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N0KFQ > TODAY 23.09.14 17:04l 50 Lines 2277 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 36514_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Sep 23
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 140923/1500Z 36514@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.60
Sep 23, 1917:
German pilot Werner Voss shot down over Western Front
On this day in 1917, the German flying ace Werner Voss is shot
down and killed during a dogfight with British pilots in the
skies over Belgium, on the Western Front during World War I.
Voss, born in 1887, enlisted as a cavalry soldier in 1914, but
soon transferred to the Luftstreitkrafte or German Air Service,
where he was posted to the Jasta 2 squadron, commanded by the
renowned pilot Oswald Boelcke. After serving as a wingman to
Manfred von Richthofen_the ace pilot later known as the Red
Baron_Voss quickly established a reputation as a leading pilot in
his own right, and a rival to Richthofen. By May 1917, Voss had
amassed 28 victories in the air, earning the prestigious Pour le
Merite award.
At Richthofen's request, Voss was attached to his own squadron,
Jasta 10_known as the "Flying Circus." He earned another 14
victories there before September 23, 1917, when he was involved
in a dogfight with the renowned British 56 Squadron "B"
Flight_including the ace pilots James McCudden and Arthur Rhys
Davids_above the Western Front in Belgium. Though Voss skillfully
eluded his pursuers for some 10 minutes in his silver-grey Fokker
triplane, he was shot down by a British attack and crashed north
of Frezenburg. As McCudden later observed: "I shall never forget
my admiration for that German pilot, who single handed, fought
seven of us for ten minutes. I saw him go into a fairly steep
dive and so I continued to watch, and then saw the triplane hit
the ground and disappear into a thousand fragments, for it seemed
to me that it literally went into powder."
The attack was generally credited to Davids, who also shot down
the German pilot Carl Menckhoff when the latter came to Voss'
aid. Menckhoff survived the fight_one of the best-known aerial
dogfights of World War I_to lead his own squadron throughout the
end of the war. As for Voss, his bravery and skill was celebrated
posthumously on both sides of the line. In James McCudden's
words: "His flying is wonderful, his courage magnificent and in
my opinion he was the bravest German airman whom it has been my
privilege to see."
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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