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Aviation History
1933
1933 - 0929.PDF
FLIGHT, NOVEMBER 2, 1933 1 hrough exploiting aviation ? When, as Amy Johnson she set off to Australia, I suggest she had no idea that a large sum of money would be handed to her on her return ro England, or the many other gifts she has received from time to time. I believe that Mrs. Mollison was honest when she said that she only took up aviation for the love of it, as many more fine women have done, and with a view to doing something for British aviation. They have certainly done their bit in that direction. Such criticism as is meted out by Mrs. Greenwood does not conduce to further record breaking attempts on the part of women at any rate. Mrs. Greenwood may rest assured that none of the pioneers are forgotten, and not a few of the later-day ones have acclaimed the Mollisons for doing a good job of work. Mrs. Greenwood mentions the names of those two gallant men, Alcock and Brown—is this the extent of her list of pioneers, without reference to records or informants? It is not difficult for anyone in aviation to see who are the people who have exploited aviation under the guise of " pioneers," and had Mrs. Greenwood written about these I would have been delighted to subscribe to her views. Perhaps we shall hear at some future date that Mrs. Greenwood is to set out to beat Mrs. Mollison's record for the London to the Cape flight, or better still fly the Atlantic? I have no doubt that plans have already been discussed at the tea-parties in the same way as the pioneers of flying have been discussed. If the Mollisons, " Smithy," John Tranum, Charles Ulm, the Lindberghs, and Miss Earheart, and those who follow on are to be subjected to mud-slinging all their life— God help 'em. How unkind it is. J. L. R. WAPLINGTON. Mill Hill, Middlesex. October 28, 1933. INDIAN AIR MAIL STAMPS [2893] In the article on " Air Post Stamps," Mr. Douglas Armstrong, in your issue of October 5, writes: " India already has her own distinctive stamps for air mail purposes, but there is reason to believe that supplementary values are contemplated in conection with the latest de velopments " (Indo-Ceylon Air Service). Unfortunately, Sir, I have just received a Government Postal Circular, dated September, 1933, wherein it states, " Existing stocks of air mail stamps are being exhausted and will not be renewed. Ultimately, only ordinary stamps will be available." It would be no good inquiring why special air stamps are to be allowed to lapse, because the mentality of the Post Office is such that, were any ex planation forthcoming, it would be quite fatuous. In the meantime those who have Indian Air Mail stamps would do well to husband them carefully. THEO. H. THORNE (Ed., Indian Aviation). Calcutta. October 23, 1933. bbo£ KbLMJbUnf. " Knight of Germany—Oswald Boelke." By Professor Johannes Werner, translated by Claud W. Sykes. (John Hamilton, Ltd. Obtainable from FLIGHT Office. Price 9s., post free.) A LIFE of Capt. Oswald Boelke was overdue. The •** name of Baron Manfred von Richthofen is well known to all who study the air fighting during the great war, and an elaborate history of his life has been written. But von Richthofen, great as he was, was only the pupil and successor of Boelke. It was the latter who began the organisation of the " Staff el," or fighting squadron, and by his leadership, even more than by his personal skill and prowess in air combat, raised the Ger man flying corps out of the slough of despond into which it had fallen during the battles of the Somme. Oswald Boelke was a great personality. What is more, he was a lovable man. Keen fighter as he was, and terrible in con flict, he never degenerated into a mere brutal killer. Chivalry was as much a part of his character as was courage, and when he died the Royal Flying Corps dropped a wreath behind the German lines inscribed, " to the memory of Capt. Boelke, our brave and chivalrous opponent," Another wreath was sent to his funeral by ^ome British pilots who were prisoners of war to " the '•pponent we admired and esteemed so highly." One of hese four had been shot down by Boelke himself, and the victor had had a photograph taken of himself and his captive side by side. These incidents show how Oswald Boelke was esteemed by those who fought against him. The " human " side f his character is also well illustrated by the following xtract from one of his letters to his parents not long before his death. " In view of these many ' numbers,' " "e wrote, " Mother will be saying again that it is not n ght to number our victims in this unfeeling way. But e don't really do it—we do not number the victims who ^ve fallen, but the machines we have brought down. •hat you can see from the fact that it only counts as s victim when two inmates are killed, but that it still •"mams a number when both inmates escape unhurt. have nothing against the individual ; we only fight ° prevent him flying against us. So when we have ' •>mmated an enemy force, we are pleased and book it as ; ne up to us." He was also at pains to rub into the ••warned pilots of the Staffel, which he was forming and gaining, that it did not matter which of them got credit :r a victory, so long as the Staffel got it. It is perhaps flattering to British sentiment that this young hero was a Saxon. It is true that historians tell us that the Saxons of England came from the neighbour hood of Hanover rather than from modern Saxony ; but all the same during the war the British had always a kindlier feeling for the Saxons than for any other Ger mans. The Boelke family lived at Dessau, where the father of Oswald was a schoolmaster with the title of Professor. When he grew up he was given a commission in a Telegraph Battalion of the Army, from which he transferred to the Flying Corps not long before the war. His biographer has printed large extracts from his letters to his parents at all stages of his career, and from them we can get a good insight into his character. Though he suffered from asthma at times, he was a fine athlete, and he entered with zest into all forms of life, both work and play. He was intensely devoted to his parents and to his brothers, and his letters show him as an ingenuous, en thusiastic, clean-minded young man, who was popular wherever he went, and who was always going hard. Only once do we hear of his being unpopular, and that was in the early days of the war. His elder brother William was an observer, and he obtained the services of Oswald as his pilot—at that time in the German Flying Corps the observer was always senior to the pilot. The two brothers stayed in the air so much that the rest of the squadroa got jealous. Other pilots got nerve-wracked after a couple of hours' flying, but Oswald Boelke said that he had no nerves, and so was never upset by any amount of flying. When Max Immelman was making his name, Oswald Boelke was often his comrade in fights, and the two raced neck and neck in the number of Allied aircraft brought down. Both were decorated at the same time with the Pour le Merite, which is the German equivalent for the Victoria Cross. When Boelke had scored 20 victories, he was forbidden by the Kaiser to fly any more, and was sent on deputation to the Eastern front, Turkey and Bul garia. During his absence the Somme attack started, and the British Flying Corps drove the Germans pretty well out of the skies. Boelke was then ordered to form a Staffel for fighting purposes, and this new organisation took heavy toll of British machines before the Somme battles ended. He was an inspiring and a beloved leader, but he was very much the commanding officer. He had hard work to train his pupils, von Richthofen and the rest, into the idea of team work. Boelke wrote home: " Sometimes I have to turn my heavy batteries on to them. I always give them some instruction before we take off and deal 1107
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