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BOXART STORY
The red-nosed blue aircraft with a white
stylized winged sword on the sides of the
fuselage became the real threat to Allied airmen
from August 1917. Not only because its pilot, the
commander of Jasta 14, Rudolf Berthold, posed
a mortal danger to any adversary, but also
because he was an exceptional leader with
great ability to prepare his unit for combat.
Berthold was a gutsy personality and quite
an aggressive pilot. He often took his aircraft
to their limits , and the vice of the Albatros D.III,
the lower wing failures, was an unpleasant
complication for him. Like other commanders,
he had a personal spare aircraft of the same
type. But while his better-known D.III came
from the Albatros factory, the other one was
the product of the O.A.W. factory. Little is known
about this Albatros, only one photograph is
known to us, showing it after an unspecified
crash. It was not the lightest one, as the poor
aircraft lost its undercarriage, the nose was
badly damaged, the upper wing broken, and
the lower wing was destroyed by contact
with the ground. However, if Berthold himself
flew the plane and did not lend it to someone
else, then he probably escaped unharmed.
There is no mention of any such crash even in
Peter Kilduff's biographical book Iron Man.
Berthold was wounded on April 24 while in
command of Jasta 14. He had to take a break
for treatment and convalescence until June
15, when he rejoined the unit. But on August
12 he learned that he was to take command
of Jasta 18 and six days later he was cleared
to fly again. The whole of Jasta 18, by then
a unit with little success, had repainted their
aircraft in Berthold's red and blue scheme, but
the winged sword remained the commander's
personal symbol.
Berthold drilled his new unit from the start
and within a short time he was able to increase
both the combat morale and the tactical
abilities of its pilots, and thus their combat
success. Since August 21, he also increased his
own score , which before his injury had stopped
at 12,and during September 14 opponents fell
victim to him! One of them was Lt. Bernard
Alexander Powers of No. 19 Squadron RFC. The
20-year-old young man, admittedly already
a fairly experienced pilot, volunteered to go
on a dangerous reconnaissance flight over
enemy territory to find out the current position
of two regiments of the German 30th Division,
which were to counter-strike the positions of
the British 33rd Division. For the Britons this
was an extremely dangerous opponent, as
the 30th Division was classified as first class,
that is in full condition and with a wealth of
combat experience. This could not be said of
the British, who had shortly before relieved
the 23rd Division. When a request came from
headquarters for an aerial reconnaissance
to reveal the German positions on September
25, Powers started studying the maps while
his mechanics prepared his Spad IX (B3520).
As soon as he received his final instructions, he
took off. It was 4:30 in the afternoon and the
weather was less than ideal. Unfortunately
for him, Rudolf Berthold, flying an Albatros
D.III, was also in the area east of Ypres.
We don't know which of his aircraft Berthold
was flying, but this was the period in which he
might have been using his spare aircraft, the
one produced by O.A.W. (number unknown). Near
the town of Geluveld, close to the road between
Ypres and Menin, the German ace attacked
from above and fired a precise fatal burst
on the British pilot and his aircraft. The lone
reconnaissance pilot, who quite possibly did not
even realize the attack, crashed and Berthold
scored his victory number 24. This situation is
captured on the boxart for the Albatros D.III kit
(Cat. No. 8114) by Antonis Karydis.
Just two weeks later, while leading his pilots
into one of their many battles, the commander
of Jasta 18 suffered a serious injury to his right
arm, which until that moment he claimed was
his only limb still uninjured. A bullet, probably
fired by Capt. Gerald Maxwell of No. 56 Squadron
RFC, ricocheted in the cockpit and devastated
his right humerus. Berthold was flying a Pfalz
D.III (probably No. 4004/17) on this flight and
while single-handed, he was able to get his
aircraft back to the airfield and land safely.
Only then he collapsed and was transported
unconscious to the hospital in Courtrai, where
he began his harrowing journey to recovery,
which never ended.
Berthold's 24th casualty was reported to
have had one kill on July 29, 1917. With his
wingman Lt. Francis Behrens, Powers fought
with fighters from Jasta 29. It ended in a draw;
Powers shot down one of his opponents, while
his wingman was shot down by Vzfw. Misch.
Text: Richard Plos
Illustration: Antonis Karydis
Unsuspecting victim
INFO Eduard
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January 2024