Last Flight

8 February 2002, 10:40 AM

Hey all,

I am looking for info about the last flight of

Werner Voss.
As far as I know there were 6 pilots from 56 sqdn - R.T.C. Hoidge, A.P.F. Rhys-Davids, R.A. Mayberry, V.P. Cronyn, K.K. Muspratt, all led by McCudden plus Voss.

What I need is the markings of 56 sqdn on sept 23 1917
The serial # for the SE5a's present plus info on their individual markings (was McCudden flying B4863?) plus as much info about Voss's triplane as possible ie: its serial # (was it still Fl 103/17 ?), its markings and the colour schemes - as close as possible. Also roughly what was the time of the incident and what would the terrain under them have been - fields, city, no-mans land??

many thanks in advance,
jbs

Regulus · 8 February 2002, 11:38 AM

Hi,

As far as I know it was indeed still 103/17. Concerning the area where the plane crashed, it was quite close behind the British front lines of 20th september at the start of the Battle of Menin Road. However by the day he crashed, this line had already moved up towards Zonnebeke. I must have a picture somewhere of the crash site, taken some years ago.

VBR from Regulus

WFS · 8 February 2002, 12:16 PM

That's a lot of info! Honestly, your best bet would be to obtain a copy of

High in the Empty Blue by Alex Revell. It has all of the info thqat you've requested along with just about anything else you'd want to know about 56 Sqn..

Your list of pilots should also include Capt. G.H. Bowman, 'C' Flight commander. McCudden was flying B4863 on 9/23/17. Other planes probably involved were: A4563 (Cronyn), B1(Mayberry), B506 (Hoidge), B525(Rhys Davids), B2(Bowman), A8944(Muspratt).

Wayne

8 February 2002, 01:19 PM

Dear Jibs,
You should also try to obtain Joseph A. Phelan's HEROES AND AEROPLANES OF THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918 (Grosset & Dunlap, 1966); on page 80, there's a wonderful watercolour of the 'Last Flight'. I may purchase a scanner this weekend; if so, this is one illustration that I'll scan to this thread (or to your email).
Here's a 'visual' rundown: Voss is climbing beyond the vertical over three SE-5s; his opponents are McCudden, Mayberry, and Rhys Davids. The latter's markings are practically identical: same coloring (RFC standard), with a white band on each about the fuselage beneath the rudder's leading edge. Each has a identification letter: "I" for Rhys Davids, "V" for Mayberry, and "G" for McCudden.
Again, Phelan gets his history a bit off. He writes "exactly who was in the fight and who actually shot Voss down has been the meat for many arguments since." I beg your pardon, but I thought it was clear that it was Rhys Davids whose final burst did Voss in, although Rhys Davids himself did not see this (he fired and then swerved-- upwards, I believe-- to avoid hitting Voss). [Alex, if this is incorrect, then may God have mercy on my soul...]
Phelan also writes, "On several occaisions he brought down British two-seaters by smashing their motors without hitting the crew. Having been a bomber pilot himself, he felt a certain sympathy for them." This will be the subject of a future post; according to Franks and Giblin (UNDER THE GUNS OF THE GERMAN ACES), Voss was a fairly aggressive pilot...

Ginger. · 9 February 2002, 06:26 AM

The nose of the Tripe was painted olive/brown,if that is of any help.

Dan_San_Abbott · 11 February 2002, 03:50 PM

Ginger:
Thank you, I was a bit shy to say that!
Bluer skies for you,
Dan-San

Hans · 11 February 2002, 09:14 PM

Ginger, hey! Very sarcastic!

You can't end a VCD ( Voss cowl discussion) with that symbol!

Webmaster! Give us green/brown smileys!!!!

WFS · 12 February 2002, 03:09 AM

What a shame that McCudden, who described the color schemes of several of his opponents, didn't do that for Voss' tripe. I guess that, at the time, he was more concerned about the fact that if the cowl was facing in his direction it was putting rounds through his machine. Oh well, so much for the SE with the big G on it.

Wayne

Droops · 12 February 2002, 03:31 AM

Norman Franks's book "Who Downed the Aces of WWI" also has an excellent description of the fight, including all of the 56 squadron pilots involved and the 60 squadron pilots first attacked by Voss.

VBR,

John

BobE · 12 February 2002, 07:57 AM

The Phelan watercolor in "Heroes and Aeroplanes" is a great painting. The only thing I am not too sure of is the general overall blue/grey cast of Voss' Tripe. My bet is that it was a little more on the olive side. I also throw my hat in the ring on the side of a solid olive cowl. Wouldn't have the guts to do this alone but with wingmen like Ginger and Dan-San what could happen?

I am in the process of building a pair of Tripes; MVR's and Voss'.The box art on Revel's new 1/72nd DrI shows Mvr's and the illustration shows a pair of rods coming down from behind the rear cabane struts to the fuselage in the cockpit area. I am guessing that these are conduits for the aileron cables. The reason I mention this is because these do not appear in any forward plan views I have of the DrI. Niether are they apparent in most paintings and photos. I think I have detected them in a few video sequences. Can anyone verify whether "they is or they isn't"? ???

I was going to post this under "Models" but this thread was too coincidental.

Bob E