Was Voss hung over during his final battle?

I've heard stories that Voss attended a party on the 22nd, and had gotten plastered. The next day, he then went on a lone wolf patrol, and was killed. This might explain why he failed to utilize his opportunity to escape when he first sighted the Se5s. Can anyone confirm this story?

[Vin]

The other blokes at the party could confirm whether he was plastered or not (at the party). The groundstaff could confirm that he took off alone. McCuddin, Rhys Davids etc. did confirm that he fought alone and died. If you cannot get any of these blokes to confirm the story, ask Tobias what he thinks.



Vin

[Reinout]

Well, despite not being Tobias I think I have some bearings on this one.

The story of Voss being hungover on his last day originated with a writer (don't remember whom it was but it could be Longstreet or Reynolds). Supposedly, Voss attended the PlM-awarding party of Bruno Loerzer in Berlin and got plastered. However, he was back in action next day... The travel possibilities of the era didn't allow for a guy to travel from the front to Berlin and back in 24 hours. What's more, Loerzer wasn't awarded the PlM until 1918!

And to top it off, Voss' brother(s?) visited Werner the day before his last flight. The impossibility of Voss heading to Berlin for a party that wasn't to be held until 4 months later becomes apparent.

Maybe Tobias or Barrett can fill in the gaps.

Kind regards,

Reinout

I don't know about you guys but getting plastered at a young age did not usually mean a horrendous hangover the next day.

What was Voss? 19 or 20? I doubt even getting plastered would affect his flying the next day. After all, he ripped the hell out of two of his opponents and got shots in the rest.

[mike_baram]

He might not have been hung over, but it's probable that he didn't get enough sleep. Who goes to bed on time when he's out carousing?

1. That he was hung over is a myth and probably someone trying to give the guy an "out" for his lack of judgement on taking on so many other pilots alone. He doesn't need an out. He was fighting 5-7 aces at any given time.

2. I was under the impression his brothers had visited him earlier that day and not the night before.

3. Voss didn't take on 56 Squadron, 56 squadron took on him. He attacked two straggelers from 60 squadron and had pretty much dispatched both of them when 56 Squadron pounced on him.

4. 56 squadron questioned why he didn't run when he had the chance. My bet is, if you asked Voss why he didn't run, he would probably say something like. "Well, I was looking for a way to escape but they pretty much had me penned in. Everytime I turned to run some other SE5 jumped on my tail or in front of me." In other words he was too busy dodging bullets to see a way out.

5. I have a lot of respect for Voss. He showed excellent judgement in most of his battles. He followed 60 squadron for some time according to most accounts before he jumped the two stragglers. His only error in judgement was he was didn't see 56 Squadron or didn't believe they could reach him before he had victims 49 and 50.

You have to remember according to McCudden, 56 was going to attack a different formation before they saw Voss giving some "poor chap" a hard time. The fact that only one other German attempted to help Voss leads me to beleive the German formation was some distance away.

Voss was able to shoot up the planes from 60 Squadron for a good minute before 56 showed up so they may have been up to a mile away when the attack began.
The Red Nosed Albatros didn't arrive on the scene until it was almost too late to do any good. He was probably even further away than 56 had been.

Tobias

[Barrett]

Reinout and Tobias have aptly summarized the situation. Veteran Forumites will recall a couple of similar threads over the past 2-3 years, and in one of 'em I noted that the Voss Hangover Myth (?) probably originated w/Quentin Reynolds' "They Fought For the Sky." It's a fact that Loerzer's PlM bash (if there was one) occurred in Feb '18, some five months after Voss' death. Furthermore, was it even POSSIBLE to get from Berlin to J.10's base overnight? I severely doubt it, especially with a late start.
That's not to say the lad might have tied one on with his brothers, but he shot down a DH-4 that morning and presumably had time to recover. Most Type A 20-year-old aviators I've known undoubtedly have logged less than the regulation 12 hours 'twixt bottle & throttle on occasion (myself excepted, of course) but a few fly just as well drunk as sober. It's JUDGEMENT that's impaired more than skill.
BTW: there's a possibility that Voss ran out of fuel or was extremely low on same at the end of the fight.

[Vin]

Tests on motor vehicle drivers who have consumed alcohol demonstrate that reflex reaction times and vision as well as judgment are impaired. Four Years of Fury peddle the drunk-in-Berlin-the-night-before line. It must be pretty widespread despite the obvious impossibility.


Vin

Barret made a good point about fuel. There is no doubt he had to be low. I've always wondered how much ammunition he had left after his extended dog fight.

I always wonder if Rhys-Davids shot down a wounded pilot who was out of gas and ammo. And would there have been anyway for him or 56 Squadron to know if that were the case.

Tobbias

It was Grosz and Ferko, in an article in Air Enthusuast(#8)about the Fokker Triplane, who made a supposition that Voss was running low on fuel or ran out during the fight--he mentioned that Voss stopped his aerobatics and was flying straight and level when RD hit him.
There's also a quote somewhere from Maxwell(?) who protested the use of the word "elusive" to describe Voss's flying--he wasn't trying to elude anyone, he was busy trying, and succeeding, to put bullets into everyone!