Rudolf Berthold

1 Early life and entry into military

For the German footballer, see Rudolf Berthold (footballer).

Oskar Gustav Rudolf Berthold entered the world at

about 18:00 hours on 24 March 1891. He was born in
Ditterswind, Kingdom of Bavaria in the German Empire, the sixth child of Oberfrster (Head Forester) Oskar Berthold. The young child, who became familiarly
known as simply Rudolf, was the rst born to Helene
Stief Berthold, Oskars second wife. Oskars rst wife,
Ida Anne Homann Berthold, died in childbirth, leaving
as survivors a daughter and three sons. Rudolf was followed by three younger brothers, two of whom survived
Berthold joined the German Imperial Army in 1909, and to adulthood.[1]
paid for his own piloting lessons, qualifying in September
Rudolfs father was employed by a local nobleman, Oskar
1913. He was one of the pioneer aviators of World War I,
Freiherr von Deuster; Rudolf grew up roving the barons
ying crucial reconnaissance missions during his nations
great estate. Early in September 1897, Rudolf enrolled
1914 invasion of France that won him some of the rst
in the local elementary school. Upon his completion of
Iron Crosses of the war. During 1915, he became one of
studies there at age ten, he enrolled in the Humanististhe rst aerial warriors. He rose to command one of the
che Neue Gymnasium (New Secondary School for the Hurst dedicated ghter units in 1916; he scored ve victomanities) in nearby Bamberg. By the time he had comries before suering severe injuries in a crash and being
pleted his studies there at age 14, he had adopted a perdosed with narcotics while hospitalized for four months.
sonal motto from Horace: It is sweet and tting to die
Decamping from hospital, he returned to duty while still
for ones Fatherland.[2]
unwell to successively command two of Germanys original ghter squadrons. By 24 April 1917, when he was Rudolf moved to Schweinfurt's Knigliches Humanistiswounded again, he had brought his tally to 12 and won che Gymnasium (Royal Secondary School for HumaniGermanys greatest honor, the Pour le Merite. On 18 Au- ties) in September 1906 to begin sixth level classes. Wingust, he once again bolted from medical care to return to ter of 1909 saw him transfer to the Altes Gymnasium (Old
Secondary School) in Bamberg to better t himself for a
battle.
military career. He graduated on 14 July 1910, with a
Over the next few weeks, he would score 16 more victoreputation for being fearless, cheerful, and studious.[3]
ries before being crippled by a British bullet on 10 Octo[4]
ber 1917. With an arm at hazard of amputation, Berthold Although Ditterswind was a garrison town, young
was rescued by his sister Franziska, who had the medical Bertholds career began when he joined the 3rd Bran[5]
connections to gain him care by a specialist. Berthold was denberg Infantry Regiment in Wittenberg. He was rebedridden until February 1918, only to return to duty to quired to serve a year and a halfs training as a Fhnrich
command one of the worlds rst ghter wings. On 28 (Ocer Candidate) before being voted upon by ocers
May, he began once again to y combat, though ying of the regiment. On 27 January 1912, they accepted
one-handed and under the inuence of narcotics; he shot Berthold and he was commissioned as a leutnant. Todown 14 more enemy airplanes by 8 August 1918. On ward the end of Bertholds training, the Jungdeutschland10 August, he shot down his nal two victims on his nal Bund (Young Germany Federation) was founded. He beight before being downed. After two days in the hospi- came the leader of the Wittenberg branch of this patriotic
tal, he would once ee treatment and return to combat. society that was mobilizing German youth for national
[6]
Only a direct order from Kaiser Wilhelm II returned him service.
to medical care for the rest of the war.
Der Fliegertruppe (The Flying Troop) became an ocial

Hauptmann Oskar Gustav Rudolf Berthold (24 March

1891 15 March 1920), commonly known as Rudolf
Berthold, was a German ying ace of World War I. Between 1916 and 1918, he shot down 44 enemy planes
16 of them while ying one-handed. Berthold had a reputation as a ruthless, fearless andabove allvery patriotic ghter. His perseverance, bravery, and willingness
to return to combat while still wounded made him one of
the most famous German pilots of World War I.

part of the German Imperial Army on 1 October 1912.[7]

Berthold learned to y at his own expense in 1913, qualifying as a pilot in September 1913 with license No.
538.[5] He trained at the Halberstdter Flugzeugwerke
(Halberstadt Factory) on dual control Bristol types; one of

In Postwar Germany, Rudolf Berthold organized a

Freikorps and fought the Bolsheviks in Latvia. He was
killed in political street ghting in Hamburg on 15 March
1920.

2 WORLD WAR I

his fellow students was Oswald Boelcke. After informing 2.2 1915
his family he had a special assignment to a ying school,
Berthold underwent military ight training during Sum- Rudolf Berthold nally qualied as a pilot on 18 January
1915. At about the same time, he arranged Buddeckes
mer 1914.[8]
transfer into FFA 223.[14] Berthold now being a pilot, he
was assigned an observer, Leutnant Josef Gruener for ying reconnaissance sorties; they quickly became friends.
In June, they were nally supplied with machine guns for
their aircraft; Berthold could give up his futile assaults on
2 World War I
enemy aircraft with his pistol. At about the same time,
Berthold was laid up for a fortnight with dysentery, possibly provoked by nervous worry.[15]

2.1

1914

The outbreak of World War I disrupted the young aviators progress. On 1 July 1914, Berthold was recalled
from his schooling to rejoin his infantry regiment; once
there, he ruefully discovered his marching skills had deteriorated during his aviation sojourn. After a fortnights
refresher course in soldierly skills, he was returned to ying training. On 17 July 1914, he was ocially transferred out of the 3rd Brandenbergers to aerial service.
Having fallen behind his fellow piloting students during
his infantry refresher course, he had to settle for aerial
observer duty. On 1 August 1914, he shipped out as
a standee on a train for the Royal Saxon Air Base at
Grossenhain.[9]
By 7 August 1914, Berthold had been assigned to
Feldieger-Abteilung 23 (Field Flier Detachment 23),
which was assigned to the German 2nd Army. By 9 August, FFA 23 was encamped at Monschau near the Belgian border. On 15 August, Berthold was chosen for the
units rst reconnaissance mission. Two days later, his pilot strayed o-course; Bertholdt and his pilot landed lost.
They evaded French cavalry, to direct retrieval of their
DFW biplane. In his diary, Berthold angrily noted his
decision to complete pilots training.[10]
Berthold was also the observer on ights on 1 and 3
September. He saw French troops retreating across the
Marne River, and giving way to panic. However, later
in the month, he discovered the French counter-thrust
between the German 1st and 2nd Armies. German
sta ocers disbelief led to Berthold personally briefing Generaloberst Karl von Blow on the situation. Blow
moved his troops to higher ground; the First Battle of the
Aisne began. On 13 September 1914, the young aviator
was presented with the Iron Cross Second Class for his
eorts.[11]
On 4 October, he was called away from rebuilding his machines engine to report to Army High Command Headquarters. There he was awarded the Iron Cross First
Class. For both classes of the Iron Cross, Berthold received his award second only to Blow.[12]

FFA 223 re-equipped with AEG G.II bombers in August

1915. The twin-engined giant was manned by a pilot,
two or three observers, and two swiveling machine guns.
Even as the new bombers came on board, the unit also
received its rst single-seat ghter with a synchronized
gun, a Fokker Eindekker.[16]
Berthold took command of the big bomber. He left the
Eindekker to Buddecke; this decision sped Buddecke on
his way to being a member of the rst wave of German aces that included Oswald Boelcke, Max Immelmann, and Kurt Wintgens.[17] Berthold knew he could
cross the lines searching for opponents in the AEG G.II,
while the Eindekker was ordered to patrol only behind
German lines. However, Berthold damaged his original
G.II in a landing accident on 15 September, and had to
return to piloting an old two-seater. On 21 September
1915, Rudolf Berthold was promoted to Oberleutnant.
Shortly thereafter, he returned to Germany to pick up a
replacement G.II. By 1 October, he had it in action for
bombing, as well as a gunship for air defense missions.[18]
On 6 November, one of those missions turned deadly; a
British Vickers F.B.5 gunner mortally wounded Gruener.
Berthold was depressed by his friends death, and sent on
home leave, vowing vengeance for Greuners death.[19]
In early December, Buddecke was seconded to the
Turkish Air Force and Berthold fell heir to his Eindekker.
He accompanied Ernst Freiherr von Althaus when the latter shot down enemy planes on both 5 and 28 December
1915.[20]

2.3 1916
See also: Aerial victory standards of World War I and
List of victories of Rudolf Berthold

As the Germans pioneered use of aircraft with synchronized guns, they began to group the new aerial weapons
into ad hoc units to protect reconnaissance and bombing aircraft. These new units were dubbed Kampfseinsitzer Kommando (Single seater ghter detachment), abAs winter weather shut down combat ying in Novem- breviated KEK. On 11 January 1916, KEK Vaux formed
ber, Berthold arranged to continue his pilots training at a near FFA 223; because of his experience, Berthold was
nearby ight park. He became friends with a fellow stu- appointed as its Ocer in Charge. Even as the piodent, Hans Joachim Buddecke.[13]
neering ghter units formed, on 14 January Royal Fly-

2.4

1917

ing Corps Headquarters directed that any reconnaissance Squadron 4) under Bertholds command; the new unit
craft crossing into German-held territory be escorted by started with a starred rosterWilhelm Frankl, Walter
at least three protective aircraft.[21]
Hhndorf, and Ernst Freiherr von Althaus were early
[29]
On 2 February 1916, Berthold and Althaus ew an inter- members and all future aces. On 27 August, Berthold
[30]
ception at about 15:00 hours. Dodging through spotty received the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern. As
cloud coverage and sporadic rain, the duo set upon a the Pour le Merite was customarily awarded for eight vicpair of Voisin LAs and shot down one apiece. It was tories at this stage of the war, Berthold was very near
Bertholds rst aerial victory. He would score another attaining it. On 19 September, he was denied credit
for a Royal Aircraft Factory BE.12 that fell behind Gerthree days later. Then, on 10 February, Berthold was
himself downed, with a holed fuel tank and a slight wound man lines. On 24 September, two French Nieuport 17s
collided and crashed while dogghting him. Again, no
to his left hand. He was rewarded with the Military Merit
Order, 4th class on 29 February; one of only 12 Orders credit. On 26 September, Berthold was nally credited with his eighth victory. He received his Blue Max,
awarded to aviators during the war.[22]
Imperial Germany's supreme award for valor, on 12 OcBerthold continued ying bombing missions as well as pa- tober 1916. His was only the tenth award for aviators.
trolling in his ghter. After he scored another victory, Five of the other living recipients attended the 16 October
he was again honored by his native Kingdom of Bavaria, celebration of the award, including Buddecke, Althaus,
this time with the Knights Cross of the Military Order of Frankl, Hhndorf, and Kurt Wintgens. The following
Saint Henry on 15 April.[23][24]
day,[31] Buddecke and a wingman circled overhead as
[32]
On 25 April, Berthold lost a dogght. He made an emer- Bertholds train bore him away to his new assignment
[33]
gency landing after enemy bullets crippled his Fokkers as Staelfhrer (commander) of Jagdstael 14.
engine. He took o again in Pfalz E.IV serial number Die Fliegertruppen reorganized into the Luftstreitkrfte
803/15. Its engine quit as he climbed to about 100 me- (German Air Force) on 8 October. Jagdstael 14 was
ters altitude, and he crashed. When his limp body was newly formed when Berthold took command. It was
pulled from the wreckage, he was believed dead until equipped with two Fokker E.IIIs, a Halberstadt D.II, and
he revived momentarily with a t of cursing. After a seven Fokker D.IIs, and had no success when it was still
passing faint, Berthold awoke to nd himself blind. He the ad hoc Fokker Kampstael Falkenhausen. Berthold
begged bystanders to shoot him, then again swooned. He took advantage of being in a quiet sector, and trained
reawakened two days later in Kriegslazarett 7 (Military his troops hard. He brought in new Albatros D.I and
Hospital 7) in Saint Quentin, in a room next to a British Albatros D.II replacement aircraft, and renovated the ofobserver he had downed. Besides a badly broken left cers mess. In mid-December, just after the units rst
leg, Berthold had suered a broken nose and upper jaw, victory, they were visited on an inspection tour by Kaiser
with attendant damage to his optic nerves.[25] He was Wilhelm II and Crown Prince Wilhelm.[34]
prescribed narcotic painkillers for chronic pain. At that
time, German military doctors used three narcotics as
remediesopium, morphine, and codeine. Cocaine was 2.4 1917
used to counteract the somnolence of these three depressant drugs. Bertholds exact prescription is unknown.[26]
In January Berthold and his squadron were subordinated
Eventually, Bertholds eyesight returned. He was unable to Armee-Abteilung A (Army Division A). With the reto y for four months, but remained in charge of KEK organization in aviation came the installation of aviaVaux. Between the message trac brought to him, and tion sta ocer Hauptmann Bruno Volkmann at army
the accounts of his visiting subordinates, he learned of headquarters. Foreseeing the future, Berthold made an
ongoing casualties. His brother Wolfram had been killed unheeded plea for amassing air power into larger units,
in action as an infantryman on 29 April. Max Immel- and supported his proposal with detailed professional
mann perished in battle on 18 June. After Immelmanns analysis.[35]
death, Germanys highest scoring ace, Oswald Boelcke,
In February, Jasta 14 scored only two victories. Howwas removed from ying for fear that his loss in action
ever, it was slated to move to more active duty in Laon,
would be disastrous to morale. In the meantime, Berthold
and began to rearm with Albatros D.III ghters. Berthold
was scheduled to be evacuated back to Germany, away
ew to Laon to nd there were no quarters for his men.
from the front. Instead, in late July, he commandeered a
He was adamant that he would not move his squadron
car and returned to his unit. Although unable to y beuntil quarters were furnished. In mid March, a convoy
cause of a sti knee, he could still command. He made
of trucks hauled the Jasta 200 kilometers to Marchais,
his orderly help him bend his knee and ex strength back
France. They began operations on 17 March.[36]
[27]
into his withered leg.
Berthold had Albatros D.III s/n 2182/16 prepared as his
On 24 August 1916, Berthold had to be helped into
assigned aircraft. Its guns were test-red. It was painted
his ghter, but he ew. He scored his sixth victory.[28]
with his personal insignia of a winged sword of vengeance
The next day, KEK Vaux became Jagdstael 4 (Fighter
on either side of the fuselage. It is not known if he had

4
yet adopted an aircraft paint scheme of dark blue fuselage
and scarlet cowling in homage to his old infantry units
uniforms. By September, his entire squadron adopted
that basic scheme and added their personal insignia.[37]
On 24 March 1917 Berthold resumed his victory string
and was credited with four more victories by mid April.
On 24 April he ercely engaged a French Caudron R.9
until driven back to base by a bullet through his lower
right shin. He joked in his diary that this minor wound
left his right arm as his only unwounded limb. The shin
wound caused him to be shipped from the hospital to convalesce at home from 23 May to 15 June. As an aftereffect, this wound added more chronic pain to his miseries.
By now, his narcotics addiction was an open secret to his
pilots.[38]
Berthold believed that squadron performance was declining because of lack of in-air leadership. In early August,
he returned to his old training facility in Grossenhain and
wangled a medical clearance from its doctor. Berthold
returned to his unit to await the paperwork, to discover
that he was being transferred to command Jagdstael 18
in Harelbeke, Belgium on 12 August. On 18 August,
Berthold was nally certied to resume ying. Two days
later, he was one of the aviation troops being reviewed by
the Kaiser at Courtrai.[39]
Before Bertholds arrival, Jasta 18 had had little success; their new commander promptly emphasized training
even as they ew combat missions. Shortly after assuming command, Berthold again pitched his idea of using
ghters en masse; 4th Armee headquarters responded by
grouping Jagdstaelen 18, 24, 31, and 36 into Jagdgruppe
7 with Berthold in command.[40]
He shot down a Spad on 21 August, raising his tally to 13.
It was the beginning of a string of 16 aerial victories. As
one of these victims, on 28 September 1917 he shot down
the Airco DH-5 of six victory ace Captain Alwayne Loyd,
of No 32 Squadron RAF, who was killed.[5][41] During
September he scored 14 victories, bringing his tally to 27.
On 2 October he scored his 28th victoryhis nal one of
the year.[5][42]
During a dogght on 10 October a bullet crippled Rudolf
Bertholds right upper arm.[32] While ghting No. 56
Squadron RFC, a British bullet ricocheted within the
cockpit of Bertholds Fokker D.VII and entered his arm
at an angle that pulverized his right humerus. He was
probably hit by Captain Gerald Maxwell, though the latter did not receive credit for a victory. Berthold overcame
the handicap of half-severed ailerons and remained conscious long enough to make a smooth one-handed landing
at Jasta 18s home aireld. He passed out after his safe
arrival. Bertholds unconscious form was lifted from his
Fokker and rushed ve kilometers to the eld hospital in
Courtrai.[43] Regardless of wounding, Berthold was promoted to Hauptmann on 26 October 1917.[32]
The eld hospital hadn't the facilities to heal such a
complex injury; however, it suced to keep him alive.

2 WORLD WAR I
It was three weeks before the wounded ace was stable
enough to be transferred. On 31 October, he shipped
out, slated for Saint Vincenzstift Hospital in Hannover.
However, his squadronmates alerted his 33-year-old elder sister Franziska. She was a nursing supervisor in
Viktoria-Lazarett (Victoria Hospital), Berlin. She arranged for her brother to be diverted to the Berlin
clinic of one of Germanys pre-eminent surgeons, Doctor August Bier, who pioneered use of cocaine in spinal
anesthesia. Berthold entered the clinic on 2 November
1917. Berthold was there for four months as Doctor
Bier labored to save his arm from amputation. Meantime, counter to Bertholds wishes, Oberleutnant Ernst
Wilhelm Turck assumed Bertholds dual commands of
Jagdstael 18 and Jagdgruppe 7. Berthold spent his convalescent leave learning to write with his left hand. He
believed, If I can write, I can y. Meantime, his right
arm remained paralyzed as it slowly healed. He remained
dependent on narcotics.[44]

2.5 1918
By February, Berthold could get out of bed. Eight days
later, in mid month, he volunteered to return to command
of Jagdgruppe 7. On 1 March, he reported to the medical oce of Flieger-Ersatz-Abteilung 5 (Replacement Detachment 5) in Hannover. He was passed to return to
command of Jagstael 18, but denied permission to y.
On 6 March, with his arm in a sling, he rejoined his old
squadron at its new duty station. Within two days, on
8 March, Berthold had arranged for Hans-Joachim Buddeckes transfer into the unit to lead it in the air. Two
days later, Buddecke was killed in action by Flight Lieutenant Arthur Whealy of the Royal Naval Air Service ying Sopwith Camel s/n B7220.[45]
On 16 March 1918, Rudolf Berthold was transferred to
Jagdgeschwader 2 (Fighter Wing 2) to replace Hauptmann Adolf Ritter von Tutschek, killed in action the previous day. The German Spring Oensive was launched
on 21 March. Berthold was in a tenuous and stressful
situation. He had suered the loss of his best friend,
left his old squadron in the lurch, was taking command
of an unfamiliar larger unit, and was not on ight status.
His partial solution to his dilemma was to take advantage
of a loophole. Customarily, a Luftstreitkrfte commander being transferred swapped a cadre of his unit into
his new assignment. Berthold eected a wholesale exchange of Jasta 18 people and aircraft into Jagdstael
15 in the wing. Jasta 15 became the wings Stab Stael
(command squadron). Berthold then departed for Buddeckes funeral in Berlin on 22 March to give a eulogy.
He returned to his new assignment two days into the new
German oensive, to nd that the infantry divisions his
wing was supposed to support were complaining about
their lack of air cover. Jagdgeschwader 2s performance
improved under its grounded commanders guidance, as
the Germans advanced 65 kilometers in eight days.[46]

2.5

1918

On 6 April 1918, nine Siemens-Schuckert D.IIIs began

to arrive. Despite high expectations for the craft because
of its superior performance, it suered engine failures at
only seven to ten hours usage. The mark was rapidly withdrawn from the wing.[47] Meanwhile, Berthold had his
men begin repainting the wings aircraft with a common
background marking. The wings craft had standard dark
blue paint applied to the fuselage, a la Jasta 15. However, instead of also copying a scarlet nose from them, the
other squadrons each sported their own hue on the cowlings. Jagdstael 12 had white cowlings; Jasta 13 had dark
green ones; Jasta 19 settled on yellow. To these markings,
pilots added their own personal insignia.[48]
At about 22:30 hours, on the night of 12 April, French
artillery directed by a reconnaissance aircraft, began
shelling the Jagdgeschwader 2 aireld. By 05:00 the following morning the aireld and its equipment had been
hit over 200 times by shellbursts. Though no one was
killed, the ghter wing had had 25 aircraft destroyed or
damaged, along with much of the aerodromes buildings
and gear, and was essentially out of action for the next
three weeks as it changed airelds and re-equipped.[49]
In the meantime, Berthold fretted, And I will y
againeven if they must carry me to the airplane. He
kept his sister apprised of his medical condition. On 25
April, he wrote, "a bone splinter protruded from my
lower wound. My very capable medical orderly came immediately with a pair of tweezers, and with much skill and
force, he removed it. I passed out during this violent
procedure. The pains were horric. But the lower wound
is beginning to close. Only the upper wound still festers
very heavily. When the bone fragment was being withdrawn it broke into pieces, as the opening was too small
and the splinter was snagged in the esh, and so he had
to probe and extract each piece.[50] Franziska Berthold
wrote of her brother, "his vigor was gone. The constant
discharge from his wounds and the nerve pain wore down
the body more and more. In order to workhe had to be
given drugs.[51]

5
new Fokker D.VII and for the rst time, led his air wing
into combat. Although it was a ground support mission,
he took the opportunity to score his 29th victory. The following day, he downed two more enemy aircraft, despite
a malfunctioning gun synchronizer that nearly shot away
his own propeller and caused a crash-landing. Bertholds
drug addiction did not handicap him in the air. Georg
von Hantelmann, one of his pilots, noted that despite his
undiminished martial skills, his morphine addiction made
him temperamentally erratic.[53] Nevertheless, his subordinates remained loyal to him.[54]
Bertholds victory tally gained half a dozen victories during June. Meantime, on 18 June, Berthold again advised
his sister of his ongoing medical problems. My arm has
gotten worse. It is rather swollen and infected underneath
the open wound. I believe the bone splinters are forcibly
pushing themselves out, because the swollen area is very
hard. The pain is terric. During my air battle yesterdayI screamed loudly in pain.[55] He took a break until 28 June, when he scored his 37th victory. That night,
he wrote his sister, The arm is still not good. Since the
lower wound has opened up again, the pain has subsided
a bit and the swelling has gone down. I have screamed in
pain, sometimes frantically. It seems to have been only
a bone splinter"[56] "...it got stuck in the old, scarred
wound, then the fun began for me....as the scar popped
open...the pus sprayed out in a high arc....[57]
His festering wound was not his only stressor. As summers heat came on, the Fokker Triplanes of Jasta 12
began to experience engine overheating problems aggravated by the lack of genuine castor oil for lubrication.
Occasionally, the lack of replacement triplanes grounded
the squadron, and hampered its sister squadron, Jasta 13.
New Fokker D.VIIs arrived in the wing, but only sufced to re-equip Jasta 15. By mid-June, the triplanes of
Jasta 12 were deemed unserviceable. Jasta 19 had only
partially rearmed with new Fokker D.VIIs. The understrength wing also suered fuel shortages. To remain operational, fuel and lubricants were channeled to the most
useful craft, the D.VIIs. By 19 June, Jasta 12 and Jasta 19
had no usable aircraft, and the wing was reduced to half
strength or below. The bereft squadrons would slowly restock with D.VIIs after the Triplanes were removed from
the wing. Relief nally came on 28 June, when a shipment of 14 Fokker D.VIIs arrived and were divided between Jasta 12 and Jasta 19.[58]

During this inactive stretch, Berthold outlined his intended use of the wing in a memorandum to headquarters. He outlined an air defense warning net posted forward to alert his wing, and he pleaded for a transport
column to maintain the units mobility. Aside from this
memo, he planned personnel changes in his new wing.
He felt that the squadron commanders were plotting to
have him replaced. By 18 May, the last of them had been Berthold fought on, scoring two more victories in July.
replaced. The wings score improved for that month, to- However, now that he had re-equipped his ghter wing,
inuenza grounded all but three pilots from Jasta 19 by
taling 19 victories.[52]
Berthold had often own a Pfalz D.III in preference to 6 July. Berthold scored three more victories in early Authe Albatros D.V. In May 1918, the new Fokker D.VII gust, raising his tally to 42. On 10 August, he led 12 of his
entered service.[5] Berthold borrowed one of the new pilots into battle against a vastly superior force of British
machines from Jagdgeschwader 1 for a surrepitious test aircraft. He shot down a Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a
ight. He liked its lightness on the controls, remarking ghter for his 43rd victory and an Airco DH.9 bomber
hopefully that he could even y it with his damaged right for his 44th. When he tried to pull away from the DH.9
arm. On the morning of 28 May, he mounted a brand- at 800 meters altitude, his shotaway controls came loose
in his hand. His attempt to use a parachute failed because

3 POST-WAR

it required the use of both hands. His Fokker impacted a

house in Ablaincourt so hard that its engine fell into the
cellar. German infantrymen plucked him from the rubble
and rushed him to hospital. His right arm was rebroken
at its previous fracture. Rudolf Berthold would never y
again.[59]
On 12 August, Berthold once again checked himself out
of a hospital. He arrived at the Jasta 15 ocers mess
coincidentally with the newly appointed wing commander. Berthold stared down Rittmeister Heinz Freiherr
von Brederlow, who was senior to him, and announced,
Here I am the boss. Once Brederlow departed, Berthold
took to bed, stating he would run the ghter wing from
there. The following day, he was feverish and writhing
in pain. The doctor who was called ordered Berthold
back into hospitalization. On the 14th, Kaiser Wilhelm
II personally ordered the ace to hospital, and appointed
Bertholds deputy commander, Leutnant Josef Veltjens,
to take command of the wing. On 16 August, Veltjens
saw Berthold o to the rear on a train.[60]

scheduled to disarm on 15 March 1920. However,

on 13 March, the military attempted the Kapp Putsch.
Wolfgang Kapp and General Walther von Lttwitz called
on all Freikorps and Reichswehr (Army) units to maintain public order. Chancellor Friedrich Ebert countered
by calling a general strike. The Freikorps voted to join
the putsch, so Bertholds men commandeered a train
and crew from striking rail workers and moved to join
the coup. Slowed by doused signals along the rail line,
they got as far as Harburg, Hamburg on the evening of
14 March; there they bivouacked in Heimfelder Middle
School as quarters.[65]

Berthold returned to Doctor Biers clinic, being treated

there through early October. Once his pains were alleviated, he went home to recuperate. He still craved a return to ying combat, but the war ended while he was
convalescing.[61] The patriotic ace who had shot down
16 of 44 enemy airplanes while ying one handed could
but watch as his beloved fatherland fell into defeat and Commemorative plaque at the school Woellmerstrasse in Hamchaos.[62]
burg Heimfeld.[Tr 1]

Post-war

In early 1919, Berthold was medically cleared to return

to duty. On 24 February, he assumed the command of
Dberitz Aireld in Berlin. He soon had the aireld in
top military order, only to have to shut it down.[63]
Berthold then put out a call for volunteers to form
a Freikorps militia to stave o the Spartakists. His
renown suced to attract 1,200 men, mostly from
his native Franconia. He founded the Frnkische
Bauern-Detachment Eiserne Schar Berthold (Franconian Farmers Detachment: Iron Troop Berthold) in April
1919. They were trained by late May. His troopers were
bound to him solely by personal loyalty, as they had not
sworn an oath of allegiance. One of them was Hans
Wittmann.[64]

The Independent Socialist government of Harburg anticipated the Freikorps imminent arrival by arresting the
commander of local Pionier-Bataillon 9 (Pioneer Battalion 9), leaving its 900 trained soldiers leaderless. On the
morning of 15 March 1920, trade union leaders tried to
talk the pioneers into disarming the Freikorps, to no avail.
Union workers were then armed to face the Freikorps. At
mid day, parties of union men converged on the middle
school.[66]

Meanwhile, Burgomaster (Mayor) Heinrich Denicke offered safe passage out of town to the Freikorps if they
would disarm. Berthold refused it. Past noon, when
the workers had gathered, a machine gun red over their
heads to clear an exit passage out of the school. Instead of
eeing, the union men shot back. In the ensuing reght,
13 workers and three Freikorps combatants were killed.
An additional eight Freikorps ghters were summarily exgrounds
In August, Bertholds Freikorps moved to the Baltic states ecuted after capture by the laborers. The school
[67]
were
encircled.
The
Freikorps
was
besieged.
to ght Bolsheviks. In September, the Freikorps became
part of the Iron Division in Lithuania. They engaged left- By late afternoon, Freikorps ammunition was running
ist forces in Latvia at Klaipda and Riga, and fought on low. Calling truce, Berthold negotiated a safe passage
into a bitter winter. The last three weeks of 1919 were for those of his men who would disarm. At about 18:00
spent resting in camp on the German-Lithuanian border hours, the Freikorps led out of the schoolhouse to disbefore return to Germany.[64]
arm. A crowd of onlookers had not been part of the neby the civilian casualties,
On 1 January 1920, Berthold and his troops entrained gotiations. They were outraged [67]
and
they
mobbed
the
Freikorps.
at Memel for Stade. They arrived with 800 men with
300 ries and a handful of machine guns. They were There is a widespread myth that Rudolf Berthold was

7
throttled to death with the ribbon of his Pour le Merite
as ligature. The truth is more prosaic and more brutal.
Berthold doubled back through the school when the onlookers attacked. As he exited the back door his Pour le
Merite was spotted. The war cry was sounded. A swarm
of people overpowered Berthold. His handgun was taken
from him and used to shoot him twice in the head and
four times in the body as the mob mauled him. His paralyzed right arm was ripped from its socket. His face was
stomped into bloody mush. His corpse was robbed of his
decorations, overcoat, and shoes.[67]
Hans Wittmann found Bertholds body in the street. His
remains were taken to the Wandsbeke hospital, in a Hamburg suburb. Two of his old iers, former Leutnants
Tiedje and Lohmann, lived in Hamburg. When they
heard of Bertholds death, they rushed to the hospital.
They stayed with Berthold until Franziska arrived from
Berlin. Bertholds Pour le Merite, Iron Cross First Class, The new grave stone on the Invalids Cemetery.
and Pilots Badge were rescued from a garbage dump in
Harburg before she arrived.[67]
stone disappeared. However, after Germanys reunication, private donors raised the funds for a simple marker
to be placed on his grave in 2003.[70]

Funeral and aftermath

Rudolf Berthold was buried at about 15:00 hours on 30

March 1920. Although pallbearers were customarily of
Bertholds rank, his family requested that instead they
be sergeants from his Freikorps. Berthold was buried
next to Buddecke in Berlins cemetery of heroes, the
Invalidenfriedhof. Their mutual friend, Olivier Freiherr
von Beaulieu-Marconnay lays next to them in a triangular arrangement.[68] On Bertholds rst gravestone, since
destroyed, was allegedly the memorial: Honored by his
enemies, killed by his German brethren. However, a literal translation of the inscription is slain in the brother
ght for the freedom of the German lands, as can be
seen.[69]
After receiving complaints about lynch law justice, the
Stade police investigated Bertholds homicide. In February 1921, two men were tried and acquitted of the
killing.[70]

Legacy

When the Nazis rose to power, they exploited Bertholds

name for propaganda purposes. They ignored his monarchist beliefs, and trumpeted his nationalist fervor. City
streets were named for him in Bamberg and Wittenberg,
among others. However, when the Nazis lost World War
II, the streets lost the Berthold name.[70]
The Invalidenfriedhof lay near the dividing line between
East Berlin and West Berlin. Tombstones were removed
from many graves in 1960, including Bertholds, so that
communist border guards preventing escapes from East
Berlin had a better view of the boundary. Bertholds

6 Honors and awards

Prussian military pilot badge on 18 January 1915
Pour le Merite (Prussia, 12 October 1917)
Knights Cross with Swords of the House Order of
Hohenzollern (Prussia, 27 August 1916)
Prussian Iron Cross (1914), 1st (13 September
1914) and 2nd (4 October 1914) class
Military Merit Order, 4th class (Bayerisch
Kriegsverdeinst-Orden) (Bavaria, 29 February
1916)
Knights Cross of the Military Order of Saint Henry
(Kingdom of Saxony, 8 April 1916)[5]

7 Translation notes
[1] Am 15. Mrz 1920 wurde die Schule in der Woellmerstrae
Schauplatz der einzigen bewaneten Auseinandersetzung,
die sich im Zuge des Kapp-Putsches vom 13. Mrz 1920 im
Hamburger Raum ereignete. Der Kampf in Harburg richtete sich gegen ein bewanetes Freicorps, das unter Fhrung des Putschisten Rudolf Berthold am Sturz der Weimar
Republik in Berlin mitwirken sollte. Eine spontan gebildete Allianz aus Mitgliedern der Harburger Einwohnerwehr,
Harburger Pionieren und einer groen Zahl bewaneter
Arbeiter stellte sich den Putschisten erfolgreich entgegen.
Im Verlauf des Kampfes starben insgesamt 25 Menschen
und mehr als 50 Personen wurden teilweise schwer verwundet.On 15 March 1920 the school in the Woellmer

8 ENDNOTES

street was the scene of the only armed conict which occurred in the course of the Kapp Putsch of 13 to March
1920 in the Hamburg area. The ght in Harburg was
targeted against an armed Freicorps, which participated
under the leadership of the rebel Rudolf Berthold in an
attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic in Berlin. A
spontaneously formed alliance of members of the military
population Harburg, Harburg pioneers and a large number
of armed workers successfully turned against the rebels.
During the course of the battle a total of 25 people died
and more than 50 people were wounded, some seriously.

[29] VanWyngarden 2005, p. 77.

[30] Kildu 2012, p. 69.
[31] Kildu 2012, pp. 6970, 7274.
[32] VanWyngarden 2005, p. 80.
[33] Kildu 2012, p. 73.
[34] Kildu 2012, pp. 7475, 77, 79.
[35] Kildu 2012, p. 80.
[36] Kildu 2012, p. 82.

Endnotes

[1] Kildu 2012, pp. 19, 174.

[2] Kildu 2012, pp. 1920, 174.
[3] Kildu 2012, pp. 2021.
[4] Kildu 2012, p. 20.
[5] Franks et al. 1993, p. 71.
[6] Kildu 2012, pp. 22, 24.

[37] Kildu 2012, pp. 83, 93.

[38] Kildu 2012, pp. 8587, 94.
[39] Kildu pp. 8890.
[40] Kildu 2012, p. 89.
[41] Aerodrome listing for Loyd
[42] Kildu 2012, pp. 139140.
[43] Kildu 2012, pp. 103104.
[44] Kildu 2012, pp. 104107.

[7] Kildu 2012, pp. 2425.

[45] Kildu 2012, pp. 107110.
[8] Kildu 2012, p. 25.
[46] Kildu 2012, pp. 110112.
[9] Kildu 2012, pp. 2628.
[10] Kildu 2012, pp. 3034.
[11] Kildu 2012, pp. 3536.
[12] Kildu 2012, p. 38.
[13] Kildu 2012, pp. 3940.
[14] Kildu 2012, pp. 40, 4546.
[15] Kildu 2012, pp. 4648.
[16] Kildu 2012, pp. 4850.
[17] VanWyngarden 2005, pp. 1819.
[18] Kildu 2012, pp. 4952.

[47] VanWyngarden 2005, pp. 30, 33, 43.

[48] VanWyngarden 2005, pp. 3940, 5560, 6264.
[49] VanWyngarden 2005, pp. 3032.
[50] Kildu 2012, pp. 112113.
[51] Kildu 2012, p. 115.
[52] VanWyngarden 2005, pp. 3536.
[53] Kildu 2012, pp. 115116.
[54] Franks, pp. 52-53.
[55] VanWyngarden 2005, p. 71.
[56] Kildu 2012, p. 120.

[19] Kildu 2012, pp. 1416, 5455.

[57] Franks, p. 52.

[20] Kildu 2012, p. 55.

[58] VanWyngarden 2005, pp. 4546, 50, 65, 7172, 74.

[21] Kildu 2012, pp. 5657.

[59] Kildu 2012, pp. 76, 121125.

[22] Kildu 2012, pp. 5860.

[60] Kildu 2012, pp. 125126.

[23] Kildu 2012, p. 61.

[61] Kildu 2012, pp. 127129.

[24] Kildu 2012, pp. 59, 61.

[62] Kildu 2012, pp. 127129, 140.

[25] Kildu 2012, pp. 6367.

[63] Kildu 2012, pp. 129130.

[26] Kildu 2012, pp. 9495.

[64] Kildu 2012, pp. 130132.

[27] Kildu 2012, pp. 6467.

[65] Kildu 2012, pp. 132133.

[28] Kildu 2012, pp. 6869.

[66] Kildu 2012, pp. 133134.

[67] Kildu 2012, p. 134.

[68] Kildu 2012, p. 135.
[69] Picture of his grave at http://image2.findagrave.com/
photos/2013/240/13833156_137780712964.jpg
[70] Kildu 2012, p. 137.

References
Franks, Norman (2003). Fokker D VII Aces of
World War 1: Part 1. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.
ISBN 978-1-84176-729-1.
Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank W.; Guest, Russell
(1993). Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units
of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and
Flanders Marine Corps, 19141918. Oxford: Grub
Street. ISBN 978-0-948817-73-1.
Kildu, Peter (2012). Iron Man: Rudolf Berthold:
Germanys Indomitable Fighter Ace of World War I.
Oxford: Grub Street. ISBN 978-1-908117-37-3.
VanWyngarden, Greg (2005). Jagdgeschwader Nr
II: Geschwader Berthold. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-727-7.

10

Further reading

VanWyngarden, Greg (2006). Early German Aces

of World War I. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN
978-1-84176-997-4.
(2007). Albatros Aces of World War I. Oxford:
Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-179-3.

11

External links

The Aerodrome Rudolf Berthold

ndagrave.com

10

12

12
12.1

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Rudolf Berthold Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Berthold?oldid=721596598 Contributors: Folks at 137, BigBen212,

Geni, Quadell, DragonySixtyseven, Jayjg, Bender235, Cmdrjameson, Hohum, Fdewaele, GregorB, BD2412, JIP, Olessi, Tresckow,
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Images

File:BertholdStein.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/BertholdStein.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

File:Gedenktafel_Woellmerstr.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Gedenktafel_Woellmerstr.JPG
License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Thiedbolt

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