WAR

ehind the British lines near Arras in the summer of 1915, but since the event
was not seen by any German observers it was never officially recorded.
The Eindeckers were issued singly or in pairs to the Fliegerabteilungen
to be flown as escorts to the two-seaters, many of which were as yet unarmed.
Several of the early Aces started their careers in Eindeckers during the summer
and fall of 1915 and the damage done to Allied morale, to say nothing of the
Allied air services, was considerable. There's an old saying that reflects
the army's
tradition of stoicism in the face of disaster, "The situation's not bad, it's downright
serious." The situation was so serious for the RFC that the last half of 1915 was
known as the period of the "Fokker Scourge."
On the first day of August 1915 the RFC bombed Douai, and Boelcke took
off in pursuit in one of the Eindeckers. Immelmann dashed for his two-seater,
but his comrade and regular observer, Ehrhardt von Teubern, felt that it would
not be wise to take off since the weather was very uncertain. Immelmann, wasting
no time, took up the other Eindecker and followed Boelcke after the British
machines. They had a ten-minute start on him and Immelmann was still trying
to catch up when he saw Boelcke ahead in the distance dive on the rearmost
British machine, break away, and head for home. He learned later that Boelcke
had had a gun stoppage after firing only a few rounds. That left Immelmann
alone to take on ten enemy two-seaters. How to do it He had flown the Eindecker
only twice before, and he had never attacked an aeroplane. He was confident,
as always, but obviously this was a business that exacted stiff penalties for
blunders. He picked out a straggler and flew straight at it.
It was a pretty easy thing, after all. Immelmann didn't know it beforehand,
but the pilot of the British two-seater was flying solo, having carried bombs
B.E.2c
instead of a gunner. After having made a rambling series of attacks from the side,
below, behind, having sprayed a hundred rounds in all directions, Immelmann
saw the British machine go into a steep glide. He followed it down. It landed in
a field on the German side of the lines and Immelmann landed too. He climbed
out of his Eindecker and called out "Prisonniers!" That part was bluff—he was
unarmed and he expected two men to be in the machine.
The pilot, however, was ready to surrender because he was wounded in
the left arm. He extended his right hand in token of surrender and Immelmann
promptly shook it, then escorted his prisonnier into the hands of a doctor.
Boelcke was delighted with Immelmann's performance. It had been inept
and amateurish, but he had done the job he set out to do, and few men could
claim a victory the first time they went up as fighters. Both Boelcke and
Immelmann began flying voluntary "hunting patrols" when they were free from
chauffeuring or escort duties. Toward the end of August they teamed up to
shoot down a French Caudron G.4 and the next day Immelmann scored a victory
unaided. In September Immelmann scored his third victory, a British B.E.2c
down in flames, and so equalled the score of the great Roland Garros. In
October he shot down another machine and in November a fifth to become an
Ace. He was still stationed at Douai, but now that he was an Ace people were
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