Carl Degelow was born in January 1891 in Müsterdorf. Pre-war, he had worked in the USA as an industrial chemist, and therefore spoke English well. Degelow returned to Germany shortly before the outbreak of war to enlist in the second Nassauischen Infanterie-Regiment Nr 88, seeing action in France and Russia. Commissioned in July 1915, he transferred to the aviation service the following year, and was sent to Fl. Abt. (A) 216 on the Somme at the beginning of 1917. Degelow’s aggressive flying got him move to fighters, and Jasta 7, and by mid-May 1918 he had scored a handful of victories prior to his transfer to Jasta 40. After the death, on 9 July, of previous leader Helmuth Dilthey, Degelow took over the unit. He picked up his first Fokker D VII on 25 June 1918. After having Staffel mechanics check it over and load the ammunition, Degelow took it up for a brief hop. During this ‘test flight’ he encountered a scrap between Camels and D Vlls of another Jasta, and duly downed a Sopwith attacking one of the Fokkers, it was his sixth victory. Degelow’s claims from July onwards were attained with the D VII, six aircraft falling to his guns in that first month. He was on leave in August, but added six more victories in September, ten in October and one, his 30th and last on 4 November. Degelow survived the war to write a short memoir, Mit dem weissen Hirsch durch dick und dünn (With the White Stag through Thick and Thin). In 1979, nine years after Degelow’s death, historian Peter Kilduff expanded on this work, using extensive interviews and additional material to produce Germany’s Last Knight of the Air, which provides an excellent view of 4th Army D VII operations.
SPECIFICATION
Fokker D VII
TYPE: single-seat, single-engined biplane fighter ACCOMMODATION: one pilot DIMENSIONS: length 22 ft 9.66 in (6.95 m) wingspan 29 ft 2.333 in (8.90 m) height 9 ft 0 in (2.75 m)
WEIGHTS: empty 1508 lb (684 kg) maximum take-off 2006 lb (910 kg)
PERFORMANCE: maximum speed 116 mph (187 kmh) range, endurance of 1.5 hours; Engine; Mercedes D Illaü output 180 hp (134 kW)
ARMAMENT: two fixed Maxim LMG 08/15 7.92 mm machine guns immediately forward of the cockpit
FIRST FLIGHT DATE: December 1917
OPERATOR: Germany
PRODUCTION: 2000+
The arrival of the Fokker D VII at the front in late April 1918 finally began to redress the balance in favour of the German Air Service, whose pilots had had to fly obsolete Albatros D V, D Va and Pfalz D Ills against superior Allied types such as the SE 5a, Sopwith Triplane and Camel, Bristol F 2B, the French SPAD VII and later SPAD XIII. The battle for air supremacy over the trenches was paramount to both sides so that their armies could launch assaults with support from the air. Fokker’s Dr I had briefly redressed the balance in late 1917, yet even Manfred von Richthofen was fully aware that the life of the triplane was limited, and a new machine was desperately needed. He was among the aces that had tested the new Fokker biplane prototype, and was eager to see its arrival at the front. Indeed, one of the last things he did prior to his death in action on 21 April 1918 was writing to the German Air Service High Command seeking news on the availability of the D VII. ‘After a long time I come once again with a question. When can I count on the arrival of Fokker biplanes with the super-compressed engines? The superiority of British single-seat and reconnaissance aircraft makes it even more perceptibly unpleasant here. The single-seaters fight coming over at high altitude and stay there. One cannot even shoot at them. Speed is the most important point. One could shoot down five to ten times as many if we were faster. Please give me news soon about when we can count on these new machines.’
Fokker D VII (Alb) of Ltn d R Carl Degelow. Jasta 40, Lomme, August 1918
Jasta 40’s D Vlls all sported black fuselages, augmented by a white tail unit. Cabane and landing gear struts and wheel covers were also black. The wings of this Albatros-built D VII are covered in five-colour fabric, with blue rib tapes and a diagonal white stripe on the top wing to identify the Staffelführer. Degelow’s ‘white stag’ emblem displays golden yellow antlers and hooves.
