A ''Jagdstaffel'' (plural ''Jagdstaffeln'', abbreviated to Jasta) was a
fighter ''Staffel'' (squadron) of the
German Imperial ''
Luftstreitkräfte
The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alt ...
'' during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Background
Before April 1916,
''Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches'', which had been established in 1912 as the aviation service of the
Imperial German Army
The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...
, was largely organised in small general purpose units (''
Feldfliegerabteilungen, FFA'' Field Flyer Detachments). The first specialist bombing and close support units began forming during 1915. The ''FFA'' were subordinate to the Army command to which they were attached.
By the end of the spring of 1915, the first German fighter aircraft were being issued in small numbers to the ''FFA''. At this period their function was seen almost entirely as "protection" for the reconnaissance missions which were the primary duty of the ''Fliegertruppe''. Pilots like
Kurt Wintgens
''Leutnant'' Kurt Wintgens (1 August 1894 – 25 September 1916) was a German World War I fighter ace. He was the first military fighter pilot to score a victory over an opposing aircraft, while piloting an aircraft armed with a synchronized mac ...
,
Max Immelmann
Max Immelmann (21 September 1890 – 18 June 1916) '' PLM'' was the first German World War I flying ace.Shores, 1983, p. 10. He was a pioneer in fighter aviation and is often mistakenly credited with the first aerial victory using a synchr ...
and
Oswald Boelcke
Oswald Boelcke PlM (; 19 May 1891 – 28 October 1916) was a World War I German professional soldier and pioneering flying ace credited with 40 aerial victories. Boelcke is honored as the father of the German fighter air force, and of air ...
pioneered the aggressive use of the early ''
Fokker Eindecker
The Fokker ''Eindecker'' fighters were a series of German World War I monoplane single-seat fighter aircraft designed by Dutch engineer Anthony Fokker.Boyne 1988 Developed in April 1915, the first ''Eindecker'' ("Monoplane") was the first purpose- ...
'' fighters but it was to be almost a year before the first specialist fighter units joined the ''Luftstreitkräfte''.
In February 1916, the first step towards fighter-only units began, with the establishment by ''Inspektor-Major'' Friedrich Stempel of units described variously as ''Fokkerstaffeln'' or ''Kampfeinsitzer Kommando'' (''KEK'', single-seat battle unit) formations. Fighter aircraft already in service and their pilots were detached from the general-purpose ''FFA'' units and brought together in pairs and quartets at important locations. Such units were formed at
Vaux
Vaux may refer to:
People
* Antoine-Alexis Cadet de Vaux (1743–1828), French chemist and pharmacist
* Bernard Carra de Vaux (1867–1953), French orientalist who published accounts of his travels in the Middle East
*Clotilde de Vaux (1815–184 ...
,
Avillers,
Jametz
Jametz is a small commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France, near the Belgian border.
Economy
Since the 15th century, residents have primarily worked as cattle farmers, cheesemakers, carpenters and leatherworkers. To ...
,
Cunel
Cunel () is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Meuse department
The following is a list of the 499 communes of the Meuse department of France.
The communes cooperat ...
and other places along the Western Front as ''Luftwachtdienst'' (aerial guard service) units, consisting only of fighters. This process was by no means universally welcomed, nor did it bring immediate success. By April 1916, the
air superiority
Aerial supremacy (also air superiority) is the degree to which a side in a conflict holds control of air power over opposing forces. There are levels of control of the air in aerial warfare. Control of the air is the aerial equivalent of c ...
established by the Eindecker pilots in the
Fokker Scourge had long gone and the Eindeckers were giving way to the
Fokker
Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...
and
Halberstadt
Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bombi ...
D-series biplane fighters.
History
In the aftermath of the
Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun (french: Bataille de Verdun ; german: Schlacht um Verdun ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...
, during which the German side lost the
air superiority
Aerial supremacy (also air superiority) is the degree to which a side in a conflict holds control of air power over opposing forces. There are levels of control of the air in aerial warfare. Control of the air is the aerial equivalent of c ...
built up over the Western Front during the so-called
Fokker Scourge and as a result of the superior performance of the
Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colors =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries =
, decorations ...
(RFC) and the French ''
Aéronautique Militaire
The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Arm ...
'' during the
Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...
, the German flying service was reorganised, greatly expanded and renamed the ''Deutschen Luftstreitkräfte'' (German Air Service) reflecting a far greater degree of autonomy, although it remained an integral part of the army and acquired a far greater number and variety of specialist units, including ''Jagdstaffeln'' (hunting squadrons), the first German single-seater fighter units.
A target was set to establish 37 new squadrons in the next 12 months, equipped with up-to-date single-seat fighters and manned by specially selected and trained pilots, to counter the successes of the Allied fighter squadrons operated by the RFC and the French ''Aéronautique Militaire''. Boelcke, the leading fighter pilot of the day, was called on to organise the manning, equipment and training of ''
Jasta 2
Jasta 2 (Jagdstaffel Zwei in full and also known as ''Jasta Boelcke'') was one of the best-known German Luftstreitkräfte Squadrons in World War I. Its first commanding officer was the great aerial tactician Oswald Boelcke, and it was the incubator ...
'' which was to become the model for these new squadrons. Initially ''Jasta 2'' was equipped with a motley collection of fighters, including early Fokker and Halberstadt
"D" types. In September, the squadron began to receive the first
Albatros D.I
The Albatros D.I was a German fighter aircraft used during World War I. Although its operational career was short, it was the first of the Albatros D types which equipped the bulk of the German and Austrian fighter squadrons ('' Jagdstaffeln'') f ...
fighters, that created the German air superiority of the first half of 1917. Boelcke was killed in an aerial collision on 28 October but his tactics, especially formation flying and a combination of aggression and prudence known as the
Dicta Boelcke
The ''Dicta Boelcke'' is a list of fundamental aerial maneuvers of aerial combat formulated by First World War German flying ace Oswald Boelcke. Equipped with one of the first fighter aircraft, Boelcke became Germany's foremost flying ace durin ...
, remained the core of ''Jagdstaffel'' practice in the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' fighter arm for the rest of the war. Several pilots of ''Jasta 2'' trained by Boelcke, became fighter leaders, notably
Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of ...
.
By April 1917, the ''Jagdstaffeln'' had established air superiority on the Western Front (known since as
Bloody April
Bloody April was the (largely successful) British air support operation during the Battle of Arras in April 1917, during which particularly heavy casualties were suffered by the Royal Flying Corps at the hands of the German ''Luftstreitkräfte ...
and still regarded as the most disastrous period in the history of British military aviation). This ascendancy was not to last, as new allied fighters (most famously, the
S.E.5a, the
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...
and the
SPAD S.XIII
The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII.
During early 1917, the French designer Louis Béc ...
) were already starting to come into service, all of which more than matched the last of the Albatros fighters to see squadron service, the disappointing
D.V/D.Va.
The ''Jagdstaffeln'' concentrated on hindering the work of the Allied two-seater corps reconnaissance and bombing squadrons. Offensive incursions by fighters any distance behind Allied lines were avoided, as were mass confrontations with large allied fighter formations, on the grounds that such operations risked attrition that the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' could ill-afford.
Publicity for successful German fighter pilots and the cult of the
Air ace
A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...
rapidly established the status of their squadrons as elite units, which became associated with the kingdoms of the German Empire. Most ''Jagdstaffeln'' (eventually about 67 of them) were considered to be Prussian while other such units were associated with Bavaria, Saxony and Württemberg. The Bavarian ''Jagdstaffeln'' in particular were associated for organisational and supply purposes with the (theoretically independent) Bavarian army, which did not add to overall efficiency in these departments.
To obtain a local and temporary air superiority, larger fighter units were established, composed of several ''Jagdstaffeln'', known as ''Jagdgeschwader'' and ''Jagdgruppen'' (Fighter Wing and Fighter Group). These units were moved from one section of the front to another as the tactical situation demanded. The most famous of these units was
''Jagdgeschwader 1'' composed of ''Jagdstaffeln'' 4, 6, 10 and 11, commanded by Richthofen until he was killed, many of which flew the supremely manoeuvrable
Fokker Dr.I
The Fokker Dr.I (''Dreidecker'', "triplane" in German), often known simply as the Fokker Triplane, was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918. It became famous as the ...
triplane from the autumn of 1917. By March 1918, there were 80 ''Jagdstaffeln'' in the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', most of them equipped with Albatros D.Vs. A long overdue re-equipment with new types began, most notably the
Fokker D.VII
The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII qu ...
, which for the first time since mid-1917, gave the ''Jagdstaffeln'' equipment that matched their opponents'.
Personal colour schemes
German aircraft left the factory in a standard finish, although this differed from one manufacturer to another. Clear varnish on fabric and wooden surfaces had changed by 1916 to various camouflage schemes. In the ''Jagdstaffeln'' this gave way to a riot of colour, as pilots repainted their machines as they pleased. In January 1917, when he took over ''Jasta'' 11, Richthofen celebrated by painting his Albatros red and the squadron followed suit, painting at least part of their machines red. Other ''Jagdstaffeln'' soon adopted the fashion until few fighters flew in the manufacturers' finish, their fuselages in particular at least sporting the pilot's monogram or perhaps his favourite colour(s), even if the wings (as was often the case) remained in camouflage. A squadron theme was sometimes followed, with machines decorated in similar colours or with similar motifs but generally personal preference seems to have been prevalent.
[Robertson pp.61–62] More than one pilot (on both sides) recorded that the contrast with the plain khaki of RFC fighters was helpful in rapidly distinguishing friend from foe in the hurly-burly of a dogfight and might have aided the accreditation of air victories claimed by individual German pilots.
Gallery
File:HalberstadtDII.jpg,
File:Albatros DVa Hippel.jpg,
Image:DRI neu Jacobs Wiki.jpg,
Image:Albatros Manfred von Richthofen neu.jpg,
Image:Fokker Dr I Richthofen.jpg,
Image:DRI neu blau Wiki.jpg,
Image:DRI neu.jpg,
Image:Albatros Bohning Herbert.jpg,
Famous ''Jagdstaffeln''
* ''
Jasta 1
Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 1 (commonly abbreviated as Jasta 1) was a fighter squadron of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. Jasta 1 was founded on 22 August 1916, using single seat fighters drawn ...
''
* ''
Jasta 2
Jasta 2 (Jagdstaffel Zwei in full and also known as ''Jasta Boelcke'') was one of the best-known German Luftstreitkräfte Squadrons in World War I. Its first commanding officer was the great aerial tactician Oswald Boelcke, and it was the incubator ...
(Jasta Boelcke)''
* ''
Jasta 5
History
Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 5, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 5, was created on January 21, 1916, and mobilized on 21 August 1916, as one of the first fighter units of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Arm ...
''
* ''
Jasta 11
Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 11 ("No 11 Fighter Squadron"; commonly abbreviated to Jasta 11) was founded on 28 September 1916 from elements of 4 Armee's “Kampfeinsitzer” or KEKs) 1, 2 and 3 and mobilized on 11 October as part of the Germ ...
''
* ''
Jasta 15
Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 15, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 15, was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. The unit would score over 150 aerial victo ...
''
* ''
Jasta 18
Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 18 was a "hunting squadron" (fighter squadron) of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I.
History
The Jasta was formed on 30 October 1916, at Halluin under 4th Armee aus ...
''
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
{{Jastas
Aerial warfare tactics
*