WAR

—
Hermann becker was born in Trebus near Rothenburg on September 10, 1887,
the son of a goods dispatcher. He studied at the Oberrealschule and the Technical
College at Gorlitz where he specialized in machine construction. At the outbreak
of the war he was a practising engineer at Schweidnitz. Although he was declared
indispensable to the engineering firm for which he worked, Becker declined to be
exempt from service and volunteered for aviation duty. He entered the Fliegertruppen
at the beginning of 1915 and was sent for training to F.E.A. 2 at Adlershof,
Berlin.
In April 1915 he was sent to Galicia as Technical Officer of Fl.Abt.57. The
position of Technical Officer (Werkmeister) was equal in rank to that of Warrant
Officer and the job entailed full responsibility for the serviceability of the squadron's
aeroplanes. All mechanics assigned to individual aeroplanes were under him. That
Becker was assigned to such an important job after a relatively short service was
due in large part to his civilian engineering training, by which he profited again
in the summer of 1915 when he reported to F.E.A. 8 at
Graudenz for pilot training.
Qualifying for both Army and Navy certificates, he remained at Graudenz as
an instructor until December. In January 1916 he was posted as a bomber pilot
to Kagohl 5 {Kampfgeschwader der Oberste Heeresleitung 5.) The early tactical
units of the German air service came directly under the control of Supreme Headquarters
(OHL), as opposed to the Fliegerabteilungen, which were under the
control of Chiefs of Aviation for the individual Army Corps. In December 1915
the old B.A.M. and B.A.O. were renamed "Battle Groups"
Kagohl 1 and
Kagohl 2. At the same time three more Kagohls were commissioned, a sixth in
April 1916 and a seventh in June. Each of these seven Groups had six Staffeln
equipped with six
aeroplanes.
With Kagohl 5 Becker took part in the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the
Somme. In November 1916 he was commissioned Leutnant. On January 12, 1917,
he was awarded the Iron Cross First Class in recognition of his devotion and
extraordinary record of intensive flying on both day and night missions.
During his flying with Kagohl 5, Becker was merely a chauffeur for officers
who flew as observers, bombardiers, and gunners, and he was dependent on their
marksmanship and fighting spirit when enemy scouts attacked. By the end of
1916 Becker had had enough of that, and besides, the images of Boelcke and
Immelmann were grown large in the minds of young pilots throughout the German
air service. These were giants worthy of emulation, and Becker eagerly accepted
the opportunity to convert to single-seaters when Kagohl 5 was broken up.
After
a brief conversion course at the Kampfeinsitzerschule at
the Jagdjliegerschule Nr. 1
at Valenciennes.
Paderborn, he was sent to
At Valenciennes Becker came to the attention of the Fiihrer of Jasta 12,
Oberleutnant von Tutschek. It was customary (but not invariable) in the German
air service for Front-line squadron leaders to visit reserve centers such as those
connected with Jagdfliegerschulen and pick their own replacements from among
the more likely-looking recruits. Adolf Ritter von Tutschek couldn't know it, but
when he picked Becker as a replacement he was also picking a man to succeed
him as Staffeljlihrer.
114