And they claimed chivalry did not really exist. These RAF airmen sure got a better reception than Sen. John McCain.
A proud JJ stands over his latest score, two RAF airmen: a pilot on the left and an observer on the right. JJ had mortally wounded their aircraft, close to his Flanders aerodrome and forced them to land out. Here he stands with the two men, his PLM on display and the observer wearing a forehead bandage I believe, probably due to the impact of the broken bird.
According to a Neal W. O’Connor (Author of Aviation Awards of Imperial Germany in WW1 and the men who earned them) account: the observer must have been a good one, as he is wearing a British Military Cross Ribbon under his single wing.
Regarding the two airmen: there were photos of the Jasta 7 pilots all leading the two men to a ‘call shack’ where they all shared cigarettes while sitting inside and what looked like a drink of water while a telegraph of their capture was being sent. I’m sure it was their last real day in the war and would love to know if anyone knows what happened to them. Had this been a modern conflict, we could probably guess how it would have gone.