Heritage from the Austro-Hungarian Era

Fokker D.VI

  The Fokker V 12 rotary-engined biplane prototype (w/n 1980) was shipped to MAG at Matyasfold on 3rd January 1918 without engine and armament. After installation with a 150 hp Le Rhone (St) rotary engine at MAG, the aircraft took part in the Second Fighter Competition at Adlershof in early May 1918 along with two other new MAG-Fokker prototype fighters. Demonstrating the aerobatic qualities of the plane by Anthony Fokker himself, the LFT purchased the prototype and 14 Fokker D.VI fighters in June 1918 due to favorable impressions. The V 12 flew also at the July Fighter Evaluation.
  The first seven fighters of the ordered production machines were shipped to MAG on 27th August 1918 for engine and armament installation (for 23.500 Marks/piece). Due to the delivery delay of the total number of D.VI aircraft, a contract modification has already been considered earlier. On 6th August 1918, the Fokker aircraft company informed the Luftfahrtruppe in Berlin that “the remaining 8 aircraft are to be delivered as Fokker monoplanes type E.V for 160 hp Le Rhone or Steyr engine” based on a personal consultation between Friedrich W. Seekatz and Generalmajor Emil Uzelac, head of the k.u.k. Luftfahrtruppen. A month later, however, the Austro-Hungarian War Ministry requested to obtain the delivery of eight Fokker D.VII type aircraft instead of the D.VIs (and also the E.Vs) because of the current maintenance difficulties of the Steyr rotary engines.
  Fliegerarsenal (Flars) sent five 150 hp Le Rhone rotary engines built by the Waffenfabrik Steyr (07017, 07020, 07021, 17023, 07025) to Matyasfold for the Fokker D.VI aircraft already with the order dated on 26th July 1918, and engine installation at MAG was nearing completion in late 1918. The D.VI fighters were assigned the LFT designation 04.101 to 04.107.
  The end of the war found the planes were at MAG. On 14th November 1918, the seven Fokker D.VI fighters were planned to be assigned without machine guns to 1. legi rendorsegi osztaly (1st Air Police Flight) at Matyasfold, one of the first units of the newly established Hungarian Flying Troops. However, there is only information about one D.VI fighter being operational at that time. On 16th November, the Hungarian People’s Republic proclamation, all available aircraft around Budapest were ordered to emerge over the capital and surrounding cities to shower the celebrating crowds with leaflets and flowers. The unit at Matyasfold took part in the ceremony with four one-seater aircraft, including Fokker D.VI 04.106, piloted by Oberleutnant Antal Lanyi. The planes took off at 11.50 a.m. and flew over the Parliament, dropping the leaflets and landing at the airfield at 12.20 p.m. After that, the fate of the planes developed differently.
  The famous engineer Leutnant Vilem Zurovec, inventor of the PKZ 2 helicopter, worked on his helicopter project in Budapest with his brothers, Josef and Leopold, when the war ended. Josef and Vilem brought two Fokker D.VI aircraft to their home village, Harty (it was demolished and razed in 1956 during the construction of the Ostrava-Mosnov Airport; its former territory is now part of Petrvald, Czech Republik), and they also fetched nine aircraft engines of various types, both rotary and straight, in 1919. Josef rebuilt one of the D.VI planes as a two-seater, and the second was sold to Prague. Josef Zurovec flew the two-seater D.VI until he crashed with it in 1921.
  Three Fokker D.VI fighters are known to have entered into service with the Hungarian Flying Troops. Their number first appeared on a list dated 3rd February 1919: 04.101 (07021), 04.102 (07010), and 04.103 (07025) were attached to 1. repuloosztaly at Matyasfold. On 12th March, the planes were not operational due to an oil shortage, and machine guns were still not installed on 28th April 1919. In the meantime (from 8th April), the name of this unit was changed to 8. harci repuloszazad and was exclusively equipped with single-seat aircraft, the only field unit of its kind in the Hungarian Red Army.
  Unfortunately, only a few records of the deployment of Hungarian D.VIs remained during the fights of the Hungarian Red Flying Troops. However, the one or two Fokker D.VIs were flown primarily by pilots Viktor Storer and Sandor Kasza, who, along with other routine squadron members, were constantly involved in the unit’s sorties. One such specific incident is known: on 29th July, Hungarian planes took off to intercept an enemy aircraft. As the report states, a French three-engined (?) aircraft was spotted flying from Debrecen in the route of Onga-Miskolc towards Izso at 10.15 a.m. Three Fokker D.VIIs (with pilots Laszlo Ujvari, Janos Risztics, and Sandor Kasza) and one Fokker D.VI (Viktor Storer) of 8. harci repuloszazad went in pursuit of the aircraft but failed to intercept it.
  After the breakthrough of the Hungarian lines at the Tisza River by the Romanian troops and the subsequent collapse of the Hungarian Soviet Republic on 1st August 1919, the Hungarian squadrons that had the opportunity to do so retreated to the hinterland, to the western border of the country. 8. harci repuloszazad was first withdrawn to Gyorszemere, but after a short time, they moved to Szombathely with 4. repuloszazad which was stationed primarily at Gyor. After the Romanian occupation of Budapest, the Romanians began a systematic raid for materials, and of course, the aircraft factories were no exception. However, there was an error in the account of the aviation material carried away by the Romanians, as the Hungarian summary indicates that six Fokker D.VIs with engines, two without engines, and one experimental D.VI were taken from MAG - a larger quantity than the number of aircraft that were shipped to the factory, not to say the planes of 8. harci repuloszazad. Romanian documents mention two Fokker D.VIs captured in Hungary in 1919: number “16420” and “4105”, which are probably 1642/18 (supposedly 04.106) and 04.105, while photos show 04.105 and 04.107 in Romanian service. According to the limited available sources, two D.VIs were assigned to the Grupul 5 Aviatie (based on the airfield at Szamosfalva/Someseni near Kolozsvar/Cluj-Napoca from 20th August 1920) and “16420” was under overhaul in 1922.
  In Hungary, most of the aircraft and personnel had retreated to Szombathely were assigned to the newly-formed local squadron, which was set up within the so-called National Army and led by the former commander of 8. harci repuloszazad, Laszlo Hary. At the beginning of November 1919, six planes were flown from Szombathely to Budapest, preparing for the new governor, Miklos Horthy’s entry into the capital on 16th November 1919, including a Fokker D.VI fighter. There is no further information on the deployment of this or any other D.VI, but apparently, they were hidden from the Inter-Allied Air Control Committee in 1921.
  When aviation in Hungary slowly resumed after the end of the prohibition on flying and aircraft construction, the development of the aircraft repair plant, which had previously been relocated from Szeged, was started in Szekesfehervar. At Szekesfehervar-Sosto airfield, under the leadership of engineer Elek Fabinyi, the Central Repair Plant was initially engaged in the repair of hidden aircraft and, among others, a Fokker D.VI was handed over to the air force in 1926. This last remaining D.VI was withdrawn from service and was written off in the same year, thus ending a career of this type in Hungary.


Austro-Hungarian Fokker D.VI
Word Numbers Serial Numbers A-H Designation*
2614 1632/18 04.101
2615 1633/18 04.102
2616 1634/18 04.103
2617 1635/18 04.104
2623 1641/18 04.105
2624 1642/18 04.106
2628 1644/18 04.107
*assuming that designation numbers were applied in sequence

Heritage from the Austro-Hungarian Era

Fokker D.VII
  
  After the Fokker V 22 (w/n 2342), which had a standard D.VII steel-tube fuselage and powered by a 200 hp Daimler engine, was tested on 15-16 March 1918 at Schwerin, the aircraft was shipped to Matyasfold on 24th April 1918. Despite its excellent performance and maneuverability highly praised by the Flars test pilot Stabsfeldwebel Franz Kuntner, the LFT refused the production of Fokker D.VII. Anthony Fokker demonstrated the capabilities of the V 22 for Flars engineers at Matyasfold in May 1918, and the aircraft designated as MAG-Fokker 90.05 was also flown at the Fighter Evaluation on 9-13 July. However, its most impressive flights were presented at Aspern on the 25th and 26th of July, which convinced Generalmajor Uzelac. As a result of negotiations in August 1918, the production of 660 Fokker D.VII fighters was decided, with delivering between December 1918 and March 1919 and built by four Austro-Hungarian factories (Aviatik, Fokker, MAG, and Thone & Fiala).
  Flars ordered 75 D.VII fighters without engine and armament from Fokker in August 1918, and the first ten fighters were scheduled to deliver in October 1918. Since the 225 hp Daimler (MAG) engine was in production at MAG then, this engine was chosen for installation in the Fokker D.VIIs. The first six airframes (w/n 3861, 3863 to 3867; price: 23.500 Marks apiece) were shipped to MAG on 23rd October 1918, which finally reached Matyasfold despite delaying in the last days of the war.
  According to the aircraft register of the Hungarian Flying Troops, seven Fokker D.VII fighters were at Matyasfold on 14th November 1918 “with machine guns, offered for sale”. The seventh plane was probably the first MAG-built D.VII (93.01), as these fighters were listed in the inventory of the 1. repuloosztaly at Matyasfold on 12th March 1919. All the fighters of German origin were marked as “under assembly at the factory. Not operational. The original German D.VII fuselages will be fitted with the 23000 series MAG-Daimler”. Nevertheless, the MAG-built Daimler engines were also listed as a part of the aircraft: 3861 (23455), 3863 (23465), 3864 (23466), 3865 (23473), 3866 (23474), 3867 (23476). On 28th April, all six German D.VIIs were ready to fly and “now being machine-gun mounted”.
  The fate of only one of these machines is known. The reorganization of Hungarian Red Flying Troops on 8th May 1919 did not define specific tasks for the 8. harci repuloszazad. Still, a much-discussed event revealed that a detachment of the unit had been redirected to support the fighting around Salgotarjan. On 13th May, Istvan Fejes made an emergency landing in his German Fokker D.VII fighter No. 3867 at Pine (now Pincina, Slovakia) near Losonc (now Lucenec, Slovakia), and the pilot was captured after hiding for half a day, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. as a contemporary Hungarian newspaper article stated. According to Fejes’ testimony, after his capture, he received orders to relocate to Salgotarjan on 12th May, where he arrived the same day with two other pilots. In this light, the report of 12th May about Laszlo Ujvari, Istvan Fejes, and Nandor Udvardy landed their Fokker D.VII fighters at 10.45 a.m. in Zagyvapalfalva - i.e., they moved a detachment of three aircraft to the makeshift airfield at the border of Salgotarjan - makes sense. On the next day’s mission, Fejes’ task was to determine whether Czechoslovak troops had received reinforcements or had left the town as a Hungarian attack was preparing on Losonc from two sides. Fejes stated in his account after his release that he had been attacking an armored train at Losonc when the synchronizing device of his machine guns failed and shot through the propeller, forcing him to land. There is a version of events in Czechoslovak historiography in which Fejes was shot down by a Czechoslovak reconnaissance plane, but this is disputed by Czech aviation historians, too. The “victorious” pilot was nadporucik Josef Pospisil, commander of the 2. polni letecka setnina (2nd field squadron), who allegedly forced Fejes to land. The source is a document written after the event, probably in conjunction with details of other events. In contrast, any official military document of nadporucik Pospisil does not mention the air victory, and he did not take off that day, either, like none of his squadron’s aircraft. The fact that the landing site was outside of the operation area of this Czechoslovak unit is a further argument against this, as well as the victory of a two-seater Hansa-Brandenburg C.I against a superior Fokker D.VII with an ace of 16 confirmed victories in the pilot’s seat is also highly improbable. At the same time, the propeller of the crashed Fokker does not show any significant damage in the contemporary photos, which also calls Fejes’ account into question. In any case, the Hungarian fighter plane fell into enemy hands, essentially unharmed.
  After the emergency landing, Fokker D.VII 3867/18 was sent for overhaul to Prague on 13th May, and after a sortie on 4th July by pilot Rudolf Valenta, it was used for propaganda flying. It is not known when the Schwarzlose machine guns were dismantled, but the last mention of the armed D.VII is in the records of 15th August 1919 and the photograph of 7th September 1919. At the beginning of 1920, it served in the pilot school in Prague, and on 1st June, it got a new engine of the same type, the Austro-Daimler Nr. 23266 coming from the Albatros D.III (Oef) 253.116 crashed by Adolf Blaha on 3rd November 1919. In October, it was flown to the Aircraft Training Center at Cheb, and on 2nd December, due to the considerable popularity of the aircraft, a request was made to arm it with Vickers machine guns. From the end of 1919, designation 38.67 was painted on the fuselage, an adaption of its original work number.
  On 24th January 1921, Augustin Charvat flew the plane to HLD {Hlavni letecke dilny - Main Aviation Shops) in Prague for minor repairs. Still, the aircraft underwent a complete overhaul, including the engine, and was finally armed with Vickers machine guns. The Fokker was handed over on 21st April after the repair, but the engine problems were over in July because, on 5th July 1921, the repair was requested from HLD with the promise that it would be ready in a month. 38.67 got into the air only on 7th September after the repair. Then, on 9th September, he participated in the 1st air meeting arranged by the Czechoslovakian Aviation Club in Prague (with number “16” and pilot nadporucik Jan Popelak) and returned to Cheb on 27th September. During the flight from Cheb to Prague on 18th October, pilot Frantisek Prochazka had engine problems that culminated in a crash after his ejection in Bohnice. The wreckage of the Fokker was stored.
  Fokker 38.67 was demolished in Cheb on 15th January, but a day later, its fuselage was carried by train to HLD in Olomouc, where Josef Pospisil successfully flew it on 3rd June after a year of repairs. For the rest of the year, the aircraft continued to serve without any significant events in Cheb, but after the repair, it no longer carried machine guns and used Sigma and Knoller-Jaray propellers. After the correction on 22nd January 1923, only a photograph is known of it from Olomouc on 29th July 1923, but it still belonged to the Training Center at Cheb. It underwent further repair on 23rd January 1924 at HLD Olomouc, and a day later, it was ordered to fly and continue to serve at Cheb. Still, nothing is known of its activity until 8th July, when it was found suitable for the school circuits in the one and two- seater pilot school. By the order dated 15th September 1924, it was to be scrapped, therefore, on 14th October, it was handed over by the Cheb school to the warehouse. It was decommissioned on 15th January 1925. The only Czechoslovakian Fokker D.VII flew 33 hours and 57 minutes of flight during the whole time.

Passed Hungary

  On 9th November 1918, three German airmen lost their lives at Ersekujvar, in what was then Czechoslovak territory, but there is no information on whether they arrived there by plane. Almost a month later, on the 4th December 1918, Cetnicky strazmistr (Gendarme Sergeant) Frantisek Vitula of the Hodonin detachment reported on the following to the higher command:
  “On 3rd December 1918 at 4.30 p.m., a biplane was observed circling several times at a height of about five hundred meters above Velka and in the vicinity of Velka. The biplane came from the direction of Hungary. After a longer period, the biplane in question landed in a field near Velka. The undersigned went immediately to the landing site with the probationary gendarme Rudolf Tomanek and four gendarmes as assistance. Corporal Rechtenbach got out of the aircraft as a driver, and Leutnant Valter Schmidt as an observer, both of the aviation department No. 22 in Graudenz, Germany. Both of the airmen mentioned above reported that they had taken off on the same day in S[z]olnok, Hungary, and thought to fly to Bohumin, asking for directions to Brno, were interned and guarded at the local gendarme station. There was one machine gun with 349 rounds of ammunition and 8 illuminating rockets on the aircraft. The aircraft was guarded on the spot after the two aviators were handed over to the headquarters of the Slovak Brigade in Hodonin on 4th December 1918. The aircraft, which was dismantled on 5th December 1918 with the help of a military detachment, was transported to the railway station in Straznice. ”
  The aircraft LVG C.VI 3981/18 belonged to Fliegerabteilung 22, and its crew consisted of pilot Unteroffizier Adolf Rechtenbach and observer Leutnant Walter Schmidt. Their mission was to fly the aircraft to Fliegerersatzabteilung 8 in Graudenz. For this flight, they presented a valid document issued by the commander of FA 22 to fly the Szolnok-Gleiwitz-Brieg-Breslau-Graudenz route. The aircraft was impounded, and both airmen received documents for travel to Germany and were released. The plane served later in the Czechoslovak Air Force, mainly at the flight schools in Prague and Cheb, and in 1924 it was disbanded.
  Only one German aircraft was operational and flown at a Czechoslovakian frontline air unit: LVG C.VI 4896/18. The designation was mistakenly recorded in Czechoslovakian documents as 4869, and the plane consequently carried 48.69, following the former Austro-Hungarian designation system. It has been a mystery how this plane got to the country; what is known as the German two-seater was assigned to 1. polni letecka setnina at Kosice on 27th February 1919. Available photos, however, proved that this aircraft was assembled and used at Hungarian unit 8. repuloosztaly in February 1919, which was stationed at Rakos airfield. The squadron’s only lost plane was captured on 20th February 1919 by the Czechoslovakians; it is probable that these were the same aircraft. Pilot Kalman Sutak and observer Otto Polnisch were carrying propaganda material across the demarcation line that day. Still, the Hungarian plane was fired upon over Rimaszombat (today: Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia), and the pilot had to make an emergency landing. The Czechoslovakians captured the Hungarian airmen, and although they did not find any weapons when they searched the plane, only leaflets and copies of the newspaper Nepszava, they threatened to execute them. The Hungarian military leadership protested the incident to the Armistice Committee.
  At the Czechoslovak squadron Praporcik Rudolf Forst carried out the first recorded flight at the control of 48.69 with nadporucik Miloslav Dolezel on 17th May 1919. During its short service on the airfield of Pezinok near Bratislava and the provisional one at Lucenec, Forst became the privileged pilot of the LVG. It is necessary to remember that the LVG biplane was equipped with a control stick, different from the traditional steering wheel control of the Austro-Hungarian planes, which were flown by the former k.u.k. pilots like Forst and the others.
  LVG C.VI 48.69 became out of operation on 25th May when it suffered slight damage on the way back from a reconnaissance flight. The accident occurred at the emergency airfield near Lucenec, and besides the landing gear, the propeller was also damaged. The crew, however, remained unharmed. The airplane could be repaired at the squadron, but they had to wait for the spare parts to arrive from Prague.
  On 7th June 1919, the LVG was ready again for a sortie after the landing gear was repaired and with a new propeller. Cetar Bohuslav Hrazdil was to make a flight, his first one in a plane with a control stick instead of a steering wheel. Hrazdil gave the Benz engine full throttle, and the plane was taking off. At the same time, according to witnesses, the aircraft began to bank to the left at a height of about one meter. The bank became steeper and steeper until the lower left wing touched the airfield’s surface. It must have been apparent to the pilot that he could no longer keep the plane under control, and he promptly shut down the engine. The LVG turned 180° around the wing, losing its freshly repaired undercarriage in a flash so that the lower wings absorbed all the remaining energy, in which most of the ribs broke. The petrol tank and propeller also took a hit. The crew, however, miraculously remained unharmed.
  Two other LVG C.VIs, 3978/18 and 3984/18, got into Czechoslovakian hands. Their origin is unknown, but they supposedly belonged to a squadron of the Mackensen’s army, passing through Czechoslovakia on its way from the Balkan peninsula home to Germany.


Sorties Flown with LVG C.VI 48.69 at 7. polni letecka setnina
Date Pilot Observer Flying time Task
19.5. prap. Rudolf Forst npor. Miloslav Dolezel 2h 10’ recon.
20.5. prap. Rudolf Forst npor. Miloslav Dolezel 3h 10’ recon.
21.5. prap. Rudolf Forst npor. Miloslav Dolezel lh 8’ recon.
22.5. prap. Rudolf Forst npor. Miloslav Dolezel 2h recon.
24.5. prap. Rudolf Forst npor. Frantisek Weinert 2h 15’ recon.
25.5. prap. Rudolf Forst npor. Miloslav Dolezel lh 50’ recon.


The First and Last Mention of Czechoslovak LVG C.VIs in Documents

3978/18 first flights at the squadron of Prague on 12 March 1919 written-off on 22nd June 1922 at HLD at Olomouc after a crash in Cheb on 11 May 1922
3981/18 belonged to Fliegerabteilung 22, seized after force-landing on 3rd December 1918 31st October 1924 Vojenske letecke uciliste (VLU; Military Training Center) at Cheb (permission of Ministry of Defence to write-off)
3984/18 19th February 1920 (reportedly purchased in Germany before this date) in one and two-seater courses at VLU at Cheb on 21st November 1923
4896/18 (48.69) delivered to 1. polni letecka setnina on 27 Feb 1919 burned in a fire at HLD in Prague on 5th November 1921
7715/18 belonged to Artilleriefliegerstaffel 116, seized at Cheb after an emergency landing on 22nd June 1919 returned to Bavaria on 12th April 1920 for the promise to stop overflight of the Czechoslovak border
Note: The list does not include two LVG C.VI aircraft or their civil P1 versions, possibly belonging to the Ukrainian Government. Both planes were interned in Czechoslovakia, crashed with Czech pilots, and were later purchased by the Zivnobanka banking house. Their numbers have yet to be discovered; they were often known as the LVG 1 and LVG 2 at Cheb. Both were written off in August 1924.



Remained in Hungary

  As a result of the armistice of 11th November 1918, which ended not only the fighting between the Entente and Germany but the whole of World War I, many of the German airmen headed for home from the Balkan. Already the next day, a German Fokker of Jasta 38 landed at Orkeny (50 km south of Budapest) in Hungary, and the landing of another four German aircraft was also reported near Orkeny on the same day. On 13th November, the Aviation Department of the Hungarian War Ministry received a report that two cars and two aircraft had been seized from German officers in transit. Two days later, on the 15th, the commander of the National Guard in Bicske (about 35 km west of Budapest) reported the force-landing of a German two-seater due to lack of fuel.
  In the Armistice of Belgrade signed on 13th November 1918, the commanding officer of the Allied Army of the Orient, General Louis Franchet d’Esperey, required, among other things, the withdrawal of all German troops from the Balkans within 15 days and the disarmament and internment of German soldiers crossing the country. That was virtually impossible as the Hungarian government did not have sufficient armed forces to compel the Germans to surrender their weapons; it was a challenge even for the returning Hungarian soldiers. Following the repeated French demands, Mackensen finally agreed to disarm and intern his troops in Hungary on 2nd December. The weapons were to be handed over to the railway station commands, after which the consignments were to be forwarded on the instructions of the Hungarian central transport command, the details of which were still to be decided on 2nd December. According to these instructions (quoting only the relevant passages): “The transports at Szolnok, or to the east or south of it, are to be disarmed at Szolnok, the others at the station nearest to the place of detention. The materials contained in the transports are to be detained at the nearest suitable station to the place of detention and handled by the provisions already issued (...) The removal of German troops in the area of the Arad, Szeged, and Kolozsvar line headquarters remains pending. ”
  The total number of German troops that passed through Hungary was estimated at 170.000. The first to enter the country were units of the German 11th Army stationed in the Vojvodina region. Mackensen’s troops began to evacuate Romania on 10th November 1918, and the first units reached the Hungarian border on 19th November. Most German troops were transported by rail, with the last German transport crossing the border and leaving the country on 3rd January 1919. It is worth noting that the German troops had, in the meantime, found their way back, and they, in many cases, scattered with the knowledge of their commanders. The retreat of the Mackensen army did not take place in complete military order, and the soldiers often tried to return home by selling their surplus military equipment.
  In reality, the disarmament occured as follows (according to a contemporary newspaper article): “At first, on the instructions of the Hungarian government, the station commanders called on the marchers to lay down their weapons in a friendly manner, but no violence was used. The German troops did not comply with the order until Saturday of last week [2nd December 1918], when the so-called disarming committee of the military council of the Mackensen army appeared in Szolnok, and from then, it disarmed all incoming transports. The Germans thus disarmed themselves without the slightest incident or disturbance. The disarmament committee handed over the weapons and munitions to the station command at Szolnok, which took custody of them. This continued until Wednesday morning. At that time, Mackensen entered into negotiations with the Hungarian government concerning the details of the disarmament and possible internment, and then, yesterday [4th December 1918], at the call of the Hungarian government, there was a pause in the disarmament at Szolnok. The Hungarian government sent a three-person committee to Szolnok to assist in the disarmament under the new detailed agreement. ”
  Mackensen, seeing that neither the Hungarian government nor the Entente was able to prevent his army’s march, made every effort to avoid disarmament and internment. On 5th December, he ordered the German troops that “disarmament and planned internment were suspended (...) Valuable material (...) must be removed”.
  The Hungarian air disarmament committees were formed on 7th December 1918, and were soon up and running. Although the Entente demanded the surrender of all weapons, including aircraft, the Hungarian side failed to do so: the German war material delivered to the Entente until the proclamation of the Hungarian Soviet Republic contained practically no air material (except for two hangars). Several reminiscences stated, however, that German aircraft were standing in closed wagons on the rails when the authorities seized them, and a significant part (or maybe all) of them were transported from Jaszapati, according to the records at least.
  The captured German planes were continuously carried to the Material Depot at Cinkota (now part of Budapest). Based on the Material Depot’s inventories, there were ten aircraft of German origin on 5th January 1919 and 20 aircraft on 1st February 1919. Later, the number of German aircraft increased significantly, with 63 aircraft registered on 1st April and 53 on 31st May.
  Only minimal information is available about the airplanes of German squadrons that served on the Salonika front, especially in 1918 and even more so in the last months of the war. Gerhard Fieseler, ace of Jasta 25, wrote for instance, that in early July 1918, two Fokker D.VIIs were sent to the Macedonian theatre. He got one, and the other went to Leutnant Fritz Thiede, CO of Jasta 38.
  The German planes that fell into Hungarian hands were Albatros D.Va and Fokker D.VII fighters, DFW C.V, Halberstadt C.V, LVG C.VI, Pfalz C.I and Rumpler C.VI/C.VII reconnaissance planes, most in a more or less damaged condition. Indeed, some aircraft did not arrive at Cinkota or are not listed in the records. As the Hungarian Flying Troops needed a constant supply of aircraft, especially during the fighting of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, the command decided to deploy German reconnaissance and fighter aircraft in addition to ones produced by the Hungarian aircraft companies. The primary German “collection” types of about 70 aircraft were the Fokker D.VII fighter and the LVG C.VI reconnaissance aircraft. They used fewer of the former, probably because MAG also produced the type (series 93), but the final assembly of six brand new German Fokker D.VIIs was also carried out there. The newly built fighters had an obvious advantage over the stripped-down German aircraft. The situation was different with the LVG reconnaissance aircraft, as they were worthy counterparts of the domestically produced aircraft in terms of performance and reliability. Approximately 30 of this type were in Hungarian hands, ten of which were undoubtedly flown. In May 1919, more aircraft were transferred from Cinkota to Matyasfold (MAG) and Albertfalva (UFAG; MARE in Hungarian) for repairs.
  First 8. repuloosztaly, based at Rakos, was equipped with LVG biplanes, two of which were assigned to the unit. One of them was brought from the Material Depot at Cinkota to the UFAG at Albertfalva, where it was assembled and then flown to Rakos (probably one with serial number 8921/18). At the same time, the other one was delivered directly to the unit commanded by Sandor Hartzer. One of the missions flown by the German LVG C.VIs was recalled by Gyula Trojan, former pilot of Flik 58 and Flik 41/J:
  “This is how I flew in mid-March 1919 in a German plane of type LVG equipped with a 300 hp engine over the then surrounded Salgotarjan and Kassa. We were carrying mail and leaflets, which my observer officer dropped. We were greeted with heavy gunfire at both places, but flying low, we accomplished our task, and after a strong five-hour flight, we returned safely to Rakos. It was impossible to fly a Hungarian plane for that long because it did not have such a large fuel tank. ”
  Later, 2. repuloosztaly/repuloszazad at Albertfalva also received some of the excellent German reconnaissance aircraft, but LVG C.VIs were used in the most significant number by the 6. repuloszazad in the summer of 1919. The unit under the command of Bela Schweger was stationed at Onga near Miskolc. A field east of the village was used as an airfield; it was the pasture of the village, and the flat, grassy area was ideally suited to the purpose of the temporary airfield. No structures were erected on the site, aircraft were probably stored in hangar tents, and most of the crew were accommodated in the nearby castle. The squadron’s main task was reconnaissance in an easterly and northerly direction, but enemy troop movements were also to be disrupted by bombing.
  The LVG C.VIs proved reliable, and the pilots liked the type, but regular reconnaissance missions wore out the planes well. On 18th June, for example, after the engine of the only LVG still in service “ran hot”, there was no operational aircraft for about a day and a half.
  The next day’s report highlighted the shortages: “Only two barrels of petrol and one semi-airworthy aircraft in the 6. repuloszazad. Petrol and the 1 LVG and 2 Berg planes promised yesterday would be needed.”
  The unit’s aircraft continued to suffer regular damage afterward. On the afternoon of 21st June, Mihaly Kimmel and Alfred Schuff, flying aircraft 7711/18, were forced to abort their reconnaissance mission due to dense fog and engine failure, and the plane suffered minor damage on landing. On the morning of 1st July, Bela Bodo and Antal Kristolofil departed to reconnaissance the line of the Tisza River and the area around Debrecen, but during the flight, an anti-aircraft battery from the south of Hajdunanas opened fire on them. LVG C.VI 8952/18 was hit, most probably the propeller, which caused it to fly away, and the pilot made a force landing near Csanalos-Sosto. On the morning of 5th July, Miklos Lipcsey and Laszlo Dioszeghy crashed 8951/18 on landing after their mission. On 13th July, Lajos Breier and Kristolofil brought 7711/18 home with two hits on the left wing surface after heavy artillery fire over Rakamaz. The other side of the balance, however, was several successful sorties. Out of the 48 known sorties flown by the squadron during June and July 1919, at least 41 were flown by LVG C.VI aircraft.
  From 17th July onwards, aerial reconnaissance of the squadron had to be limited to accurately identifying of positions of the enemy batteries in preparation for the planned offensive on the Tisza and cooperating with the artillery. Before the each mission started, the company commander had to request reconnaissance instructions from the competent artillery brigade headquarters. Although the unit carried out several reconnaissance sorties almost every day when weather permitted it, and there were occasions when one or two operational aircraft were in the air nearly all day, the higher command was not satisfied. On 28th July, the following order was sent to the squadron: “After receiving the order to take off, several hours always elapse before, after repeated urging, the aircraft assigned to reconnaissance finally takes off. In the present situation, however, an urgent reconnaissance of a district is usually required, which in this form becomes directly impossible. I, therefore, order that, from tomorrow onwards, the planes capable of taking off shall be prepared in such a way that, no later than five minutes after receiving the order to take off, the plane assigned to reconnaissance can take off.”
  On 29th July, the the squadron’s pilots made five takeoffs, four of which were near the crossing points on the Tisza. In the morning, however, an LVG C.VI 7711/18 and its crew took to the air in pursuit of an intruder: an aircraft reported as a French(?) one heading from Debrecen to Onga, via Miskolc to Izso was continuing its flight despite heavy machine gun fire. The Hungarian two-seater chased it to Miskolc, but here, pilot Dezso Jager and observer Gyorgy Zacharias lost sight of the enemy aircraft in the clouds.


German Aircraft at Hungarian Units


Hungarian Flying Troops (November 1918 - 21th March 1919)

1.repuloosztaly (Matyasfold):
   Fokker D.VII 3247/18 (E: 35682)
   Fokker D.VII 4072/18 (E: 35416)
   Fokker D.VII 5146/18 (E: 35628)
   All three were on the Department of Aviation’s list dated 3rd February 1919 as aircraft to be allocated to the unit. It is unknown if they were used, and they were not listed in any subsequent registry or account, either.
2.repuloosztaly (Albertfalva):
   LVG C.VI 6372/18 (E: 24726)
  It was on the list of the Department of Aviation dated 3rd February 1919 as aircraft to be allocated to the unit. The plane was flown several times in February 1919.
8.repuloosztaly (Rakos):
   LVG C.VI 6721/18
   LVG C.VI 6751/18
  Both served and were flown at the unit in February-March 1919.


Hungarian Red Flying Troops (21st March - 1st August 1919)

2.repuloszazad (ex 2. repuloosztaly, Albertfalva):
   LVG C.VI 6372/18 (E: 24726)
  At the unit: April-July 1919, it was deployed several times but was under repair for extended periods.
3.repuloszazad (ex 8. repuloosztaly, Rakos):
   Halberstadt C.V 3459/18 (E: 34990)
  It was sent to the squadron on 21st May 1919, but no other information on its use.
6.repuloszazad (Onga):
   LVG C.VI 7646/18 (E: 35077)
  At the unit: 24-31 July 1919, flying four known sorties. It was under repair on 27th and 31st July 1919.
   LVG C.VI 7711/18 (E: 22444)
  At the unit: 8th June - 31st July 1919, flying 25 known sorties. The aircraft’s engine “ran hot” on 18th June 1919. The plane was damaged on landing on 21st June 1919. It was under repair between 22nd June and 1st July 1919, and 7-9 July 1919 again. Two anti-aircraft hits on the left wing on 13th July 1919.
   LVG C.VI 7713/18 (E: 22314)
  At the unit: 29th June - 20th July 1919, flying no known sortie. It was under repair between 29th June and 3rd July 1919, and 5-19 July 1919 again.
   LVG C.VI 8951/18 (E: 35481)
  At the unit: 23rd June - 11th July 1919, flying two known sorties. The plane crashed on landing on 5th July 1919 and was under repair 5-11 July 1919.
   LVG C.VI 8952/18 (E: 35355)
  At the unit: 12th June - 27th July 1919, flying two known sorties. It was under repair 12-14 June 1919. The plane’s propeller was hit and crash-landed on 1st July 1919. It was under repair 2-7 July 1919 and 9-23 July 1919.
   LVG C.VI 8966/18 (E: 35380)
  At the unit: 15-23 July 1919, flying two known sorties. It was under repair 15-16 July and on 23rd July 1919.
   LVG C.VI 8987/18 (E: 35432)
  At the unit: 8-22 June 1919, flying four known sorties. It was under repair 12-13 June and 17-22 June 1919.
7.repuloszazad'.
   Fokker D.VII 7606/18
  It fell into Romanian hands in Debrecen on 23rd April 1919. It was under repair in June 1919 at the Romanian Escadrila - depozit
   LVG C.VI 7791/18
  Captured by Rumanian forces in Debrecen, flown by Escadrila N.7 in June 1919.



Back to the Balkans

  After the unsuccessful crossing of the Tisza River, the Eastern Front collapsed, and the Hungarian troops began a full retreat. On 1st August, the Governing Council resigned, ending the period of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, and three days later, Romanian troops marched into Budapest. This was the beginning of a process that, from the Romanian point of view, was a capture or prize, but from the Hungarian point of view, it was a plunder of the country and the aviation industry. This process can be reconstructed with a fair degree of accuracy based on the situation reports received by the Air Department of the Hungarian War Ministry. According to the data up to 21st November 1919, 302 wagons of flying materials were taken by the Romanians from various places, of which 97 wagons had already left the country via the Tisza bridges between 26th September and 21st November 1919. The War Ministry account shows that Romanians carried away 547 aircraft (204 without engines) and 135 engines altogether. Based on archival sources, Valeriu Avram stated that the Romanian Army captured ca. 150 aircraft of different types (ca. 80 were in good condition) and about 260 aircraft engines in Hungary in 1919. This considerable contradiction is unlikely to be fully resolved, but research is ongoing to clarify the data and paint a more complete picture.
  As for the aircraft of German origin, Romanian Grupul V Aviatie got the first ones already in the beginning phase of the campaign against Hungary. Occupying Debrecen, they got at least one Fokker D. VII (7606/18) and one LVG C.VI (7791/18); the former appeared at Escadrila - depozit on 25th May 1919, then assigned to Escadrila N. 7, the latter was also flown at Escadrila N.7 in June. At the end of June 1919, Escadrila S.2 was equipped with another LVG with serial number 14640 (?). During the retreat from the Romanian Army, 6. repuloszazad reached Godollo (about 30 km northeast of the outskirts of Budapest) and disembarked here. Still, as the further route was blocked, the entire unit’s equipment fell into enemy hands, including four operational and two dismounted aircraft. (On 31st July, the squadron had LVG C.VI 7711/18 in operational condition and 7646/18 under repair, besides three Hansa-Brandenburg C.I series 269.) Identification of further German planes is possible in the case of LVGs, as there are only suitable Hungarian and Romanian sources about them. According to Hungarian reports, three LVG C.VIs were taken from UFAG and nine from MAG. Valeriu Avram, however, found ten LVG C.VI in Romanian records: 7601/18,7605/18,7618/18,7620/18,7646/18,7791/18, 8904/18, 9821/18, 14640 (?) and 15844 (?); three of them were captured earlier as it was already mentioned. From Romanian documents a further LVG is known: 9484/18.
  The captured aircraft, especially the LVG C.VIs, entered Romanian service mostly in 1920, and as far as the fate of the planes is concerned, we have information mainly about their accidents. The first happened in 1919 at Debrecen, with Capitan Gheorghe Racoveanu in the pilot’s seat. 7618/18 had an accident sometime in 1920 in Iasi piloted by Sublocotenent Mosu Simionescu. 7636/18 also suffered damages in Brasov on 17th August 1920 with Adjutant Schwartz and Sublocotenent Dimitriu.
  On 13th September 1920 Locotenent Friedrich Rozstocki took off with Nr. 15884 (its original number is unidentified) when the engine, at 50 meters high above the airfield, began to give increasing failures due to the carburetor, forcing it to land with the backward vault, not having time to take it to the front. The propeller, two wheels, and the undercarriage were destroyed, but the engine, the fuselage and the upper wings remained good.
  The following day, No. 1920 L (7620/18) crashed at the Central de Instructie al Aviatiei (Aviation Training Center) in Siret with pilot Locotenent Traian Paclea and pilot student Locotenent Alexandru Cernescu. The aircraft was heavily damaged: the wings and the propeller were broken into several pieces, as well as the fuselage, which was broken into three pieces. The engine, like the onboard devices, was destroyed, as were the wheels and the undercarriage. The plane became useless, and even spare parts could not be taken from it as they were all destroyed.
  The last known accident happened on 15th August 1921, when Locotenent Petre Davidescu landed with 7646/18, which suffered severe damage to the wheels, the undercarriage, and the lower wing; its propeller was broken, and the engine was displaced.