Boelke

[Always above]

This photograph comes from my collection it was taken on 11 March 16 ,it shows the great man himself sitting in a deckchair waiting for the first scramble from Sivrey.

[Marechallannes]

Nice one.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Not often we get to see pictures from a private collection John.
Thanks for posting.
Rob.

[Always above]

No problem, I regard this photograph very highly it’s reminiscent of the Battle of Britain pre scramble photos, because it was Boelkes idea . Connect the Squadron to the front line by phone and wait for the call. JB

[Rabscallion]

Fantastic, Thank you

[matt56]

Great photo, John - I love the 'scramble' idea so evident here! Where did you manage to acquire the picture?

All the best,
Matt

[gully_raker]

Thanks for posting that great photo.
One I had not seen before.

Rep Inbound!

[Always above]

[QUOTE=matt56;505518]Great photo, John - I love the 'scramble' idea so evident here! Where did you manage to acquire the picture?

All the best,
Matt
Hi Matt, Bought the photograph about eight years ago from an auction in Germany. Obviously nobody recognised the historical significance of the photograph. Boelke was tired of taking off on fruitless searches for the enemy, he basically demanded a airfield close to the front. With a network of communications to coordinate the response to enemy incursions.
He and another pilot landed at the new airfield, and waited for a call from the front telling him where the enemy had crossed and in which direction they were heading. Same idea as Dowding and the B O B.

[mikeemagnus]

Nice one John - thanks for sharing

[Naharaht]

A great photograph, John! Thank you for sharing it.

[matt56]

It's great to see the later-model Eindecker, too - operational, indeed! Looks like an interesting 'star' design on the wheel cover of the plane in the background. Were you at the auction or were you attending 'remotely'? Regardless, it's quite a cool perspective.

All the best,
Matt

[Always above]

Hi Matt, This photograph was bought Remotely, I’ve collected photos since the early eighties some from veterans some auctions others antique fairs. The photograph on my thread on 23 Squadron Dolphins, took me over twenty years to find, iit was described to me by a friend who was a first class air mechanic with the unit at Bertangles ,unfortunately his wife had thrown his copy away. I also tried to acquire a copy from a pilot called McGill in Canada, but he’d never got his copy back after lending it to an ace called Raymond Collishaw. JB

[Always above]

Writing that thread reminded me of what Tom Smally the First Class Air Mechanic had told me about the day he reported for duty , one of the mechanics asked if he’d like to see the Barron who’s body was in one of the hangers. Tom unfortunately said no. JB