Oswald Boelcke
(19 May 1891 – 28 October 1916)

Boelcke was a professional soldier and pioneering flying ace credited with 40 aerial victories. He is honored as the father of the German fighter air force, and of air combat as a whole. He was a highly influential mentor, patrol leader, and tactician in the first years of air combat, 1915 and 1916.

Boelcke fulfilled his childhood dream of a military career by joining the Imperial German Army on 15 March 1911. He pursued an early interest in aviation, learning to fly as World War I began. After duty as an aerial observer during 1914, in mid 1915 he became one of the first of a new type of warrior- a fighter pilot. Flying the first true fighters, Boelcke, Max Immelmann, and several other early aces began racking up aerial victories against enemy aircraft. Boelcke and Immelmann were the first German fighter pilots awarded Prussia's highest honor, the Pour le Mérite.

The German high command reassigned Boelcke after his 19th victory, during his forced grounding on staff duty he helped transform Die Fliegertruppe (Flying Troop) air arm into the Luftstreitkräfte (Air Force). His innovative turn of mind codified his combat experiences into the first manual of fighter tactics distributed to an air force, the Dicta Boelcke. The Dicta promulgated axioms for individual pilot success, as well as a requirement for teamwork directed by a formation's leader. Modern aerial combat tactics manuals stem from the Dicta.

After a mandated holiday leave spent on a military inspection tour of Ottoman facilities, Boelcke was picked to lead one of Germany's first fighter squadrons, Jagdstaffel 2 . Its pilots were hand-picked by Boelcke and indoctrinated in his Dicta through extensive training. During September and October 1916, Boelcke scored 21 more victories while commanding Jagdstaffel 2, maintaining his position as the world's highest-scoring ace. He was killed in a mid-air collision with his best friend, Erwin Böhme, on 28 October 1916. By the end of the war, Jagdstaffel 2 (renamed Jasta Boelcke) had 25 aces in its ranks; many of them were selected to lead other squadrons and four of its members became generals during World War II. Boelcke's influence extends to the present, with extensive tributes to him at Air Force's bases throughout Germany.

Ernst Udet
(26 April 1896 – 17 November 1941)

Udet at first flew in an observation unit as an Unteroffizier pilot with observer Leutnant Bruno Justinius. He and his observer won the Iron Cross (2nd class for Udet and 1st class for his lieutenant) for nursing their damaged Aviatik B.I two-seater back to German lines after a shackle on a wing-cable snapped.

Later, Udet was court-martialed for losing an aircraft in an incident the flying corps considered a result of bad judgement. Overloaded with fuel and bombs, the aircraft stalled after a sharp bank and plunged to the ground. Miraculously, both Udet and Justinius survived with only minor injuries. Udet was placed under arrest in the guardhouse for seven days.

Udet was assigned a new Fokker to fly to his new fighter unit - FFA 68 - at Habsheim. Mechanically defective, the plane crashed into a hangar when he took off, so he was then given an older Fokker to fly. In this aircraft, he experienced his first aerial combat, which almost ended in disaster. While lining up on a French Caudron, Udet found he could not bring himself to fire on another person and was subsequently fired on by the Frenchman. A bullet grazed his cheek and smashed his flying goggles. Udet survived the encounter, but from then on learned to attack aggressively and began scoring victories, downing his first French opponent on 18 March 1916.

That year, FFA 68 was renamed Kampfeinsitzer Kommando Habsheim before becoming Jagdstaffel 15. In January 1917 Jasta 15
re-equipped with the Albatros D.III. Udet claimed five more victories, before transferring to Jasta 37 in June 1917. During his service with Jasta 15, Udet later wrote he had encountered Georges Guynemer, a notable French ace. Udet saw Guynemer and they circled each other, looking for an opening and testing each other's turning abilities. Once Udet had Guynemer in his sights, his machine guns jammed and while pretending to dogfight he pounded on them with his fists, desperate to unjam them. Guynemer realized his predicament and instead of taking advantage of it, simply waved a farewell and flew away.

By this time Udet had become a triple ace, his success attracted attention earning him an invitation to join the "Flying Circus", Jagdgeschwader 1 under the command of Manfred von Richthofen. After watching Udet shoot down an artillery spotter by frontal attack, Richthofen gave him command of Jasta 11, von Richthofen's former squadron command. Udet scored 20 victories in August 1918 alone, mainly against British aircraft and became a national hero with 62 confirmed victories to his credit by the end of the war.

During WWII Udet served in the Luftwaffe as head of aircraft production.

Gustav Boehl

Born on 22nd. January 1895, soon after the outbreak of WWI, at the age of nineteen, Gustav Boehl found himself in the German air force stationed at Cambrai in Northern France and working as an airframe and engine mechanic.
As the Imperial Air Force was a relatively small arm of the services during those years, and the actual fighting area was confined to only a few miles of air space, more or less directlt above the lines with airfields in the immediate vicinity, Boehl frequently encountered people like Manfred von Richthofen, Boelcke, Immelmann etc.

As the war drew on Boehl eventually managed to obtain a place in pilot training and graduated
from flying school in the Spring of 1917. He quickly became commander of 19 Sqdn flying the
Albatros, and continued flying combat missions until the end of the war.
When hostilities ended he was a highly decorated and experienced combat pilot and recipient of the Royal Hohenzollern House Order with Swords.