Bongartz

[Barrett]

On 29 Apr 18, Ltn Heinrich Bongartz led Jasta 36 tripes against No. 74 Sqn SE-5s under Mannock Himself. Bongartz sustained a barely-survivable head wound, probably from Capt. Cyril Glynn (proving again that rookies can slot aces.)
Question: how many Dr.Is (or e/a) and SEs were engaged? Any details of Bongartz's action would be muchly appreciated.

[Gregvan]

Hi Barrett,

Well, according to Stephen Lawson's fine article based on the war diary of Jasta 36 in C & CI Vol. 20, No. 1, 1989: On the 29th the "Jasta took off" but Bongartz had to return to Halluin airfield with a dud motor, and took the reserve Triplane, Dr. I 575/17 (his usual was 441/17) and started to the front in an attempt to catch up to his unit. At the Front near Kemmel Hill, he was attacked by three "Sopwith" fighters (it was quite typical for German pilots to call SE5's 'Sopwiths', some even thought the 'S' in SE5 stood for Sopwith). One 'Sopwith' flew cover for the two that attacked, one from the front and one from aft. A burst from the rear hit the Dr.I, and Bongartz was hit by a round that penetrated his left temple and destroyed his left eye. The semi-conscious Bongartz managed to right his spinning aircraft and crashed at 1300 hrs near Ploegsteert Wood. and it overturned on impact. It was riddled, the engine cowling alone having 28 hits. The war diary states that the OzbV Ltn Mueller brought Bongartz to War Hospital Nr 661 at Roubaix.

Apparently some German infantry turned up and freed Bongartz from the cockpit, as I related in "Fokker Dr I Aces", there is an infantryman's account: "This afternoon a Fokker Triplane came down, overturned, and the pilot came crawling out from under it with one eye shot away, blood streaming out of it. First he walked around and took a look at his machine, then came over to us with his eye hanging down and introduced himself: 'Leutnant Bongartz', with a bow. We bandaged him up and I immediately called for a car - he was in terrible pain, as the bullet had penetrated his temple and lodged in his nose, and he couldn't breathe through his nose. He just said, "Ja, Ja, we all take our turn'.

"...his aircraft was shot to pieces and spattered with blood. He was still able to land and walk, even with his terrible wound, but not for long. He
was given a shot of morphine and then he rested quietly. He was lucky,
that's for sure, even though he couldn't fly any more." Bongartz had done considerably more than 'taken his turn', he had already been wounded three times before.

I'd be very interested in 74 Squadron's combat reports from this incident - I hope they still exist.

Greg

[Frank_Olynyk]

74 Squadron made four claims on April 29, 1918. Three fighters at 1140, and an LVG two seater at 1150 (this CR I have not found yet). The three fighters were an Albatros Scout (green and silver markings), S of Dickebusch Lake, broke up in the air, by Lt. Henry Eric Dolan in B173; a single seater, very long fuselage, swept back wing tips, mackerel shaped tail, same loc, in flames, by Capt EC Mannock in D278; and a Triplane (silver and green), same loc, crashed, by Capt Clive Beverley Glynn in C1078. Obviously the latter is Bongartz. The combat report I have on microfilm, Air 1//1226/5/204/2634/74 Sqdn frames 3 and 74 (a duplicate). Unfortunately, I have a foot of paper in front of the microfilm reader and it would take a day to put the stack where it belongs (as opposed to picking it up and just putting it somewhere, a habit I am trying to break).

Frank.

[StephenLawson]

Originally posted by Frank_Olynyk@Dec 23 2003, 10:40 PM
[b] '...74 Squadron made four claims on April 29, 1918.* Three fighters at 1140...and a Triplane (silver and green), same loc, crashed, by Capt Clive Beverley Glynn in C1078.* Obviously the latter is Bongartz.* The combat report I have on microfilm, Air 1//1226/5/204/2634/74 Sqdn frames 3 and 74 (a duplicate)...Frank.'

I discovered the possible link to 74 sqdn through Stewart K. Taylor about 18 months after I had begun the original manuscript. Photos of the relatively new Dr.I 441/17 was of course premiered in A. Imrie's book on the aircraft type p.62 (#88 & 89.) Sans prop, cowling, engine, and firewall. Two shots show the damage to the leading edge area of the top wing as well. Other than the Jasta 36 cross on the horizontal stab the remainder of the airframe appears in Fokker factory standard streaked camouflage. Later in the lengthy caption Mr. Imrie mentions 575/17.
Noting the Silver (and green) description for 575/17 either the reflectance of the overall finish or the cowling was stripped down to the bare metal for repainting in the Jasta 36 unit color of a lt. blue cowling?

[Gregvan]

Hello,

Thanks for that great info, as usual, Frank !! When you get that stack of papers put away, we're looking forward to reading Glynn's combat report (and the others from that day too !)

Stephen, old pal, check the captions on those Alex Imrie photos again. Those two photos don't show 575/17 after the April 29 incident. Rather they show Bongartz' 441/17 after Bongartz was lightly wounded by AA fire on 30 March 1918 - at least that's what Alex says. The whole leading edge of the top plane; nonetheless the aircraft seems to have made a fairly good landing, possibly standing on its nose, leading to the removal of the cowling and engine. Bongartz was one tough fellow.

I wouldn't take Glynn's "silver and green" description too literally, though the green probably stems from the standard camouflage. The silver could (as you say) simply come from the reflectance of the doped fabric, etc - remember McCudden's description of Voss "silvery blue" triplane. Nonetheless, interesting stuff. Mannock's single seater sounds like a Pfalz D.IIIa to me, but you'd think Mannock would know a Pfalz by this time.

Thanks again, Frank. Merry Christmas to one and all.

Greg VanWyngarden

[Ginger.]

"You'd think Mannock would know a Pfalz by this time."

Cut the great man some slack here. He only ever saw them when they were burning.
Sizzle! Sizzle! Wonk! Flamerinos for breakfast boys!

[Barrett]

Many thanks to all you chaps. A Forum birthday present for me!
Sizzle indeed. That Ginger--always running true to form!

[Ginger.]

Wot wud this place be wiv'out the voice of reason?

[Gregvan]

Hi All,

Norman Franks' book, Who Downed the Aces in WWI has this to say about Bongartz' fall: "On the 29th [Bongartz] was operating near Ploegsteert in Fokker Dr I 575/17 and spotted a patrol of SE5s flying south of Dickebusch Lake. The SEs were from 74 Squadron, led by...Mannock, who had already achieved 19 victories by this date. One of his patrol was Capt C B Glynn...Glynn was flying on Mannock's left and saw the enemy machines approaching from his left rear while trying to gain height over the British patrol. Glynn zoomed upwards in a climbing turn toward the leading triplane, which he noted as green and silver, and both machines went for each other head-on. Glynn began firing with a long burst from his Vickers gun and a short burst from his top wing Lewis. As the two machines shot by each other, Glynn turned to see it going down, later confirmed by Mannock and Lt H E Dolan MC as having crashed just to the south of the combat area, after diving vertically. Mannock also claimed a fighter shot down as did Dolan."

In the Ferko/Bock notes on Jasta Boelcke, I found this version of Mannock's combat report from that day:"Engaged formation of approx. 10 EA South of Dickebusch Lake. Fired approx. 40 rounds at close range from front, when EA burst into flames and was destroyed. This EA was observed to flame and descend in pieces by Capt. Glynn and Lt. Dolan. Time: 11:40 A.M. approx."

All of this raises some questions. Mannock's victim this day is generally noted as having been Ltn Vortmann of Jasta Boelcke. If so, then it would seem that Bongartz had joined up with a patrol from Jasta Boelcke as he was trying to find his own Jasta 36 patrol. Also, just what type of plane was Vortmann flying ? According to Alex Imrie, Jasta Boelcke had an entire complement of Fokker Triplanes by this time; yet Mannock's combat report cited by Frank would seem to indicate a biplane. Dolan also claimed a biplane, an Albatros, in the encounter. Perhaps Vortmann, being a somewhat junior member of the unit (having arrived in January, with no victories) was relegated to flying an older, obsolete Albatros or Pfalz ?? Or even more intriguing, could he have been flying one of the unit's very first Fokker D.VIIs ?? I note that Above the Trenches says Mannock's victim was Vortmann and notes the aircraft as "Fokker D VI?", obviously a misprint for D VII. However, it seems unlikely that a relatively junior pilot of this famed unit would have been flying a new D.VII this early - but who knows ??

It seems the deadly Mannock was true to form in this encounter too - flamerinoes, indeed.

Greg VanWyngarden

[Alan]

Sticking my limited knowledge into the mix.....

Perhaps it was known even then that the D.VII was a relatively easy airplane to fly and it was given to the new pilot to help him along.....


Just a thought....