Gotha shot down 12-12-1917

PFFF · 17 July 2012, 06:18 PM

Gotha Story?

CREW POW?

WarMuseum.ca - Objects and Photos of the First World War - Equipment and Vehicles

Jos · 18 July 2012, 01:25 AM

Hello PFF,

On a tactical mission, against an ammunition dump near Ypres on 12 december 1917, Hauptmann Rudolf Kleine's (CO of KG 3) aircraft was attacked between Le Touquet and Croix-le-Bois by Canadian pilot Captain Wendell Rogers in Nieuport 27 B6825 of 1 Sqn RFC. He riddled the Gotha's fuel-tanks with a mixture of tracer and explosive shells, and saw fire streak along the fuselage from the burning tanks. As he watched, two figures - pilot Leutnant von der Nahmer and rear-gunner Leutnant Werner Bülowius (the Verlustliste shows his name as Bülowins) - leapt from the burning aircraft. They chose for a swift death rather than to be burned alive. Klein stayed with his aircraft, and from an altitude of 2.800 meters he was almost certainly dead before the plane hit the ground. Neither of his crewmen's bodies was ever found. Kleine's aircraft and his burned and battered corpse were discovered behind German lines by a soldier who recognised the cross of the PML around his neck. The body was retrieved and sent back to the England Squadron for burial.

Now his resting place is in Vladslo.

The 4th name from above.

Regards,

Jos

PFFF · 18 July 2012, 02:53 AM

Thanks

See Link on Bogohl - Bombengeschwader der Obersten Heeresleitung Nr. 3

Jos · 18 July 2012, 03:06 AM

Hello,

There is a small problem. Maybe I was to quick by posting the story above. It is taken (for the biggest part) from The First Blitz by Niel Hanson.
But in Een Eeuw Luchtvaart Boven Gent (A Century of Aviation Above Gent) by Piet Dhanens you can read that observer Bülowius and gunner Gefreiter Michael Weber jumped of the plane before it crashed. The same day another pilot of the Geschwader died: Leutnant Günther von der Nahmer. His body was found and his resting place is also in Vladslo.
In his book Dhanens also mentions that Kleine's plane would stay in the mud for months. The first ones to come near were Australian soldiers looking for souvenirs. They took the wingtips and the Maltese crosses back to their lines. One of the crosses was handed over to Rogers. Not before February 1918 the body of Kleine would come in German hands.

I don't know which story is correct. Maybe Johan Ryheul can tell us more.

Jos