A review by komet2020
MEMOIRS OF GERMAN PILOTS IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR: Volume 3 - Stark and Waldhausen by Jason Crouthamel

adventurous emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Memoirs of German Pilots in the First World War: Volume 3 | Stark & Waldhausen is one of those books that provides first-hand accounts from German fighter pilots who saw extensive combat during the First World War. It consists of an updated English translation of Rudolf Stark's war memoir, "The Jagdstaffel - Our Homeland: A Pilot's Diary from the Final Year of the War" (which had been originally published in 1932: its English language version appeared a year later as "Wings of War: An Airman's Diary of the Last Year of World War I") and the first English language translation of Hans Waldhausen's war memoir, "With Unfurled and Clipped Wings - The Fate and Thoughts of a Downed Fighter Pilot" which had been originally published in 1924. (Waldhausen was born in 1892 and died in 1976.)

Rudolf Stark (1897-1982) was one of the first First World War German fighter pilots I became aware of from one of the earliest books I had read about the air war on the Western Front as a preteen during the Spring of 1977. In this book, Stark's account of his frontline combat service as a fighter pilot (preceded by his service as a 2-seater pilot in an artillery-spotting squadron and before that, as a member of the cavalry early in the war) seems to have been somewhat truncated by Jason Crouthamel. The reader is taken from the moment of Stark's request for a transfer to fighters has been accepted in late 1917, his stint in a Jagdfliegerschule (where he was trained to fly and fight in a single-seat fighter plane), and back to the Front in early 1918.

In contrast to the 1933 translation of Stark's memoir (which I had read a few years ago), Crouthamel's translation includes passages from the 1932 German language edition that were omitted from the original English language edition, in addition to photos from Stark's own photo collection that hadn't been previously published. I very much enjoyed reading this version of Stark's memoir, which like Wings of War: An Airman's Diary of the Last Year of World War I conveys an almost visceral sense of what air combat was like over the Western Front during 1918. "He unabashedly confronts the brutality of war, while also reflecting on the awesome experience of flight and his spiritual connection to" the fighters he flew in combat, from the Pfalz DIII to the Fokker Triplane (made famous by Germany's top First World War fighter ace, Manfred von Richthofen - aka the Red Baron), and on to the premiere fighter plane of the war, the Fokker DVII. 

In addition to the photos of aircraft and pilots from the Jagdstaffeln (fighter squadrons) in which Stark served, there are also illustrations of the some of the aircraft used by these fighter squadrons, along with paintings depicting some of the aerial combat experienced by Stark in 1918, which he painted himself. Crouthamel also provides footnotes that give the reader a greater understanding of what Stark says about his experiences as a fighter pilot and squadron commander during the final year of the war.


The section of this book that deals with Hans Waldhausen's experiences as a fighter pilot is a shorter one. Waldhausen's stint on the Western Front as a fighter pilot lasted from July to September 1917, when he was shot down by 2 British fighters after having shot down a British observation plane and 2 British observation balloons over the trenches. He crashed landed behind enemy lines and was quickly captured by British troops. 

In Waldhausen's memoir, he makes clear the psychological effect of becoming a prisoner of war had on him. Prior to being shot down and captured, he had come into his own as a fighter pilot and showed promise of perhaps emerging from the war as one of Germany's top fighter aces. For in the space of a week between September 19 and 27, he had managed to shoot down 6 British airplanes and observation balloons. Unfortunately for Waldhausen, on the day he was captured (September 27, 1917), had been due to go on leave to Germany prior to his assuming the command of a fighter squadron in Richthofen's fighter group, Jagdgeschwader 1 (nicknamed Richthofen's Flying Circus). (To be given a command in Richthofen's fighter group was a high honor.) In retrospect, it probably would have been wiser had he not pressed his luck. 

Waldhausen would be a POW for 2 years, not returning to Germany until late 1919. His account conveys the frustrations and stresses he experienced while a prisoner - first, in France, and later, in the UK. He made an escape attempt while in France and later, in the UK, took part in the building of an escape tunnel. Like Stark's memoir, there are also footnotes and a number of photos in Waldhausen's book from his stint as a fighter pilot (during which he made the acquaintance of Ernst Udet, who would later emerge from the war as Germany's second-ranking fighter ace with 62 aerial victories). 

This is a book I would highly recommend for anyone with an interest in aviation and reading memoirs.