RE: Pfalz DIII resources -- Photos, Drawings, Plans, etc.
Since this thread was started as a discussion of documentation (and I was recently critical of the dearth of color plates for the DIII.a), I was surprised to get an email from Amazon that a new Pfalz book has been published: “Pfalz Scout Aces of World War I” by Greg VanWyngarden, illustrated by Harry Dempsey, 2006 by Osprey Publishing Ltd. I assume the book follows the format of others in the series; 7 ¼ x 9 ¾ 96 page paperback. Excellent quality photographs and color illustrations. I haven’t read the book, which focuses on pilots and engagements. But I was delighted to see a good collection of color plates that complement, not duplicate, the plates in Jack Herris’ book Pfalz Aircraft of WWI. Dempsey provides illustrations of several Pfalz models including the P39, EI, DIII, DIII.a, DVIII and DXII. Since this site focuses on DIII.a documentation, I thought I’d mention the book has color pictures of the following DIII.a’s:
4117/17 Heldmann (Jasta 10) blue tail/yellow nose
Berthold (Jag. II) red nose, blue fuse, winged emblem
Muller (Jasta 18) White fuse, red nose, black bird emblem
Degelow (Jasta 7) Very dark fuse, reindeer emblem
8009/17 Hohn (Jasta 21s) Silver with spiral red bands
Alvensleben, Recourt, dark fuse, WWII style crosses
5855/17 Schafer (Jasta 16b) silver with black vertical stripes
Roth (Jasta 16b) Silver with diagonal black/white stripe
8155/17 Stark (Jasta 34b) Silver with purple stripe
8170/17 Bohning (Jasta 79b) Dark fuse, lozenge wing, HB emblem
4203/17 von der Marwitz (Jasta 30) Silver with orange diamonds
8233/17 Berthge (Jasta 30) longitudinal grey stripes with orange diamonds
von der Marwitz (Jasta 30) Maroonish purple with orange diamonds
Hertel (Jasta 40) Dark fuselage white tail gold/silver sword emblem
4229/17 Bucker, Varsenaere, Silver with green snake emblem.
By my count, the 15 color schemes here complement the 15 color schemes in Herris’ book with only 3 duplicates; Degelow’s, Schaeffer’s, and Berthge’s (which Herris attributes to Kaus).
One of the best surprises for me was the Pfalz logo; Dempsey’s rendition clearly shows birds soaring above a village and road, whereas the logo in Windsock Datafile 21 is hard to make out and looks (to me) like a castle.
The book was inexpensive. I highly recommend it!