Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 73 : Early German Aces of World War I

The Fokker Eindecker (monoplane) started the true age of fighter aviation. With the development of its revolutionary synchronised machine gun system, the Eindecker caused consternation in the ranks of Allied airmen as german pilots began to reap a grim harvest of victims in 1915. The exploits of aces like Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelke became legendary on both sides of the front, and they received the adulation of the German public, along with such honours as the first awards of the Orden Pour le Mérite (the 'Blue Max') to airmen. These men created the tactics and principles of German fighter aviation. By the final months of 1916, the monoplanes had been replaced by the next generation of biplane fighters from Fokker and Halberstadt flying together in new fighter formations, the Jagdstaffeln. This book charts the successes of the 'lone hunters' of 1915 until their eventual replacement. Text by Greg Van Wyngarden with illustrations by Harry Dempsey.

Contents

• Introduction
• Chapter 1 : The Development of the Flying Gun
• Chapter 2 : The 'Fokker Scourge'
• Chapter 3 : Turning Point over the Somme
• Chapter 4 : The Birth of the Jagdstaffeln
• Chapter 5 : Forgotten Fronts