Today In History:  15 September  [1917]   --  German ace Kurt Wolff is shot down

Flying a prototype Fokker Dr.I, Oberleutnant Kurt Wolff is shot down and killed in a dogfight with Royal Flying Corps Sopwith Camels north of Wervicq, Belgium. His 33 kills tie him with Leutnant Otto Koennecke and Leutnant Heinrich Bongartz as the 20th-highest-scoring German ace of World War I. Wolff had been handpicked by Manfred von Richthofen to fly in his unit Jasta 11, and in July 1917 had taken over command of the squadron after von Richthofen had moved on to command Jagdgeschwader I (The Flying Circus).
PHOTO: Fokker Dr.1 Triplane replica in the colours of Manfred von Richthofen

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