next morning I flewback to S. Here I found a telegram for me: "Captain Bölcke is toreport at once to the Commander-in-Chief of the Aerial Division. He isto be at the disposal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army. " My joywas great, for I expected to be sent to the Second Army, where theEnglish offensive was just beginning. In the afternoon I reported tothe Crown Prince, and there I began to have doubts, for he left me inthe dark as to my future. On the next day I reported to the Chief ofthe Aerial Division at C. , and here all my expectations were provenunfounded. For the present, I was not to fly, but was to rest at C. For my "nerves. " You can imagine my rage. I was to stay at awatering-place in C. And gaze into the sky. If I had any wish I justneeded to express it, only I was not to fly. You can imagine my rage. When I saw that I could do nothing against this decision, I resolvedthat rather than stay at C. I would go on leave of absence, and atthis opportunity see the other fronts. After I telephoned Wilhelm (whowas glad rather than sorry for me), my orders were changed to read:"Captain Bölcke is to leave for Turkey and other countries at therequest of ----. " [Illustration: AMONG HIS COMRADES] [Illustration: GERMAN MARINE AVIATORS ON A FIELD NEAR THE NORTH SEA] Even though this was nothing that replaced my work, it was, at least, a balm for my wounded feelings. I immediately went to S. To pack mythings and use the remaining two days to fly as much as possible. Iflew twice that night, because I had to utilize the time. In spiteof bad weather, I had the luck to meet five Frenchmen the second timeI went up. One came within range and I attacked him. He was quite lowand above his own trenches, but in my present frame of mind that didnot matter to me. I flew toward him, firing both guns, flew over him, turned and started to attack him again, but found him gone. It wasvery dark by then. When I got home I asked if anyone had seen himfall, but no one knew anything definite. The next day the weather was bad, and I flew over to Wilhelm to talkover several things and bid him farewell. Picture my surprise, when Iread in the afternoon's wireless reports: "Yesterday an enemy machinewas brought down near Douaumont. " This could only have been my enemy, because, on account of the bad weather, I was the only German who hadgone up at that part of the front. I immediately called up the staffofficer, and he said yes, it had been a Fokker, yesterday evening, that had brought down the Frenchman, but no one knew who was flyingthe Fokker. I told him the time, place, and other circumstances, andhe seemed very surprised, and forbid me any further flight. Heproceeded to make further inquiries. The next morning the furthersurprising details arrived: The enemy airplane that had been attackedabove our first line trenches had fallen in our lines because ofheavy south winds. That was very fine for me. Now, my departure fromthe front was not so bad, because I had brought down another enemy andso had put a stop to any lies the enemy might start about me. Theothers, my helpers, friends, etc. , were well pleased. To put a stop toany more such breaks of discipline, they made me go direct to Ch. Itpleased me that I could make four of my mechanics corporals before Ileft. Three of them got the Iron Cross. In Ch. I had to quickly makemy final preparations, get my passes, etc. , for my trip, and now I amon the way, Dessau-Berlin. On the day I left I had breakfast with theKaiser, and he greeted me with: "Well, well; we have you in leash now. " It is funny that everyone is pleased to see me cooped up for a while. The sorriest part of all is that I am forced to take this leave justat a time when the English offensive is developing unprecedentedaerial activity. VIENNA, JULY 6, 1916 Several incidents happened just before I left Berlin. My train wasscheduled to leave the Zoo at 8:06. A half hour before my departure Inoticed that my "_Pour le mérite_" was missing. I could not think ofleaving without it. I rode to get it; it had been left in my civilianclothes, but my valet had already taken these. Of course, there wasno auto in sight, so I had to take a street car, though I was in ahurry. My valet was, in the meantime, packing my things up. The resultwas that I got to the station just as the train was pulling out. Atthe same time the valet was at the station at Friedrichstrasse withall the luggage. After riding around a while we met again at ourhouse. Fischer was trembling like a leaf, for he thought it was allhis fault. I immediately changed my plan, for the days till the startof the next Balkan train had to be utilized; so I decided on a flightto headquarters in Vienna and Budapest. I had the Aerial Divisionannounce my coming to Vienna, and left that night from the AnhaltStation. As companion, I had a Bohemian Coal Baron, who had only given30, 000, 000 marks for war loans; he was very pleasant. Except for a fewattacks by autograph collectors, the trip was eventless. In Tetschen, at the border, I was relieved of the bother of customs officialsthrough the kindness of an Austrian officer. It was the lasting griefof my companion that he had to submit to the customs in spite of allthe letters of recommendation he had. JULY 7, 1916 In Vienna I was met by a brother aviator at the station. He took me tothe Commander-in-Chief of their Aviation Division, who very kindlygave me a comrade as guide, and placed an auto at my disposal. Thesame morning I rode to Fischamend. As it was Sunday, I could not doanything in a military way, and so toward evening my guide and I tooka trip through Vienna, and I let him point out the spots of interestto me. JULY 10, 1916 Early in the morning we were on the aviation field at Aspern, which issomewhat like Adlershof. Here I saw some very interesting machines;for the first time I saw an Italian Caproni. Also, I was shown aFrench machine, in which a crazy Frenchman tried to fly from Nancy toRussia, _via_ Berlin. He almost succeeded. They say he got as far asthe east front, and was brought down there after flying almost tenhours. They said he was over Berlin at 12:30 at night. Then there weresome very peculiar-looking Austrian 'planes. In the afternoon I reported to the Colonel, who advised me to see theflying in the mountains near Trient on my way back from the Balkans. Ido not know yet whether or not I will be able to do this; it alldepends on time and circumstances. In the late afternoon I went up on the Kahlenberg to see Vienna fromthere. I took the trip with a man and his wife, whom I had met on thetrain. They seemed very pleased at having my company, and lost noopportunity to tell me this. To add to my discomfiture, a reporterinterviewed me on the way back; he was the first I have met so far. The fellow had heard by chance that I was in Vienna and had followedme for two days. He sat opposite me on the inclined railway and I hada lot of fun keeping him guessing. He was very disappointed that hehad no success with me, but finally consoled himself with the thoughtof having spoken with me. In the evening I strolled around Vienna--thecity makes a much quieter impression than Berlin. One feels thatVienna is more a quiet home town than a modern city. JULY 11, 1916 To avoid the dreary railroad journey from Vienna to Budapest, I amtaking the steamer, and will catch the Balkan train at Budapest. Inthat way I will see and enjoy the scenery much more. Even if the tripcannot compare with one on the Rhine, it is still very beautiful. ToPressburg the country is hilly; then it is flat country, with trees, and often forests, on the banks. On the trip a twelve-year-old boyrecognized my face and would not leave me after that. He was a veryamusing chap; knew almost the dates of the days on which I had broughtdown my various opponents. The worst thing he knew of, so he told me, was that his aunt did not even know who Immelmann was. At Komorn thecharacter of the Danube changes completely. The meadows on the rightdisappear, and hills take their place. The left bank is still ratherflat. From Grau, where I photographed the beautiful St. Johann'sChurch, to Waitzen, the country resembles the Rhine Valley very much. From Waitzen to Budapest, the country is level, but in the distanceone can see wooded hills and the city of Budapest, over which the sunwas just setting as we arrived. The most beautiful of all, is Budapestitself. It makes a very imposing impression; to the left, the palaceand the old castle; to the right, the hotels and public buildings;above all, the Parliament Building. JULY 12, 1916 Slept real late and then walked to the castle, where I got abird's-eye view of the city. In the afternoon I took a wagon and rode with Lieutenant F. ThroughOfen to the Margareten Island. We passed the Parliament and went tothe city park, where we ate a lot of cake at Kugler's. From there wewalked to the docks. The evening, I spent with some Germans. Budapest makes a very modern impression; some of the women areultra-modern. JULY 13, 1916 Slept while passing through Belgrade. Woke up in the middle of Servia, while passing a station where music was playing. Rode along the MoraveValley; it is wide and flanked with hills. There are many cornfieldsand meadows, with cows grazing. From Nisch (a city of low houses) wepassed through a small valley bordered with high, rocky, hills. Alongthe Bulgarian Morave, Pirot (Bulgaria), the district becomes aplateau, with mountains in the distance. The country is very rocky, and there is very little farming. The nearer you get to Sofia the morethe country becomes farm land. Finally, it merges into a broad levelplain, with the Balkans in the background. Sofia: a small station, andsmall houses. It was getting dark. JULY 14, 1916 Slept through Adrianople on my way to Turkey. Passed through thecustoms. Country: Mountainous; little developed; no trees, but now and thenvillages, with a few little houses, thatched with straw, andscattered. For little stretches the country is covered with bushes. Most of the country is uncultivated, but here and there you see a cornor potato field. The railroad is a one-track affair, with very few sidings. Servicevery poor now, due to the war; long waits at the stations. The people are poorly clothed, with gaudy sashes and queer headpieces. Just at present they are celebrating some fast days. The women work like the men, but always have a cloth wrapped aroundtheir heads. We met a military transport; the men are brown andhealthy looking. Their whole equipment seemed German in origin. Near the ocean, the farming is carried on on a large scale. At the Bay of Kutshuk, I saw camels grazing, for the first time. The ocean itself seemed brown, green, violet--all colors. At the shorepeople were swimming, and there were two anti-aircraft guns mounted. St. Stefano is an Oriental town in every sense of the word. At theshore there are neat little European houses. Here, there is a wirelessstation, etc. , just as in Johannistal. Then came Constantinople. From the train, you cannot see much; mostlyold, dirty houses, that look as if they were ready to topple over atthe first puff of wind. At the station, I was met by several German aviators, and taken to thehotel. The evening, I spent with some officers and a number of gentlemen fromthe German Embassy. [Illustration: READY FOR THE START] [Illustration: BÖLCKE AND HIS BROTHER MAX IN FRANCE (AUGUST, 1916)] JULY 15, 1916 Early in the morning I rode to the Great Headquarters and reported toEnver Pasha, who personally gave me the Iron Crescent. Enver, who isstill young, impressed me as a very agreeable, energetic, man. Then Iwent through the Bazar, with an interpreter. This is a network ofstreets, alleys and loopholes, in which everything imaginable is sold. Then went to the Agia Sofia, the largest mosque, and to the SultanAhmed, which has been changed to a barracks. In the afternoon I went to the _General_ (the ship on which the Germannaval officers live). In the evening we were in the Petit Champ, alittle garden in which a German naval band played. My valet amuses me. He is very unhappy, because he cannot feel athome, and is being cheated right and left by the people. He hadpictured Turkey to be an entirely different sort of a place. He wasvery indignant because the merchants start at three o'clock, at night, to go through the streets selling their wares. JULY 16, 1916 In the morning I went out to the _General_ with Lieutenant H. To see aU-boat. In the afternoon, a Greek funeral passed the hotel. The cover of thecoffin is carried ahead and the corpse can be seen in the coffin. Later, I wandered around in Galata and saw the Sultan, who was justcoming out of a mosque. First, mounted policemen came; then there wasa mounted bodyguard; then adjutant; then the Sultan in a coach withfour horses; then the same retinue again, in reverse order. JULY 17, 1916 This morning, I at last had a chance to see something of theiraviation. We rode through the city in an auto: through Stamboul, along the old Byzantine city wall, past the cemetery, and a number ofbarracks, through the dreary district to St. Stefano, and looked overthe aviation station there. Here, Major S. Has made himself quite aneat bit out of nothing at all. Naturally, under present conditions, it is very hard for him to get the necessary materials of all sorts. In the afternoon I was a guest on board the _General_. In the afternoon I went with Captain D. And other gentlemen, throughthe Bosphorus to Therapia, where the German cemetery is wonderfullysituated. Then we inspected a shoe factory at Beikos, and, later, wentto the _Goeben_ and _Breslau_, where I had a splendid reception. After a brief inspection of both boats, we ate supper and enjoyed aconcert on deck. On leaving, Captain A. , commander of the _Goeben_, drank a toast to me. Who would have believed this possible a few yearsago. JULY 18, 1916 To-day I took a pleasure spin on the Sea of Marmora, with S. 'sadjutant, and his motorboat. We passed the Sultan's palace and went toSkutari, where I made a short stop. Then we went to the Princes'Islands, where we landed at Princepu. Princepu is to Constantinoplewhat Grunewald or Wannsee is to Berlin. It is a wonderful island, hilly and situated in the middle of the sea. All the wealthy havesummer homes here, and most of Constantinople takes a trip hereSaturday and Sunday. In the Casino, from which there is a beautifulview of the sea, we drank coffee. Toward evening we reached home, after first sailing around the neighboring islands, on one of whichthe captured defender of Kut-el-Amara lives in a very nice villa. JULY 19, 1916 At nine, we left for Panderma. The Sea of Marmora was quite calm; atfirst there were some waves, but later it was very still. The ship wasfilled with natives; quite a few women, and some officers. Panderma: asmall seaport (many small sail-boats), situated at the foot of amountain, and made up, mostly, of small frame houses. We were met bysmall government vessels, while the others were taken off by nativeboats. After a short wait, we started our trip in a Pullman car (thetrain was made up specially for us). As far as Manias Gör the countryis monotonous; a few boats on the sea, and quite a few storks. In theSursulu-Su Valley there are more villages, well-built, meadows, fruittrees, and large herds of oxen and flocks of sheep. A good road runsnext to the railroad. Then it became dark. Slept well after a goodsupper. JULY 20, 1916 Woke up south of Akbissal. Country very pretty, cultivated andfertile, with many herds of cattle; caravans of camel, with a mule asleader. The plains became more pretty as we went on. Smyrna is beautifullysituated. At the station I met Buddecke and several other men. I got aroom in the Hotel Kramer, right at the sea. From my balcony I have aview over the whole Gulf of Smyrna. In the afternoon, I took a walkafter reporting to His Excellency Liman-Sanders. Went through theBazar, which is not so large as in Stamboul. JULY 21, 1916 At ten we went to the aviation field at Svedi Kos, south of Smyrna. The aviators live in a school. Close to the field there are the tentsof a division. The Turkish soldiers made a good impression. JULY 22, 1916 In the morning went swimming at Cordelio, with several ladies andgentlemen. Buddecke met us with a yacht. We had a fine sail. The viewof the hills from the gulf was beautiful. JULY 23, 1916 In the morning, again went to Cordelio for a swim, and took some jollypictures. JULY 24, 1916 Slept late. In the afternoon took a sail with several gentlemen to thefuture landing spot for seaplanes. JULY 25, 1916 In the morning I strolled about alone in the outlying parts of Smyrna. Here, things look much more "oriental. " Now I have to take the long trip to Constantinople _via_ Panderma, then to the Dardanelles. I lose eight days this way, for which I amexceedingly sorry. In an airplane, I could make it in two and a halfhours, but Buddecke will not let me have any. He has a thousand andone reasons for not giving me one, but I believe he has instructionsto that effect. JULY 29, 1916 On July 28th I went aboard a gunboat bound for Chanak, with a tow. Gallipoli is a village, with a number of outlying barracks. Severalhouses on the shore were destroyed by gunfire. Arrived in Chanaktoward noon, and went to Merten-Pasha to report. In the afternoon Iwent to the aviation field and flew over Troy--Kum Kale--Sedil Bar, tothe old English position. The flight was beautiful, and the islands ofImbros and Tenedos were as if floating on the clear sea. In the Bay ofImbros we could plainly see the English ships. Outside of the usualmaze of trenches we could plainly see the old English camps. Close toThalaka there was an English U-Boat and a Turkish cruiser, both sunk, and lying partly out of water. At Sedil Bar, a number of steamers anda French battleship were aground. The dead, hilly peninsula wasplainly visible. At Kilid Bar, there were large Turkish barracks. JULY 30, 1916 Went on a small steamer to Sedil Bar. We got off a little before wereached our destination, to go over the whole position with a navalofficer, who awaited us. The difference between the Turkish andEnglish positions was striking. The English, of course, had had moreand better material to work with. Now it is nothing but a desertedwreck. Then I looked at the English landing places. Here, theEnglishmen had simply run a few steamers aground to protectthemselves. After a hasty breakfast, I flew to D. With M. And fromthere, along the north shore of the Sea of Marmora, to St. Stefano. JULY 31, 1916 To-day was Bairam (Turkish Easter). Flags everywhere; people alldressed in their best; large crowds on the street; sale of crescentflowers on the streets, and parades. AUGUST 1, 1916 After a short stay in the War Department and the Bazar, I left forConstantinople. Enver Pasha travels on the same train. He had mebrought to him by his servant at tea time. He was very talkative andinteresting, and talked almost only German. AUGUST 2, 1916 Toward eleven o'clock, after an enjoyable trip through awell-cultivated section of Rumania, I arrived in Sofia, after passinga Turkish military train. Here I was received by a number of Germanaviators. In the afternoon, took a trip through Sofia, which makes thesame impression as one of the central German capitals. Short visit inthe cadet school, then went to the large cathedral. AUGUST 3, 1916 The military finish I noticed in the cadet school the day beforeimpressed me favorably. H. And I went to the aviation field in Sofia;most of the machines were Ottos. In the afternoon, I went to the flying school with H. Our guide, Captain P. , showed us as special attraction a Blériot, which he had. The school is still in the first stages of development. From there wewent to the resort called Banje, which is nicely located. In the evening, I was at supper with a military attaché, and metPrince Kyrill. He interested me very much, and talked quiteintelligently about a number of things. AUGUST 4, 1916 Early in the morning, I reported to the Bulgarian Secretary of War, who conversed with me for a long while. He is small in stature andtalks German fluently. Then I visited a cavalry barracks, where I alsosaw the new machine-gun companies. Toward evening I took a stroll inthe Boris Gardens, and admired the beauty of Sofia. AUGUST 5, 1916 After an audience with the Bulgarian Chief of Staff, I went to Uskub_via_ Kustendil in an auto. Fischer, my valet, who was along, had toget out _en route_ to make all our train arrangements. In Kustendil, I stopped over, and at the Casino I was with the Bulgarian Chief ofStaff. Then there was an interesting trip to Uskub, where I arrived atnine o'clock. AUGUST 6, 1916 In the afternoon I was with General Mackensen, and sat next to himat the table. Mackensen talked with me for quite a while. He isserious-looking, but not nearly as stern as his pictures lead oneto believe. Later, I went by train to Hudova, and reached aviation headquarters, where I was given a fine welcome in the barracks. The aviators alllive in wooden shacks, in a dreary neighborhood. This is not anenviable place to be, especially since they have had nothing to dofor months. AUGUST 7, 1916 In the morning I paid a visit to another division of flyers, and withCaptain E. I flew up and down the Greek front. Then I went back toUskub, where I spent the night. AUGUST 8, 1916 Went back to Sofia in the auto. Had several punctures, which werereally funny, because my Bulgarian chauffeur and I could converse bysign language only. On the road, not far from Kumanova, there was aMacedonian fair, which was very interesting. The peasants, in whiteclothes, danced an odd but pretty dance, to music played on bagpipesand other instruments. AUGUST 9, 1916 This morning, shortly before I left, I received a Bulgarian medalfor courage. This was presented to me by the adjutant of the Ministerof War, together with the latter's picture. I am now going to theAustrian headquarters, from where I mean to see the east front. Idon't know yet how I will get the time. AUGUST 10, 1916 In the afternoon, short auto ride; in the evening, reported to GeneralConrad. AUGUST 11, 1916 Presented myself at Archduke Frederick's and met General Cramon. Ateleven o'clock, went on toward Kovel. AUGUST 12, 1916 Arrived in Kovel about eight. Reported to General Linsingen. AUGUST 15, 1916 Rode to Brest, which is gutted by fire. AUGUST 16, 1916 Reported to General Ludendorff. Before eating was presented to FieldMarshal Hindenburg. At table, sat between Hindenburg and Ludendorff. In the afternoon, flew to Warsaw. AUGUST 17, 1916 Rode to Wilna. AUGUST 18, 1916 Rode to Kovno and then to Berlin. [Illustration: ONE OF HIS LAST VICTIMS] [Illustration: STARTING ON HIS LAST RIDE OCTOBER 28, 1916--5 P. M. ] TO THE FORTIETH VICTORY (Fleet Battles) LETTER OF SEPTEMBER 4, 1916 DEAR PARENTS: To your surprise, you no doubt have read of my twentieth victory. Youprobably did not expect I would be doing much flying while arrangingmy new division. A few days ago two new Fokkers arrived for me, and yesterday I made myfirst flight. At the front, the enemy was very active. They have grownquite rash. While I was enjoying a peaceful sail behind our lines, onecame to attack me. I paid no attention to him (he was higher than I). A little later I saw bombs bursting near P. Here I found a B. -E. Biplane, and with him three Vickers' one-man machines, evidently ascout with its protectors. I attacked the B. -E. , but in the midst ofmy work the other three disturbed me so I had to run. One of themthought he could get me in spite of this, and followed me. A littleapart from the rest, I offered battle, and soon I had him. I did notlet him go; he had no more ammunition left. In descending, he swayedheavily from side to side. As he said later, this was involuntary; Ihad crippled his machine. He came down northeast of Th. The aviatorjumped out of his burning machine and beat about with hands andfeet, for he was also afire. I went home to get fresh supplies ofcartridges and start anew, for more Englishmen were coming. But I hadno success. Yesterday I got the Englishman, whom I had captured, fromthe prisoners' camp and took him to the Casino for coffee. I showedhim our aviation field and learned a lot of interesting things fromhim. My field is slowly nearing completion and I am exceedingly busy. SEPTEMBER 17, 1916 In the meantime, I have made my total twenty-five. Number 21 I tackled single-handed. The fight with this Vickers biplanedid not take very long. I attacked him at an angle from behind (thebest; to get him from directly behind is not so good, since the motoracts as a protection). In vain he tried to get out of this poorposition; I did not give him the chance. I came so close to him thatmy machine was smutted by the ensuing explosion of his 'plane. Hefell, twisting like a boomerang. The observer fell out of the machinebefore it struck. Number 22 was quite bold; with his companions, he was sailing over ourfront, attacking our machines. This was too bad for him as well as oneof his friends, who was shot down by two Rumplers. Number 22 fell inexactly the same way as 21 fell the day before, only he landed withinhis own lines. Number 23 was a hard one. I had headed off the squadron he was withand picked the second one. He started to get away. The third attackedLieutenant R. , and was soon engaged by Lieutenants B. And R. , but, nevertheless, escaped within his own lines. My opponent pretended tofall after the first shots. I knew this trick, and followed himclosely. He really was trying to escape to his own lines. He did notsucceed. At M. He fell. His wings broke off and the machine broke intopieces. As he lies so far behind our front I did not get a chance toinspect the wreck. Once, however, I flew over it at a very lowaltitude. After a short while I saw several Englishmen circling over P. When Igot nearer, they wanted to attack me. As I was lower, I paid noattention to them, but turned away. As they saw I would not fight, oneof them attacked another German machine. I could not allow this to goon. I attacked him and he soon had to suffer for it. I shot up hisgasoline and oil tanks and wounded him in the right thigh. He landedand was captured. That was Number 24. Number 25 had to wait till the next day. A fleet of seven Englishmenpassed over our field. Behind them I rose and cut off their retreat. At P. I got near them. I was the lower and, therefore, almostdefenseless. This they took advantage of, and attacked me. Nerve! ButI soon turned the tables and got my sights on one of them. I got niceand close to him, and let him have about 500 shots at forty meters. Then he had enough. Lieutenant von R. Fired a few more shots at him, but he was finished without them. At H. He fell in a forest and wascompletely wrecked. Things are very lively here. The Englishmen always appear in swarms. Iregret I did not have enough machines for all my men. Yesterday thefirst consignment arrived. The other half will come very soon. Theyshot down two Englishmen yesterday, and there won't be many Englishmenleft in a little while. Yesterday, my officer for special service arrived; he will relieve meof a lot of work. Nevertheless, my time is well occupied, even whennot flying. There is a lot to do if one has to make a division out ofpractically nothing. But it pleases me to see things gradually workout as I plan them. _LATER_ In the meantime, things have changed considerably. Two of my men and Igot into an English squadron and had a thorough housecleaning. Each ofus brought down an Englishman. We are getting along fine; since lastnight five Englishmen. I shot down the leader, which I recognizedby little flags on one of the planes. He landed at E. And set hismachine afire. His observer was slightly wounded. When I arrived in anauto they had both been taken away. He had landed because I had shothis engine to pieces. LETTER OF OCTOBER 8, 1916 Yesterday you read of Number 30, but even that is a back number. Number 31 has followed its predecessors. On September 17th came Number 27. With some of my men I attacked asquadron of F. -E. Biplanes on the way back from C. Of these, we shotdown six out of eight. Only two escaped. I picked out the leader, andshot up his engine so he had to land. It landed right near one of ourkite-balloons. They were hardly down when the whole airplane wasablaze. It seems they have some means of destroying their machine assoon as it lands. On September 19th six of us got into an Englishsquadron. Below us were the machines with lattice-work tails, andabove were some Morans, as protection. One of these I picked out, andsailed after him. For a moment he escaped me, but west of B. I caughtup with him. One machine gun jammed, but the other I used with tellingeffect. At short range, I fired at him till he fell in a big blaze. During all this, he handled himself very clumsily. This was Number 28. On September 27th I met seven English machines, near B. I had startedon a patrol flight with four of my men, and we saw a squadron I firstthought was German. When we met southwest of B. , I saw they were enemy'planes. We were lower and I changed my course. The Englishmen passedus, flew over to us, flew around our kite-balloon and then set out fortheir own front. However, in the meantime, we had reached their heightand cut off their retreat. I gave the signal to attack, and a generalbattle started. I attacked one; got too close; ducked under him and, turning, saw an Englishman fall like a plummet. As there were enough others left I picked out a new one. He tried toescape, but I followed him. I fired round after round into him. Hisstamina surprised me. I felt he should have fallen long ago, but hekept going in the same circle. Finally, it got too much for me. I knewhe was dead long ago, and by some freak, or due to elastic controls, he did not change his course. I flew quite close to him and saw thepilot lying dead, half out of his seat. To know later which was the'plane I had shot down (for eventually he must fall), I noted thenumber--7495. Then I left him and attacked the next one. He escaped, but I left my mark on him. As I passed close under him I saw a greathole I had made in his fuselage. He will probably not forget this day. I had to work like a Trojan. Number 30 was very simple, I surprised a scout above our front--wecall these scouts "Häschen" (rabbits)--fired at him; he tilted, anddisappeared. The fall of Number 31 was a wonderful sight. We, five men and myself, were amusing ourselves attacking every French or English machine wesaw, and firing our guns to test them. This did not please ouropponents at all. Suddenly, far below me, I saw one fellow circlingabout, and I went after him. At close range I fired at him, aimingsteadily. He made things easy for me, flying a straight course. Istayed twenty or thirty meters behind him and pounded him till heexploded with a great yellow flare. We cannot call this a fight, because I surprised my opponent. Everything goes well with me; healthy, good food, good quarters, goodcompanions, and plenty to do. OCTOBER 19, 1916 My flying has been quite successful in the last few days. On October 13th some of my men and I got into a fleet of Vickersmachines of about equal number. They did not care to fight, and triedto get away. We went after them. I attacked one, saw that LieutenantK. Was already after him, picked another, attacked him above P. Andfired two volleys at him. I descended about 400 meters doing this andhad to let him go, because two others were after me, which I did notappreciate. He had to land at his artillery positions, however. On the 15th of October, there was a lot to do. Lately, the Englishattack at two or three o'clock in the afternoon, because they have thenotion that we are asleep. Just at this hour we went out. Between T. And S. We had a housecleaning; that is, we attacked and chased everyEnglishman we could find. I regret that during this only one fell (M. Shot down his fourth). Shortly after that I saw a scout amusinghimself above the lines. I attacked and finished him first thing; Iguess I must have killed the pilot instantly. The machine crashed toearth so violently that it raised a huge cloud of dust. That wasNumber 33. On October 10th, in the afternoon, I got into a fleet of six Vickers'machines. I had a fine time. The English leader came just right forme, and I settled it after the first attack. With the pilot dead, itfell, and I watched till it struck, and then picked out another. Mymen were having a merry time with the other Englishmen. One Englishmanfavored me by coming quite close to me, and I followed him close tothe ground. Still, by skillful flying, he escaped. The day was a good one for my command. Lieutenant R. Brought down hisfifth, and Lieutenant S. Got one, so that in all we got five that day. On the 16th I got Number 35. After some fruitless flying I saw sixVickers over our lines. These I followed, with Lieutenant B. Fromcommand--there were also three machines present. Lieutenant Leffersattacked one and forced him to earth (his eighth). The others were allgrouped together in a bunch. I picked out the lowest and forced him toearth. The Englishmen did not try to help him, but let me have him, unmolested. After the second volley he caught fire and fell. It is peculiar that so many of my opponents catch fire. The others, injest, say it is mental suggestion; they say all I need do is attackone of the enemy and he catches fire or, at least, loses a wing. The last few days we had poor weather. Nothing to do. _THE LAST REPORTS_ OCTOBER 20, 1916 At 10:30 in the morning, five of my men and I attacked a squadron ofsix F. -E. Biplanes, coming from D. The machine I attacked fell in itsown lines after first losing its observer. It is lying, a wreck, five hundred meters west of A. OCTOBER 22, 1916 11:45--Several of my men and I headed off two enemy biplanes comingfrom the east. Both fell. The one I attacked was shot apart. OCTOBER 22, 1916 About 3:40 in the afternoon I saw an English machine attack two of ourbiplanes. I attacked immediately, and forced him to land, although hetried to escape. Southwest of the forest at G. He landed in a huge shell-hole and brokehis machine. The pilot was thrown out. OCTOBER 25, 1916 This morning, near M. , I brought down an English B. -E. Biplane. OCTOBER 26, 1916 About 4:45 seven of our machines, of which I had charge, attacked someEnglish biplanes west of P. I attacked one and wounded the observer, so he was unable to fire atme. At the second attack the machine started to smoke. Both pilot andobserver seemed dead. It fell into the second line English trenchesand burned up. As I was attacked by a Vickers machine after going twoor three hundred meters, I did not see this. According to the reportof Group A. , at A. O. K. 1. , a B. -E. Machine, attacked by one of ourone-man machines, had fallen. This must have been mine. _FROM THE LAST LETTER_ . .. Mother does not need to worry about me; things are not so terribleas she pictures them. She just needs to think of all the experience Ihave had at this work, not to mention our advantage in knowledge ofhow to fly and shoot. Telegram from the front. [B] "October 28, 1916, 7:30 in the evening. "Prepare parents: Oswald mortally injured to-day over German lines. "WILHELM. " [Footnote B: To his sister. ] TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: 1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors;otherwise every effort has been made to remain true to the author'swords and intent. 2. In the Introduction, Professor Bölcke quotes a speaker at thefuneral service; this quote was left open in error in typesetting;the transcriber has closed the quote where it appears mostappropriate.