Graves at Helles

[Myrtle]

The AFC site has an account which has been translated from German of Second Lieutenant Hermann Buddecke shooting down a French plane, which flew over the strait, bringing it down on the Anatoli coast near Akbaschi 6th January 1916. The plane was said to have been repaired easily but the French flier was found dead.

[Paul Reed]

Brilliant stuff - it is slowly coming together, although I am still mystified why he doesn't have a grave. It could be that he was repatriated back to France after the war?

I would date the photo around 1919. The British returned to Gallipoli at this time, and the caption is written in indelible pencil, which was standard British army issue; and the British crosses are crosses and not the later headstones. Sadly even on the original you cannot quite read the names on the British crosses.

Thanks again for all your help.

[Dolphin]

The AFC site has an account which has been translated from German of Second Lieutenant Hermann Buddecke shooting down a French plane, which flew over the strait, bringing it down on the Anatoli coast near Akbaschi 6th January 1916. The plane was said to have been repaired easily but the French flier was found dead.

I don't want to confuse things more than they already are, but the authors of Above the Lines indicate that [then] Ltn Hans-Joachim Buddecke's victory on 6 January 1916 was a Farman from No 2 Naval Wing RNAS, brought down East of Cape Narors. This suggests that the pilot was most likely Flight Commander Hans Acworth Busk, who was lost in the sea during a mission to bomb Turkish troops on that date.

The French nationality ascribed to the aircraft could have been due to the RNAS's use of French-style roundels.

However, I have no idea how Hans Busk could be turned into Baptiste de Conte.

Gareth

[Myrtle]

Gareth

The same site says that the plane that was downed on 6th January was a French type Farman Nr 42 and that Buddecke also brought down an English type Farman east of Jalova on the 7th January 1916. The information can be found if you Google "6th January 1916 Gallipoli Buddecke."

[Dolphin]

Myrtle

This is very confusing!

According to Above the Lines, Ltn Buddecke was credited with a victory (his 4th) over a Farman East of Cape Narors on 6 January (Flight Commander Busk). He also claimed a victory over another Farman (Baptiste de Conte?) East of Jalova the same day, but it wasn't confirmed. The non-confirmation of the second victory seems odd if there was a body to bury.

His next 'victory' was on 9 January, an unconfirmed Farman East of Cape Helles, followed by a claim over another Farman over Jalvari on 11 January - this was credited to Hauptmann Hans Schüz (or perhaps shared between Buddecke and Schüz).

I suspect we'll never know exactly what happened.

Regards

Gareth

[michaeldr]

It could be that he was repatriated back to France after the war?

Paul,

Repatriation by the French did happen in some cases in 1922; see my quote from the Holt’s guide book on the other ‘Graves at Helles’ thread.

If you have Prof Tim Travers’ book ‘Gallipoli 1915’ then on page 223 there is a Turkish [or German?] photograph showing the unburied dead left by the Allies after they evacuated Seddulbahir – perhaps after Turkish/German burial these bodies occupied the graves in your first photograph?

Regards

Michael D.R.

[Dolphin]

In 1970 there was a series of articles about the Turkish aviation service in the old Cross & Cockade Journal. I ventured up into the attic this morning and had a look to see if any further light could be shed on the Baptiste de Conte mystery. Unfortunately, there wasn't a great deal that was helpful, other than the following.

French Escadrille MF 98T, under Capitaine Cesari, unloaded eight Maurice Farmans at Tenedos and was ready for operations by 4 May 1915 - it seems to have stayed there until 13 January 1916.

The Fokker Eindekker staffel posted to the Dardanelles in late 1915 was credited with the following victories over Allied aircraft: Hauptmann (Turkish rank) Buddecke 4; Hauptmann Schüz 2; Leutnant Meinecke 2; and Leutnant Muhra 1.

A photograph of one of Buddecke's victories, a Farman from MF 98T, is below.

Gareth

[Dolphin]

Just to add one of the missing jigsaw pieces, a photograph of Hauptmann Hans-Joachim Buddecke, The Hunting Falcon and The Shooting Hawk, as he was dubbed by the Turks, is below.

After being credited with two victories on the Western Front in 1915, he was sent to assist the Turks and was credited with five victories over the Dardanelles in 1915/1916. He returned to the Western Front later in 1916 and was credited with a further three victories before returning to fly with the Turks and being credited with two victories over Smyrna in 1917. His last and 19th victory was over the Western Front on 19 February 1918, before he was killed in action on 10 March.

Gareth

[Myrtle]

Gareth

Well worth the trip to the attic.

There's a good German site on Buddecke at :

www.buddecke.de/flieger.htm

Although my German is not up to reading in detail, there are some very good photographs.

Myrtle