Kurt Wolff (aviator)

Infobox Military Person
name= Kurt Wolff
lived= February 6 1895 – September 15 1917|placeofbirth= Greifswald, Pomerania
placeofdeath= near Moorslede


caption=
nickname=
allegiance= German Empire
serviceyears= 1912-1917
rank= Oberleutnant
branch= Luftstreitkräfte
commands=
unit= Jasta 11, 29
awards= Pour le Mérite

Kurt Wolff (February 6 1895 – September 15 1917) was a German pilot during World War I.

Oberleutnant Kurt Wolff was born on February 6, 1895 in Greifswald, Pomerania. He was orphaned as a child and was raised by relatives in Memel.

Wolff began his military career with railway regiment NR4 but soon transferred to the air service. He received his pilot's badge in late 1915 and was initially assigned to 2-seater units. However, in November 1916 he was posted to the woefully unsuccessful Jasta 11. For many months, Wolff, like many of his squadron mates, failed to find success in the air. Wolff's luck took a turn, however, when command of Jasta 11 was given over to Manfred von Richthofen. Under Richthofen's leadership, Wolff (and Jasta 11) thrived and he became an efficient and effective scout pilot. His 33 aerial victories included 4 victories on April 13, 1917, and 3 victories on April 29, 1917.

Nicknamed "zarte Blümlein" (delicate flower) by his squadronmates, Wolff's youthful looks and frail physical stature masked his deadly skills as a combat pilot. Karl Bodenschatz, in his history of JG I entitled "Jagd in Flanders Himmel", wrote this about Wolff: "Jasta 11: Leutnant Kurt Wolff. At first glance, you could only say 'delicate little flower'. A slender, thin, little figure, a very young face, whose entire manner is one of extreme shyness. He looks as if you could tip him backwards with one harsh word. But below this friendly schoolboy's face dangles the order Pour le Merite. And so far, these modest looking eyes have taken 30 enemy airplanes from the sky over the sights of his machine guns, set them afire, and made them smash to pieces on the ground. This slender youth is already one of the best men of the old Richthofen Staffel 11."

On 6 May Wolff was sent to command Jasta 29, but returned to command Jasta 11 in July 1917. On 11 July Wolff was wounded in the hand by fire from a Sopwith Triplane of 10 Naval Squadron RNAS. On September 11, 1917 Kurt Wolff returned to Jasta 11 after taking sick leave to recuperate from the hand wound.

Upon his return, Wolff was most likely eager to make use of F.1 102/17 (the new Fokker Triplane prototype) in Richthofen's absence. Four days later, on September 15, Wolff found his opportunity. Despite heavily overcast skies, Wolff took to the air that afternoon in the Fokker triplane prototype 102/17 accompanied by his squadron mate Ltn Carl von Schoenebeck flying an Albatros DV.

That same afternoon, eight Sopwith Camels of No. 10 Royal Naval Air Squadron, led by Flt Lt Fitzgibbons, were escorting a flight of DH-4 bombers back towards Allied lines. Somewhere in the vicinity of Moorslede, Belgium, Fitzgibbon spotted a flight of German Albatrossen below and took half of his flight down to attack. Meanwhile, the Camels that stayed above as cover were attacked by Wolff and Schoenebeck. The fight was brief but intense, and in the heat and confusion of the battle, the British pilots mistakenly thought that there were five Albatros and four triplanes involved. As Wolff singled out a Camel to attack, he was suddenly hit from behind by Flt Lt. Norman MacGregor. MacGregor fired a brief burst, and then immediately had to zoom to avoid colliding with the triplane. MacGregor's report reads as follows: "I got into a good position very close on one triplane - within 25 yard - and fired a good burst. I saw my tracers entering his machine. I next saw him going down in a vertical dive, apparently out of control." "

In an interview after the war, Schoenebeck gave his account of the event which corroborates MacGregor's report: "One day we flew both to the front. That was done often because a flight of 2 is harder to spot than a whole squadron. If one was smart enough to use the sun in ones back the enemy could be easily surprised. Wolff was a smart leader and from the sun we attacked an enemy flight. Wolff was shooting brilliantly but got caught in a dogfight. I flew behind him as suddenly another Englishman appeared behind me. I only was able to get rid of him with great difficulty. While I was busy shaking off the Englishman another machine attacked Wolff from behind and before I could help I saw how Wolff was going down into a spin and hit the ground. So was Lt.Wolff, whom had me for covering him and who had to protect myself, falling in front of my very eyes. I was deeply shocked. On his funeral I had to carry his cushion of decorations."

What killed Wolff has never been made clear, though it seems more probable that he was killed directly by MacGregor's bullets and was already dead when his Fokker Dr.I crashed.

External links

* [http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/wolff2.php Kurt Wolff's page at theaerodrome.com]
* [http://www.pourlemerite.org/wwi/air/wolff.html Bio and Photos at pourlemerite.org]