WAR

with orders to report to Grossenhain, the ancient Grossen Hayn in Saxony,
where he had converted to single-seaters.
Werner Voss was assigned to Jasta 3 and commissioned Leutnant on September
1, 1916. The squadron, stationed at the time on the Somme, was equipped
mostly with Halberstadt D scout machines. Voss, scoring two victories on
November 27, showed himself to be a daring and resourceful pilot, obviously a
man to be watched.
In Jasta 2 a new leader had been appointed to
succeed Oswald Boelcke who
had died as a result of the collision with one of his men. The new Jastafiihrer
was Leutnant Stephan Kirmaier, who led his men to 25 victories in
as many days,
and then was shot down himself by J. O. Andrews of Hawker's old squadron.
Appointed to succeed him was Hauptmann Franz Walz, who arrived at Jasta 2
the first
of December, Werner Voss being transferred into the squadron at the same
time to take a place in von Richthofen's flight. When von Richthofen left to
assume command of Jasta 11, Voss moved up to take his place as flight leader.
By Imperial decree, Jasta 2 was renamed Jasta Boelcke to perpetuate the
name and example of its first leader, the father of the German fighter service.
Werner Voss was by all accounts a natural pilot. He was mechanically
inclined and used to enjoy tinkering with his motorcycle and the engines of his
aeroplanes. He was something of a "loner" as Ball was, and Hauptmann Walz
permitted him to fly solo patrols contrary to the official policy of the Luftstreitkrafte.
He survived several close calls in December and January and then
hit his stride. Between January 15 and February 15, 1917, he shot down ten
British machines; in the following six weeks he shot down ten more. He had
suddenly become more than an Ace, for with twenty-two victories he was von
Richthofen's nearest rival. The rest of the air service was interested in him
professionally, and the civil population of Germany fastened on him as a new
hero. He was ribbed by his squadron-mates about the Pour le Merite which he
would be getting any day. That meant little to Voss who preferred flying to
parading.
Because he had been a two-seater pilot once ("poor devils," he called them)
he planned his
attacks on observation machines carefully with the aim of downing
the machine rather than killing the crew. One burst into the engine after taking
the British by surprise would do the trick, and because he was a superlative
marksman, he could do it. He brought down one just that way on April 3, 1917,
the machine going down in no-man's-land, but close enough to the British lines
for the crew to run for it and make it. He was happy about that—he had shot
an adversary down, but hadn't had to kill anybody to do it.
With fighters it was different. Voss was a terrific pilot, his reflexes were fast,
and his shooting was deadly accurate. He combined all these attributes in a special
attack he evolved and used several times. Patrolling high and alone, he could
catch British scout formations by surprise as they approached or returned from
the Front. He would come in broadside and high. To the enemy pilots, if they
saw him at all, it probably looked as if he were going to pass over them. At
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