Hi guys
A while ago I was able to view the episode concerning World War I aerial combat, which was very nice and interesting. Inspired by the program and the 90th anniversary of von Richthofen's death I was looking about online for more information as to the engagements presented. Imagine my surprise when on the History Channel Forum I came across the following two posts concerning the 14 September 1917 dogfight that Capt Arthur Brooks of the 22nd Aero Squadron had with Jasta 15. I am indebted to JochenPeiper and JonG for their information:
"JochenPeiper
The last episode of
Dogfights presented an air combat where it is claimed that Arthur Raymond Brooks claimed four Fokker D VIIs shot down in flames. This segment relies on the testimony of Brooks' diary. Unfortunately, this is not the complete story. The documented facts are somewhat different from Brooks' recollections.
On 14 September 1918, nine Spads of the 22nd Aero Squadron engaged in an air combat with about a dozen Fokkers. Brooks and Lt. Phil Hassinger claimed a Fokker, both receiving a share, before Hassinger was shot down in flames by Georg von Hantelmann. This is not shown on
Dogfights. Brooks went on to fight the Fokkers before his aircraft was shot up and he was forced to crash-land his Spad which was written-off. During the fight, the only loss on the German side was the aircraft of Lt. Paul Wolff, Jasta 13, who landed his Fokker intact at Lake Lachaussee and was captured. He did not crash in flames and Brooks never stated that he saw any of his victims crash. This was more wishful thinking on the part of Brooks. He received credit for two kills plus one shared. There is no evidence that his claims were confirmed by witnesses.
On this date, the Germans claimed a total of 48 Allied aircraft. The real loss was 33. In contrast and comparison the Allies claimed 29 German aircraft destroyed whereas the Germans lost only six. This is an overclaiming of five-fold. The Americans claimed 12 and the French claimed nine for a total of 21 claims. This excludes balloons which are in a separate category.
For further information see
Bloody April...Black September by Norman Franks, Russell Guest, and Frank Bailey. It is unfortunate that the authors of
First Dogfights did not consult this valuable work.
JonG
Dear Jochen:
I knew Arthur Raymond Brooks, one of the nicest fellows I ever knew, and did quite a bit of research into that "big day" of his. The red-nosed Fokkers he fought on September 14, 1918 were clearly from Jasta 15/JGII, which claimed four Spads in the fight. Piecing things together from other 22nd Aero Squadron accounts, it seems that Ltn George von Hantelmann killed 1/Lt Philip Hassinger (the only fatality and the only plane to actually fall in flames during the fight, witnessed by Brooks himself), while JG.II's commander, Hptm Oskar von Boenigk, and Ltn Johannes Klein claimed two more whose pilots, 1/Lts Robert Little and Arthur Kimber, made it to Allied lines before force-landing. I believe that von Boenigk then joined the fight with Brooks and took credit for him as well, though Brooks too managed to come down in Allied lines.
This gives some idea of what probably happened to the two Germans that were confirmed to Brooks--they, like Little, Kimber and Brooks, may have force-landed in German territory and were perceived by witnesses in Allied lines as having been brought down. The other two Germans either did not really go down or did so without witnesses. In either case, they certainly did not go down in flames--only Hassinger did.
I provided all this information when I was interviewed for the show--along with individual color schemes for every Spad in Brooks' flight and several of the Jasta 15 protagonists--but nothing outside of Brooks' lone action within the overall dogfight was shown and all I had to say on what happened to the rest of his flight was cut out. This may make American viewers fell good, but it certainly does not give a balanced picture, even from Brooks' standpoint. He told me that when he emerged from his shot-up Spad he was extremely upset and "all in," not only because of his own miraculous escape, but because he'd seen his friend, Hassinger die in flames and he was convinced that his entire flight had been wiped out. It also says something about his character that when two of the Fokkers were confirmed to him, Brooks insisted that the victories go on record as being shared with Hassinger.
For those reasons, I'm sure that if he was still alive, Ray Brooks would have been disappointed with his treatment in that episode of Dogfights."
Please be aware that it is certainly not my intention to detract from Capt Brooks' achievements, who courageously engaged a numerically superior formation of enemy fighters and lived to tell the tale. My problem is with the producers of Dogfights who, knowing the facts of the engagement, instead chose to present a wholly inaccurate view of the battle. Unfortunately it makes one wonder how accurate the rest of the air battles presented throughout the series are. For more information on Capt Brooks here is an interesting web page that provides a outline of his career.
www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/brooks.php
Horrido!
Leo