Kurt Wolff's last flight

Just wondering if anyone had more information on Kurt Wolff's last battle agianst 10 Naval Squadron. Was he shot down or was it the early flaw on the DR-1 claiming another victim? I only ask as he was last seen going into a spin before crashing and the Naval 10 pilot only claimed an OoC, implying something went wrong with the plane.

Any views?

Kurt Wolff was on a patrol together with Carl-August von Schoenebeck (Jasta 11).

Yes i know, on my travels around the web i found this report by Lt. Carl-August von Schoenebeck:

"One day we flew both to the front. That was done often because a flight of 2 is harder to spot than a whole squadron. If one was smart enough to use the sun in ones back the enemy could be easily surprised. Wolff was a smart leader and from the sun we attacked an enemy flight. Wolff was shooting brilliantly but got caught in a dogfight. I flew behind him as suddenly another Englishman appeared behind me. I only was able to get rid of him with great difficulty. While I was busy shaking off the Englishman another machine attacked Wolff from behind and before I could help I saw how Wolff was going down into a spin and hit the ground. So was Lt.Wolff, whom had me for covering him and who had to protect myself, falling in front of my very eyes. I was deeply shocked. On his funeral I had to carry his cushion of decorations."

It is available at
http://www.jastaboelcke.de/wolff.htm

Along with a number of other interesting pieces. The problem is that it doesn't explain why the Allied pilot only put in a OoC.

Mark

[Soderbaum]

Hi

I have a note that FSLt Norman MacGregor from 6N sq put in a claim of a Dr1 in flames time 16:50 at Werwicq. The time correspond fairly with the time given by the German(17:30) for Wolffs death.

VBR
Gunnar

Same guy as i had, but my information and this web-site give it as an OoC. Guess the spin made it difficult to claim a destroyed?

Mark

Mark,

As quoted in Kilduff's "Red Baron Combat Wing", MacGregor's report states, "We were attacked from above by about five Albatros scouts and four triplanes. I got into position very close on one triplane - within 25 yards - and fired a good burst. I saw my tracers entering his machine. I then had to turn and zoom to avoid hitting him with my machine. I next saw him going down in a vertical dive, apparently out of control."

Since he did have to avoid a collision, and could not actually see the crash, it is logical that it was credited as OOC. Kilduff also points out an error in this report - since the only other triplane at the front at that time was Voss' F1 103/17, there couldn't have been four in this fight.

Two other points: The triplane wing structure was very strong as designed; the later wing problems were mainly traced to manufacturing problems. The two prototypes would have been built with more care, so I would doubt this was a wing failure. In Imrie's "The Fokker Triplane", the picture of the crashed 102/17 shows that it apparently did not go down in flames, and the top wing, while deformed by the crash, does not look quite like the crashed DrI's of Gontermann or LvR (both of which did suffer wing failures).

Rich

That report is probably a little confused. As far as i know it was only Wolff and his wingman, although i think that there was another flight of Alb Dv's in the area. As for the DR-1, i read that it 'exploded' on impact, this may have just meant that it fell apart like Voss's plane a few weeks later.

Thanks for clearing up the OoC thing. I thought that it may have been a fault in the DR1 as he went into a spin implying the plane was damaged.

mark

[Amy]

Mark T.

A combination of Who Downed the Aces in WWI by Norman Franks, "Hunting with Ricthofen, Bodenschatz Diaries" translated by Jan Hayzlett, and an "Over the Front" article titled "One Step Closer to Hauptmann, The Last Flight of Oberleutnant Kurt Wolff" by S.A.H. Henderson (Vol. 13, No. 3 Fall 1998):

Karl Bodenschatz wrote that the afternoon of 15 Sept. 1917 to be "heavily overcast, moderate visibility". Wolff in his triplane (102/17) with a patrol of Albatros Scouts departed at 16:30 (German time) towards Menin for the last flight of the day. Naval 10 took off at approximately the same time at 15:50 (British time) led by Fitzgibbons with a patrol of Sopwith Camels (including MacGregor). Also up in the air at this time was No. 70 Squadron RFC, some distance away from Naval 10 at a slightly higher altitude.

Wolff and his patrol became separated in the overcast sky. Wolff flew along the Front looking for the rest of his patrol.

At approximately 1610 (British time), Naval 10 comes across 5 D.H. bombers and escorts them back safer territory. During this time, Jasta 11 Albatroses have a brief encounter with No. 70 Squadron about 10 miles from Marckebeke. It is believed that this brief tangle is when Wolff came back in contact with his patrol. Apparently the Jasta 11 vs. No. 70 Squadron encounter did not last long, but this isn't clear. Naval 10 arrives on the scene. MacGregor reports that they fought "four" enemy Triplanes, but there were only two Triplanes at the Front at the time (the other one belonging to Voss as Rich Hicks wrote). It's been theorized here that Wolff's manuevering in and out of clouds may have given the appearance of more than one Triplane. According MacGregor's combat report, it appears that he may have managed to catch Wolff off-guard as he wrote that he managed to get close at a good 25 yards and "fired a good burst" into what I’ve read as being fired into the cockpit before having to climb and turn to avoid colliding with the Triplane. The Triplane was then seen to have a nose-to-the-ground vertical dive towards the fields of Flanders.

Regarding the crash itself, one story that hung around for years was that when the plane slammed into the ground, it exploded into flames as you had written As Rich Hicks wrote, there is a photograph of a German infantry recovering Wolff's remains from a smashed but non-burnt Triplane. Bodenschatz further reported "Casualty: Oblt. Wolff (leader of Jasta 11) 5:30 p.m. north of Wervicq, shot down in air combat. Aircraft: Fokker triplane FI102 totally consumed." Bodenschatz didn't mention any fire as he had done in other writings regarding burned planes.

Hope that helps some.

Amy

Amy

Thanks for the detailed account. It looks like wolff didn't check his six and paid the price. As for the explosion, i doubt the plane blow up in the way most people think and it is more likely that it broke up badly on impact, like Voss. This was seen as a major problem of the DR1 and MvR wrote saying that in a heavy landing the DR1 would be wreaked, where other planes would not have been.

Mark