Walter Kuno Reinhold Gustav von Bülow-Bothkamp (alternate spelling Bothcamp) (24 April 1894 - 6 January 1918) was a German fighter ace from an aristocratic family who was credited with 28 victories. After entering World War I as a

hussar A hussar, ; ; ; ; . was a member of a class of light cavalry, originally from the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry ...

, he transferred to the Imperial German Air Service. He was a recipient of the ''

Pour le Merite Pour is a name which can be used as a surname and a given name: * Kour Pour (born 1987), American artist of Iranian and British descent * Mehdi Niyayesh Pour (born 1992), Iranian footballer * Mojtaba Mobini Pour (born 1991), Iranian footballer * P ...

'', Prussia's highest award for valor, as well as the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Saint Henry, Saxony's highest award for valor. On 6 January 1918, he was killed in action.

Early life and family

Walter

von Bülow The term () is used in German surnames either as a nobiliary particle indicating a noble patrilineality, or as a simple preposition used by commoners that means or . Nobility directories like the often abbreviate the noble term to ''v.'' I ...

-Bothkamp was born at Borby, now a part of

Eckernförde Eckernförde (; , sometimes also ; , sometimes also ) is a city located in the of Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany. Situated on the coast of the Baltic Sea, approximately 30 km north-west of Kiel, it has a populat ...

in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.The Aerodrome website page on Walter von Bülow-Bothkamp http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/bulow-bothkamp2.php He was the second eldest of four brothers, all of whom would serve their country during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, with three of them dying in service. Friedrich (1885-1914) and Walter (1894-1918) were killed in action and Conrad (1895-1918) died in a flying accident. Only Harry (1897-1976) survived the war; he later served as an ''

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German language, German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the Army, ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, a ...

'' in the ''

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

'' in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

.''frontflieger'' website page on Bülow-Bothkamp http://www.frontflieger.de/3buelow0t.html Walter von Bülow-Bothkamp graduated from the Baccalaureate High School in

Plön Plön (; ) is the district seat of the Plön district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and has about 8,700 inhabitants. It lies right on the shores of Schleswig-Holstein's biggest lake, the Great Plön Lake, as well as on several smaller lakes, ...

, Schleswig-Holstein in 1912. He then traveled for six months in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. After his ''Wanderjahr'' he settled in to study law at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

. He also joined a student corps there. In August 1914, he and his younger brother Conrad joined the 17th Brunswick Hussar Regiment (''Braunschweigisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 17''), one of several Prussian hussar regiments which used a skull and crossbones symbol and were known as "Death's Head Hussars." In January 1915, he accompanied his unit to the front in southern Alsace.

Early Flying Service

Walter von Bülow-Bothkamp was commissioned as a ''Leutnant'' (lieutenant) in April 1915 and applied for pilot's training in the ''

Luftstreitkräfte The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Combat Forces)known before October 1916 as (The Imperial German Air Service, lit. "The flying troops of the German Kaiser’s Reich")was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-langu ...

'' (Imperial German Air Service). Along with his brother Conrad, he trained in Replacement Division 5 in Hanover through 15 September 1915. Bülow-Bothkamp was originally posted to ''Feldflieger Abteilung 22'', which was an aviation squadron organized for aerial reconnaissance, observation, and direction of artillery on the Western Front. Although flying an AEG G.II two-seated observation plane, he managed to down enemy two seaters on consecutive days, 10 and 11 October 1915. After an award of the Iron Cross First ClassNote: Bülow-Bothkamp had earlier received the Second Class Iron Cross in April 1915. for his victories in October, his transfer to ''Flieger-Abteilung 300'' took him to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

to continue his reconnaissance duties in support of a German ally, the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. He flew on the Palestinian front and was wounded on 13 June 1916. In a letter home from the hospital in Jerusalem, he joked about his shoulder wound being as inconsequential as a

dueling scar Dueling scars () have been seen as a "badge of honour" since as early as 1825. Known variously as " scars", "the bragging scar", "smite", "", or "", dueling scars were popular amongst upper class Germans and Austrians involved in academic fencin ...

suffered at university. After his discharge from hospital, he won twice more near

El Arish ʻArish or el-ʻArīsh ( ' ) is the capital and largest city of the North Sinai Governorate of Egypt, as well as the largest city on the Sinai Peninsula, lying on the Mediterranean coast northeast of Cairo and west of the Egypt–Gaza border ...

, with a fifth victory unconfirmed. He earned a transfer to piloting fighter planes. He left ''Flieger-Abteilung 300'' and joined a Prussian fighter squadron on the Western Front, '' Jagdstaffel 18''. Bülow-Bothkamp shot down two enemy aircraft on 23 January 1917 and another the following day, to start his and his squadron's victory roll. By 10 May, when he transferred out of ''Jagdstaffel 18'', his total stood at 13. He had been awarded both the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern and the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony () was a German monarchy in Central Europe between 1806 and 1918, the successor of the Electorate of Saxony. It joined the Confederation of the Rhine after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, later joining the German ...

's Military Order of Saint Henry while with the squadron.

Appointed to Leadership

He was then appointed Commanding Officer of '' Jagdstaffel 36''. He promptly shot down two French observation balloons at

Bouvancourt Bouvancourt () is a commune in the French department of Marne, region of Grand Est, northeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Marne department The following is a list of the 610 communes in the French department of Marn ...

on 21 May 1917. A hip wound kept him from scoring for a while, before he began a steady accumulation of triumphs that would extend from 6 July to 2 December. During this stretch, on 8 October, after 21 victories, he was awarded the highest decoration of both

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

and the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, the ''

''. On 29 October, he went on

leave Leave may refer to: * Permission (disambiguation) ** Permitted absence from work *** Leave of absence, a period of time that one is to be away from one's primary job while maintaining the status of employee *** Annual leave, allowance of time awa ...

until 7 November, leaving

Hans Hoyer Leutnant Hans Hoyer (20 September 1890 – 15 November 1917) was a German World War I soldier who was decorated as an artilleryman before turning to aviation. As a flyer, he became an ace credited with eight confirmed and three unconfirmed aerial ...

in temporary command of the squadron. On 2 December, he killed Lieutenant Harry G. E. Luchford of No. 20 Squadron RAF when he shot down his Bristol F.2 Fighter. This was Bülow-Bothkamp's 28th and final victory. On 13 December 1917, he was transferred to being Commanding Officer of a more prestigious unit, ''

Jagdstaffel 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 incubato ...

'',

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 ...

's old unit. On 6 January 1918, Walter von Bülow-Bothkamp led his wingmen into a dogfight against No. 23 and No. 70 Squadrons of the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

near

Ypres Ypres ( ; ; ; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper ...

. He did not survive. RFC aces Captain Frank G. Quigley and Captain William M. Fry are believed to be his conquerors. Walter was buried in his family chateau's cemetery. He joined his brother Friedrich, killed in action in 1914. Within the year, Conrad would join them.

Decorations and awards

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

: **

(8 October 1917) ** Royal

House Order of Hohenzollern The House Order of Hohenzollern ( or ') was a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Hohenzollern awarded to military commissioned officers and civilians of comparable status. Associated with the various versions of the order were crosses an ...

, Knight's Cross with Swords **

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

1st class (October 1915) and 2nd class (April 1915) *

Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin () was a territory in Northern Germany held by the House of Mecklenburg residing at Schwerin. It was a sovereign member state of the German Confederation and became a federated state of the North German C ...

: Military Merit Cross 2nd Class *

: Military Order of Saint Henry, Knight's Cross *

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

: Military Merit Cross, 3rd Class with War Decoration *

: War Medal (''Harp Madalyası'') (1916 during service in Palestine) As an officer of a Brunswick regiment and recipient of the Iron Cross, he would likely also have been awarded the duchy's

War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross () was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Merit Cross was reissued in 1957 ...

, but most of the records of that award were lost.

Endnotes

References

* *

External links

* http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/bulow-bothkamp2.php Accessed 18 October 2008. * http://www.frontflieger.de/3buelow0t.html Accessed 18 October 2008. * http://www.sero-papermodels.com/content.do?object=jasta.jasta18&page=page.jasta Accessed 18 October 2008. * http://www.pourlemerite.org/ Accessed 18 October 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bulow-Bothkamp, Walter 1894 births 1918 deaths Aviators killed by being shot down German military personnel killed in World War I German World War I flying aces Luftstreitkräfte personnel People from Eckernförde Military personnel from the Province of Schleswig-Holstein Prussian Army personnel Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Military personnel from Schleswig-Holstein