Jasta 6 and Bisseghem aerodrome

AOK4 · 2 April 2007, 11:21 PM

Hello,

While browsing here and in several books I discovered that Jasta 6's location from 2 July 1917 on is given as Markebeke. is this 100% sure?
I know Bodenschatz says that all 4 Jastas of Jagdgeschwader Richthofen should redeploy to Markebeke on 2 July, but did they really? Reading further when he mentions airfield bombings, it seems that there are several aerodromes, he specifically mentions f.i. 'the airfield of Jasta 6 was bombed' etc. implying that the Jastas were still on separate airfields... I have also searched the British bombing reports and these give bombardments on Bissegem whenever Jasta 6's airfield was bombed...
Another thing: would it be wise to have all 4 Jastas together on one airfield? Especially knowing that Marke and Bissegem airfields were only a few hundred yards away from Markebeke where Richthofen had his HQ.
I also wonder whether Markebeke was big enough to house 4 Jastas and whether there was enough quarters nearby to house all personnel etc.

Just a few ideas.

Regards,
Jan

Regulus · 3 April 2007, 05:06 AM

Jan,

I have a bit the same idea on this matter. If one looks at Markebeke from the Kortrijkstraat towards the castle, you had on the left the 'airfield' of Jasta 4, on the right the one of Jasta 11 and in your back, over the railway the one of Jasta 10. Jasta 6 probably remained at Bissegem...

Concerning 4 units on one airfield, that is not that special however, another good example is Jabbeke aerodrome were several units stayed at the same time and in 1918 the I-IV Marine Feldjasta's.

Best from Johan

Taz · 3 April 2007, 07:03 PM

Jan- Jasta 6 remained at Bissegham, where they had been since 10 June 1917, across the River Lys from Marckebecke when Jastas 4, 10, and 11 consolidated between 2 and 5 July 1917. Jasta 6 and Jasta 4 moved to Lieu St Amand on or about 22 Nov while Jastas 10 and 11 moved to Avesnes-le-Sec by Cambrai at the same time. The JG did co-locate to Lechelle on or about 26 Mar 1918. Distances between the airfields were very small, so they were effectively with each other in fact if not name. Information from Rick Duiven's Jasta War Diaries (unpublished).

Taz
Terry Phillips

Immo_Frese · 4 April 2007, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AOK4

I have also searched the British bombing reports and these give bombardments on Bissegem whenever Jasta 6's airfield was bombed...

Hello Jan,

Can you give me some more information on these reports. Have these reports been published or is this unpublished material from the archives in Kew?

Immo

AOK4 · 4 April 2007, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Immo_Frese

Hello Jan,

Can you give me some more information on these reports. Have these reports been published or is this unpublished material from the archives in Kew?

Immo

Hello,

I would like to thank you all for the answers already given.

To Immo: these reports are to be found in Kew, I went through them ALL to find details about bombings on Bissegem... It takes quite a few days to do that, but it was rewarding (of course I only copied the data from the (for me) interesting reports).

They give info about the unit involved, aircraft and people involved, height, starting and landing hour, number of bombs thrown and bullets fired etc. and other information such as observations about the bombing etc. The bombing reports are really interesting. They are stored in chronological order, in the beginning of the war there are several months in a box, but later in the war there is only one month for each box of files.

Regards,
Jan

Immo_Frese · 4 April 2007, 01:19 AM

Thank you very much for the comprehensive answer, Jan!

Seeing these reports in a printed book would be a marvelous researching-tool...

Immo