One source says Oswald Boelcke was studious as well as athletic, excelling at mathematics and physics. He got along well in school with both his fellow students and the teachers his frank and friendly demeanor, blond hair, and intense blue eyes made him memorable. His athletic prowess made him a popular leader on the school playing fields. When he was 17, he became a skillful Alpinist capable of out-climbing his father and elder brother. He was an oarsman, and a prizewinning swimmer and diver.
As a gymnast, he was considered the best in his school. He played soccer and tennis, skated and danced. In later life, he was described as being about 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 meters) tall, broad-shouldered and well proportioned, with great agility and "inexhaustible strength". Īs Boelcke grew, he turned to athletics despite his asthma. The planes flying overhead were Oswald Boelcke's first exposure to aircraft.
#TIE FIGHTER PILOT PROFESSIONAL#
In his fourth year, his father moved the family to Dessau near the Junkers factory in pursuit of professional advancement.
Oswald Boelcke caught whooping cough at age three, which resulted in lifelong asthma. The pronunciation is the same for both spellings. His family name was originally spelt Bölcke, but Oswald and his elder brother Wilhelm (1886–1954) dispensed with the umlaut and adopted the Latin spelling in place of the German. The Boelcke family had returned to the German Empire from Argentina six months before Oswald's birth. Oswald Boelcke was born on, in Giebichenstein (since 1900 a City district of Halle (Saale)), Prussian Province of Saxony as the son of a schoolmaster. Boelcke's influence extends to the present, with extensive tributes to him at the German Air Force's Nörvenich Air Base and throughout Germany. Later, four of its members became generals during World War II. By the end of the war, Jagdstaffel 2 had 25 aces in its ranks many of its aces were selected to lead other squadrons. He was killed in a midair collision with his best friend on 28 October 1916. During September and October 1916, Boelcke scored 21 more victories while commanding Jagdstaffel 2, as he continued as the world's highest scoring ace. Its pilots were handpicked by Boelcke and indoctrinated in his Dicta through extensive training.
#TIE FIGHTER PILOT MANUALS#
Present-day tactics manuals stem from the Dicta.Īfter an enforced holiday leave spent on a military inspection tour of Ottoman facilities, Boelcke was picked to lead one of Germany's first fighter squadrons, Jagdstaffel 2 (Fighter Squadron 2). The Dicta promulgated axioms for individual pilot success, as well as a requirement for teamwork directed by a formation's leader.
#TIE FIGHTER PILOT MANUAL#
His innovative turn of mind codified his combat experiences into the first ever manual of fighter tactics distributed to an air force, the Dicta Boelcke. During his forced grounding on staff duty, he helped transform the Army's Fliegertruppe (Flying Troop) air arm into the Luftstreitkräfte (Air Force). The German high command reassigned Boelcke after his 19th victory. Boelcke and Immelmann were the first German fighter pilots awarded Prussia's highest honor, the Pour le Mérite. Flying the first true fighters, Boelcke, Max Immelmann, and several other early aces began shooting down enemy airplanes. After duty as an aerial observer during 1914, he became one of the original fighter pilots during mid-1915. He followed his interest in aviation, learning to fly as World War I began. He was a very influential mentor, patrol leader, and tactician in the first years of air combat, 19.īoelcke fulfilled his childhood dream of a military career by joining the Imperial German Army on 15 March 1911. Boelcke is honored as the father of the German fighter air force, as well as considered the "father of air combat". Oswald Boelcke PlM ( German: – 28 October 1916) was a World War I German professional soldier and pioneering flying ace credited with 40 credited aerial victories. Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords,
3) Luftstreitkräfte (Air Force)įeldflieger Abteilung 13 (Field Flyer Detachment 13) Giebichenstein, Province of Saxony, Prussia near Halle (Saale)