Josef Jacobs

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Birth name	Josef Carl Peter Jacobs
Nickname	Kobes/Köbes Roter Teufel (Red Devil)
Birth date	15 May 1894(1894-05-15)
Place of birth	Kreuzkapelle (Gut Kreuzkapelle) near Much, Rhineland, Siegkreis, Rhine Province, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	29 July 1978 (aged 84)
Place of death	Munich, Bavaria, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	File:Iron Cross of the Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army File:Freikorps Flag.png Freikorps File:War Ensign of the Reichswehr, 1919 - 1935.png Vorläufige Reichswehr File:Luftwaffe eagle.png Luftwaffe
Years of service	1914–1918 1919 1919/20–1921 1939–1940
Rank	Leutnant der Reserve (2nd Lieutenant of the Reserves) Oberleutnant der Reserve (1st Lieutenant of the Reserves) Major der Reserve
Unit	Fokkerstaffel West Feldflieger Abteilung 11 Jagdstaffel 12 Jagdstaffel 22 DLV NSFK Kampfgeschwader 4 „General Wever“
Commands held	Jagdstaffel 7 (Jasta 7)
Awards	Iron Cross Saxe-Ernestine House Order Order of the White Falcon House Order of Hohenzollern Pour le Mérite Baltic Cross
Other work	Engineer Race driver Bobsledder Entrepreneur

Josef Carl Peter Jacobs (15 May 1894 – 29 July 1978) was a German officer of the Imperial German Army and the Freikorps, fighting the Bolsheviks in the Baltics. Between 1916 and 1918, the World War I flying ace of the Luftstreitkräfte and knight of the Order "Pour le Mérite" shot down 48 enemy planes and balloons (Luftsiege), all of them at the Western Front.

Life

File:Josef Jacobs, Albatros D.V.png

Josef Jacobs' Albatros D.V

File:Fokker Triplane flown by Jacobs. On this plane, his insignia of a winged demon is on a black fuselage.png

Fokker Triplane (D.I) flown by Jacobs. On this plane, his insignia of a winged demon (Red Devil) on a black fuselage. In early 1918, Jacobs received his first Dr.I, and he became so enamored with it that he would keep at least two on hand, even after acquiring one of the faster Fokker D.VIIs, until at least October 1918.

File:Josef Jacobs, Fokker Dr.I.png

Jacobs second Fokker Dr.I with Balkenkreuz

File:Josef Jacobs, Gotthard Sachsenberg und Theo Osterkamp (v. l.) in Kurland 1919.png

From left to right: Josef Jacobs, Gotthard Sachsenberg and Theo Osterkamp in Courland, 1919

Josef Jacobs was the son of the headteacher (Oberlehrer) Wilhelm Jacobs and his wife Josefina, née Küppers. After graduating from Gymnasium, he studied engineering and worked for two years as a trainee in various companies because he wanted to study mechanical engineering afterwards. At the same time, he trained as a pilot at a flying school in Bonn-Hangelar under the tutelage of "Old Eagle" (Alte Adler) Bruno Werntgen. However, the training was discontinued long before the start of the World War when Werntgen crashed and was killed on 25 Februar 1913.

In August 1914, Jacobs volunteered for the Flieger-Ersatz-Abteilung 3 in Darmstadt. On 1 June 1915, he came to Field Aviation Battalion 11 and in August 1915 to Fighter Squadron 22. At that time, he was already flying a Fokker without a pilot's license. He started as a artillery and long-range reconnaissance flyer. On 26 March 1917, flying at a low altitude of 200 m, he survived the shelling of a four-gun battery south of Crony. Jacobs suffered several wounds, including in two collisions in the air – at 2400 m with a German and at 4500 m with an English aircraft.

When war broke out, he joined up for the Imperial German Army Air Service to train as a pilot with Fliegerersatz-Abteilung (Replacement Detachment) 9. On 3 July 1915, Jacobs was posted to FA 11 (a reconnaissance squadron) for a year, flying long-range sorties over Allied lines, his first flight occurring the evening of his arrival. His first victory over a French Caudron occurred in February 1916, however, it was unconfirmed, due to lack of independent witnesses. After leave in April, Jacobs was posted to Fokkerstaffel-West to fly a Fokker E.III Eindecker and he finally achieved his first official victory, over an enemy aircraft on 12 May when he shot down a two-seater Caudron crewed only by its pilot. At the end of July, Jacobs and his unit had been pulled back for what became a month's aerial bodyguard duty, protecting General Headquarters at Charleville. On 1 September, Jacobs left this duty that disgusted him, and returned to a front line assignment flying a Fokker E.III. On the 19th, he upgraded to a Fokker D.II. His old comrade in arms, Max Ritter von Mulzer, died in a crash a week later. On the 29th, Jacobs fell ill from dysentery; the sickness waylayed him for several weeks. Fokker Staffel West became Jasta 12 on 6 October 1916, and Jacobs remained with it, although a month later he transferred to Jasta 22, then under the command of Oberleutnant Erich Hönemanns, who was a personal friend. He achieved his second victory (this time over a Caudron RIV) in January 1917. He achieved three officially confirmed and eight more unconfirmed victories whilst at Jasta 22, where he remained until 2 August 1917, when he transferred to Jasta 7 as its Staffelfuhrer (commander). From early 1918 onwards, Jacobs started flying the Fokker Dr.I triplane with Jasta 7, and had his aircraft finished in a distinctive black scheme. The Dr.I was his favoured mount until October 1918 and he used its manouevibility to his advantage, becoming the triplane's highest scoring ace, with over 30 confirmed victories. Jacobs' victory tally slowly rose, until at 24 victories (achieved on July 19, 1918) he was awarded the coveted Pour le Mérite.

On 28 February 1918, Jacobs gave up his Albatros D.V and started flying the Fokker Dr.I triplane with Jagdstaffel 7, and had his aircraft finished in a distinctive black scheme. The triplane was his favoured mount until October 1918 and he used its maneuverability to his advantage, becoming the triplane's highest scoring ace, with over 30 confirmed victories. Jacobs would remain with Jasta 7 until the armistice; his final victory tally was 48 enemy aircraft and balloons.

Jacobs continued to fight against the Spartacists with the Freikorps von Maercker and later against the Communists in Kommando Sachsenberg, first as head of the supply department in Jüterbog and then as squadron leader against the Bolshevik forces in the Baltic area in 1919, with Gotthard Sachsenberg and Theo Osterkamp until December 1919. Jacobs was dismissed from military service in 1921 with the rank as Oberleutnant der Reserve (1st Lieutenant).

It is stated, Jacobs briefly became a flying instructor in the Turkish Army as a captain in the early 1920s, before completely withdrawing from military activity. Jacobs was, among other things, a speedboat driver, racing driver (Herrenfahrer) and in 1922 was the winner of a race at the AVUS in Berlin for the Brennabor-Werke in the 8 hp class in front of the complete Opel works team with Jörns, Breckheimer and Fritz von Opel. On Fafnir (Fafnir Works racing car), he became Eifel winner at the Nürburgring on 19 June 1924, he successfully participated in other car races. He also successfully took part in the flying competition Deutschlandflug 1925, gained high recognition as a bobsledder and set records on his Bobsled "Gotha-Taube", named after one of the first motorplanes before World War I.

Jacobs was a member of the German Air Sports Association e. V (DLV) and later of the National Socialist Air Corps (NSFK). Jacobs took part in the flying competition Deutschlandflug 1934 together with Herrmann-Otto Erbprinz zu Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, owner of the Flugzeug Wnr. 7 of the "Flugzeugbau Max Gerner" in Frankfurt am Main.

From 1931 to 1935, he worked as a sales director at the Adler works, a German vehicle and mechanical engineering company, in Frankfurt before he decided on the property in Erfurt and founded the Erfurt repair works. On February 21, 1936, it was entered in the commercial register under the company name "Reparaturwerk Erfurt Josef Jacobs", repairing planes of the Luftwaffe. In May 1937, the company name was changed to "Reparaturwerk Erfurt G.m.b.H." in the commercial register.

One year after formation of the company "Reparaturwerke Erfurt GmbH" in 1937, Jacobs, as executive manager, made wangling real estate dealings with some old friends (Gockenbach, Schubert, Oertel, Jäger), his brother Fritz and his first wife to the detriment of the Reich Aviation Ministry.

On 13 January 1939, Jacobs, like other living knight's of the Pour le Mérite, was invited as a guest of honour to the movie premiere of the Ufa film “Pour le Merite” in Erfurt. In January 1939, Jacobs also founded the magazine of his company: "REWE-Luftpost".

Triplane (Dreidecker)

He at first experienced some disappointment with the Dr.I (in comparison to the Albatros D.V), however, his opinion soon improved, his diary recording on 3 April 1918:

[...] at altitudes up to 2000 metres the triplane is better than the Albatros and Pfalz, and much more maneuverable, but you have to test fly her for long periods in order to familiarize yourself, for she is very unstable when shooting.

Jacobs grew to appreciate the type, and his black triplane soon left a vivid impression on his opponents. On 12 April 1918, he got in a scrap with SE5's from No 74 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, enjoying a turning battle (Kurvenkampf) with Lieutenant J I T 'Taffy' Jones. Jacobs' opponent was on his first patrol as a fighter pilot. Jones only survived the encounter because he had remembered what his flight commander, Mick Mannock, had told him:

"Don't ever try to dogfight a triplane on anything like equal terms as regards to height. Otherwise he will get on your tail and stay there until he shoots you down."

Fokker Dr.I 450/17

First, 450/17 (130hp Clerget engine) was over-painted black with broad crosses and the God of the North Wind personal motif. This was done in March 1918. In about June, the 'God of the North Wind' was transferred to his Fokker D.VII 365/18. Dr.I 450/17 was lost on 3 October 1918 in an early morning raid by allied fighters. Jacobs laments the loss of his old beloved triplane. The God of the North Wind was now applied to 470/17 according to combat reports.

In his journal, Jacobs described this aircraft as a "black triplane with a devil's head on both sides of the fuselage behind the pilot's seat." 450/17 also carried additional wing crosses on the upper surfaces of the lower wings. According to Jacobs, this was so that over-eager German pilots would not mistake his aircraft for a Sopwith triplane. A couple of photos are known to exist of this aircraft (...) The best color interpretations for the marking came from a description which Jacobs gave to historian Neil O'Connor in his later years.

Fokker Dr.I 470/17

Fokker Dr.I 470/17 (also with a 130hp Clerget engine) was first used by Jacobs on 19 July 1918. It became his reserve machine until 3 October 1918, when his main aircraft was destroyed while trying to force land. His combat reports note that he then applied the 'God of the North Wind' motif to 470/17 and he continued to score until he was called away to the third fighter trials in Berlin. Its ultimate fate during the last days of the war is unrecorded. It could have been destroyed or turned in with the rest of the Jasta 7 aircraft after 11 November 1918.

It was painted all-black with simple straight white crosses except for the tail rudder which was white with black crosses (Balkenkreuz) of the Teutonic Order. It is sometimes depicted as having a white forward-pointing chevron indicating it was the plane of a Staffelführer (squadron eader). Jacobs used this plane as a back-up, but it seemed to be plagued with mechanical problems. Also, Jacobs felt it did not handle as well as the Fokker Dr.I 450/17, something he was especially sensitive to in the aircraft he flew. It was the first to be fitted with a Clerget engine, although his favorite plane got one also soon after he acquired it. He liked to experiment and work on his own planes, always trying to tweak their performance. He thought the French engines gave him more power in tight situations which was more important to him than the slightly extra speed.

Luftwaffe

When WWII broke out, Jacobs was commissioned as a Major of the Reserves with the Luftwaffe by Hermann Göring and subordinated to the Combat Wing 4 (Kampfgeschwader 4) but never activated. He was still director of "Reparaturwerke Erfurt GmbH" or REWE. In 1940, he was investigated, not because of political reasons, as was sometimes rumored in the post-war period, but because of "financial inconsistencies". A disappointed Ernst Udet, a long-time friend, wrote on 19 March 1940:

The reports of the auditing and trust company on the audit of the 1938 financial year of the Erfurt repair shop contain serious complaints, namely unexplained cash differences, obscure connections between the repair shop and various other companies, and a number of discrepancies in cash management. First of all, an immediate check with the Gockenbach construction company should be carried out by the state police. At the time of the audit, the manager Josef Jacobs is said to be on leave. Director Schmidt of the Fieseler company is to be employed as plant manager and deputy managing director.

After refusing to make Hermann Göring the majority shareholder in his company and being removed as director in October 1940, he was replaced by Albert Kalkert. Kalkert took over as director of the Erfurt Repair Works, which later traded as Mitteldeutsche Metallwerke Erfurt. Jacobs relocated with what was left of his personal belongings of the company to the Netherlands, now allegedly with a new, similar company, still repairing for the Wehrmacht. He was never hiding or in danger, as was sometimes also rumored in the post-war period. He returned to Germany at the end or after the war.

Post-WWII

He moved to Bavaria away from aviation and started a construction company specializing in cranes, but such was his love of aviation that he became one of the greatest sources of historical information on german first world war aviation and personnel. He was founding (1973) and honorary member of the community "Red Baron Fliegervereinigung".

Death

Jacobs died in Munich on 29 July 1978 and is buried in the Perlach Cemetery. He was the last living knight of the Order "Pour le Mérite" of the Imperial German Air Service of World War I and was buried with full military honors by the Luftwaffe of the Bundeswehr.

Awards, decorations and honours

• Prussian military pilot badge (Preußisches Militär-Flugzeugführer-Abzeichen) on 1 August 1915
• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
  • EK II on 10 September 1915
  • EK I on 19 May 1916
• General Medal of Honor (Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen) in Silver "For Merit 1914" with Sword Clasp (Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach) on 6 February 1916
• Honour Goblet for the Victor in Aerial Combat (Ehrenbecher für den Sieger im Luftkampf) on 25 May 1916
• Oldenburg Friedrich-August-Kreuz, Second and First Class (OK1)
• Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg (HH)
• Saxe-Ernestine House Order (Herzoglich Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden), Knights Cross 2nd Class with Swords (HSEH3b⚔/HSH3b⚔/EH3b⚔)
• Order of the White Falcon (Hausorden vom Weißen Falken), Knight's Cross 2nd Class with Swords (GSF3b⚔/SF3b⚔)
• Field Pilot Badge of the Austrian Army (Feldpilotenabzeichen)
• House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords (HOH3⚔) on 3 August 1917
• Princely Reuss Cross of Honor (Fürstlich Reußisches Ehrenkreuz), 3rd Class with Swords (REK3⚔/REKj3⚔) in September 1917
• Pour le Mérite on 18 July 1918 as Leutnant d. R. and leader of the Fighter Squadron Nr. 7
• Wound Badge (Verwundetenabzeichen 1918) in Silver
• Aviator Commemorative Badge (Flieger-Erinnerungsabzeichen)
• Baltic Cross (Baltenkreuz)
• Commemorative Medal (Saint George Medal) of the German-Russian Western Army 1919 (Freiwillige Deutsch-Russische Westarmee)
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (1934) with Swords
• NSFK Pilots Badge

Gallery

• Josef Jacobs II.jpg
• Josef Jacobs, Fokker Dr.I (3).jpg
• Josef Jacobs, Fokker Dr.I (2).jpg
• Josef Jacobs, Postcard.jpg
• NSFK-Obersturmführer Josef Jacobs.png

  Josef Jacobs as DLV-Schwarmführer (1st Lieutenant)

• Letter from Josef Jacobs to Gerhard Hubrich.png

  Letter from Josef Jacobs to Gerhard Hubrich after WWII

• Josef Carl Peter Jacobs, Beisetzung 1978.png

  Funeral ceremony

• Josef Carl Peter Jacobs, Orden und Ehrenzeichen.png

  Decorations (museum)

External links

• Josef Jacobs WIP (Archive)