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KB0WSA > TODAY 24.09.11 04:41l 49 Lines 2316 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 12173_KB0WSA
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Subj: Today in History - Sep 23
Path: IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<VE2PKT<N9PMO<N6RME<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 110924/0227Z 12173@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.0.4
Sep 23, 1917:
German pilot Werner Voss shot down over Western Front Previous
Day September 23 Calendar Next Day
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, Billie
KB0WSA @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-Mail: kb0wsa@winlink.org
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