Theo Osterkamp with his Fokker E.V

[Olham 164]

A craft we may be flying some day - the Fokker E.V with it's pilot, German ace Theo Osterkamp.

 

Theodor Osterkamp, Oberleutnant zur See

32 victories

Medals: Pour le Mérite (Blue Max), Iron Cross 1st class

Units: Marine Feld Jasta I, Marine Feld Jasta II

 

Osterkamp was one of the fewer aces, who survived the war - he died 1975.

 

Photograph borrowed from:

www.flieger-album.de

A website full of great finds - have a look!

[Olham 164]

Now this is a funny find: an advertising poster from 1919, showing the DVIII.

The subtitle reads: "the ideal sports plane!"

[Dej 17]

A craft we may be flying some day - the Fokker E.V with it's pilot, German ace Theo Osterkamp.

 

Theodor Osterkamp, Oberleutnant zur See

32 victories

Medals: Pour le Mérite (Blue Max), Iron Cross 1st class

Units: Marine Feld Jasta I, Marine Feld Jasta II

 

Osterkamp was one of the fewer aces, who survived the war - he died 1975.

 

Photograph borrowed from:

www.flieger-album.de

A website full of great finds - have a look!

 

Good ol' Onkel Theo, eh? 32 victories in WW1 and another 6 in WW2, not many did that AND survived both wars. Luftwaffe High Command kicked him out in 1944, a clear illustration that they had no respect for their veterans. Must get around to finding his biography siome day.

[Peeppu 207]

For completeness' sake this Fokker E.V is 156/18, w/n 2797.

[Hasse Wind 46]

Nice pic. After the war Fokker had to quickly switch their production to civilian models. They also built some very fast sport planes using the lessons learned from their WW1 fighters. Yep, I've been reading my Fokker book again. Fascinating stuff! :yes:

 

PS. I fly in the same Jasta as Herr Osterkamp.

[Hauksbee 103]

The subtitle reads: "the ideal sports plane!"

At last! Some truth in advertising.

[Olham 164]

Dej, you know the good men! Yes "onkel Theo" they called him in WW2. The fact that he

has been kicked out in 1944 nicely rounds his fighter career - certainly not a Nazi bum.

It was enough, if you had words against Herr Goerings and Herr Hitler's infinite wisdom.

[Dej 17]

Dej, you know the good men! Yes "onkel Theo" they called him in WW2. The fact that he

has been kicked out in 1944 nicely rounds his fighter career.

 

Taking the man at his word, I believe Osterkamp was the only fighter pilot to be an ace in both conflicts. There was some dispute on The Aerodrome forum as to whether it should count because four of his WW2 victories were unconfirmed. To my mind though, someone who shot down 32 aircraft in WW1 knows a victory when he sees it.

 

Unfortunately, now that my interest is piqued, I can't find an English translation of Du oder Ich - Deutsche Jagdflieger in Höhen und Tiefen. I'll have to look out for a German copy and muddle through.

[Hasse Wind 46]

If only these men had been more critical of the Nazi rule much earlier than when the ultimate defeat was rapidly approaching in 1943-44, then maybe a lot of bad things could have been prevented. We'll never know.

 

But it's interesting historically what happened to Göring when he became the head of the Luftwaffe. He was a capable and quite well-liked squadron leader during WW1, and not a bad pilot either, but as the Reichsmarschall he was a failure and in the end was with very bad terms with most of his subordinates when things started going badly for the Nazis. His chief of staff, General Hans Jeschonnek, committed suicide in 1943. It is believed one of the reasons behind this was the bad relationship between the two men, but definitely not the only one, as Jeschonnek had other problems not related to Göring.

[Check Six 2]

Good ole onkel Theo eh?

 

I read a very funny anecdote from (I think) Adolf Galland's book "The First and the Last". Apparently, Adolf and another Luftwaffe pilot from JG26 ("Abbeville boys" or "yellow-nosed bastards" as the Allies called them) were going to fly their Messerschmidt Bf 109's to onkel Theo's birthday party, and loaded baskets filled with ice and chilled French champagne and lobsters into the storage areas in their fighters. As it turned out, they got into strife and were forced to dogfight with the ice and bottles and lobsters rattling about inside their 109's.

 

A huge memory strain remembering further details, it's been some time since I read Adolf's book.

[Olham 164]

Hasse Wind, I'm not so sure, if Göring was really liked. Udet wrote a good line about Göring in his book,

but it sounded rather short to me, and Göring was already high up in the Nazi hierarchy, when Udet got

the book printed.

 

Steve, that annecdote shows so well, how close human behaviour and desperate fighting lay beside each other.

Edited July 14, 2009 by Olham

[Stickshaker 0]

I've been searching for an English translation of Osterkamp's autobiography but never found one. In fact, I haven't been able to acquire a German-text copy either. If someone knows where to look...

[RAF_Louvert 101]

I have also looked over the years for an English translation but have never been successful. However Stickshaker, if you want one there is an original 1938 printing listed right now at AbeBooks:

 

Du oder Ich

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[Stickshaker 0]

I have also looked over the years for an English translation but have never been successful. However Stickshaker, if you want one there is an original 1938 printing listed right now at AbeBooks:

 

Du oder Ich

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

 

Thanks so much, Lou! I think I'll take the plunge!

[RAF_Louvert 101]

You are more than welcome Sir. Let us know when it arrives, maybe even post a pic of the cover and the frontispiece illustration if there is one, (having never seen an origianl printing of this book I don't really know).

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[Olham 164]

Saw three books by "Onkel" Theo in a Book Antiques website, but they where all beyond 35,- Euro,

and I need my upgraded rig and monitor first.