Guest Gary Davidson Posted 13 March , 2005 Share Posted 13 March , 2005 These photos are from the album of Paul W. Vanderkolk of the 218th Aero Squadron. The 218th was a support squadron for the 1st Pursuit, and I’ve found a number of photos relating to the 94th, 95th, and 17th squadrons in the album. Some of the photos I haven’t seen published so I’m posting a few here for all to see. First photo is Major James Meissner of the 94th... Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 13 March , 2005 Share Posted 13 March , 2005 Bullet holes in Rickenbacker's plane... Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 13 March , 2005 Share Posted 13 March , 2005 94th group shot... Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 13 March , 2005 Share Posted 13 March , 2005 German pilot who shot down Quentin Roosevelt... Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 13 March , 2005 Share Posted 13 March , 2005 Gary Thanks very much for posting the photos. Any more will be much appreciated. Just in case you don't have the information, the German is/should be Uffz Carl Emil Gräper of Jasta 50 who was credited with bringing down Lt Q Roosevelt of the 95th Aero Sqn on 14 July 1918. Lt Roosevelt was flying Nieuport 28 6177 '14' at the time of his death; he was Uffz Gräper's only victory. Regards Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 13 March , 2005 Share Posted 13 March , 2005 Here's a few more from the album... Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 13 March , 2005 Share Posted 13 March , 2005 Another, from the 95th Squadron... Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 13 March , 2005 Share Posted 13 March , 2005 Unidentified crash site... Can anyone identify what we're looking at here? Two planes had mid-air collision? Kinda looks like they smacked right wings in a head-on collision. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 13 March , 2005 Share Posted 13 March , 2005 Neiuports lined up at Toul aerodrome... Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 13 March , 2005 Share Posted 13 March , 2005 Zepplin going down in flames... Can anyone ID this zepplin? Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 13 March , 2005 Share Posted 13 March , 2005 Written on the back of this photo: "Braird and I in our studio making pictures." In one of his correspondences Vanderkolk mentions he bought a German camera for “bocu francs.” Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 13 March , 2005 Share Posted 13 March , 2005 Gary Thanks again. The Camel is very interesting, due to the 'A' shaped addition on top of the fuselage behind the fuel tank. The 185th Aero Sqn was the first night fighter unit in the USAS, and was equipped with 150hp Gnome Monosoupape Camels (some ex-147th Aero Sqn) from 12 October 1918 while based at Rembercourt. I presume that the unusual structure is some form of night flying aid. Regards Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 13 March , 2005 Share Posted 13 March , 2005 Unidentified crash site... Can anyone identify what we're looking at here? Two planes had mid-air collision? Gary Gary The nearer machine looks like a Rumpler C.I, but the other one has me puzzled. The location is probably a training school. I'll keep looking. Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 13 March , 2005 Share Posted 13 March , 2005 Zepplin going down in flames... Can anyone ID this zepplin? Gary Gary Two German Navy Zeppelins were shot down in flames over France. L39 was shot down by French anti-aircraft fire over Compiègne on 17 March 1917; all 17 crew members perished. L44 was was shot down by French anti-aircraft fire over St Clement on 20 October 1917; all 18 crew members perished. Your photo is probably one of these. Regards Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Roberts Posted 14 March , 2005 Share Posted 14 March , 2005 Gary Fascinating collection! In the photo of the two crashed German planes, the further one has no fixed horizontal tail surfaces (so an "all-moving tailplane" as we would say today), so I think it is a Halberstadt DII single-seater. The wings look right for this. The triangular tailplane of the other could belong to several types, but I would go with Gareth's Rumpler C.I The captured German plane with the 94th Aero posing by it is a Hannoveranna CL.III I imagine you know that most of the other 94th Aero single seaters other than the Camel are Nieuport 28s Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 14 March , 2005 Share Posted 14 March , 2005 Adrian The rear aircraft certainly does look like a Halberstadt, especially around the tail, but the ailerons appear to be the wrong shape for a D.II. See the drawing below. I'm still looking. Regards Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 14 March , 2005 Share Posted 14 March , 2005 Gareth/Adrian -- Thanks for the kind words and helpful identifications. The album has about 56 photographs directly related to aviation, and another 200 or so photographs relating to the front during WW1 (even looks like some captured photos of German soldiers in the trenches, etc.). There are also over 150 postcards of landmarks, churches, bridges, famous people, etc. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 14 March , 2005 Share Posted 14 March , 2005 Here's another shot of the captured German Hannoveranna CL.III (thank you, Adrian), with an added inscription painted on the side. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 14 March , 2005 Share Posted 14 March , 2005 Gary The German two-seater captured on 2 October was a Hannover CL.IIIa (the CL.IIIa had a 180hp Argus engine, while the CL.III had a 160hp Mercedes). A colour drawing of the aeroplane in question appeared in the 1968 publication Fighters 1914-1919 by Kenneth Munson; the drawing is below. Regards Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 14 March , 2005 Share Posted 14 March , 2005 First photo is Major James Meissner of the 94th... Gary 1Lt (later Captain) James Armand Meissner flew Nieuport 28 serial N6144 of the 94th Aero Sqn, and was credited with the first 4 of his eventual 8 victories while using this machine. It was originally aircraft '14' but was marked '8' in white after 10 May. The 'lightning' nose decoration was in red on natural metal. After 1Lt Meissner joined the 147th Aero Squadron, N6144 was flown by 1Lt R F Cates, who was credited with a shared victory on 1 July. See Norman Franks' Nieuport Aces of World War I. Regards Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 14 March , 2005 Share Posted 14 March , 2005 Neiuports lined up at Toul aerodrome... Gary The Nieuport 28s appear to be those of the 94th Aero Squadron USAS, with aircraft '10' probably being N6164 flown by Lt Douglas Campbell. The engine cowling of this machine was painted red, with a black six-point star centred on the middle of the engine. Lt Campbell was credited with 6 victories. Like most N.28s used by the USAS, the aircraft in the photo have their tail stripes marked incorrectly by the manufacturer - they are in the order (from the front) white-blue-red, and not red-white-blue. The contractor wrongly assumed that the colours would be in the same order as on the USAS roundel. Regards Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andigger Posted 14 March , 2005 Share Posted 14 March , 2005 Gary, Just curious, but is that a real picture of the Zepplin going down, or an artists rendition? It looks so dramtic, like a comet falling to earth. I am sure it was a dramtic site, and especially experience, but this image looks more like a drawing to me rather than picture. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 14 March , 2005 Share Posted 14 March , 2005 The rear aircraft certainly does look like a Halberstadt, especially around the tail, but the ailerons appear to be the wrong shape for a D.II. Adrian and Gary Do you think the aircraft in question could be a Halberstadt B.II? Judging from the photograph below, the B.II's aileron size, shape, and proportion of the upper wing area, appear pretty similar to that of the rear crashed aircraft in Gary's photo. Regards Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 14 March , 2005 Share Posted 14 March , 2005 Gary, Just curious, but is that a real picture of the Zepplin going down, or an artists rendition? It looks so dramtic, like a comet falling to earth. I am sure it was a dramtic site, and especially experience, but this image looks more like a drawing to me rather than picture. Andy Hi Andy -- It’s definitely a photograph. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gary Davidson Posted 14 March , 2005 Share Posted 14 March , 2005 The rear aircraft certainly does look like a Halberstadt, especially around the tail, but the ailerons appear to be the wrong shape for a D.II. Adrian and Gary Do you think the aircraft in question could be a Halberstadt B.II? Judging from the photograph below, the B.II's aileron size, shape, and proportion of the upper wing area, appear pretty similar to that of the rear crashed aircraft in Gary's photo. Regards Gareth Gareth -- For my money I think you've nailed it. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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