Siemens-Schuckert D. III/IV in Switzerland

[Raineranton]

Originally Posted by Peter_T1958

in die Schweiz pilotierten Flugzeugen

Hey Peter,

I like the word "pilotiert"!

Merci vielmals für den Artikel.

Regards

Rainer

[Peter_T1958]

Here a little update: An eye-witness account of Beckhardt's landig in Rapperswil (I am sorry- only in German).









Cheers, Peter

[mikec]

Originally Posted by Peter_T1958

Here a little update: An eye-witness account of Beckhardt's landig in Rapperswil (I am sorry- only in German).









Cheers, Peter

Thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to post that Peter.

[I haven't had it translated yet, so can't make any more specific response at the moment.]

Mike.

[Peter_T1958]

Hello gents

Thanks to Easter holidays I was able to do an update! Some days ago, I received a copy of a local newspaper dated November 15th, 1918.

Zwölf deutsche Flugzeuge auf Schweizerboden
Das Pressebureau des Armeestabes teilt mit:
"Am 13. November sind in der Schweiz zehn deutsche Flugzeuge gelandet: zwei gingen bei Schaffhausen nieder, drei bei Rapperswil, zwei bei Benken, zwei auf dem Flugplatz Dübendorf, eines bei Oberaach. Alle Insassen wurden festgenommen.
Am Donnerstag mittag gingen zwei weitere deutsche Flugzeuge bei Bern nieder. Die beiden Offiziere erklärten, sich wegen der Unsichtigkeit der Berge in der Gegend geirrt zu haben. Sie meldeten sich beim Platzkommando."
(Source: Thurgauer Zeitung, Freitag, 15.11.1918)


All that corresponds to that Swiss army report from November 22th, 1918 (Bundesarchiv Bern) mentioned elsewhere in this forum. What makes this story so interesting in my opinion is the fact, that an eye witness account (I postet that document further back) reports only two aircraft in the vicinity of Rapperswil. And here the explanation:

According to the interigation protocol, created by local milirary authorities, Fritz Beckhardt landed in Gossau (Canton Zurich) 6 miles beeline of Rapperswil, but was arrested temporarily in Rapperswil, together with Michels, Weissbach and Brantin. There is a picture of those four men with Swiss guards in this forum.
(Source: Georg Hoch)


In summary, to this date I have the following information on the landings of november 13th:

Wurmsbach (1 mile east of Rapperswil)
Feldwebel Hans Weisbach (*03.05.1891) und Vizefeldwebel Ernst Brantin (*13.12.1894) on D.F.W.L., C. 7039

Rapperswil
Leutnant Gustav Michels (*17.11.1891) auf Albatros A.W.S. D.5a. 6988/17

Gossau (6 miles north of Rapperswil)
Vizefeldwebel Fritz Beckhardt (*27.03.1889) auf S.Scht. 8356/17 (In my opinion, number 8340/17, mentioned in the "Cockpit" article ist wrong! I have seen no documents that supports this theory.)

Schaffhausen
Oberleutnant Heinrich Dembowsky (* 25.07.1893) on S.Scht. 1618/18
Offiziersaspirant Arnold Eger (* ?) on S.Scht. 8344/17

Benken
No information!

Dübendorf
No information!

Oberaach
Aircraft started in Neustadt (Bavaria) heading to Augsburg, but lost its way in the fog!!!


Interesting footnote: According to Georg Hoch, Heinrich Dembowsky signed his interigation protocol with Dembowski...!

One mistery is still unsolved: The tiny number 835. barly visible on the left wheel of Dembowskys aircraft. What's that supposed to mean?
All three pictures of the wrecks have most probably been taken in front of the barracks at Dübendorf. Therefore I assume, that the wheels had been interchanged, during re-assembly after their transport to Dübendorf airfield. Just my two cents!


Most of this additional information was given to me from Mr. Georg Hoch, THE expert on Swiss military aviation. Thanks a lot!



Cheers, Peter