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Gregvan · 5 October 2003, 10:57 AM

Hi All,

Rick's info on the Jasta 43 losses probably comes from Josef Rasech's diary, which was translated and excerpted in Vol. 8 No. 4 of the old US Cross & Cockade - it's one of the very best articles of this kind. Bill Puglisi did a great job, with help from Rasech and Max Holtzem (in the translation).

The diary entry for 24 July notes: They tangled withfour 'Englishmen' who were "some older birds, dashing and full of spirit to attack."

"Upon landing I heard Lt Jakobs was injured in the air battle with a foot wound, but without having touched the bone. Lt Schmidt had to make a forced landing at Romecke (Fourth Army) where Jasta 56 is posted; his radiator had been shot to pieces. There was no report about Wiehle. My machine had eleven hits. Our air fight had started at Bailleul and not until near Ypres were some of us able to get out of it. There was a strong wind coming from the southwest. At 6:00 pm, word came from Wiehle - at last. He was all right. A control wire for the elevator had been severed by a bullet. Thank God, for we are all sound. He had to land near Armentieres.....(later that day) Schobinger and I visited Jakobs in the field hospital. He is doing fairly well.

So you see, Gunnar, Schmidt, Wiehle and Raesch all had damage to their machines, though not very heavy damage.

Interestingly, at least some of the Jasta 43 Fokkers (Jaokobs' and Gutknecht's ) had basically black fuselages with white tail units, but others had different colored fuselages. They all had white tails. So maybe Jasta 7 was in this scrap, and maybe not. Raesch makes no mention of any other units involved, and he is usually pretty complete about these things.

Greg

5 October 2003, 10:57 AM	#11 (permalink)
Gregvan Forum Ace of Aces Contributor Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: St. Charles, Iowa Posts: 3,626	Hi All, Rick's info on the Jasta 43 losses probably comes from Josef Rasech's diary, which was translated and excerpted in Vol. 8 No. 4 of the old US Cross & Cockade - it's one of the very best articles of this kind. Bill Puglisi did a great job, with help from Rasech and Max Holtzem (in the translation). The diary entry for 24 July notes: They tangled withfour 'Englishmen' who were "some older birds, dashing and full of spirit to attack." "Upon landing I heard Lt Jakobs was injured in the air battle with a foot wound, but without having touched the bone. Lt Schmidt had to make a forced landing at Romecke (Fourth Army) where Jasta 56 is posted; his radiator had been shot to pieces. There was no report about Wiehle. My machine had eleven hits. Our air fight had started at Bailleul and not until near Ypres were some of us able to get out of it. There was a strong wind coming from the southwest. At 6:00 pm, word came from Wiehle - at last. He was all right. A control wire for the elevator had been severed by a bullet. Thank God, for we are all sound. He had to land near Armentieres.....(later that day) Schobinger and I visited Jakobs in the field hospital. He is doing fairly well. So you see, Gunnar, Schmidt, Wiehle and Raesch all had damage to their machines, though not very heavy damage. Interestingly, at least some of the Jasta 43 Fokkers (Jaokobs' and Gutknecht's ) had basically black fuselages with white tail units, but others had different colored fuselages. They all had white tails. So maybe Jasta 7 was in this scrap, and maybe not. Raesch makes no mention of any other units involved, and he is usually pretty complete about these things. Greg __________________ Greg VanWyngarden