Preface
by Prof. Max
Bölcke, the father of Oswald Boelcke
Oswald Bölcke was born on May 19, 1891, in Giebichenstein,
a suburb of Halle an der Saale, where his father was the head teacher
of the Municipal Junior High School. Before him, three of his siblings -
Luise, Wilhelm and Heinrich.- was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
where his father had adminstered the presidency of the German Protestant School as his first duty for six years, until the end of 1890. After Oswald,
who was the first of the children given to the family in Germany, his
younger brothers Martin and Max was born in Halle (Martin) and Dessau
(Max). On July 17, the wedding day of his parents, he received the holy
baptism by the hands of his uncle, Reverend Edmund Hartung, while he was on
vacation at the house of his grand-mother in Freyburg an der Anstrut.
The ceremony was held at the very church where already his mother got
baptized, confirmed and married by the same chaplain. After the
period of only one year, the family transferred their residence to Halle
itself, where the bright boy used to romp about cheerful youth games with
his three older siblings in the open surroundings of the Viktoria Place.
At the age of four and a half year, he came to Dessau in fall
of 1885, where his father had received a position as a head teacher at the Ducal
Antoinette School that was associated with a teacher seminar. Still for
one and a half year he could independently play his childlike games in the
beautiful and open surroundings at the Northern outskirts of the town. Then
he had to go to school, that's to say he owed his education to the Ducal
Friedrich High School where he graduated from on Eastern of 1911.
Of a very bad whooping cough that infested him at the age of three years, a
strong tendency for asthmatic problems remained to him, being the cause for
many omissions and inhibition of his education. This tendency affected him
on colds until the end of his life. From his youth years until his time as a
Leutnant (Lieutenant)
he looked to overcome this weakness by exercising long distance
runs. Like that he managed to win the second price of the Army Run held in Frankfurt
in the year of 1913. (It is not known if the Army
Run was held in "Frankfurt am Main" or "Frankfurt an der
Oder") As for the rest he was of a healthy nature that
constantly searched to steal itself through scheduled calisthenics. An
example of his agility and brave self-confidence was the way he learned to
swim. As a little boy, sitting on the palms of his fathers hands, he
understood the swimming motions within a few moments. Then, to the
astonishment of the spectators, he swam away like a fish in the water.
Under the guidance of his father and with the same quickness he developed to an agile and fearless
mountaineer, as he was allowed to draw to the Alps for the first time at the
age of seventeen. At the region of Tux, departing from Lanersbach
they undertook nice mountain hikes that proved the more challenging the
tougher the rock was to climb. Only where danger applied, his young soul
cheered up. Unforgotten to his mother - who watched the scene from the lower
Krier-Alp - is how he ran down a very steep hillside on giant steps
that was covered with loose glacial drift after having climbed the massive
rock of the Höllenstein (hell stone) near Hinter-Tux. He
welcomed the carefully descending father and his brother with a headstand on
the first patch of grass, laughing.
His principal - Professor Dr. Wichmann - said at the funeral speech held to
his honors: "His tendency did not got to the erudition by books; it
just urged him too much to act. He was a strong nature that also urgently
needed to act with physical strength. Rowing, Swimming and - combined with
it - the Diving (he won prices with already as a student), ball games
of all sorts, traditional and modern Gymnastics, that was his favorite
occupations he wrote in the curriculum vitae that he compiled before his
graduation. He could have added the Ice Skating and the Dancing, where he
proved to be especially skillful with. His favorite subjects was History,
Mathematics and Physics. He called "Treitsches Works" as well as
the military-historic publications of the General Staff his favorite books
he read. So he got attracted to the military career very early.
Already before his older brother thought of a military career, he himself was
striving to become an Officer, he later wrote. To fulfill this wish he one day
sat down to write a letter to his Majesty the Emperor, asking for his
permission to become an Officer. He did so by his own will at his third year
of Senior High School. Only through the authorization of this request, his
parents heard of it. Although they didn't put something in the way of his
intention, they thought it was just right to not withdraw him from the
family life yet, but have him finishing the Senior High school first.
After graduation, the parents let their always good-hearted son draw from
the homeland indeed, fully trusting in his character strength. He started
his military career as a Cadet of the "Telegraph Battalion Nr. 3"
in Koblenz. Thanks to his physical abilities and his ardor, the
Service of the King was pleasure for him to spend at the beautiful landscape
of the rivers Rhine and Mosel, where he lived sunny years of
his youth, improved through friendship and heartily contacts to his family.
After graduation from the "Kriegsschule" (War
School) of Metz
he returned to Koblenz in the Summer of 1912, where he got promoted
to the rank of a Leutnant (Lieutenant). In that Summer, he and his
brother Martin had the well known adventure at the Heiterwand of the Lechtal
Alps that became public in broad circles. In a consequence of a
thunderstorm, the brothers got stuck in the fog during a difficult hike over
a ridge. After 24 hours of persistence at an unapproachable face, they got
finally rescued unhurt through the sacrifice of the engineer Roman Walch,
who was the
only guide at Imst. The fond respect for the father, who had to hold
on that day - July 26 - the chair of the inauguration of the Anhalter (1)
Hütte located at the north slope of the Heiterwand in the name
of the Anhalt (1)
Section, was the only inducement to search for the
descent from the ridge via the north face, that was possible to climb
through on a very few places only, rather than descending via the walkable
south side to reach the worrying father until the night before the inauguration
day. Albeit he could not keep these worries away from his parents, he at
least reached them together with his brother shortly after the ceremony was
over. Despite ambrosia and strain, both in torn garment was fresh and in a
great mood, the crowd of feast guests firing gun salutes to give them a
cheering welcome.
With great satisfaction he reports his in letters about his service as a
telephone operator and later as a radio operator, especially about his
exercises at the Taunus, the Odenwald (Oden
Forest) and the Eifel
(German Ardennes) with its diversified landscapes that delighted his for the
beauty of nature receptive heart. In 1913, the service as a radio operator
took him to Darmstadt, together with a company that got detached from
the battalion of Koblenz. There, on the military training area he
got in close contact with the "Fliegertruppe"
(Flying Forces) for the
very first time, that has a flying school there (2). Silently the plan
ripened in him to transfer to the flyers himself but only in June of 1914
this wish got fulfilled through assignment to the Halberstadt
Flying School (3). In about six weeks his training was completed. On the day
before the mobilization, he passed his final examination test and on August
1st he visited his parents for a short hour in Dessau as he was on
the way to his destination Darmstadt. After he and his parents had
escaped the crowd at the station to the quiet platform, he confessed to the
unsuspecting parents with the plea to forgive him that he did not service as a radio
man in Halberstadt, which was what they believed, but received his air force
officer schooling instead. He has withheld this to not disturb their stay at
the Alp bath Hinter-Tux as well as to not impair their
relaxation. Such caring regard was granted forgiveness in that solemn hour,
even though the danger of the occupation - that the older son Wilhelm
belonged to as an observer - at first frightened their hearts. For the
tremendous events of those days the personal concern resigned, so they let
him go with their with their blessings and with the trust in God who's hand also
reigns the world of air.
Still, the keen on war action one had to be patient for four weeks at the "Flieger-Ersatzabteilungen"
(replacement squadrons) of Darmstadt
and Trier until he was finally allowed to fly from Trier into enemy
territory. His destination was Sedan. On the way there, he made a landing
near Montmédy to visit his brother who stood in that region as an
observer of a "Fliegerabteilung"
(squadron);
was asked to stay, had the great pleasure to be soon and constantly united with
his brother because the squadron leader requested him for his own troop.[4
- read
at the Appendix how the official (censored) story of O.B.'s father varied
from the truth]. So the pair of brothers had the great
luck for months to stand together in deep readiness for combat, in the
regions of the Argonne and Champagne, until April 15 (1915),
if ever possible in the same aircraft, Wilhelm as the observer, Oswald as
the pilot and both in the awareness that one could rely on each other like
he relies on himself. There they became inseparable through the hardship and
dangers they shared a thousand times.
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