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Thom Ross
Artist: Thom Ross, Title: Werner Voss - click for larger image
Werner Voss
72 x 48 Inches  Acrylic on Canvas   $14850 Framed
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Werner Voss was arguably the best "flier" the Germans ever produced. Another one of these "lone wolf" hunters, Voss was fearless and the Allies quickly began to pay attention to him, both respect AND fear. A close friend to Manfred von Richthofen, Voss was the one man who von Richthofen felt had the best chance to either catch or pass him in "kills". Voss flew the Albatross with great success but then, like von Richthofen, switched over to the Fokker Dr.1 "triplane". Where von Richthofen painted his almost all red, Voss painted his black (in the movie, "Fly Boys", there is a German ace who flies an all-black triplane, obviously inspired by Voss). On the cowling of his triplane Voss painted a face that was inspired by the stern faces Voss had seen on Japanese fighting kites. But it was Voss' "last stand" that secured him a place in not only World War I lore, but in all aviation history. One September 23, 1917, Voss went out on a morning patrol and shot down an enemy plane. Returning to base he found two of his brothers waiting for him and they sat down and had lunch together. After lunch, Voss put on his fancy flying gear and took off with the rest of his "jasta" (the German name for their air squadrons). As was his way, Voss quickly outdistanced his two wing men and was soon flying, and hunting, all by himself. Soon he saw a formation of British S.E.5's from number 56 Squadron; without flinching, Voss went right at them. This bold move unnerved several of the British pilots who swerved wildly to miss this one all-black triplane. Voss began to fire his twin Spandau machine guns and sent 3 of the 9 S.E.5's out of the fight. It was now 6 on 1. It is remarkable to read the detailed reports that the British fliers wrote afterwards. One can feel their surprise at the audacity of this one lone German taking on 6 British flyers (and of those 6 there were a couple who were as famous as Voss! This was not a "dog fall" by any means!) Voss was seen to be everywhere and, when he climbed up and above the melee (the Fokker triplane was an excellent climbing machine) he had his chance to exit the fight, but he didn't; he would turn over and dive right back into the dogfight, and this chance to escape, according to James McCudden, was available to him several times, yet he never once even made an attempt to leave. According to McCudden, Voss seemed to be firing at all the British planes at once and McCudden even saw him at one time at the apex of hundreds of tracers bullets fired at him by the British, but they had no effect. Having put bullets in all 6 S.E.5's, Voss' plane was seen to shudder and begin a slow glide away from the fight. Voss no longer was using evasive tactics and that was always fatal. The British pilots watched him for as long as they could (there were now other German planes zooming around like mosquitoes). Finally Voss' plane was seen to roll over and nose-dive into the ground where it shattered into fragments. Upon returning from this ordeal, several of the British pilots had to be helped from their planes and administered a shot (or two) of "medicinal" brandy; obviously whoever that damn German pilot WAS had really given these men something to remember. That night at their mess the British pilots could only talk of the courage, daring, and flying ability of this one lone German lunatic. The next day an advance British unit ran up to the day-old wreck and pulled the dead pilot free. Inside his silk shirt they found a silk handkerchief with Voss' name on it; now they knew the identity of the brave pilot. When informed it was Voss that they had killed, there was no celebration. Arthur Rhys-David, one of the two pilots given credit for shooting Voss down, was noticeably moved. He kept muttering his wish that he could have brought him down alive. At the time of his death Voss was 20 years old and had been credited with 48 "kills". The two medals you see pinned to this painting are the "Pour le Merite" (the "Blue Max") seen dangling around his neck, and the "Iron Cross" pinned to his tunic. While many of his fellow pilots on both sides have faded from memory, Voss' bold "last stand" has ensured him a place in the hearts of all aviator buffs.......there is no question that Werner Voss had "the right stuff".
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