Home > Oswald Bölcke

He was born in Giebichenstein , the son of a schoolmaster recently returned from Argentina. After leaving school he joined Telegraphen-Bataillon Nr. 3 in Koblenz as a Fahnenjunker (cadet officer). In mid- 1914 he transferred to the Fliegertruppe. His training took from May to August at the Halberstädter Fliegerschule, and he was then immediately posted to active duty.

He was initially posted to Fliegerabteilung 13. He transferred to Fliegerabteilung 62 in April 1915, based at Douai. The observer in Bölcke's crew shot down the first enemy aircraft on July 4, 1915. In the same month, Bölcke and Max Immelmann became the first German fighter pilots, being given the first two Fokker E.I aircraft, fitted with a synchronized forward-firing machinegun. Bölcke won his first aerial combat on August 19, 1915, downed four more enemy aircraft before the end of the year and had four more 'kills' in January 1916. Also in January 1916 he and Immelmann were the first German fliers to be awarded the " Blue Max". After Immelmann was killed in June 1916, Bölcke became the top German ace. In March 1916 Bölcke was made leader of the newly formed Fliegerabteilung Sivery and led them in action over Verdun.

The German air force ( Luftstreitkräfte ) was reorganized in mid-1916 and Bölcke was appointed commander of his hand-picked group of Jagdstaffel Nr. 2, usually called Jasta 2, in September. Of his first choice pilots were Manfred von RichthofenThis article is about the Red Baron, the WWI pilot. There is also an article on Red Baron the computer game. Baron Manfred Albrecht von Richthofen ( May 2, 1892 April 21, 1918) was a German pilot and is still regarded today as the "ace of aces". He was a, Erwin Boehme and Hans Reimann . Initially flying the new biplane AlbatrosAlbatros (also albatross is a large web-footed bird of the southern hemisphere which has long narrow wings and is noted for powerful gliding flight. Albatros is the name of a sailing vessel which sank on May 3, 1961, due to a white squall and prompted the D.II over the Somme, Bölcke shot down eleven Royal Flying CorpsThe Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of World War I. Origin and Early History Formed by Royal Warrant on May 13, 1912, the RFC superseded the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers. By the end of that ye planes in his first month with Jasta 2. His command always flew in large disciplined formations and he repeatedly drilled them in tactics, the Dicta BölckeWorld War I flying ace Oswald Bolcke's list of tactics, known as the Dicta Bolcke to remember in air combat. Many modern flyers still see his Dicta as relevant today as it was during the Great War. Bolcke's list of tactics #Try to secure the upper hand be. He is sometimes called the father of the German fighter airforce.

Bölcke was killed when his Albatros D.II collided with that of Boehme during a dog fightFor the act of pitting two dogs against each other in a fight, see dog fighting''. Dog fight is a common term used to describe close-range aerial combat between two or more military aircraft. The term originated during World War I, and probably derives fr with DH.2sThe Airco DH. 2 was a single-seat biplane "pusher" aircraft which operated as a fighter during the First World War. It was the second pusher design by Geoffrey de Havilland for Airco, based on his earlier DH. 1 two-seater. 2 enabled British pilots to coun flown by No. 24 Squadron RFC . He had forty successes to his credit. Boehme survived the collision but was horrified and had to be prevented from committing suicide.