Boelcke

[wolfmanjack1959]

Here is my drawing of Hamptmann Oswald Boelcke that I sell as a poster.

I do a lot of aviation art. My problem is finding resources as to the World War One pilots' physical descriptions, insofar as eye and hair color. Does anyone know of any such references?

[Barry Hickson]

Great Poster!
Sorry I cant help you with your query.

[Gregvan]

Hi,

For such minutiae as the colors of various aces' eyes and hair, perhaps you should start with a search of this forum's archives. The subject has come up several times, usually by miniature figure model producers or builders. As far as I know there's no 'index' or 'listing' of aces of all nations by eye color! Such esoteric details may sometimes be gleaned from contemporary descritpions by the aces' acquaintances or by journalists, but it takes an awful lot of reading to ferret them out. Also, the pilots' official military service records sometimes contain such information, but these can be difficult to locate at times.

For instance, American journalist Herbert Bayard Swope interviewed Boelcke in September 1916, and his account appeared in the "New York World" shortly after. A complete transcription of this account by Lance Bronnenkant appeared in "Over the Front" Volume 17, No. 3, 2002. Swope wrote that Boelcke was "...about 5 feet 7; is red-cheeked, with gray-blue eyes that never leave his questioner; has a thin Roman nose, and a voice rather quick in enunciation....good-looking young chap of twenty-five, thin, wiry, of the quick, graceful type usually associated with airmen."

Of course, there were a number of contemporary color portraits of many aces painted by artists of the day: French and a few American aces by Henri Farre; some British pilots painted by Sir William Orpen, and there were several portraits of Richthofen and Udet that appeared in cintemporary German magazines. The accuracy and precision of the colors used may not always be the best, or the colors may be compromised by the reproduction methods - but it's a start.

Good luck in your seach.

[Gregvan]

Hi,

For instance, here's Sir William Orpen's evocative portrait of Rhys Davids, painted from life:

He also painted McCudden, but I'm not sure that I've ever seen that one in color.

Here's American ace Douglas Campbell (whom I was fortunate enough to meet many years after this was painted) by Joseph Cummings Chase.

[Gregvan]

There was a series of official (?) portraits painted of some Canadian aces, but I'm not sure where to find them all or when they were painted. Here's William George Barker, VC.


And here's Billy Bishop, VC, in later life. Certainly looks impressive!

[tcrean7828]

Originally Posted by wolfmanjack1959

Here is my drawing of Hamptmann Oswald Boelcke that I sell as a poster.

I do a lot of aviation art. My problem is finding resources as to the World War One pilots' physical descriptions, insofar as eye and hair color. Does anyone know of any such references?

Mate,
Welcome to the flagship of the Aerodrome - where the greatest minds on the planet get together and talk about their favorite subject - WW1.

tcrean7828

tom

P.S. Werner Voss and Kurt Wolff fan here.