PEEBLES PROFILES
EPISODE XVIII: Josef Jacobs
Josef Carl Peter Jacobs was born in Kreuzkapelle (in the Rhineland) on May 15, 1894. He learned to fly at the age of eighteen. As a schoolboy in Bonn, Jacobs had been fascinated by the activities he saw at the nearby flying school in Hangelar. He learned to fly there, under the tutelage of Bruno Werntgen.
When World War I began, Jacobs joined up for the Imperial German Army Air Service to train as a pilot with Fliegerersatz-Abteilung (Replacement Detachment) Number 9. In July 1915, he was posted to FA Number 11 (a reconnaissance squadron) for one year. Jacobs flew long-range sorties over Allied lines, and his first flight occurred the evening of his arrival!
Jacobs scored his first victory over a French Caudron in February 1916. However, it was unconfirmed due to a lack of independent witnesses.
After leave in April 1916, Jacobs was posted to Fokker Staffel West and flew a Fokker E.III Eindecker. He finally achieved his first official victory over an enemy aircraft on May 12, 1916… when he shot down a two-seater Caudron crewed only by its pilot.
At the end of July 1916, Jacobs and his unit had been pulled back for what became a month of aerial bodyguard duty, protecting General Headquarters at Charleville. On September 1 of that year, Jacobs left this duty in disgust and returned to a front line assignment flying a Fokker E.III. On the 19th, he upgraded to a Fokker D.II. His old comrade in arms, Max Ritter von Mulzer, died in a crash one week later. Jacobs, himself, fell ill from dysentery on September 29th. The sickness sidelined him for several weeks.
Fokker Staffel West became Jasta 12 on October 6, 1916. Jacobs remained with it, although a month later he transferred to Jasta 22, then under the command of Oberleutnant Erich Hönemanns, who was a personal friend.
Jacobs achieved his second victory (over a Caudron RIV) in January 1917. He achieved three officially confirmed and eight more unconfirmed victories in his time with Jasta 22. However on August 2, 1917, Jacobs transferred to Jasta 7 as its Staffelführer (commander). He then shot down French ace Jean Matton on September 10, 1917.
From early 1918 onwards, Jacobs started flying the Fokker Dr.I triplane with Jasta 7, and he had his aircraft finished in a distinctive black scheme. The Dr.I was his favorite model up until October 1918. He used its maneuverability to his advantage, becoming the triplane’s highest scoring ace, with over 30 confirmed victories.
Jacobs’ victory tally slowly rose. With his 24th victory (achieved on July 19, 1918), he was awarded the coveted Pour le Mérite. Jacobs would remain with Jasta 7 until the armistice; his final victory tally was 48 enemy aircraft and balloons (tied for third among Imperial Germany’s air aces with the late Werner Voss).
Immediately after the Great War, Jacobs continued to fight against the Bolshevik forces in the Baltic with Gotthard Sachsenberg and Theo Osterkamp in Kommando Sachsenberg. He also became a flying instructor in the Turkish Army for a brief period before completely withdrawing from military activity.
In addition to aviation, Jacobs was a keen participant in bobsleghing, speedboat, and automobile racing. He won the first race at the AVUS circuit in Berlin. Jacobs later became a director in the Adler automobile works… and in the 1930s, he owned his own aircraft repair and manufacturing company in Erfurt.
When Hitler came to power in early 1933, Jacobs attained the rank of major in the Luftwaffe reserves, even though he refused to join the NSDAP, or Nazi Party. Jacobs turned down the offer made to him personally by Hermann Göring. Then after refusing to let Göring become a major shareholder in his company, Jacobs moved his company to the Netherlands. He went into hiding after the German invasion in the spring of 1940 with the help of his old friend Friedrich Christiansen, who was appointed military governor of the Netherlands.
Jacobs then moved to Bavaria after World War II. He owned a construction crane operation, became president of the German Bobsleigh Society, and aided aviation historians of World War I.
Josef Jacobs died in Munich on July 29, 1978 at the age of eighty-four. He was the last living aviation recipient of the Pour le Merite.