Werner Voss' Last Fight by Various Artists

[tengew]

i still have it but its buried some were in my boxes of stuff
never get rid of my books now that is a great book with some great art in it

[RussGannon]

For those who can take their eyes off Voss' DR1, here are some points of accuracy regarding the SE5's, for those who might consider another 'accurate' picture of the famous fight:

60 Sqn
Capt Chidlaw Roberts flew B507 marked with stylised A top centre wing - several good photo's of this SE when it ended up in German hands 5 Oct 17.
C&C GB Vil 11#4 p172 & 173, Ed Ferko's Fliegertruppe 2 p9.
Capt Hammersley flew B539 marked 'E' - presumably same position.

56 Sqn
Lt Cronyn flew A4563 marked 'L'
Lt Muspratt flew A8944 marked 'H'
LT Rhys-Davids flew B525 marked 'I'
several good photos of 'I' marked SE5's in HITEB
Capt McCudden as well known flew B4863 marked 'G'
Capt Bowman flew B2 marked 'M" photos HITEB
Lt Maybery flew B1 apparently marked 'K'
Lt Hoidge flew B506 marking unknown but possibly 'N'?
These letters repeated in black on lower right wings.
As has been noted in other threads - the SE's had a red dumbell squdron identification not the white band which was applied after 25 Sep.

Also in regards accuracy I had to have a wry grin at the title One against Seven.
The four phases of the fight were:
One against Three - Hammersley attacked by Voss and Pfalz of Bellen & Rudenberg
Two against Two - Hammersley & C-Roberts versus Voss & now only 1 Pfalz,
Four against Two - JTB, RD, Muspratt & Croyn attack Voss & 1 Phalz, and
Five against Two - JTB, RD, Bowman, Maybery & Hoidge versus Voss and red nose Albatros (Wendelmuth?).

Cheers Russ

[tengew]

Amazon.com: Used and New: Fighter aces

for those who would like a copy.here are some sellers on amazon that have copys

[tcrean7828]

Originally Posted by RussGannon

For those who can take their eyes off Voss' DR1, here are some points of accuracy regarding the SE5's, for those who might consider another 'accurate' picture of the famous fight:

60 Sqn
Capt Chidlaw Roberts flew B507 marked with stylised A top centre wing - several good photo's of this SE when it ended up in German hands 5 Oct 17.
C&C GB Vil 11#4 p172 & 173, Ed Ferko's Fliegertruppe 2 p9.
Capt Hammersley flew B539 marked 'E' - presumably same position.

56 Sqn
Lt Cronyn flew A4563 marked 'L'
Lt Muspratt flew A8944 marked 'H'
LT Rhys-Davids flew B525 marked 'I'
several good photos of 'I' marked SE5's in HITEB
Capt McCudden as well known flew B4863 marked 'G'
Capt Bowman flew B2 marked 'M" photos HITEB
Lt Maybery flew B1 apparently marked 'K'
Lt Hoidge flew B506 marking unknown but possibly 'N'?
These letters repeated in black on lower right wings.
As has been noted in other threads - the SE's had a red dumbell squdron identification not the white band which was applied after 25 Sep.

Also in regards accuracy I had to have a wry grin at the title One against Seven.
The four phases of the fight were:
One against Three - Hammersley attacked by Voss and Pfalz of Bellen & Rudenberg
Two against Two - Hammersley & C-Roberts versus Voss & now only 1 Pfalz,
Four against Two - JTB, RD, Muspratt & Croyn attack Voss & 1 Phalz, and
Five against Two - JTB, RD, Bowman, Maybery & Hoidge versus Voss and red nose Albatros (Wendelmuth?).

Cheers Russ

Russ,
Mate, not to get the throttle up on this one, but Voss' aircraft was an Fokker F.I not Dr.I.

ttfn

tcrean7828

tom

[JerryBoucher]

I find myself agreeing with Russ, for two reasons. Firstly, the Hurley piece is the best out of the bunch (closely followed by Turner's, IMHO - mostly because I like his technique). Secondly, because Russ' work has improved in leaps and bounds since 2002

[Pete Hill]

Hi Russ,
your level of knowledge scares me!
So, instead of 'Seven against one', I should have titled my painting "One against three against two against two against four against two against five against two against three point three three recurring'.
Where do you find out all this information anyway?
Kind regards Pete

[Kirk R. Lowry]

Bonjour mes amis!

I believe that the illustration that tengew refers to is to be found in "The Planes the Aces Flew" which was a volume in the Famous Aircraft Series published by Arco Publishing ... a book I was given by my father when a child which proved captivating and was the first source of the fascination with Werner Voss.

The painting by Michael Turner was, it would seem, first printed in Fighter Aces" by Christopher Shores, also a gift from my father, which was published by Hamlyn (but was not to be found in a revised edition of the book published later).

Has anyone made mention of the painting by Lou Basso on the cover of "Lt. Werner Voss Germany's Greatest Teenage Ace" by Walter Musciano published by Hobby Helpers or that by J. Healey which accompanied the article "Werner Voss Anatomy Of An Ace" by Lothar Lichster which was published in "Air Classics"? Both depict the Fokker F.I in a scheme that research up to 1964 had determined ... you know, silver with a red cowling ... The image by Healey features a skull and cross bones on the cowl! ... unfortunately the documentation for such a scheme has been lost ... I wonder if at some point in the future enthusiasts will comment on the green or yellow debate with wry smiles.

Beautiful sketches of Voss in "a green-checked tripe" are to be found in the story "McCudden" by George Evans which was published in "Frontline Combat" in 1954.

Are there illustrations of the famous combat that appeared previously ... were any to be found in the aviation journals, factual or fictional, that were published following The Great War?

Salut!
Kirk

[karrart]

Originally Posted by Kirk R. Lowry

.... by J. Healey which accompanied the article "Werner Voss Anatomy Of An Ace" by Lothar Lichster which was published in "Air Classics"? Both depict the Fokker F.I in a scheme that research up to 1964 had determined ... you know, silver with a red cowling ... The image by Healey features a skull and cross bones on the cowl! ... unfortunately the documentation for such a scheme has been lost ... I wonder if at some point in the future enthusiasts will comment on the green or yellow debate with wry smiles.
Salut!
Kirk

I've wondered about the Healy picture myself since first seeing it waaaaay back when. Fall, 1964, issue 3....they hadn't finished doing vol1 yet!
Robert Karr
OLD BIRDS STAYING ALIVE - THE AVIATION ART OF ROBERT KARR

[jastaflieger]

I will have to try to enlist my daughters help over the next few days, so she can help me scan the following images for people to view, i cannot master the computer by myself:
1) from what i can tell, maybe the earliest illustration of the dogfight by the well- known English illustrator from the 20-30"s Stanley Orton Bradshaw form his book FLYING MEMORIES( page 40 for those who have a copy)
2) i have a copy of Ferris's print that i can scan for viewing only obs\viously as we all respect artists copyrights here:: i like this print becuase it is the calm before the storm, it is a very differnet "take" on the action- Se5's not swarming yet and it makes the viewer say: Werner, do NOT do this! AN image that can make the viewer connect in a way lst similar to Mr Hurley's print--- although the emotions are different, Ferris makes the viewer who knows history want to cry out a warning: Hurley makes the viewer swallow hard and say Oh S---, what am i gonna do now!!
3) i also have a copy of George Evans color print, which is pure Evans and quite colorful
40 And i would suggest that a series of b/w sketches by Mr JAck Moses, an American artist- there a total of 9 illustrations in the series depicting the dogfight would go the farthest in answering MR Gannons bread down of the action, ie, 1vs 3, 2vs2, etc.
Several of this series can be found in Paul Leaman's book FOKKER Dr I TRIPLANE.
I will try to get these on here soon if people would like to actually see them, and i can only add to be respectful of the artists, as these are all sent to me for inclusion in my book and the artists have been so very kind and generous to do so.
Jim
And a question, how come you have not tackled this one MR O'Neal? I would love to see your particular flair in this one!

[Gregvan]

Hi All,

A very fun thread; as always, I especially appreciate Kirk Lowry's comments since we share so much of the same interests and background.

Certainly one of the first attempts to illustrate the Voss fight was this painting by British artist Geoffrey Watson:

I know little of Watson, but I think he might have been painting during the war or shortly thereafter? At any rate, this painting was published in Ira "Taffy" Jones' hagiography of Mannock entitled "King of Air Fighters." This was first published in 1934, and thus dating the painting (I only have a reprint of the book, but I understand the plates are exactly as they were in the original.)

I'm sure the painting is largely based on McCudden's description in his book. The artist made no attempt to show Voss' "face" on the cowling as this was not general knowledge in the 1930's. I don't know if the color (?) version of this still exists anywhere, but I'll bet the triplane was "silvery blue" as per McCudden's off-handed description. It's an honest attempt to depict the action faithfully.

On this side of the Atlantic, there was a common belief in the the popular pulp aviation literature that Voss flew either a skull-and-crossbones decorated plane, and/or a checkerboard aircraft. Claude W. Sykes, writing as "Vigilant" in his book German War Birds in 1931, stated, "And Voss, whose fuselage is emblazoned with the skull and cross-bones, proves himself a veritable pirate of the air." I assume that is why Healy showed the Triplane with a Totenkopf on the cowling.

My favorite comic book artist George Evans had illustrated some of the pulps in their last days, and thus he was aware of the checkerboard description. That's why he illustrated Voss' triplane as "green-checked" in that 1954 issue of "Frontline Combat" (Vol. 1, No. 15,) referenced by Kurt. However, he did also manage to show the face on the cowling accurately. The man did his homework with what was available at the time, and he was always as accurate as possible. Of course, his later painting of the Voss Triplane would be more correct, but I still treasure his comic book work.

By the late 1950's, authentic photos of Voss' triplane were becoming more available in the popular press. The July 1959 issue of Cavalier featured an article by William E. Barrett on Voss, entitled "Even Greater than Richthofen", and it was illustrated in typical Cavalier fashion by Harry Schaare. Schaare was a prolific illustrator who now does Western art, but he knew a few things about WWI aviation. He did a decent job illustrating the Voss fight, showing the correct serial number on the side of F.I 103/17 (so he'd obviously seen at least one good photo). However, Barrett was an old pulp writer himself, and his article is full of inaccuracies that we chuckle at today: ""The Voss D-1 Albatross was decorated in black-and-white squares, a checkerboard design, and as an added inspiration, he had a skull insigne of the Death's Head Hussars painted on the side of the fuselage. The Hussars no longer rode but Werner Voss took their once feared insigne into the air." Since he couldn't reconcile this misconception with McCudden's description of Voss' Triplane, Barrett wrote of the ace's final flight: "Voss took off alone, for the first time since he adopted it without the checker identification on the wings and the insigne of the Death's Head Hussars on his fuselage. His own ship had been badly damaged in his last fight and the new one had not been delivered. He flew a blue and silver triplane that belonged to one of his pilots."

Oh, what fun. The same article even included an accurate sketch of the facial markings applied to the cowling of F.I 103/17, but described it in the caption as " a skull insignia on his planes, same used by his old Death's Head Hussar Regiment" (sic).

'Nuff said for now. Longer post than I had anticipated!