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Sailor Steve · 09-24-17, 01:07 AM

A commentary on the death of Werner Voss
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...postcount=2570

The Werner Voss Controversy:
Five months before this, Manfred von Richthofen was slated to go on leave. He had 48 kills at the time, and wanted to attain the half-century mark before he left. He got four in one day, and went home with 52 victories. Now Voss is scheduled to go on leave, and earlier in the day he had scored number 48. He was also rapidly catching von Richthofen, who had only scored four kills since July, while Voss had gotten fourteen. He was only twelve behind.

After his morning patrol Voss was visited by his father and two brothers, who were there to take him home for his leave. Rather than pack his bags and go with them then, he decided to fly one more patrol, maybe getting number 50 before departing. Voss took off alone. He came across a patrol of SE.5as from No 60 Squadron and immediately attacked the two planes in the rear. These were Cpt H.A. Hamersley and Robert Chislaw-Roberts. Voss opened fire on Chidlaw-Roberts and Hamersley turned to help his partner. Voss turned to face him and in the head-on pass Hamersley's plane was badly shot up.

At this point 'B' and 'C' Flights of No 56 Squadron arrived on the scene. As Chidlaw-Roberts and Hamersley made their escape Voss was joined by a red-nosed Albatros. Under the Guns of the German Aces says it is believed that this was Carl Menckhoff of Jasta 3, at that time having 11 kills under his belt.

The British pilots were:
James McCudden, SE.5a B4863, 12 victories.
Arthur Rhys Davids, B545, 18.
Leonard Barlow, B511, 13.
Keith Muspratt, A8944, 6
Maxwell Coote, aircraft and victories unlisted.
Verschoyle Cronyn, A4563, victories unlisted.
Geoffrey Bowman, B2, 16.
Reginald Hoidge, B506, 21.
Richard Mayberry, B1, 13.
Stanley Gardiner, aircraft and victories unlisted.
Edward Taylor, aircraft and victories unlisted.

The Albatros was soon hit and abandoned the fight. Mayberry and Cronyn also departed. The final fight was Voss against seven SE.5a pilots, most if not all of them aces. Some of them reported that on at least two occassions Voss was above the whole group and could have climbed away, as the F.I/Dr.I had the best climb of any plane in the war. Why he did not do so is part of the controversy. It's possible that Voss had lost speed to get above them and believed they could catch him. It's possible that No 60 squadron was still in the area and were just watching the fight, but blocked Voss' way out. It's also possible that he desperately wanted thost 50 kills. Still another possiblility is that he was doing so well against them that he began to think he couldn't be touched.

The bottom line is that Voss stayed with the fight until Arthur Rhys Davids got one good shot lined up, and Werner Voss died.

Another question is why only Rhys Davids was awarded the victory. Yes, he was the one who fired the fatal shots, but it was customary in British practice to award every pilot involved.

The British pilots who brought Voss down had high praise for him:
"I have only admiration for that German pilot, who single handed, fought seven of us for ten minutes..."
-James McCudden

"If I could only have brought him down alive..."
-Arthur Rhys Davids.

09-24-17, 01:07 AM	#186
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	A commentary on the death of Werner Voss http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...postcount=2570 The Werner Voss Controversy: Five months before this, Manfred von Richthofen was slated to go on leave. He had 48 kills at the time, and wanted to attain the half-century mark before he left. He got four in one day, and went home with 52 victories. Now Voss is scheduled to go on leave, and earlier in the day he had scored number 48. He was also rapidly catching von Richthofen, who had only scored four kills since July, while Voss had gotten fourteen. He was only twelve behind. After his morning patrol Voss was visited by his father and two brothers, who were there to take him home for his leave. Rather than pack his bags and go with them then, he decided to fly one more patrol, maybe getting number 50 before departing. Voss took off alone. He came across a patrol of SE.5as from No 60 Squadron and immediately attacked the two planes in the rear. These were Cpt H.A. Hamersley and Robert Chislaw-Roberts. Voss opened fire on Chidlaw-Roberts and Hamersley turned to help his partner. Voss turned to face him and in the head-on pass Hamersley's plane was badly shot up. At this point 'B' and 'C' Flights of No 56 Squadron arrived on the scene. As Chidlaw-Roberts and Hamersley made their escape Voss was joined by a red-nosed Albatros. Under the Guns of the German Aces says it is believed that this was Carl Menckhoff of Jasta 3, at that time having 11 kills under his belt. The British pilots were: James McCudden, SE.5a B4863, 12 victories. Arthur Rhys Davids, B545, 18. Leonard Barlow, B511, 13. Keith Muspratt, A8944, 6 Maxwell Coote, aircraft and victories unlisted. Verschoyle Cronyn, A4563, victories unlisted. Geoffrey Bowman, B2, 16. Reginald Hoidge, B506, 21. Richard Mayberry, B1, 13. Stanley Gardiner, aircraft and victories unlisted. Edward Taylor, aircraft and victories unlisted. The Albatros was soon hit and abandoned the fight. Mayberry and Cronyn also departed. The final fight was Voss against seven SE.5a pilots, most if not all of them aces. Some of them reported that on at least two occassions Voss was above the whole group and could have climbed away, as the F.I/Dr.I had the best climb of any plane in the war. Why he did not do so is part of the controversy. It's possible that Voss had lost speed to get above them and believed they could catch him. It's possible that No 60 squadron was still in the area and were just watching the fight, but blocked Voss' way out. It's also possible that he desperately wanted thost 50 kills. Still another possiblility is that he was doing so well against them that he began to think he couldn't be touched. The bottom line is that Voss stayed with the fight until Arthur Rhys Davids got one good shot lined up, and Werner Voss died. Another question is why only Rhys Davids was awarded the victory. Yes, he was the one who fired the fatal shots, but it was customary in British practice to award every pilot involved. The British pilots who brought Voss down had high praise for him: "I have only admiration for that German pilot, who single handed, fought seven of us for ten minutes..." -James McCudden "If I could only have brought him down alive..." -Arthur Rhys Davids. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo Last edited by Sailor Steve; 09-24-17 at 11:33 AM.