Werner voss uniform

stepee · 27 January 2026, 11:34 AM

Hello there,
I have the copperstate voss with motorcycle set and am not sure of the wanderer motorcycle colours or the colour of the top of voss field cap.
In the photos of voss with his family and a comrade standing next to his DIII he and his comrade appear to be wearing caps with white tops?
I believe his hussar regiment wore caps with an emerald green top?
Which would be correct ?
Also , sorry to restate, but what's the consensus on his hair and eye colour?

Gregvan · 27 January 2026, 10:22 PM

Well, thanks to Lance Bronnenkant’s incredible research presented in “Blue Max Airmen, Vol. 6,” there is this quote from the 25 Sept 1917 edition of the “Niederrheinische Volkszeitung;’ It describes Voss attending Carl Emil Schaefer’s funeral in Krefeld on 11 June 1917: “And one of the first to cast the thoughtful symbols (flowers) on the plot was his landsman and brother-in-arms Lt. Voss, the slim and heroic figure with curly blond hair and bright eyes.” So, it may not look that way in the photos on orthochromatic film, but Voss was blond (probably dark blond). I have seen this same effect with other blond men on ortho film of the era. As for his eyes, I don’t know. They look fairly light in photos. As for his cap, I believe the regimental color of his “2. Westfälisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 11” was green. So, I believe the cap band was green, and the top was certainly just Feldgrau, not white.

randyz · 28 January 2026, 06:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gregvan

Well, thanks to Lance Bronnenkant’s incredible research presented in “Blue Max Airmen, Vol. 6,” there is this quote from the 25 Sept 1917 edition of the “Niederrheinische Volkszeitung;’ It describes Voss attending Carl Emil Schaefer’s funeral in Krefeld on 11 June 1917: “And one of the first to cast the thoughtful symbols (flowers) on the plot was his landsman and brother-in-arms Lt. Voss, the slim and heroic figure with curly blond hair and bright eyes.” So, it may not look that way in the photos on orthochromatic film, but Voss was blond (probably dark blond). I have seen this same effect with other blond men on ortho film of the era. As for his eyes, I don’t know. They look fairly light in photos. As for his cap, I believe the regimental color of his “2. Westfälisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 11” was green. So, I believe the cap band was green, and the top was certainly just Feldgrau, not white.

Our local chapter of the League of WWI Aviation Historians met last week, and one topic of discussion involved myths and disinformation. I led the discussion and provided numerous examples that I've seen repeated over my 60-plus years of interest. Voss is a perfect example. Time after time, I've read that he flew bare-headed (no helmet, no goggles), yet every photo I've ever seen of him in an aircraft, he's wearing a helmet and goggles. And this makes sense because the myth is unbelievable. Why would anyone fly combat in an open cockpit aircraft without head and eye protection? And I recently read an account that repeated the bare-headed myth and added that Voss's jet black hair could be seen as he flashed by. This struck me as odd, because I always thought he had blonde hair. Thanks for confirming what I thought I knew.

Gregvan · 28 January 2026, 08:00 AM

Hi Randyz,

I'm so very glad to hear that your local chapter of the League is still going strong!!

The 'bare-headed Voss" myth stems entirely from one brief mention in McCudden's otherwise magnificent book "Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps," in his famous passage describing the Voss combat of 23 September 1917: "As he flashed by me I caught a glimpse of a black head in the triplane with no hat on at all." (sic)

As you said, there are multiple photos (and even motion picture film) showing Voss wearing a regular leather flying helmet and goggles. So, I believe McCudden made a rare mistake here, and caught a glimpse of Voss wearing a close-fitting black flying cap. McCudden's off-handed (and erroneous) mention of Voss' "silvery-blue" triplane has also been widely repeated and misinterpreted - but that's another story.

I wonder if the 'myth' of Voss flying bare-headed may also have been conflated with the stories about Albert Ball. I started at least one thread here of the forum long ago about this topic. There are one or two contemporary 1917 accounts of Albert Ball flying without helmet or goggles, and of course several photos of him sitting in his SE5 bare-headed. I think it was Quentin Reynolds ('They Fought for the Sky') who took it further and said it was because "he liked to feel the wind in his hair"!!! Not wishing to go too far off-topic here, but it seems likely that Ball occasionally did so, but I can't imagine that he flew at high altitudes without headgear, especially in winter. The most famous portrait photo of Ball, taken after he got his flying license, shows him holding a pair of goggles in one hand....

randyz · 28 January 2026, 10:26 AM

Hi Greg, I've got shelves full of your books but I don't think we've ever communicated. Just like you, I've always suspected that McCudden most likely mistook a black flying helmet for dark hair. And I've always found it amusing to see photo captions recounting the Voss myth, when he's clearly shown wearing a helmet and goggles in the accompanying image. And his triplane was like a chameleon - changing from gray to silver to blue to silver-blue to green to brown - not to mention the cowling. And the exact same Ball topic came up during our chapter meeting. It's difficult to believe that anyone wouldn't want protection from the cold, the prop wash, and anything else that could reach a pilot's face and especially their eyes.

As far as our chapter, I think I counted fourteen attendees and three of us were presenters. We're lucky to have lots of people willing to present and the discussions can be very informative. A nice bunch of folks from many different backgrounds who share a common interest, but we don't take ourselves too seriously!

stepee · 30 January 2026, 05:33 AM

Hello, thanks for getting back on this, in the photo I mentioned voss and his comrade do appear to have on white topped caps and I've seen a colourised version which shows them both with white, piped red hats which I would have thought were kurrasier colours?

Barrett · 30 January 2026, 01:24 PM

Gents:

Nobody who ever flew 5 minutes bare-headed in an open cockpit "enjoyed the wind in his hair." (That was for motorcycle enthusiasts who became what ER techs call "donorcycles."

It's absurd prima-facie and every other way. (Consider the effect on your eyes in a 70 to 90 mph wind...Yeah. You would need a honking big windscreen to avoid that experience.)

I say that after maybe 600 hours of open-cockpit aviating, ONCE because our baggage Cessna got away with our parachute bag containing clothes, helmets & goggles.

stepee · 3 February 2026, 04:55 AM

Re, my original question, any ideas about the motorcycle tank colours?

Kirk R. Lowry · 10 February 2026, 11:02 AM

Hi There Stepee

A look about seems to indicate that shades of green were common to motorcycles produced by Wanderer and green was also the colour of the logo of the manufacturer. Have a look here - https://www.yesterdays.nl/product/wanderer-1914/ . That noted, there are other colours on other examples on the YESTERDAYS ANTIQUE MOTORCYCLES site.

Good luck with your project; post images when you can.

Salut
Kirk