Oswald Boelcke PlM (19 May 1891 â 28 October 1916) was a German flying ace of World War I credited with 40 victories; he was one of the most influential patrol leaders and tacticians of the early years of air combat. Boelcke is honored as the father of the German fighter air force, as well as considered the “father of air combat”.
Boelcke fulfilled his childhood dream of a military career by joining the Imperial German Army on 15 March 1911. He followed his interest in aviation, learning to fly as World War I began. After duty as an aerial observer during 1914, he became one of the original fighter pilots during 1915. He and Max Immelmann were the first German fighter pilots awarded Prussia’s highest honor, the Pour le Mérite. When Immelmann was killed in combat in June 1916, the German high command grounded Boelcke after his 19th victory. During his month’s forced grounding, he was tasked to help transform the Army’s Fliegertruppe (Flying Troop) air arm into the Luftstreitkräfte (Air Force) by October 1916. His innovative turn of mind codified his combat experiences into the first ever manual of fighter tactics distributed to an air force, the Dicta Boelcke. The Dicta promulgated axioms for individual pilot success, as well as a requirement for teamwork directed by a formation’s leader. Present-day tactics manuals stem from the Dicta.
On 28 October 1916 during his 6th mission of the day, Boelcke and five of his pilots attacked a pair of British planes. During the dog fight, Boelcke was involved in a mid-air collision which split the fabric of one of his wings. As the fabric tore away, the wing lost lift, and the aircraft spiralled lower to glide down into an impact near a German artillery battery near Bapaume. Although the crash seemed survivable, Boelcke was not wearing his crash helmet, nor was his safety belt fastened. He died of a fractured skull.
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