WWI Art....

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1918 When there is no need to look for targets - Yevgeniy Alekseyenko....

1918 Fire in the sky - Simon Atack....

On August 5th 1918, this de Havilland Airco DH4 NO.A8032 flown by Major Egbert Cadbury, Commanding Officer 212 Sqn and his Observer/Gunner Major Robert Leckie (Commanding Officer 228 Sqn.) engaged and successfully destroyed the huge, 7-engined German Navy Zeppelin LZ-70 as it approached the Norfolk coast with three other airships on a bombing raid against England. At this time, it was the world's largest airship and the Imperial German Navy's flagship Zeppelin.After climbing to 10,000 ft Cadbury and Leckie saw the four Zeppelins in the evening light and made for the vast leading Zeppelin. At 16,400 ft they attacked the LZ-70 head-on and slightly to port. Leckie fired bursts of tracer fire from his Lewis machine gun as they passed along the huge airship, setting it on fire. In just 45 seconds the whole airship was ablaze and plunged in a fiery death into the North Sea off the Norfolk coast. Every man aboard perished including Germany's most senior naval airship commander Fregattenkapitan Peter Strasser.For this action Major Cadbury and Major Leckie were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and made a convincing point to the German High Command that bombing raids by Zeppelins were now, a too-costly and too-deadly effort to their crews to continue in practice.

1918 Camel vs DVII Jasta 18 - Steven Heyen....

Another slightly inaccurate painting regarding markings but that nonetheless captures well the essence of a dogfight towards the end of the war

Greg VanWyngarden: The Camel is not from 210 Sqn, I believe it's intended to be a Camel of the American 17th Aero Sqn, which served with the British and had the white dumbbell marking (though as pictured it's too small; No. 45 Sqn Camels also had a dumbbell unit marking but they were in Italy). No, Camels from the 17th Aero never saw combat with the Ravens of Jasta 18.

1918 Bristol F2B - Steven Heyen....

Other than the serial in the Bristol is wrong, this is a nice painting that could well be an encounter between British two-seaters and Jasta 6 triplanes in the spring offensive of 1918

Greg VanWyngarden: A3322 48 Squadron Bristol A3322 was downed and captured on 13 April 1917 and certainly never saw combat with Jasta 6 Dr.I's at any point. It had a very short career at the front.

1918 03 Fokker Dr I Jasta 12 - Serge Stone....

Greg VanWyngarden : Fokker Triplanes are from Jasta 12. The one in the foreground with 3 white stripes was 436/17 of Ltn. Paul Hoffmann.

 

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1917 Jasta 18 on the Hunt - Peter Robichaud....

Depicting Josef Veltjens with arrow motif and Paul Strahle with battle axe, attacking French Nieuport 17s over the front.

1917 Wolf und Wolfchen - Jaroslaw Wróbel....

Depicting the corsair ship "Wolf" and its auxiliary Friedrichshafen seaplane.

1917 02 12 Zeppelin intercept - Simon Atack....

Captain Hubert Soloman 33 Sqn. RFC. His attempted interception of a German Naval Air Service L30 class Zeppelin flying a Royal Aircraft Factory BE2C aircraft. Night of FEBRUARY 12th 1917. "Herbert Solomon, No.33 Squadron, patrolling [in B.E.12a 6317] at around 15,000 ft, saw a Zeppelin under shell fire near Beverley at 00.25 hr. The bursts were some 2,000 ft below the airship, which he estimated as at 20,000 ft. He found that his B.E.12a would climb no higher while he approached the raider, but nevertheless he fired three Vickers bursts on the remote chance of scoring a hit. After chasing for 20 miles out to sea without gaining ground, and getting low in fuel, he turned back to land at Elsham."Solomon, from New Zealand, would unfortunately die while flying a F.E.2b immediately after take off on an attempted interception of Zeppelins on the night of 19/20 October."The aircraft "took off normally and at about 200 ft dived steeply to the right, hit the ground with engine running , turned over and caught fire. Solomon was killed by the impact, but [H.] Preston, the observer, was thrown clear and escaped with a severe shaking. [A.A.B.] Thomson, the squadron commander, thought that the crash might have been caused by Solomon's clumsy, thigh-length 'fug-boots' fouling the controls."

1916 Albatros CVII vs Morane N - Zdenek Machacek....

1916 Nieuport 11 Francesco Baracca 1a Squadriglia - Giovanni Paulli....

This is profile 37 of Osprey Aircraft of the Aces #33 by Norman Franks, the low res makes it hard to tell the number, but I think it's indeed Ni1431.

 

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1916 Fokker DV - Serge Stone....

Either painted in silbergrau or simply greyish clear doped linen, both could be possible at that time, later Fokker biplanes were painted in camouflage colors, so silver grey is a posisbility.

1916 Fokker DIII - Serge Stone....

1915 Fokker EII 37_15 Oswald Boelcke - Serge Stone....

1914 11 24 Hidro Curtiss ruso vs SMS Breslau - Sergey Makarov....

Bombing attack by Russian Black Sea fleet seaplane on the German cruiser Breslau, Central Naval Museum, Saint Petersburg.

1923 Last of the DVII - Kari Vertanen....

Utti air base, autumn 1923. Fighter 1.D.357, the last of then Finnish Aviation Force's three Fokker D. VII planes, preparing for flight.

 

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1919 Albatros DVa Polish Navy - Robert Firszt....

1918 Dawn Patrol - Robert Taylor....

Billy Bishop and the pilots of 85 Squadron climb their SE5A fighters into the cool morning sunlight above the fields of Northern France on June 16, 1918.

1918 High Patrol - Robert Taylor....

Sopwith Camels of 209 Squadron RAF.

1917 11 Bristol A7288 11 Sqn Andrew McKeever - Robert Taylor....

Flying a Bristol F.2b fighter, Lt. Andrew McKeever and his gunner Lt. Powell of 11 Squadron RFC, successfully engage German Albatross D.V fighters over the Western Front near Cambrai, 30 November 1917.McKeever, a Canadian volunteer, was the squadron's top Ace, scoring most of his 31 victories on the Bristol Fighter, or the "Biff" as it was affectionately known by its pilots. Lt. Powell is seen pumping a deadly burst of machine gun fire into a diving Albatross as the aerial duel wheels and turns in a magnificent skyscape high above Cambrai.

1917 Sopwith Strutter 1B1 bomber - Martin Nowotny....

 

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1916 Immelmann 'Mystery Killer of the Sky' - Philip Ronfor....

1916 Lohner TI vs submarine Foucault - Robert Firszt....

"It was September 15, 1916. A French submarine, the Foucault, was spotted in the Adriatic. Leutnant zur See Walter Zelezny, in an Austrian Lohner flying boat, attacked it with two depth charges. The sub sank more than 250 feet, then miraculously came up to the surface. Zelezny droppped a small bomb, the Foucault shook, and disappeared. Then, with another plane, Zelezny landed and saved every officer and man of the French crew."

1916 Zeppelin P Class Airship....

1916 Manfred von Richthofen's 2nd victory - Thomas LaPadula....

Manfred Von Richthofen, encountered Sgt. Herbert Bellerby and his squadron flying Martinsyde's G100's over Bapaume, France on September 23,1916. Richthofen fired over 300 rounds causing Sgt. Bellerby to make a hard landing, which overturned his plane. Bellerby died of wounds. He went down near Beugny and was buried in a grave that was lost during the turmoil of war. This was Richthofen's second aerial victory.

1916 MvR 3rd victory - Thomas LaPadula....

Saturday September 30, 1916 was a bright and sunny day when Richthofen encountered an enemy squadron over Lagincourt. After firing 200 shots the the British FE.2b piloted by Lt. Ernest Conway Leslie began to slowly glide down to the direction of Cambrai where it crashed and burned. Lansdale died later of his wounds and his gunner, Sgt.Albert Clarkson was KIA, either due to gunshot wounds or crash trauma. This was the Red Baron's 3rd aerial victory.

 

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1922 De Havilland DH 4 Doolittle's record flight - Stan Stokes....

Shows Jimmy Doolittle just a few minutes away from finishing the first of what would be many record breaking flights. It was September of 1922 and he had piloted a U.S. Army Air Corps de Havilland DH-4 from the Atlantic coast of Florida to San Diego, California in 21 hours and 19 minutes. This was the first transcontinental flight to be accomplished in under 24 hours. For this, the U.S. Army awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross.

1920 Hansa Brandenburg W3 Japan navy - Shigeo Koike....

1920 Albatros DIII 153 Oeffag Eskadra Kosziuszko - Seweryn Fleischer....

1918 Roland DVI....

1918 HMS Furious - Stan Stokes....

 

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1918 Fokker DrI Von Richthofen 425/17....

1918 04 18 Something to write home about - Stan Stokes....

A fortuitous event that gave confidence to the entire U.S. military (which only recently entered the Great War), Lt. Alan Winslow of the 94th Aero Squadron took down a German Hun on April 14, 1918: the U.S. Army Air Service's first aerial kill on their first official day of battle!

1918 Richhtofen brothers in flight - Stan Stokes....

1918 Richthofen brothers - Stan Stokes....

1917 Nieuport 17 Ni 3632 70 Squadriglia - Daniel Bechennec....

 

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1917 Gotha over London....

1917 Sopwith Triplane N5468 Naval 1 Sqn Samuel Kinkead - Robert Karr....

1917 Nieuport 23 B1566 Billy Bishop No 60 Sqn RFC....

1917 SPAD VII Georges Guynemer GC12....

Victory #31 08 Feb 1917 1115 hrs Gotha G Bouconville.

1916 Sopwith Pup N5182 Edward Grange 1 Naval Sqn....

 

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1915 Morane Saulnier Type L Warneford vs zeppelin LZ 37....

1916 Von Richthofen's first victory - Tom La Padula....

This is aerial victory #1, on Sept 17, 1916, near Flesquieres, France. The Red Baron singled out the two man FE.2b, serial #7018, and fired several times, the last as close as 10 meters. Suddenly the enemy propeller stuck. The plane began gliding downward. Richthofen still under attack, followed the plane's descent downward and killed the gunner.

1918 Von Richthofen's 79 victory - Tom La Padula....

1918 Bristol F2B, Charles Findlay, 88 Sqn - Steve Anderson....

1918 Jasta 9 Fokker D.VII (OAW) Ltn Walter Blume - Taras Shtyk....

 

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1918 EM Kelton,185th Aero Sqn USAS - Steve Anderson....

1918 RE8 AFC forces to land Halberstadt CLII - Steve Anderson....

1918 06 Chasing the Dawn - Russell Smith....

"Chasing the Dawn" features the SE5a of Capt. Elliot Springs of 85 Sq RAF. Elliot Springs was perhaps one of the most colorful American aces of WW1. Flying an SE5 with 85 squadron and later Sopwith Camels with the 148th Aero squadron, Springs became the 5th highest ranking American Ace with 16 victories. On June 18, 1918 he set out on a routine patrol into enemy territory with his friend and squadron mate John Grider. Grider became lost in a cloud and was subsequently shot down by a patrolling German fighter. Springs carried the guilt of his friend's loss for many years, and after returning to the US Springs wrote the bestseller "Warbirds: The Diary of an Unknown Aviator", a book based on the diaries of John Grider.

1918 Fokker Dr I Jasta 4 Ernst Udet - Steve Anderson....

1918 06 15 Rampante - Russell Smith....

Artist commentary:

The painting features the SPAD XIII of Maggiore Francesco Baracca, a subject that's been on my mind lately.he son of a nobleman, Major Francesco Baracca was Italy's highest scoring ace of World War 1, achieving 34 victories. He entered the service at an early age, serving as an officer in the cavalry before transferring to the aviation section, carrying with him the prancing horse emblem of the cavalry - known as "Il Cavallino Rampante" (the Prancing Horse) - which he would adopt as his own. Baracca was known by his colleagues and adversaries alike as a gentleman pilot. He scored the first Italian air victory of the war, and because of his gallantry he quickly became a national hero of Italy. His 34th and final victory, an Austrian Albatros D.III which he brought down near the Piave River, came just three days prior to his death.

 

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1918 De Havilland DH4 No 25 Sqdn vs Jasta 14 - Mark Postlethwaite....

1918 Albatros DVa OAW - Jasta 18 - Steve Anderson....

1918 Albatros DIII Oeffag I.153-167 Flik 2D - Shigeo Koike....

1918 SPAD XIII (early) Ruffo di Calabria 91a Squadriglia....

1918 The Red Baron Last Sunset - Steve Anderson....

 

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1918 Yeates encounter with the Red Baron - Steven Heyen....

1918 Halberstadt CLII Schlasta 26b - Steve Anderson....

1917 Jasta 5 Albatros DV Richard Flashar - Steve Anderson....

1917 SPAD XIII - The final victory of Georges Guynemer - Taras Shtyk....

1917 Vickers Bullet F.B. 19 Mk I Russian service- Carlos Alonso....

 

[Wurger]

 

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As the sun peaks above the horizon, a trio of German Albatrosses patrol the skies in search of enemy aircraft. These pilots and aircraft are assigned to Jasta 76b, a Bavarian unit based in the Vosges region of France. The unit markings consisted of white spinners followed by white and Bavarian blue rings. The horizontal stabilizers were Bavarian blue with white stripes one each side.In the lead we see the Albatros DV.a of Lt. Hans Böhning. Böhning began his flying career with Feldflieger Abteilung 290, but eventually found himself assigned to Jasta 76b in late 1917 where he would score his fifth kill. In addition to the unit markings , the front half of this particular Albatros was varnished wood while the rear half featured the white and blue Bavarian checkerboard pattern. A narrow black band separated the two sections. Böhning ended the war with 16 victories to his credit.Next in the lineup is Vzfw. Siegfried Walther. Walther's Albatros DV.a carried the standard unit markings, but the fuselage was painted entirely red and marked with a white "W".Last in the lineup we see Lt. Walter Boening. Boening assumed command of Jasta 76b in October 1917. Here he flies a baby blue Albatros DV.a marked with the standard unit markings. This aircraft also carried a white and Bavarian blue band around the center of the fuselage. In May of 1918 Boening severely wounded below the left knee during and aerial combat with 70Sq RAF. Although he safely landed his crippled aircraft, his wartime career had come to and end. He ended the war as a 17-victory ace, having earned the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class, the Military Merit Order, and the Knight's Cross, among others.

1917 Bristol F.2B, A7182 Lt. Keith Park 22 Sqn RFC....

This particular Bristol F.2B, A'7182, was flown by Lt. Keith Park of 22 Sqn RFC. The scene depicts a hypothetical encounter between the Bristol and Ltn. Franz Pernet of Jasta Boelcke. Park's observer, Lindfield, is credited with shooting down Pernet on Sept. 5, 1917 as part of a shared victory, but this isn't necessarily that same encounter. The main focus for this piece is actually the nice big nose of the Bristol, so the Bristol crew and the story are actually a secondary in importance to the front profile of the aircraft.

1917 Le Petit Rouge - Russell Smith....

"Le Petit Rouge" is a depiction of the aircraft that created the legend. Manfred von Richthofen is most often associated with his all-red Fokker triplane. However, it was while flying this machine, an Albatros DIII whose serial number is now unknown, that the mystique of "The Red Baron" was born. On January 24, 1917, while speaking with two English fliers whom he had just forced down, Richthofen learned that the allies were familiar with "Le Petit Rouge" - "the little red one. Thus the legend of the Red Battle Flier was born.

1916 Fokker E.III K.u.K Marine vs Nieuport 11 Italia - Steve Anderson....

1916 Short Hydro torpedo - Michael Turner....

 

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1916 Somme, Nieuport 17 René Dorme, GC 12 Les Cicognes - Francis Bergèse....

victory number 16, the only nitpick is that the downed two sweater should have the swept back wings of a Rumpler.

Leave in Blighty - Kenneth A. McDonough....

1920 Polish Fokker DVII 'Memento mori' - Robert Firszt....

1917 Jasta 5 - Claus Friedl Wülfing....

1913 Rumpler Taube - Claus Friedl Wülfing....

Rumpler Taube of Ltn. Canter and Ltn. Boehmer as they participated in the Prinz Heinrich Flug from 11 - 17 May, 1913. This aircraft won the Kaiser Prize for the best overall flight performance.

 

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1920 Friedrichshafen FF.33L in Polish service - Jaroslaw Wrobel....

1917 SE5 No.60 Sqn vs Albatros DV Jasta 12 - Mark Postlethwaite....

This early encounter between SE 5s and Albatros DVs illustrated the two new types' strengths, limitations and the importance of skill and tactics for the men who flew both aeroplanes. On 29 July 1917, three SE5s of No. 60 Sqn, flown by Capt Keith Caldwell, Capt William A. Bishop and 2Lt W. H. Gunner, were patrolling over Beaumont when they spotted a German two-seater. Veterans Bishop and Caldwell suspected a trap, so they held off their attack for a few minutes. Their suspicions were soon justified when four new Albatros D Vs of Jagdstaffel 12 dived out of the sun on them. In the ensuing fight Gunner suffered from engine trouble, and as he tried to flee the engagement, Jasta 12's commander, Oblt Adolf Ritter von Tutschek, swiftly took advantage of the opportunity. In spite of Caldwell's and Bishop's attempt to intervene, the German ace sent Gunner down in flames near Henin-Liétard for his 21st success and his unit's 100th victory. As the fight continued, 'Billy' Bishop drove an Albatros down out of control - credited to him as his 38th of an eventual 72 victories - but he was hard-pressed by the others. In spite of jammed guns, however, 'Grid' Caldwell climbed to assist Bishop, and their mutual support eventually drove off the enemy scouts, allowing No.60 Sqn aces to return to Filescamp Farm aerodrome.

1917 Friedrichshafen FF.33L - Jaroslaw Wrobel....

1918 Jasta 5 Albatros DVa Richard Flashar....

1918 Halberstadt CLII & CLIV Schlasta 6....

 

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1918 'Sewall's Pass' SPAD XIII USAS - Dietz....

This wonderful painting was created as the cover for the excellent book Sumner Sewall, Maine's First World War Fighter Ace by Dr. James Wilberg. The book is a wonderful biography of ace Sumner Sewall of the 95th Aero Squadron, who later became governor of the state of Maine.

On the 13th of September,1918, Sumner Sewall used his Spad XIII to strafe a German staff car. He wrote that he believed the occupants were German staff officers, who left the car and jumped into a ditch.

In Hanns Möller's book about JG II, he wrote about an incident on 13 September 1918, in which Georg von Hantelmann of Jasta 15, Kurt Hetzte and Werner Niethammer of Jasta 13, plus Franz Büchner and his brother Felix of Jasta 13, all rode to the front in a car and headed to seek confirmation reports for their victories of the previous day. On their way, they were strafed by a Spad, and all these prominent aces had to jump out of the car and into a ditch. Hetze was hit in the lungs, and blood sprouted from his mouth and nose; he would survive but his career as a pilot was over.

1917 Bristol vs Rumpler CIV - Zdenek Machacek....

1917 Albatros DIII - Andrzej Deredos....

1917 DFW CV - Barry Weekley....

1918 Desperate plight - Steve Anderson....

A Felixstowe F.2a makes a forced landing, on July 31, 1918. A Brandenburg W.29, piloted by Oblt Friedrich Christiansen, makes another attack run on the portside on the crippled flying boat. Photographic documentation shows the big Felixstowe engulfed in flames and left to sink. Only three of the four man crew survived the attack by several German Navy float plane fighters.

 

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1918 Lucky 13 - Steve Anderson....

Manfred von Richthofen victory number 65, 13 March 1918, 1035hrs in Fokker Dr.I 152/17 against Sopwith Camel (B2523) 73 Squadron Lt Elmer Ernest Heath Between Gonnelieu and Banteux, Square 1853.

1917 Jasta 11 Glory Fokker F.I Werner Voss - Steve Anderson....

1917 Albatros DIII Oeffag Josef Kiss - Steve Anderson....

1917 Green tail - Steve Anderson....

1920 Red wings over Egypt - Airco DH10 - Brian Knight....

 

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1920 Albatros DIII 153 Oeffag Eskadra Kosciuszko - Arkadiusz Wróbel....

1918 SPAD XIII - Tony Belobrajdic....

1918 Nieuport 28 C1 - John Amendola....

1918 Fokker DrI Jacobs - Katerina Borecka....

1918 Stan Colorful Steed - Russell Smith....

 

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1917 Nieuport 17 Bishop - Peter Mossman....

1917 Hanriot-Dupont H.D. 1 André de Meulemeester - Paul Lengelle....

1917 08 SPAD SVII Edmond Thieffry 5ème Escadrille Belge - Paul Lengelle....

1916 Caudron GIII artillery spotting - Paul Lengelle....

1914 Short seaplanes taking off for the Cuxhaven Raid....