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Victory 24

Event ID: 165

06 March 1917

50.38593602935375, 2.743448256091618
Souchez

Source ID: 13

Under the guns of the Red Baron, Norman Franks, Hal Giblin and Nigel McCrery

ISBN: 9781898697275

Combat Report: 1700 hrs, BE two-seater. Souchez. Details unknown, as plane landed on enemy’s side. Together with Leutnant Allmenröder, I attacked two enemy artillery flyers at a low altitude over the other side (of the lines). The wings of the plane I attacked came off; it dashed down and smashed on the ground. Weather: fine.

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  1. Once again it is unclear exactly which machine Richthofen flew during this victory. Earlier that morning he had been forced to land after being shot in the fuel tanks and engine, and his autobiography suggests he had been flying an Albatros. It reveals that as Richthofen glided down he witnessed a distant airplane fall from the fight above and later wrote, “Like mine, it goes straight down, spinning, always spinning—then it recovers and straightens out. As it flies toward me, I see that it is also an Albatros.” [author’s emphases]). Later, when Emil Schaefer arrived by automobile to fetch Richthofen, he learned “the name of the pilot of the other fallen Albatros” [author’s emphasis] was Ltn. Edy Lübbert, one of his pilots in Jasta I l. Although wounded, Lübbert’s machine apparently had been either undamaged or only slightly or superficially damaged, because Richthofen stated he flew it out of the field and back to La Brayelle. Since Richthofen’s Albatros D.III—presumably Le Petit Rouge—had extensive fuel tank and engine damage …I did not have a drop of fuel [left in the tanks]… the engine was likewise shot up…” ) that precluded it being flown from the held in a timely manner, it is possible Richthofen used Lübbert’s available Albatros D.III while the wounded airman lay in a field hospital.

    Uncertainty exists regarding whether this 1996/16 was Lübbert’s. Jasta 11 received D. 1996/16 on 21 January 1917. Lübbert described his machine 3 March as ‘half blue, half yellow,’ and a light and-dark quartered machine can be seen in the backgrounds of at least two photographs taken at Roucourt in April. The airplane is too distant to read the serial number but machine appears similar to a photograph of D. 1996/16 when assigned to Fl.Abt.(A)263 later that summer. Orthochromatic film used during the First World War generally rendered blues light gray (as the sky appears in many photographs), yellows dark gray and red darker still, so a light-blue-and-yellow airplane would appear light gray and dark gray. So it is possible 1996/16 appeared as Lübbert described, and its many patches seemingly coincide with Lübbert’s nickname “the bullet catcher. ”

    One question remains: if Lübbert was KiA before Jasta 11 relocated to Roucourt; why would his Albatros (presumed to be 1996/16) be there? It is not certain 1996/16 was his Albatros but if so he obviously was flying another machine when shot down.

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