Oswald Boelcke

Oswald Boelcke (German: [blk]; 19 May 1891

28 October 1916) was a German ying ace of the First
World War and one of the most inuential patrol leaders
and tacticians of the early years of air combat. Boelcke is
considered the father of the German ghter air force, as
well as the Father of Air Fighting Tactics.[1][2] He was
the rst to formalize rules of air ghting, which he presented as the Dicta Boelcke. While he promulgated rules
for the individual pilot, his main concern was the use of
formation ghting rather than single eort.[3]

received an ocer commission in the Prussian Army a

year later.[10] Since Boelcke had Abitur, his commission
was pre-dated 23 August 1910, making him senior to the
other new lieutenants in his battalion.[11]

2 World War I
2.1 1914

Germanys premier ace, Manfred von Richthofen (The

Red Baron), had been taught by Boelcke and continued to In mid-1914, Boelcke transferred to what was then known
idolize his late mentor long after he had surpassed Boel- as the Fliegertruppe. His ight training took place[3]from
May to August at the Halberstdter Fliegerschule. He
ckes tally of victories.
passed his nal pilots exam on 15 August 1914.[12] He
was then immediately posted to active duty.[3] Due to the
inuence of his elder brother, Hauptmann Wilhelm Boel1 Early years
cke, Oswald was initially posted to Feld-Fliegerabteilung
13 (FFA 13, Aviation Section 13), of which Wilhelm was
Boelcke was born in Giebichenstein, the son of a school- a member. Boelcke won an Iron Cross Second Class for
master. His fathers rst teaching job had been in ying 50 missions with this unit, in company with his
Argentina from where the family had recently returned. brother.[7] They were such a successful team they aroused
Boelckes three elder siblings were born in Buenos antipathy in other members of the section. As a result,
Aires.[4]
Wilhelm was transferred away from his brother.[13]
His family name was originally spelt Blcke, but Oswald
and his elder brother Wilhelm dispensed with the umlaut
and adopted the Latin spelling in place of the German. 2.2 1915
The pronunciation is the same for both spellings. [5]
At his own instigation, Boelcke transferred to FFA 62 in
Boelckes family moved to Dessau, the capital of the
April 1915 which was based at Douai.[6] This was a reDuchy of Anhalt when he was young. As a youth he connaissance unit using LVG C.II two-seater aircraft to
caught whooping cough; in order to build up his stamina,
observe and adjust artillery re.[14]
he became increasingly involved in playing sports but retained a tendency towards asthma throughout his life.[6] In July 1915, Boelcke, Max Immelmann, Otto Parschau
Among his athletic pursuits were swimming, tennis, row- and Kurt Wintgens, were allowed to y three of the
ing, and gymnastics.[4] However, he never did become ve prototypes of the Fokker E.I aircraft, the Fokker
very large; in later life, he was described as being about M.5K/MG. These types were tted with a synchronized
forward-ring air-cooled Parabellum machine gun slaved
5 feet 7 inches tall.[6]
to a gun synchronizer that prevented accidentally shootOswald Boelcke was studious as well as athletic, excelling ing the Fokkers propeller. Leutnant Parschau had been
at mathematics and physics. His father was a national- the rst person of this group to work with Fokker in deist and a militarist. Under his inuence, the 13-year-old veloping the Eindecker as a prototype ghter, and reBoelcke had the audacity to write a personal letter to the ceived the rst example of the M.5K/MG, with military
Kaiser requesting an appointment to military school.[4] serial E.1/15, with Boelcke getting the third example,
His wish was granted, but his parents objected and he did E.3/15, which he rst ew on 7 July.[15] Use of the type
not attend Cadet School.[7][8] Instead he attended Herzog by operational units was restricted; the provision being
Friedrichs-Gymnasium,[9] graduating Easter 1911.[8]
that they were to be own when pilots were not ying
After leaving school he joined Telegraphen-Bataillon Nr. reconnaissance missions in their two seaters. They were
3 in Koblenz as a Fahnenjunker (cadet ocer) on 15 considered so revolutionary that orders had been given
March 1911. After attending Kriegsschule in Metz, that they wouldn't be risked over enemy lines for fear of
Alsace-Lorraine, where he took his lieutenants exam, he capture.[16]
1

2 WORLD WAR I

Wintgens, ying the nal M.5K/MG E.5/15, made

the rst victory claim with the new aircraft, on 1 July
1915, but it went unconrmed because it fell behind
French lines. Historians have since identied the aircraft and crew as being a two-seater Morane-Saulnier
Type L parasol monoplane crewed by Capitaine Paul
de Peuty and Sous-Lieutenant de Boutiny, who were both
wounded.[6][17][18]
In the meantime, while ying a two-seater, Boelckes observer (Leutnant Heinz von Whlisch) shot down their
rst enemy aircraft on 4 July 1915, in a protracted running ght between reconnaissance craft. Boelcke landed
near the French aircrafts wreckage and veried the death
of the crew.[6][19] On that same day, Wintgens had an- From left: Oberleutnant Hans Joachim Buddecke, General Otto
other unconrmed win over a Morane Type L, and with a Liman von Sanders, Hptm Oswald Boelcke in Turkey, 1916
July 15 victory over yet another Type L Parasol, nally
got ocial credit for the third aircraft he had downed
in his military career as his rst observed, conrmed
for intestinal problems, and upon complaining he was stavictory.[17]
tioned too far from the front at Jametz, was given permisBoelcke won his rst individual aerial combat while ying sion to use the forward aireld at Sivry near the Verdun
in E.3/15 on 19 August 1915.[19] Just nine days later, he oensive. Boelcke then connected a front line observawas a hero on the ground. He dived into a canal near his tion post to the aireld, and thus established the rst tactiaerodrome, fully clothed, and rescued a drowning French cal air direction center. He was made leader of the newly
boy, Albert DePlace.[20][21] The childs parents wanted formed Fliegerabteilung Sivry and led them in action over
Boelcke to be awarded the French Legion d'Honneur; in- Verdun. This unit of six ghter pilots was the precurstead, he received the Prussian Lifesaving Medal.[12][22] sor of the Jasta German ghter squadron units.[12][30] The
On 22 September, Boelcke was moved to Metz, joining new ghter unit was stationed near Stenay, which was the
dethe Brieftauben-Abteilung-Metz unit but was moved back headquarters of Crown Prince Wilhelm. A friendship
[12]
veloped
between
the
Crown
Prince
and
the
ace.
to FA 62 in December.[15] He downed four more enemy
aircraft before the end of the year. Max Immelmann had
scored his rst victory just before Boelckes rst, on 1
August with an early production E.I, E.13/15. He and
Boelcke had a horse race of victories, with rst one rival leading, then the other, as they left Wintgens behind.
The deadly eect of the new aircraft on aerial combat
was beginning to be referred to as the Fokker Scourge.
On 1 November, the day after his sixth victory, Boelcke
became the rst German pilot to win the Royal House
Order of Hohenzollern. Immelmann duplicated the feat
six days later.[23]

The ace race was still on; Boelcke became the rst
berkanone with his 10th victory on 12 March; the following day, even as he scored, Immelmann scored one of
the rst double victories of the war to tie it up at 11 all.[31]
The dead heat lasted for a week; on 19 March, Boelcke
used his usual tactics of pointblank re to kill the enemy
pilot and saw o his Farmans wing with machine gun
re, for win number 12. Immelmann telephoned to congratulate him and ask him for an opportunity to catch up;
Boelcke jokingly oered him a weeks grace. Boelckes
victory two days later may be seen as symptomatic of his
disregard for Immelmann.[32]

By the end of 1915, Immelmann had seven victories,[24]

Boelcke had six,[25] and Wintgens[26] and Hans-Joachim By this time, the increasingly-obsolescent Fokker E.III
Buddecke had three.[27]
was being replaced by newer Halberstadt single-gun biplane ghters, and twin-gun armed Albatros biplane aircraft, both types tted with synchronized guns. The
French had countered the Fokker Scourge with fast new
2.3 1916
Nieuports; the British also countered, with pusher aircraft
that could re in their direction of ight without need of
2.3.1 Boelcke wins the ace race
synchronizing gear. Boelcke focused on developing his
Boelcke had three more victories in January 1916; Im- own counter methods: ying in tight formations, accurate
in combat and remaining within his own German
melman had two, in the same month, Boelcke and Im- gunnery
[4][33]
lines.
melmann also were the rst German iers to be awarded
the Pour le Mrite, Germanys highest military medal,[28] By 18 May, Boelcke established his lead over Immelmann
as each pilot achieved the required eight aerial victories for good, 16 victories to 15, to become the highest scoring
to earn it on the same day, 12 January.[29]
ace in the war up to that time.[19][34]
In March 1916, Boelcke emerged from a stay in hospital After Immelmann was killed on 18 June 1916 after his

3
17th victory, Boelcke, who then had 18 victories, was
left the preeminent ace of the war. Kaiser Wilhelm II
ordered Boelcke grounded for a month to avoid losing
him in combat soon after Immelmann. He had become
such an important hero to the German public, as well
as such an authority on aerial warfare, that he could not
be risked.[3][35] Given a choice between a desk job and
a tour of the Middle East, Boelcke downed a Nieuport
over Douaumont on 27 June and reported to headquarters. Boelcke was detailed to share his expertise with
the head of German military aviation. The German air
force was being reorganized from the Fliegertruppe into
the Luftstreitkrfte in mid-1916; this reorganization was
inspired by Boelcke.[12] At this time, Boelcke codied his
Dicta, which was a distillation of his successful tactics.
He also shared his views on creation of a ghter arm, and
the organization of ghter squadrons.[35][36]
Boelcke was sent on a tour of the Balkans. He transited Austria to visit Turkey. On the return trip he visited Bulgaria and the Russian Front. Along the way, he
interviewed pilots.[37] Boelcke was visiting Wilhelm in
Kovel when he received a telegram from Hermann von
der Lieth-Thomsen appointing him to raise, organize and
command Royal Prussian Jagdstael 2.[38] +
2.3.2

The Gentleman Pilot letter delivery

On 5 January 1916, Boelcke shot down a British B.E.2c

biplane of No. 2 Squadron crewed by Lt William
Somervill and Lt Georey Formilli. He maintained contact with the two men when they were hospitalized and
went to great lengths to deliver a letter Formilli wrote, informing people he was still alive. Formilli wrote, " PS. It
was Boelcke who brought us down, and Boelckes kindness led to the newspaper comment that he was a Gentleman Pilot. The letter was auctioned by Formillis family
in 2012.[39]
2.3.3

Creation of Jasta Boelcke

September, there were eight pilots on board, including

Manfred von Richthofen and Erwin Bhme. Three days
later, Bhme noted he was pushing for permission to use
his casto Halberstadt, since Boelcke had a Fokker; there
seemed to be four aircraft in the squadron by then.[41] On
16 September, Boelckes new squadron received ve new
Albatros D.Is for the pilots, and an improved Albatros
D.II for the Staelfuhrer.[42] Boelcke promptly put the
new ghters in the air on the rst-ever ghter unit eort
to gain local air superiority. At 1300 hours 16 September, Boelcke and ve of his pilots took o; they intercepted a British bombing raid on Marcoing Railway Station. While Boelcke held aside, his ve tyros bounced a
British formation of 14 planes, broke it up, and shot down
two. The master himself added another.[43]
Boelcke shot down 10 Royal Flying Corps aircraft in his
rst month with Jasta 2, September 1916. He would y a
solo mission in the morning and return to his cubs, who
would ask if he had scored again. He would ask them
if his chin was black with burnt cordite from his machine
guns breech. If it was, he had red his gun and scored.[44]
However, in contrast to his freebooting style, his pilots
always ew in disciplined formations in practice, and
he repeatedly drilled them in his tactics. Among them
were his famed combat rules, called Boelckes Dicta",
which were the rst systematic analysis of air combat and
continued to be applicable through World War II. Despite his run of personal successes, Boelckes attitude is
best expressed thus, in his own words: Everything depends on sticking together when the Stael goes into battle. It does not matter who actually scores the victory as
long as the Stael wins. He not only preached this doctrine to his own cubs"; he proselytized throughout the
Luftstreitkrfte. He wrote upon his ideas, sketched them
out and delivered them in person to other aerodromes.[4]

3 Death
Boelcke set out on 28 October 1916 for his sixth sortie of
the day with his two best pilots, Manfred von Richthofen
and Erwin Bhme, and three others. Before they had set
out on their attack, Boelcke, rushing to get ready, failed
to strap on his safety belt properly. The patrol eventually
led them into a dogght with single-seater DH.2 ghters
from No. 24 squadron RFC.

He was given permission by the head of German aviation, Feldugchef (Aviation Chief of Sta) Oberstleutnant Hermann von der Lieth-Thomsen, to choose his own
pilots to form a ghter squadron.[12][35] Along the way, he
interviewed pilots. Among his rst selections upon his return were Manfred von Richthofen and Erwin Bhme.[12] In the ensuing dogght, Boelcke and Bhme, unaware
Boelcke was appointed commander of his hand-picked of each others presence, closed in on the same aircraft,
group of pilots on 30 August 1916. Three squadrons were own by Captain Arthur Knight. Von Richthofen dived in
the rst ones founded, on 10 August 1916, but among on the ight path of that very same aircraft; he was chasthem, Jagdstael 2 became the premier German unit. It ing the other DH.2, piloted by Lieutenant Alfred Edwin
ended the war with 20 aces among its members, a total of McKay. Boelcke swerved to avoid a collision with the
336 victories, and a casualty list of only 44.[40] In the be- interceding aircraft. Bhmes landing gear brushed Boelginning, however, Boelcke started with only the empty ckes upper wing. As the fabric peeled o the upper wing
buildings vacated by FFA 32 in the Vlu Woods. As of his aircraft, Boelcke struggled for control. He and his
of 27 August, the edgling jasta had three ocers and aircraft fell out of sight into a cloud. When it emerged,
64 other ranks on strength, but no aircraft. But as of 8 the top wing was gone. However, Boelcke made a rela-

3 DEATH

tively soft crash-landing. The impact seemed survivable. phenomenon which I have never noticed in anyone else.
However, his lap belt did not restrain him, and he never Boelcke had not a personal enemy. He was equally polite
wore a helmet when he ew.
to everybody, making no dierences.
Minutes later, the pilots lifeless body was pulled from his The only one who was perhaps more intimate with him
smashed Albatros D.II. The great Oswald Boelcke, victor than the others was the very man who had the misfortune
of 40 aerial engagements, was dead at age 25.
to be in the accident which caused his death.
Both Bhme and Richthofen left descriptions of the Manfred von Richthofen, The Red Battle Flyer[45]
catastrophe. Richthofens account, from his memoirs:
Boelcke is no longer among us now. It could not have hit
One day we were ying, once more guided by Boelcke us pilots any harder.
against the enemy. We always had a wonderful feeling of On Saturday afternoon we were sitting on stand-by alert
security when he was with us. After all he was the one and in our aerodrome blockhouse. I had just begun a chess
only. The weather was very gusty and there were many match with Boelckeit was then, shortly after 4 o'clock
clouds. There were no aeroplanes about except ghting during an infantry attack at the front, that we were called.
ones.
As usual, Boelcke led us. It wasn't long before we were
From a long distance we saw two impertinent English- ying over Flers and started an attack on several English
men in the air who actually seemed to enjoy the terrible aeroplanes, fast single-seaters, which resisted eciently.
weather. We were six and they were two. If they had been In the following wild turning-ight combat, which altwenty and if Boelcke had given us the signal to attack we lowed us to take shots only in short bursts, we sought to
should not have been at all surprised.
force down our opponent by alternately cutting him o,
The struggle began in the usual way. Boelcke tackled the
one and I the other. I had to let go because one of the
German machines got in my way. I looked around and noticed Boelcke settling his victim about two hundred yards
away from me. It was the usual thing. Boelcke would
shoot down his opponent and I had to look on. Close to
Boelcke ew a good friend of his. It was an interesting
struggle. Both men were shooting. It was probable that
the Englishman would fall at any moment. Suddenly I
noticed an unnatural movement of the two German ying machines. Immediately I thought: Collision. I had
not yet seen a collision in the air. I had imagined that
it would look quite dierent. In reality, what happened
was not a collision. The two machines merely touched
one another. However, if two machines go at the tremendous pace of ying machines, the slightest contact has the
eect of a violent concussion.

as we had already done so often with success. Boelcke

and I had the one Englishman evenly between us, when
another opponent, hunted by our friend Richthofen, cut
directly in our path. As fast as lightning, Boelcke and
I took evasive action simultaneously, and for one instant
our wings obstructed our view of each otherit was then
it occurred.
How I am to describe my feelings to you from that instant on, when Boelcke suddenly emerged a few meters
on the right from me, his machine ducked, I pulled up
hard, however nevertheless we still touched and we both
fell towards the earth! It was only a slight touching, but at
the enormous speed this still also meant it was an impact.
Fate is usually so senseless in its selection: me, only one
side of the undercarriage had torn away, him, the outermost piece of the left wing.

After a few hundred meters I got my machine under control again and could now follow Boelckes, which I could
see was only somewhat downwardly inclined in a gentle
glide, heading towards our lines. It was only in a cloud
layer at lower regions that violent gusts caused his machine to gradually descended more steeply, and I had to
watch as he could no longer set it down evenly, and saw
it impact beside a battery position. People immediately
When we reached home we found the report Boelcke is hurried to his assistance. My attempts to land beside my
dead!" had already arrived. We could scarcely realize it. friend were made impossible because of the shell craters
and trenches. Thus I ew rapidly to our eld.
The greatest pain was, of course, felt by the man who had
the misfortune to be involved in the accident.
The fact that I had missed the landing, they told me of
It is a strange thing that everybody who met Boelcke only the other dayI have no recollection of this at all. I
imagined that he alone was his true friend. I have made was completely distressed, however I still had hope. But
the acquaintance of about forty men, each of whom imag- as we arrived in the car, they brought the body to us. He
ined that he alone was Boelckes intimate. Each imag- died in the blink of an eye at the moment of the crash.
ined that he had the monopoly of Boelckes aections. Boelcke never wore a crash helmet and did not strap himMen whose names were unknown to Boelcke believed self in the Albatros eitherotherwise he would have even
that he was particularly fond of them. This is a curious survived the not at all too powerful of an impact.
Boelcke drew away from his victim and descended in
large curves. He did not seem to be falling, but when I
saw him descending below me I noticed that part of his
planes had broken o. I could not see what happened afterward, but in the clouds he lost an entire plane. Now
his machine was no longer steerable. It fell accompanied
all the time by Boelckes faithful friend.

5
Now everything is so empty to us. Only little by little
does it come fully to our consciousness, that within the
gap which our Boelcke leaves, the soul of the total is missing. He was nevertheless in each relationship our leader
and master. He had an irresistible inuence on all, even
on superiors, which had to do purely with his personality, the all naturalness of his being. He could take us everywhere. We never had the feeling that anything could
fail if he were there, and almost everything succeeded as
well. In these one and a half months he has been with us
we have put over 60 hostile aeroplanes out-of-action and
made the dominance of the Englishmen shrink from day
to day. Now we all must see that his triumphant spirit
does not sink in the Stael.
This afternoon the funeral service was in Cambrai, from Boelckes tomb in the memorial cemetery of Dessau
where the parents and brothers escorted their hero for
burying at the cemetery of honour in Dessau. His parents
Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Knights Cross
are magnicent peoplecourageously accepting the unwith Swords, 1 November 1916, after his sixth vicalterable with all the pain they feel. This gives me some
tory [49]
solace as well, but nothing can be taken away from the
Lifesaving Medal, (12 December 1915), for saving
sorrow over the loss of this extraordinary human being.
Albert DePlace from drowning in the canal, 29 AuErwin Bhme, letter to ance
gust 1915 [50]
Bhme also remarked, Why did he, the irreplaceable,
Naming of Boelcke Barracks in Koblenz
have to be the victim of this blind fate, and why not I?"[35]
Honour cup for the winner in a dogght (24 DecemBhme, blaming himself for Boelckes death, had to be
ber 1915)
talked out of committing suicide. As the Fatherland
mourned, Boelcke was buried with full honors at his aerodrome in Cambrai. The Royal Flying Corps dropped a Duchy of Anhalt
wreath a day later over Jasta 2 which read, To the mem House Order of Albert the Bear, Knights Cross, 1st
ory of Captain Boelcke, a brave and chivalrous foe.
and 2nd class
I am after all only a combat pilot, but Boelcke, he was a
Friedrich Cross, 2nd class (31 January 1915)
hero.
Manfred von Richthofen, September 1917

Kingdom of Bavaria
In honor of their great leader, Jasta 2 was ocially named
Jasta Boelcke on 17 December 1916,[35] a name the
Military Merit Order, 4th class with Swords (13
squadron still bears to this very day. Erwin Bhme was
November 1915)
killed exactly one year, one month, and one day after his
collision with Boelcke.
Other
In the end, Boelcke had died because of a violation of one
of his own dicta, which mandated never to close in on a
single combatant when others are also pursuing it.

Turkish War Medal of 1915 (Ottoman Empire),

awarded personally by Enver Pasha, 15 July 1916

Orders and medals

[52]

Imtiyaz Medal (Ottoman Empire)

Prussian / Imperial German

Pour le Mrite, 12 January 1916, after his eighth
victory [46]
Iron Cross
First Class, January 27, 1915

Order of Bravery, 3rd class (Kingdom of Bulgaria,

9 August 1916) [51]

[47]

Second Class, December 10, 1914 [48]

Gallipoli Star (Ottoman Empire) (Iron Crescent,

23 July 1916)
Saxe-Ernestine House Order, Knights Cross 1st
class with Swords (31 July 1916)
Order of the Iron Crown, 3rd class with war decoration (Austria, 29 October 1916)
Knight of the Military Merit Order (Wrttemberg)

In popular culture

REFERENCES

[20] vanWyngarden, Greg (2006). Osprey Aircraft of the Aces

#73: Early German Aces of World War 1. Botley, Oxford
UK & New York City, USA: Osprey Publishing. pp. 16
17. ISBN 978-1-84176-997-4.

Je Shaara's To the Last Man: A Novel of the First World

War is a novel of World War I and especially the ying
aces such as Oswald Boelcke.[53] Portrayed by Peter Mas- [21] Boelcke, Oswald. s9.com, 15 August 2007. Retrieved:
5 October 2010.
terson in the 1971movie, Von Richthofen and Brown.
[22] van Wyngarden 2006, pp. 1617.

See also
Max Ritter von Mulzer

References

Notes
[1] Simkin, John. Oswald Boelcke. Spartacus Educational.
Retrieved: 5 October 2010.
[2] Oswald Boelcke. Find a Grave, 19 January 2000. Retrieved: 5 October 2010.

[23] van Wyngarden 2006, pp. 1420, 24.

[24] Franks et al. 1993, pp. 134135.
[25] Franks et al. 1993, p. 76.
[26] Franks et al. 1993, pp. 231232.
[27] Hans-Joachim Buddecke. The Aerodrome. Retrieved: 5
October 2010.
[28] Winkler, Gretchen and K.M. von Tiedemann. Air Service Awards During World War I. pourlemerite.org. Retrieved: 5 October 2010.
[29] van Wyngarden 2006, p. 30.
[30] van Wyngarden 2006, p. 34.

[3] Duy, Michael. Whos Who - Oswald Boelcke. rstworldwar.com, 22 August 2009. Retrieved: 5 October
2010.

[31] van Wyngarden 2006, pp. 3637.

[4] Oswald Boelcke. AcePilots via Acepilots.com. Retrieved:

5 October 2010.

[33] van Wyngarden 2006, p. 51.

[5] Werner 1932, p. 7.

[32] van Wyngarden 2006, p. 50.

[34] Max Immelmann. The Aerodrome. Retrieved: 5 October 2010.

[7] Oswald Boelcke English translation of original Polish)

Armia Niemiecka 1914-1918. Retrieved: 5 October 2010.

[35] Robud. Dicta Boelcke - Organization of Jagdstaeln

and the demise of Boelcke. at the Wayback Machine
(archived May 10, 2008) Flying Aces via Wayback Machine, 10 May 2008. Retrieved: 5 October 2010.

[8] Werner 1932, p. 11.

[36] van Wyngarden 2006, pp. 63, 6970.

[9] Werner 1932, p. 8.

[37] Werner 1932, pp. 170-183.

[10] Werner 1932, p. 32.

[38] van Wyngarden 2006, p. 69.

[11] Werner 1932, p. 27.

[39] " Ace of hearts: WW1 German pilots mercy mission for
Brits The Sun. Retrieved 8 September 2012.

[6] VanWyngarden 2006

[12] Boelcke, Oswald. www.cartage.org.lb. Retrieved: 5

October 2010.

[40] Jasta 2 (Boelcke). The Aerodrome. Retrieved: 5 October 2010.

[13] Werner 1932, p. 79.

[41] van Wyngarden 2006, p. 75.
[14] Werner 1932, p. 89.
[15] Franks 2004, p. 11.
[16] Werner 1932, p. 90.
[17] Kurt Wintgens. The Aerodrome. Retrieved: 5 October
2010.
[18] Sands, Jerey, The Forgotten Ace, Ltn. Kurt Wintgens
and his War Letters, Cross & Cockade USA, Summer
1985.
[19] Oswald Boelcke. The Aerodrome. Retrieved: 5 October
2010.

[42] van Wyngarden 2006, p. 77.

[43] Guttman 2009, p. 41.
[44] van Wyngarden 2006, p. 76.
[45] von Richthofen 1918, pp. 116118.
[46] Werner 2009, p. 165.
[47] Werner 2009, p. 100.
[48] Werner 2009, p. 88.
[49] Werner 2009, p. 154.

[50] Werner 2009, p. 159.

[51] Werner 2009, p. 227.
[52] Werner 2009, p. 218.
[53] Shaara, Je. To the Last Man: A Novel of the First World
War. New York: Random House, 2004. ISBN 0-34546134-7.

Bibliography
Franks, Norman. Jasta Boelcke: The History of
Jasta 2, 191618. London: Grub Street, 2004.
ISBN 1-904010-76-8.
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the Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps
19141918. London: Grub Street, 1993. ISBN 0948817-73-9.
Guttman, Jon. Pusher Aces of World War 1. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Ltd, 2009. ISBN 184603-417-5.
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World War I (Aircraft of the Aces 73). Oxford, UK:
Osprey Publishing Ltd, 2006. ISBN 1-84176-9975.
von Richtofen, Manfred, Captain; Barker, T. Ellis,
tranlations; Grey, C. G.preface and notes, editor of
"The Aeroplane" (July 1918). The Red Battle Flyer.
New York: Robert M. McBride & Co. at Project
Gutenberg
Werner, Johannes.Boelcke der Mensch, der Flieger,
der Fhrer der deutschen Jagdiegerei. Leipzig:
K.F. Koehler Verlag, 1932; translated and published
in English as Knight of Germany: Oswald Boelcke,
German Ace. Havertown, PA: Casemate 2009, rst
edition 1985. ISBN 978-1-935149-11-8.

External links
Media related to Oswald Boelcke at Wikimedia
Commons
Jasta Boelcke: Biography of Oswald Boelcke
Works by Oswald Boelcke at Project Gutenberg
Works by or about Oswald Boelcke at Internet
Archive

9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1

Text

Oswald Boelcke Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_Boelcke?oldid=726172480 Contributors: Gsl, SimonP, Maury Markowitz,

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Anonymous: 45

9.2

Images

File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-S60853,_Buddecke,_Liman_von_Sanders_und_Boelcke.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/

wikipedia/commons/3/33/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-S60853%2C_Buddecke%2C_Liman_von_Sanders_und_Boelcke.jpg License: CC
BY-SA 3.0 de Contributors: This image was provided to Wikimedia Commons by the German Federal Archive (Deutsches Bundesarchiv) as part of a cooperation project. The German Federal Archive guarantees an authentic representation only using the originals (negative and/or positive), resp. the digitalization of the originals as provided by the Digital Image Archive. Original artist:
Unknown<a href='//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4233718' title='wikidata:Q4233718'><img alt='wikidata:Q4233718' src='https://upload.
wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/20px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png' width='20' height='11' srcset='https://
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/30px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.
org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/40px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 2x' data-le-width='1050' data-le-height='590'
/></a>
File:Das_Boelke-Grabmahl_auf_dem_Dessauer_Ehrenfriedhof.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/
29/Das_Boelke-Grabmal_auf_dem_Dessauer_Ehrenfriedhof.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist:
M_H.DE
File:Flag_of_the_German_Empire.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Flag_of_the_German_Empire.
svg License: Public domain Contributors: Recoloured Image:Flag of Germany (2-3).svg Original artist: User:B1mbo and User:Madden

9.3

Content license

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