OSWALD BOELCKE

On the left, and also used as background on this website is a photo of Hauptmann (at the time Oberleutnant) Oswald Boelcke with some of the men of Kampfeinsitzer Kommando or KEK Sivry in the village of Sivry-sur-Meuse

The photo below shows the Fokker E planes of both Notzke (left) and Boelcke (right) on the aerodrome of Sivry between the Meuse river and the Meuse canal (Volker Nemsch)

Photo left shows Notzke on the Sivry aerodrome in April 1916

Originally both he and Boelcke were the only two pilots operating from here as fighter pilots

They were officially attached to the AFA 203 that was stationed at Jametz aerodrome south from where another KEK operated, known as KEK Jametz

Above and below : two combination photo's from the past and current situation of the house where Oswald Boelcke lived at Sivry-sur-Meuse, made by Merlijn van Eijk. Remark the propeller on the picture above taken while he lived there and the lack of it on the photo below after he left Sivry.

Another view of the house of Oswald Boelcke on the extreme left and the Kommandantur on the right from the Spring of 1916

The Fokker E planes of both Boelcke and Notzke on the Sivry aerodrome (Volker Nemsch)

Boelcke was several times the guest of the German Crown Prince at Stenay, and also met the German Kaiser Wilhelm II over there

But the Crown Prince also paid Boelcke a visit at Sivry-sur-Meuse

On the border of Sivry-sur-Meuse and Consenvoye, along the current Route Nationale towards Verdun there was also a station for an observation balloon

It was the same Fesselballon or observation balloon that would be involved in the fatal accident of Werner Notzke on Good Friday 21 April 1916 when his plane touched one of the wires of the balloon and he crashed to his death (Volker Nemsch)

On 21 April 1916 Oswald Boelcke had a meeting with both the Kaiser and his son in this castle at Stenay

Boelcke on the extreme left (with his back to the camera) of the photo with ground crew, probably from AFA 203 on the aerodrome of Sivry-sur-Meuse

A typical pose of Hauptmann Oswald Boelcke and in the second one he's pretending he's looking for enemy aeroplanes to please the photographer on the aerodrome of Sivry-sur-Meuse

The funeral at the cemetery of Sivry-sur-Meuse from Oberleutnant von Bake on 18 May 1916. He served with Kagohl IV and flew with Leutnant Georg Schulz who was also killed. They were shot down by Corporal Gres and Soldat Vitecocq of the French Escadrille C64

Standing in the cockpit of a Fokker EIV on the aerodrome

Starting the engine of his Fokker EIV on the Sivry-sur-Meuse aerodrome

Oswald Boelcke during take off on the aerodrome

And during flight in the Verdun area

Lt Mallinckrodt, Lt Hess, Oblt Boelcke, Lt von Hartmann an Lt Krefft in Syvry-sur-Meuse after the death of Notzke

Oblt Boelcke saying goodbye to his men at Sivry-sur-Meuse just before he left on a forced tour after the death of Max Immelmann

During his stay at Sivry-sur-Meuse Osald Boelcke paid several visits to the aerial units in the area, here he can be seen at Charleville-Mezières, probably with men of KEK GHQ (Grosses Haupt Quarter). There are also photo's von Boelcke at for example Reville during one of his many visits in the region of Sivry-sur-Meuse

The last photo is a very special one. It is said that this is Oswald Boelcke, together with another pilot, at the Kommandantur of Sivry-sur-Meuse during what seems to be an enjoyable evening