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Cranston Fine Arts  Aviation Art and Artists World War One Aircraft  DH2 |
| DH2 Aviation Prints |
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Moonlight Renegade by Stan Stokes. On July 2, 1900 Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin piloted his first rigid-framed, lighter-than-air ship over Lake Constance in Germany. Seventeen years later, on June 16, 1917, Zepellins latest creation, the L-48, was readied at Nordholz, Germany for its first combat mission. The huge L-48 was one of the newest and most technically advanced German airships. Powered by five 250 HP Maybach engines, the great airship could carry 6,000 pounds in bombs, and was manned by a crew of nineteen. For this maiden mission the commodore of the North Sea Airship Division, Victor Schutze, would be joining the L-48s skipper Kapitain-lieutenant Franz George Eichler. Early in the afternoon the L-48 commenced its mission along with several other airships from the Nordholz base. The great Zeppelin would cruise at 60 MPH at 5,000 to 10,000 feet and would ascend to approximately 20,000 feet when approaching its target. This altitude would provide an effective defense against both anti-aircraft or British fighters. RAF Captain Robert Saundby, had returned from the front, to be put in charge of a very small RFC squadron at Oxford Ness. June 16 was a cloudless night, perfect for a Zeppelin attack., and at 11:15 PM Saundby launched his two active aircraft equipped with incendiary machine gun bullets. As he gazed up at the stars at 1:00 AM Saundby was startled to see a huge zeppelin outlined by searchlights only a few miles away. Awakening two of his mechanics, Saundby instructed them to fire up his single-seat DH2 fighter. Although obsolete and not equipped for night fighting, Saundby, who had never flown at night, got the little pusher-propeller fighter in the air, and began a long ascent. After fifteen minutes of flying Saundby spotted the L-48, which was by now attracting anti-aircraft fire which was exploding several thousand feet below the great airships altitude. For an hour or so, Saundby tried to coax every bit of altitude out of his little DH2, but he could not get in range. At around 3:00AM the L-48 completed its bombing runs, and the Captain set a due north course. With dawn only an hour away, Captain Eichler was anxious to get out of British airspace. A report from an observation airship which had accompanied the strike force that evening indicated favorable winds at 13,000 feet. Captain Eichler gave the orders to descend. Meanwhile, Captain Saundby who had fought the cold and wind while tailing the L-48 for nearly three hours, was startled to see the great airship descending. Pushing his DH2 to the limit, Saundby emptied 8 canisters of incendiaries at the L-48. Recognizing the attack the L-48 dumped ballast, and immediately began to ascend. Saundbys last few round met their target and the L-48 erupted. Saundby felt the surge of heat and light, and struggled to keep his little craft under control. Within minutes the L-48s maiden mission was over, as Saundby circled the 750 foot long fireball which had come down at Westford. Amazingly, two of the L-48s crewmembers survived, the only people to ever survive a zeppelin which had been ignited. One of these survivors, Kapitanlieuntenant Meith wrote a letter describing the L-48s fateful misssion, providing much of the historical basis for this incident. |
Major Arthur Coningham by Ivan Berryman. Australian by birth and serving with the New Zealand army in the middle east at the outbreak of World War 1, Arthur Coningham joined the RFC in 1917 and was posted to 32 Squadron, flying DH.2s, as depicted here. It was in such a machine that Coningham scored the first of his 14 victories, sending down a German two seater over Ervillers. He survived the war and was made AOC Desert Air Force in 1941 before taking command of 2nd Tactical Air Force until the Second World War's end whereupon he became Air Marshal and was awarded a knighthood. He died in January 1948. |
D.H.2 versus Fokker by Michael Turner. The De Havilland 2 was designed in 1915, and first used by No.24 squadron RFC and used by three RFC Squadrons in France until June 1917. A Victoria Cross was won in a De Havilland 2 by Major Lionel Rees, commanding officer of 32 Squadron. |
Out Of The Sun - LFG Roland C.II by Ivan Berryman. One of the few rules of aerial combat that were established in the First World War was to attack, where possible, with the sun behind you, thus using the element of surprise both to appear as if from nowhere and to blind your opponent to minimise retaliation. Just such a tactic has been successfully employed here as a DH.2 rakes the tail of Staffelfuhrer Hauptmann Rudolf Kleines Kasta 3 LFG Roland C.II as it returns from a patrol in the skies above northern France in 1916. Known affectionately as The Whale, the C.II was extensively streamlined and the positioning of the cockpits and wing cut-outs afforded both the pilot and observer unequalled views in all directions. Power was supplied by a 160hp Mercedes D.III engine and armament was a 7.92mm Spandau in front of the pilot and a 7.92mm Parabellum for the observer. |
US Mail - Coast to Coast by Barry Rowe. Depicting a de Haviland |
The End of the Chase by Robin Smith. De Havilland DH2. |
| DH2 Pilot and aircrew signature details |
| DH2 Squadron details |
No.11 Sqn RAF Country : UK On 29th March 2007, XI(F) Squadron reformed at RAF Coningsby flying the Typhoon F.2 as the lead multi-role Typhoon squadron. Known Codes : , EX, OM, OY, YH, | No.11 Sqn RAF Ociores acrierosque aquilis - Swifter and keener than eagles |
No.24 Sqn RAF Country : UK Known Codes : , NQ, OAA, ZK, | No.24 Sqn RAF Commonwealth In omnia parati - Ready in all things |
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