Rumpler C.IV Unidentified Part

[charles]

What follows is a rather long narrative of my attempts to identify an obscure, possibly field-made part for a Rumpler C. IV. The twists and turns might be fun for you who have been in the same boat before, so to speak.

Here are a top and bottom (but which is which?) view of a piece of wood measuring 12" x 13-½" which came with a note attached stating that it was a "Panel from German Rumpler C.IV plane shot down near St. Benoit Woevre, France by Battery B, 2nd aircraft battalion, C.A.C., 18 October 1918. George H. Brush, 1st Lt.CAC."



Dieter Groschel thought it might be a writing tablet for the observer in the rear cockpit and indicated that Rick Duiven lists a crew of FA(A) 203 Uffz Bruno Schulze and Oblt Halbritter (KUK) as POW on the same date.

Imagine my surprise when I came across these two (no, not Dieter and Rick, I mean Schulze and Halbritter) in the Gorrell records at the National Archives. Those records include a "Summary of Air Information" of the "G.H.Q., American E.F., Second Section, General Staff, Oct.22, 1918" pages 2 and 3 marked 147 and 148 (Roll 43, Gorrell), "Interrogation of a pilot belonging to the 203rd reconnaissance flight, and his passenger, an artillery officer," shown below.



The report states that a "Rumpler C. 4" was brought down by French anti-aircraft fire in the Bois de Vigneulles at 4pm on Oct. 18, 1918, and the crew were an N.C.O. pilot of the "203rd Reconnaissance Flight" and the passenger is a "first lieutenant of the Austro-Hungarian Heavy Artillery." The report does not state their names but the date and unit and type of aircraft are the same and in both cases the pilot is listed as an N.C.O. and the observer is Austro-Hungarian. In the interrogation summary credit is given to French anti-aircraft fire for bringing down the aircraft while the note with the artifact says that it was brought down by AEF artillery.

The interrogation report states the aircraft came down in the Bois de Vigneulles and the note with the artifact says that it came down "near St. Benoit Woevre." The map provided below by Dieter indicates that Bois de Vigneulles is just southeast of St. Benoit-en-Woevre by a fraction of a mile.



The location of the map is indicated by the yellow box overlaying the aerial photograph.



My research ended at this point with no definitive tie-in to the veteran who supposedly brought the artifact back, "George H. Brush." Then I came across the following on the web at airdefenseartillery.com:

CHAPTER IV
THE ANTIAIRCRAFT SERVICE AT WAR
Battery B found its machine guns useful on several occasions. Sgt. Hugh A Miller and Pvt. Herbert E. Fears, manning two Hotchkiss guns, drove off a fighter attack on the guns on 6 October, and on 18 October 1st Lt. George H. Brush found that his machine gunners had hit a Rumpler C.IV thirteen times, although a piece of high-explosive. shell through the gas tank had actually brought the plane down. Battery B, manning guns of the Section 57 Demi-Fixe on alternate days with French gunners, was emplaced during that time to protect the 69th Balloon Company.121

I am next going to follow-up the footnote, 121, to see what it says.

If anyone has any ideas as to what part this could be, please let me know. I understand from my good friend, Marco Fernandez-Sommerau, that it does not appear in any Rumpler C.IV drawings, so it must be a field-made addition.

Charley

[Taz]

Charles- My first thought too, was writing desk, with a hinge to get it out of the way. But I am not so sure since it looks like the edge is routered to fit into a panel opening. The capture report will be a good addition to my Rumpler C.IV family datafile if you do not mind me using it.



Taz
Terry Phillips

PS I owe you some Albatros photos.

[charles]

Taz-

You're right, the routering of the panel edge to allow it to fit into a panel opening makes a lot of sense.

Yes, by all means, use whatever you like in your Datafile project.

Looking forward to your Albatros pics !

Charley

[FlyXwire]

Hello Charles,

I'd say you're artifact appears to be a wooden access cover from the ammo box of a
Rumpler's fixed-forward IMG 08 (the side allowing the removal of the spent belts):



Of special note would be the location of the hinges and nut tabs on your example, and those
on the metal version of Munich's Rumpler (they match):

[charles]

Wow, FlyXwire, that is amazing work on your part ! They seem to line-up exactly. I had previously looked at the same photos on-line and didn't see it. Thanks for pointing this out. You must know the Rumpler really well to have even thought of this. I really appreciate your help !

Charley

[FlyXwire]

Well Charles, we do appreciate your on-going WWI collecting efforts, and that you present your artifacts online for us to marvel over too...and envy.

(I'm just glad that I could apparently contribute to your research this time)

[charles]

FlyXWire,

Would you know of any existing plans of the Rumpler C.IV ? I know that Achim Engels is making a set based on the wreckage of Marco Fernandez-Sommerau's Rumpler C.IV but his artifacts do not include this area of the aircraft; I've just written to him to see if he knows of any plans that would include interior panels and covers.

Indeed, I wonder if anyone has photos of the C.IV under construction or in wreckage which might show interior areas.

Charley

[FlyXwire]

Hi Charles,

Unfortunately I don't know of any existing plans available that detail the Rumpler C.IV's interior.

Let's hope Achim might come up with something you can use (or perhaps another forum member here might have something they would like to contribute).

[Taz]

Charles- Found this photo in my files from Arjan Kapteijn. Looks like your baby. The Berlin Technical Museum may have drawings of the C.IV. There is a profile view in Peter's Rumpler C.IV Windsock Datafile 35, so assume Peter had the rest.

The Munich Museum's C.IV in the photo has seen many modifications, including being fitted with a 160 PS Mercedes D.III engine instead of a 260 PS D.IVa or 275 PS (260 PS in some sources) Basse und Selve BuS.IVa.

Taz
Terry Phillips

DSC_1967 Charles Panel.jpg

[charles]

Thanks a lot, Taz. Arjan Kapteijn sent me some disks with this on it last week. It's close but not exactly the same, but a good lead.