Antiope – Carl Eber’s Pfalz, named for a daughter of Ares and a queen of the Amazons. In different versions of her story her mother is sometimes Hippolyta, sometimes Otrere, another Amazon consort of Ares.
Auffarth, Harald, Oberleutnant – transferred to command Jasta 29.
BART – Rudolf Berthold’s Bursch (Orderly). His last name is not known.
Bart was quite filthy and unsuitable as an orderly. Berthold considers him to be a good luck charm and prefers to have him assist him into his flight clothes and be present when he takes off for a combat patrol. Hans-Joachim Buddecke stated that, there were times, when Berthold simply would not take off if Bart was not there.
It's only speculation on my part, but I believe the enlisted man on the far right of this photo, partially cut off, is Bart.
Beaulieu-Marconnay, Oliver Freiherr von – Leutnant, spitzname; Beauli. Stammeinheit; Dragoner-Rgt. von Bredow Nr. 4.
Talkative, mischievious, described as a Speilkind, play child, playful.
Berthold will chose Beauli as his wingman when he returns to the Staffel, or rather has the Staffel transferred to him, in March 1918. Son of an Huguenot, aristocratic regular army Captain, joined the army at 17, in his father’s regiment. Fought on the Eastern front, promoted to Leutnant in July 1916, had received the Eiserne Kreuz Erste Klass by the time he transferred to aviation in 1917. Served as pilot in an unknown two-seater Abteilung.
The 4D he used on the fuselage of his aircraft is the brand placed on the horses of his old regiment.
There is a picture of him with a dog. It looks like a Jack Russell, so that’s what I’m calling it. The picture is not clear but it appears to have a wiener. It isn’t known if it was his dog or not, but I have assigned it to him and named it Blitz.
Beauli will become close friends with Hugo Schafer and Georg von Hantelmann, also teenagers, so much so that they are dubbed ‘The Inseprables.’
His brother, Heinz, also became a Jagdfleiger, serving in Jasta 65. He became lost and landed his Fokker DVII at a forward American airfield used by the 95th Aero Squadron, two days before the Armistice. He rode with the 10th Uhlan Regiment and, like his brother, used the brand of that unit on his aircraft. This aircraft is now housed in the Smithsonian.
Bauli it seems, was called der Herr (the Gentleman) by Berthold. There is an incident in Flieger am Feind Einundsiebzig deutsche Luftfahrer erzählen, from his writings 28 May 18 he shot down a Frenchman over Soissons. He says der Herr got the other one. This was Bauli’s first kill.
Berthold, Rudolf, Oberleutnant – former commander of Jasta 18, now recovering from a severe wound. Spitznamen, der Eiserne, Eiserne, der Meister, der feuerspeinde Berg (the volcano.)
As of 2 Oct 1917 this Grosskannon has 28 Luftsieg to his credit of a career total of 44.
He was wounded for the fourth time on 10 October 1917 and is presently in Berlin, undergoing surgeries to try to save his right arm.
Murdered in 1920.
He had three West Highland Shepherd’s. Originally I gave them all fictitious names and female sex, Lilly, Giselle (Gisi) and Franziska, named after his sister.
After a second look at a picture of Berthold holding all three of them it became necessary to change that. The one Berthold has in his right arm is very obviously of the Male persuasion. So I changed Lilly to Ossie, a familiar version of Oscar, Berthold’s father’s name.
Berthold, Franziska – Rudolf Berthold’s sister. She is the nursing supervisor in the Viktoria-Lazarette (Victoria Hospital) in Berlin.
She has been able to have Berthold transferred to her hospital so that he can be treated by Dr. August Bier, one of Europe’s foremost bone specialists and the hospital’s chief instructor for physicians training to become military surgeons.
In the story, I sometimes refer to her as ‘die eiserne schweister,’ Iron Sister. This is entirely my invention, but also a probable nickname. She was a very strong woman.
Blitz - Ltn Oliver Freiherr von Beaulieu-Marconnay’s Jack Russell Terrier. The name is fictitious. It is not known for sure if this was even his dog,
Decker, Hans-Rudolf von, Leutnant d R – transferred to Jasta 20.
Caption - Hans-Rudolf von_Decker – This man in the moon design is attributed by some to Walther Kleffel, who is not featured in the Sim during von Decker’s period with this Staffel. I used it for Decker, because I like it and wanted to see it in the sim. I used von Decker for a number of unusual designs where the pilot is either not known or not featured in WOFF.
Deberitz, Rudi, Gefreiter – Presently a member of Carl Eber’s Kette.
Caption –The original WOFF skinners assigned the ‘Mercedes Star,’ which is an authentic marking used in Jasta 18, to Deberitz. The design actually used by Deberitz is unknown, as is the owner of this ‘Mercedes Star’ design.
Eber, Carl, Vizfeldwebel, soon to be promoted to Offizierstellvertreter – – Protagonist in the story. Spitzname, Felix, also Vise, short for Vizefeldwebel. Many previous identities.
He was born Marcus Triarius. The exact date of his birth is unknown but it was approximately 20 BCE, during the reign of Caesar Augustus.
Served in Legio XVII up to the battle of Teutoburg Forest, 9 CE.
Birth father, Mars, also known as Ares, Greco-Roman god of war.
He enlisted in König von Sachsen 4. Infantrie-Reg. Nr.103 in 1914 and continued in that Regiment until he joined the Fliegertruppe in 1915. He thought that when he joined the Fliegertruppe that this would be an interesting adventure and something of an out of the way, easy place to spend this war. Not so much.
He wears a modified version of the uniform of his Stammeinheit (parent unit). On his cap he wears the white green white cockade of Saxony below the black white red one of the Deutsches Kaiserreich.
His awards up to this time include the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class and the Friedrich August Medal, in silver, a Saxon award given to enlisted men, Feldwebel and below for meritorious achievements. In this case, 300 combat missions against the enemies of the Fatherland. The medal was given in two grades, Bronze and Silver.
Felix’s personal aircraft marking is related to his Spitzname (nickname), Felix. It is the horse shoe and four leaf clover. This is an authentic Jasta 18 personal marking which appears in a number of photographs but the pilot who used it is unknown.
WOFF assigned this emblem to Walther Kleffel but it has no more to do with him than it does with our fictitious character. What personal symbol he used is unknown. WOFF did not make a Pfalz an Alb DIII OAW or DVII for Kleffel’s later service under Berthold in Jasta 15.
In any event, Kleffel is not featured in the WOFF lineup of ace pilots. So, as far as the WOFF campaign is concerned, he doesn’t exist.
So, I took this design for Eber and gave Kleffel other personal markings in my Mods.
See backstory for more detailed information about Carl Eber.
As of 15 March 1918, Eber has 4 confirmed Luftsiege. He has actually shot down 16 EA , ‘that he knows about.’ You know how it is.
The photo here is actually VFw Johannes Voigt-Christiansen of Jasta 67. But this is how I see Carl Eber in my mind’s eye, except the he has a long scar along the right side of his face.
Keller, Siegfried, Leutnant d R – Presently the only totally fictitious human character in the story. Spitzname, Sigi.
CAPTION – Cpt. David S. Hall, flying with observer 2/Lt Hartigan in D.H.4 A.7568, described one of the “V-strutted Albatros scouts” that attacked them as being dark, “some with red cowlings, one with a gilt circular marking the shape of a chrysanthemum.”
This description was the basis for Sigi Keller’s marking.
Osprey “Jasta 18; the Red Noses,” Greg VanWyngarden
Klein, Johannes, Offizierstellvertreter – Spitzname, Jan. This nickname is my own invention as it is a common one for Johannes and may very well have been what his comrades called him.