Film of Fokker DR.I , May 1918 Query

[mikec]

Hi all.
Is the picture of the DR.I with a faded swastika taxiing at Halluin Ost airfield, (as featured in the Cross and Cockade, Vol 10 article on Herman Goering), a still from the film shot by Kugenluft during May 1918?
And if so is that film clip included in the 1988 Canadian, Red Baron documentary?
Thanks.
Mike.

[Gregvan]

Hi MikeC,

All I know is that, according to Alex Imrie, "In May 1918 official Kogenluft photographers took a series of photographs of the component Jagdstaffeln of JG III based at Halluin-Ost aerodrome." I would hazard a bet that these photographers included both still and motion-picture types, and the footage you cite was probably shot at the same time as the well-known still photos. The still photos include the famous line-up shots of pilots preparing for flight in front of a beautiful line-up of Jasta 26 Fokker Dr.Is, as well as a number of shots of Jasta 27 Fokker Triplanes, Albatrosse and even early D.VIIs. The Jasta 27 shots include the very well-known shot of Rudolf Klimke in the cockpit of his Dr.I 577/17 (marked with an anchor on the fuselage side and tailplane) and I seem to recall a VERY brief snippet of movie footage of the exact same scene in the Canadian Red Baron doc. If you have Alex Imrie's Fokker Triplane book, see photos 128 -130 on pages 88 and 90.

If I recall correctly, the same documentary features an extremely brief glance at the same Jasta 26 line-up as in the still photos, and shots of Jasta 26 (and 27?) pilots "scrambling" from their chairs to the aircraft waiting off-screen (undoubtedly staged for the cameras). There is also a brief bit of footage of mechanics trundling out a Fokker Dr.I with a white cowling and tail, which I believe is Goering's Triplane of Jasta 27.

I certainly hope more footage exists from that visit to Halluin-Ost! Oddly, the Canadian documentary is the only one in which I've ever seen most of this JG III footage. I wonder where it is stored?

Incidentally, the US Signal Corps did the same thing; for many of the scenes recorded in official Signal Corps still photos, there is also motion picture footage shot at the same time and place.

Greg VanWyngarden