Bruno Brьchner (1881-1948) was born in Ebersach, Saxony. He gained his pilot's licence (No. 53) in 1911. He was a civilian pilot who sailed with his wife to Africa to perform flying displays for the National Exhibitions in Windhoek and Dar-Es-Salaam. When the war broke out he offered his services to the Schutztruppe of German East Africa (as described above). Brьchner and his wife were interned by the British in East Africa during the war where he suffered from malaria. After the war he returned to Germany where he bought land on the Obersalzberg Mountain including Berchtesgaden, until Adolf Hitler acquired it from him in 1938.
Leutnant Alexander von Scheele (18__-1939) was an army officer who passed his pilot's test (No. 169) in 1912. In 1914 he was appointed to command the new Schutztruppe air force. He flew many combat and reconnaissance missions over South African lines during the war in an Aviatik biplane (see above). In May 1915 he was injured in a crash and did not recover to fly again before the end of the campaign. He was kept as a prisoner of war at Okahandja until the end of the war. He initially emigrated to Argentina before returning to Germany to join the Luftwaffe where he attained the rank of Oberst. He was killed while flying as a passenger in an air accident in Spain shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Leutnant Paul Fiedler (18__-1955) joined the Austro-Hungarian army in 1903. He was promoted to the rank of Leutnant der Reserve in 1909 and retired into civilian life. In 1910 he passed his pilot's licence (No. 19 in the Austro-Hungarian system). He sailed to German South West Africa to fly test flights for the early Schutztruppe air force. In August 1914 he was conscripted into the Schutztruppe with the rank of Leutnant. He flew many combat and reconnaissance missions over South African lines during the war In a Roland biplane (see above). After the surrender of German South West Africa, Trьck along with other non-regular members of the Schutztruppe gave his word not to take up arms against the Entente and was released on parole. Following the war he briefly returned to Austria, then again to South West Africa where he managed a farm until 1926 when he again returned to Europe.
Willy Trьck (1889-1981) was an Aviatik factory pilot, He sailed to German South West Africa to fly test flights in the Aviatik aircraft for the early Schutztruppe air force. In August 1914 he was conscripted into the Schutztruppe, although von Scheele took over the piloting of the Aviatik in wartime. After the surrender of German South West Africa, Trьck along with other non-regular members of the Schutztruppe gave his word not to take up arms against the Entente and was released on parole. Following the war Trьck stayed on in South West Africa as a businessman, pilot and farmer. He died in Cape Town in 1981.
Leutnant-zur-See Gunther Plьschow (1886-1931), nick-named the "Dragon Pilot" due to a tattoo of a dragon on his left arm, was a naval officer who passed his pilot's test after only three days of flying in February 1914. He was sent straight to Tsingtao with his aeroplane arriving in July. When war broke out he was the only German airman available for active duty in Tsingtao. During the siege he ran spotting missions in a Rumpler Taube over the Japanese lines and claimed to have shot down a Japanese aeroplane with his pistol. When the garrison surrendered and went into captivity he was ordered to escape by flying his aeroplane into China, where he crash landed and started an epic journey back to Germany. When the garrison surrendered and went into captivity he escaped and made his way back to Germany via China, Japan, America and Gibraltar where he was briefly captured by the British and taken to England, only to escape once more and make his way back to Germany via Holland. He was the only German prisoner to escape from a British mainland POW camp during either World War. He also wrote several books including one on his experiences in China and his journey back to Germany called "Escape from England" (published by Ripping Yarns). After the war he explored uncharted areas of Chile and Patagonia where he died in a flying accident in 1931.
Oberleutnant Erich Henneberger (18__-1914) became an army officer in 1907, originally with the rank of Leutnant. After passing his pilot's test he was transferred to the East African Schutztruppe in June 1914. When Bruno Brьchner was recovering from wounds received when shot down by a British gunboat, Henneberger took his place as German East Africa's only pilot. However, before he saw action, he crashed and was killed during a test flight in November 1914.
Leutnant der Reserve Wilhelm Gutzmer von Gusmann (18__-1917) was Henneberger's observer, He was injured in Henneberger's fatal crash in 1914 but later made a full recovery in hospital. He then fought with the Schutztruppe until he died of wounds received at the Battle of Mahenge in June 1917.
Leutnant Friedrich Mьllerskowski (1886-19__) joined the German infantry in 1907 and transferred to the Seebatallion in 1912. He passed his pilot's test in Germany before being posted out to Tsingtao where he was badly injured in a test flight days before the outbreak of war. He thus did not see active service during the siege of Tsingtao, being released from hospital only shortly before the German surrender. For the remainder of the war he was held as a prisoner of war in Japan at the Kumamoto and Kurume camps and returned to Germany in 1919 where he rejoined the army. In 1920 he retired with the rank of Major.
Linienschiffsleutnant Viktor Klobucar (1878- 1965) of the Austro-Hungarian imperial and royal navy passed his pilot's test in 1913. In 1914 he was an officer on the SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth at Tsingtao and became good friends with Gunther Plьschow . Although he was not posted in this role as a pilot, nor did he have an aeroplane at Tsingtao, he is included on this list simply as another potential pilot in the German colonies. He fought at the siege of Tsingtao and was captured by the Japanese. He spent the rest of the war in the Japanese prisoner of war camps at Kumamoto, Kurume and Aonogahara before being released in 1919. He died in Zagreb in 1965.
Leutnant Hans Surйn (1885-1972) earned his commission as a Leutnant in the imperial German army in 1905. He passed his pilot's test in 1912 and the following year was posted to the Cameroon Schutztruppe. In 1914 he was ordered to prepare an airfield at Garua in the North of the colony and was presumably intended to pilot one of the aeroplanes sent from Germany. Surйn never flew in Cameroon as the aeroplanes never arrived at his airfield, they both having been captured by the British while en route. After the war he wrote books extolling the values of a healthy sporting life, nude bathing and aryan supremacy. Although Hitler was an admirer of his books, Surйn spent the last years of Nazi rule in prison having fallen foul of the regime.
Hauptmann Eugen Kirch (18__-19__) earned his commission as a Leutnant in the German 28th Infantry Regiment (2nd Rhineland) in 1895. He served in the Cameroon Schutztruppe in 1912 and on his return to Germany in 1913 passed his pilot's test. He was one of the pilots designated to fly the aeroplanes sent to Cameroon in 1914 but war broke out before he set sail, thus leaving him stranded in Germany. During the First World War he served in the 3rd Flying Battalion (3. Flieger-Batallion) and later commanded the 4th Flying Battalion on the Western Front.
The Aircraft Brьchner's Ago/Otto Pusher Biplane Made by: Pfalz in Speyer
Crew: One/Two
Construction: Wooden frame with canvas covering
Engine: Rapp 100 hp engine
Top Speed: 100km/h (although some experts doubt it could actually have attained this speed)
Length: 10.8m
Wingspan: 14.9m
Armament: No armaments have been confirmed although photographs show what appears to a metal tube slanting down from the cockpit. This may have been an aid in dropping improvised bombs.
Markings: "Pfalz-Fugzeugwerke" and four or five serial numbers/letters, with "Speyer..." and three or four characters underneath in smaller print can be seen underneath the right hand side of the pilot's cockpit in early photos of the plane. There may have been other markings on the left side. Rieth (see sources below) states the company name was also displayed on the wings. These markings would have been eradicated when the aircraft was repaired and her canvas replaced.
Von Scheele's Aviatik P-14 Biplane in German South West Africa Made by: Automobil und Aviatik AG in Mьlhausen
Crew: One/Two
Construction: Wooden frame with canvas covering
Engine: Argus 100 hp engine
Top Speed: 105 km/h
Length: 8m
Wingspan: 14m
Armament: Initially equipped with a rifle for use if it crash landed in hostile territory but later equipped with bombs (improvised from 10cm shells dropped from tubes attached to sides of the aeroplane) and rifle grenades, both of which were dropped on South African positions
Markings: None can be positively confirmed from photographs.
Fielder's LFG Roland Biplane in German South West Africa Made by: LFG Roland (at the Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft in Berlin according to Flugsport Magazine)
Crew: One/Two
Construction: Steel frame with canvas covering
Engine: Mercedes 100 hp engine
Top Speed: 115 km/ph
Length: ___
Wingspan: ___
Armament: Initially equipped with a rifle for use if it crash landed in hostile territory but later equipped with bombs (improvised from 10cm shells dropped from tubes attached to sides of the aeroplane) and rifle grenades, both of which were dropped on South African positions
Markings: None can be positively confirmed from photographs
Plьschow's Rumpler Taube Monoplane in Tsingtao Made by: Rumpler
Crew: One/Two
Construction: Wooden frame with canvas covering
Engine: Argus 100 hp engine
Top Speed: 95km/ph
Endurance: 4 hours
Length: 10.3m
Wingspan: 14m
Armament: Initially equipped with no weaponry aside from Plьschow's own Parabellum pistol but later armed with bombs (improvised 4lb bombs made from dynamite and scrap iron packed into "Sietas, Plambeck & Co" coffee tins detonated by a cartridge on impact)
Markings: None can be positively confirmed from photographs
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