A German Fokker Eindecker flying over the front in the Meuse/Verdun sector.

No. 104. Westlichen Kriegschauplatz: Schwere Niederlage der Franzosen auif den Maashöhen bei Combres.



Western theater of war: Heavy French defeat on the heights of the Meuse at Combres.

Serie 63/4



Towns include: Les Éparges, St. Remy, and Combres.



Reverse:

Kriegshilfe München N.-W. 11.

Zum Gloria-Viktoria Album

Sammel. u. Nachschlagewerk des Völkerkrieges



War Fund Munich 11, N. W. 11

For Gloria Viktoria Album

Collection. and reference work of international war

Other views: Larger, Larger

Sunday, July 9, 1916

"In spite of the growing numbers and quality of their Allied opposition, July 9 was one of the Eindeckerflieger's best days. Leutnant Gustav Leffers of Abwehrkommando Nord shot down an F.E.2b of No. 11 Squadron that had just bombed a target southwest of Bapaume. . . .

Elsewhere, Parschau demonstrated that balloon busting did more than just provide a spectacle for pyromaniacs. The French gasbag he destroyed north of Grévillers, killing Adjutant M. Mallet of the 55e Compagnie d'Aérostiers, had been directing artillery on the German trenches for some time. As he returned over the lines, Parschau was greeted by cheers from the soldiers and, since this was his eighth victory, he got two more tangible rewards: the Orden Pour le Mérite and command of Abwehrkommando-Nord. Walz of Kasta 2 scored his fourth victory on the 9th, while Leutnant Hans-Karl Müller of KEK Avillers got another balloon. Two other British planes were claimed by the Germans that day, although one Fokker E.III was brought down near Mariakerke aerodrome by Roderic Dallas, back in a Nieuport, for his fifth victory."

Quotation Context

The introduction of the Fokker Eindekker (monoplane) — the first airplane to fire through the rotation of its propeller — allowed the Germans to dominate the battlefront sky. That dominance was broken by the French Nieuport and later the British D.H.2 pusher plane. Observation balloons observed ground troops and directed artillery, and were well-defended by anti-aircraft guns and fighter planes.

Source

The Origin of the Fighter Aircraft by Jon Gutman, page 89, copyright © 2009 Jon Gutman, publisher: Westholme Publishing, publication date: 2009

Tags

1916-07-09, 1916, July, Fokker E.I, Fokker E-I, Eindekker, observation balloon