61 Facts About Werner Voss

Werner Voss was a World War I German flying ace credited with 48 aerial victories.

Werner Voss was detailed from his squadron to evaluate new fighter aircraft and became enthusiastic about the Fokker Triplane.

Werner Voss's last stand came on 23 September 1917, just hours after his 48th victory.

Werner Voss was born in Krefeld, Germany, on 13 April 1897.

Werner Voss's mother, Johanna Mathilde Pastor Voss, was a pious homemaker who raised her children in the Evangelical Lutheran faith.

An unusual feature of the Werner Voss household was the presence of two first cousins, Margaret and Katherine.

The Werner Voss family home at 75 Blumenthalstrasse was a comfortable two-story house with surrounding grounds.

Young Werner Voss was expected to carry on the family trade as he grew into his heritage.

Werner Voss received his "Certificate of Graduation" as a motorcyclist on 2 August 1914.

On 16 November 1914, Werner Voss became one of those recruits despite still being only 17 years old.

Werner Voss was proficient in his military duties on the Eastern Front.

Werner Voss was promoted to Gefreiter on 27 January 1915, and raised to Unteroffizier, when barely 18 years of age, on 18 May 1915.

Werner Voss's service earned him the Iron Cross 2nd Class.

Werner Voss reported to begin officer's training at Camp Beckstadt on 3 June 1915.

Werner Voss transferred to the Luftstreitkrafte on 1 August 1915, joining Fliegerersatz-Abteilung 7 in Cologne.

Werner Voss was retained as an instructor at the training school after he graduated on 12 February 1916.

Werner Voss was the youngest flight instructor in German service.

On 10 March 1916, Werner Voss was posted to Kampfstaffel 20 of Kampfgeschwader IV, and served as an observer before he was allowed to fly as a pilot.

The friendship grew from Werner Voss flying as Richthofen's wingman in combat, and disregarded the disparity in their family backgrounds.

Werner Voss contravened uniform regulations at times and could often be found in the hangar working on his machine beside the mechanics, dressed in a grubby jacket without insignia.

Werner Voss joked that he wanted to be presentable to the girls of Paris if he were captured.

Werner Voss scored his first aerial victory on the morning of 26 November 1916 and added a second during his afternoon flight.

Werner Voss later visited Daly while he was in hospital, twice.

Werner Voss' score rose sharply during February and March 1917; of the 15 victories credited to his Jagdstaffel during March, 11 of them were shot down by him alone.

Werner Voss was awarded the Pour le Merite on 8 April 1917.

Werner Voss tinkered with, and roared about upon, his motorcycle.

Richthofen, who had scored 11 victories before Werner Voss began his own tally, achieved 13 additional victories during his absence.

Werner Voss shared his sentiments with another Westphalian hussar, Leutnant Rolf Freiherr von Lersner.

Walz had assumed command on 29 November 1916, just after Werner Voss joined the Jasta.

Werner Voss disregarded military procedure and went outside the chain of command to petition higher headquarters for Walz's removal.

On 20 May 1917, Flight Commander Werner Voss was sent to Jagdstaffel 5 to assume temporary command.

Meanwhile, Werner Voss went on leave with Richthofen to Krefeld; surviving photographs portray them exhibiting their aircraft for Werner Voss' relatives.

Werner Voss left his staff car parked, and made his official rounds of his aerodrome on his motorcycle.

The Scottish ace saw Werner Voss turn his head twice to judge the Camel's position before evading.

Werner Voss's first stop was Berlin, where he was honored by receiving an autographed photograph of Kaiser Wilhelm II from the emperor's own hands.

Werner Voss's leave authorization cleared him for Dusseldorf and his hometown of Krefeld, but it is not known if he visited them.

Just before Werner landed, brothers Max and Otto Voss arrived at Jagdstaffel 10 for a visit.

Werner Voss was fatigued and told his brothers he was looking forward to more time off.

Werner Voss's brothers noted his haggard appearance, apparent in his final photographs.

Werner Voss noted friendly aircraft swarming to the North as his flight approached the Battle of Passchendaele.

Werner Voss wore a colourful civilian silk dress shirt beneath his unbuttoned knee-length brown leather coat.

Werner Voss was to lead one of the two scheduled afternoon patrols.

The "Nieuport", Werner Voss's misidentified Fokker Triplane, rounded on Hamersley and raked him with Spandau fire.

Werner Voss now found himself boxed in from above and below, with assailants pouncing from either side.

At another point, Werner Voss was caught in a crossfire by at least five of his attackers but appeared to be miraculously unaffected by the fire.

At times Werner Voss had altitude advantage over his attackers, but apparently did not attempt to escape the situation, despite the odds against him.

Werner Voss continued to flick turn at high speeds and counter-attack any aircraft pursuing him.

Werner Voss had fought the British aces for around eight minutes, eluding them and achieving hits on nearly every SE.

Werner Voss lost control of it banking for the landing pattern, and finally performed a desperate high speed landing at 18:40 hours, approximately coincidental with the triplane's impact.

Werner Voss got his tot of brandy, and uttered an account jumbled by his excitement.

Werner Voss was buried like any other dead soldier near Plum Farm, laid in a shell crater without coffin or honors.

Werner Voss insisted that the triplane mounted four guns, and thought it had a stationary engine instead of a rotary engine.

Subsequent accounts of Werner Voss's last stand would partially depend on such "facts" drawn from Baring's inquiries.

Werner Voss verified it was a triplane, and noted that its upper surfaces were camouflage green and its bottom surfaces were blue.

The technical information that was reported gave the British their first insight into the new craft, although Werner Voss had swapped in a French Le Rhone engine.

The only one with news was Heldmann, who reported Werner Voss headed toward British lines while pursued by a British SE.

The fact that Werner Voss was missing in action was communicated to wing headquarters; telephone queries were made of all friendly airfields within range.

Heldmann refused to believe Werner Voss was killed in aerial combat; he claimed Werner Voss had to have been shot after crawling from the wreckage.

On 7 October 1917, the Krefelder Zeitung ran a page of tributes to Werner Voss, including those from Crown Prince Wilhelm, aviator Anthony Fokker, and Generalleutnant Ernst von Hoeppner.

Werner Voss is commemorated by street names in Stuttgart and in Berlin.

Still enduring is the debate as to why Werner Voss chose to fight on against clearly almost impossible odds rather than disengage from the action.