The Golden Triumvirate

[Pips]

This tag was supposedly applied to three exceptional Jasta 5 pilots, namely Fritz Rumey, Josef Mai and Otto Könnecke. In recognition of their prowess in the air.

Is this another of the tags applied by someone post WWI? Or did it really originate during the War? How well known were the three aces on the British side of things?

[Barrett]

I severely doubt that those names echoed off the walls of RFC messes as did MvR or Voss.

As for the "golden triumverate," I cannot help comparing that moniker to a couple of WW II phrases: "Fork-Tailed Devil" (P-38) and "Whistling Death"
(F4U). I strongly suspect that both were products of the Lockheed and Vought PR shops rather than of German or Japanese origin! At any rate, I've never-ever seen (nor even heard of) a reputable source for either.

[Gregvan]

Hi,

The title "Golden Triumvirate" title was always a German one, and never a British one. As to whether or not it was created during the war or after, I cannot be sure.

It was a specific reference to all three NCO pilots having earned the Prussian Golden Military Merit Cross, or the Militär-Verdienstkreuz in gold. This was the highest Prussian bravery award for non-commissioned oficers. To quote Neal O'Connor, "The provisions for earning it were much the same as the officer's counterpart award (the Pour le Mérite). The cross was given for 'ever increasing and repeated deeds, and for special brave acts'. For these reasons, it was often called the Pour le Mérite für Unteroffiziere."

All three pilots received the award for their ever-increasing scores in Jasta 5. This gained them quite a bit of notoriety within the German ranks, and there was a portrait photo taken of the three of them together. I doubt that any other Jasta had such a high-scoring trio of NCO pilots.

Of course, Rumey and Könnecke were both eventually promoted to officer status and got their own 'Blue Max' awards, but Mai's promotion came too late in the war for that. Unlike some of the Richthofen crew or the early men like Boelcke or Immelmann, I really doubt whether any of these men's names were well-known on the British side of the lines. Of course, it's probably that repeated encounteres with these fellows and others of Jasta 5 led to 56 Squadron believing there was a single crack "Greentail" ace (yes, we're all aware that when McCudden 'shot down' "Greentail", it was actually Kaiser of Jasta 35b). Alex Revell presents strong evidence that the "Greentail" usually encountered was probably Otto Könnecke, who would probably have had a "K" on the underside of his lower wing. However, I've never seen any evidence that British pilots knew of Koennecke. I seem to recall Alex Revell telling me that one of the 56 Squadron pilots thought "Greentail" was Bongartz!

Greg

[Pips]

Thanks for that explanation Greg. Which raises another interesting question.

Just how well (if at all) did the opposing sides know of each others high scoring aces? Other than von Richthofen, Voss and Guynemer?

Certainly pilots from any one side would recognise a skilled/deadly opponent, especially so if there were repeated clashes with him. But would the actual names of Mannock, Bishop, Hazell,McLaren, Konnecke, Jacobs, Lorzer, Buckler, Fonck, Madon, Pinsard et al be known to the other side? Or would it have been a case of 'just a tough bunch' on the other side of the lines?

[rammjaeger]

Two lines from Menckhoffs memoirs concerning his capture illustrate the last question:
"... soon French officers joined them adressing me as Mr. Menschkoff. My question how they knew my name was answered by a Major. The markings of the better known German pilots were registered by their Army followed by the order to concentrate their defences on these planes."

In general even papers and magazines on both sides reported names of leading enemy aces (some in great detail). That was often connected with doubting their victory scores. I assume the French and German aces were better known because of the amount of propaganda connected with them.

[Barrett]

Ref. knowledge of enemy aces:
Years (and years) ago one of my flying buds, who used to motor about in his Tommy Morse Scout, showed me a US 1918 publication. It contained an article proclaiming that The Hun was losing the air war because he had so few aces left, including a list. In retrospect I can only surmise that it was based on a (probably) dated copy of the Nachtrichten report. Wish I could remember more, but it was solid proof that somebody was keeping score Over There.

[Gregvan]

Barrett,

You're no doubt thinking of some 1918 issues of National Geographic which featured articles on aces, some of them (IIRC) by L L Driggs. These were very nationalistic (naturally) and tried to compare "our" aces favorably to "their" aces. You can find 1918 back issues of Nat'l Geo in just about any public library. Worth a look.

The subject of the knowledge of opposing aces and units that was held by the front line pilots is one of great interest to me. It's clear the German intelligence officers harvested a rather intimate knowledge of opposing air units from interrogating captured RFC/RAF and French aircrew (just read "A German Airman Remembers" by Hans Schröder). I have some of the weekly Kofl reports for a particular Army which tried to include detailed data about the British units on their front - number, aircraft type, airfield, and even commanding officers at times - and actually came quite close to some accurate info. However, I wonder how much of this information was general knowledge among the front line pilots. I recall reading that some German airmen captured on the British front reported that they believed there was a "Geschwader" of SE 5a's led by McCudden, whom they confused with Mannock (not surprisingly). The Germans certainly had heard of Ball before he died, and they heard a lot about Bishop. As Rammjaeger says, the highly-publicized French aces were better known than the Brits, with names like Navarre (and his red Nieuport), Guynemer and Nungesser being fairly notorious among German aircrew on the French front. In his book "Notes d'un pilote disparu", French pilot Jean Beraud Villars wrote of Baldamus, whom he called the "ace of Champagne", and of his death.

The French were very interested in German aces and regular articles on various aces and their scores (as current as they could get) appeared in "La Guerre Aerienne", sometimes even with photos. There was the famous incident of Udet shooting down a Frenchman late in the war, and finding a clipping from "La Guerre Aerienne" in the dead pilot's pockets with his own picture on it, labeled as the new German ace of aces.

At least a few pilots in No. 56 Squadron knew that there was an accomplished ace and squadron leader on the Flanders Front known as Jacobs, and that he generally flew a Triplane. 56 Sqn pilot Holleran mentions Jacobs a couple of times in his diary.

Writing some comments in 1970 for an article based on his diary in "Cross & Cockade", Group Captain Guy M. Knocker of No 65 Squadron (Camels) wrote of an encounter on 20 November 1917, "..the Albatri come clattering down. I can see their black-and-white checkered wings and hooped fuselages and recognize them as what we called von Bulow's Circus." The description isn't very accurate for Jasta 36, but I still find it fascinating that the Brit pilots knew of von Bülow.

Greg

[Froggy]

[QUOTE=Gregvan;
The French were very interested in German aces and regular articles on various aces and their scores (as current as they could get) appeared in "La Guerre Aerienne", sometimes even with photos. There was the famous incident of Udet shooting down a Frenchman late in the war, and finding a clipping from "La Guerre Aerienne" in the dead pilot's pockets with his own picture on it, labeled as the new German ace of aces.

Greg[/QUOTE]

Hello I scanned this a page of La Guerre aerienne - june 1917-
All german aces are well repertoried with their victories and photos
Sure, for propanga reasons, they spoke only about died german aces
and even MVR !(52 victories at that time) -The commentary was that rumors said that he was heavy wounded or died-




cordialement
Bruno

[Pips]

Absolutely fascinating!

The poor Brits were hard done by as the view in the RFC was to promote the team, and not the man.

What about the Aemricans? They certainly received the newspaper coverage. Did any names percolate down to the Germans?

[alex_revell]

Gregvan,
Yes, the British certainly had a great deal of information about the other side. Many years ago now - probably the early 70's - I found a document in the PRO which gave a list of all the Jasta and their locations at a certain date. I had it copied, loaned it to Alex Imrie, at his request - and that was the last I saw of it.
As to pilots knowing who they were fighting. You are right when you say that the 56 pilots thought 'Greentail' was Bongartz. (what a memory you have!) Bowman told me that they often recognised opponents by their style of flying and fighting as much as by their colours. They were encouraged to report the latter for the reason of intelligence. The list I previously mentioned also gave details of the colourings - where known - of the jasta listed. It's too long ago now to remember if these were correct in the view of later knowledge, plus the fact that I didn't have the document long enough before it disappeared into the vast maw of the Imrie collection!