4. Oswald Boelcke: The Father of Air Combat

In February 1916, along the west bank of the Meuse, a hell unlike any ever known to man descended upon the French fortress of Verdun. Over 1,000 German heavy guns fired a combined 1,000,000 shells - in just the first 9 hours. A French officer who survived the bombardment wrote “Forevery 5 defenders, two are buried alive, two are wounded, and one is waiting.” The Germans had just begun their latest offensive and the largest battle ever fought by mankind to that point. Above this churning hell, the air war of World War 1 ignited as both sides committed to stopping the other from observing the huge movements of men, supplies, and guns needed to feed the fire. In this comparatively miniscule but no less important battle for the air one man above the rest was feared and respected. The mentor to the Red Baron, the Father of the German Air Force, and to some the Father of all Air Combat, Oswald Boelcke fought against a rising tide of allied planes to bring victory to the German army.