The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Small piece of cream coloured German aircraft fabric, probably from a Fokker E III, on which is a written note in black ink by Herbert ('Bert') Matthews. The note reads: 'France 30.4.1916 Dear Bill This is a portion of the wing of a German aeroplane which was brought down after a very exciting fight with one of our aeros on the 29.4.16 we won by a knockout. I had a good seat. Bert'.
The fabric appears to be unbleached linen, and has a line of irregularly spaced holes where a stitched seam has been unpicked along its bottom edge. The reverse (unwritten) side is partially covered by a thin coating of varnish or dope. This coating, which may once have been clear, is now very yellow in appearance.
This piece of fabric is thought to have been taken from a Fokker 'Eindecker' (EI, EII or EIII) brought down behind Allied lines on 29 April 1916.
The Royal Flying Corps communique on this event reads: '2 Lt Lord Doune on an F.E. of 25 Sqn, observer 2 Lt R.V. Walker, when on patrol between Hulluch and La Bassee at a height of 10,000 feet sighted a Fokker 1,000 feet below him. He dived at it, and the observer opened fire at 80 yards. The Fokker attempted to get behind the F.E., and the machines circled round each other several times, the F.E. having the best of the manoeuvring. The third time the two machines approached each other while both pilot and observer were firing at the Fokker at very short range above them, one wing was seen to crumple up, and the Fokker fell in a spinning nose dive, being carried by the wind behind our lines. Five drums in all were fired at it before it fell. The pilot of the hostile machine belonged to the 18th Flieger Abteilung. He was the son of Prince Ernst von Sachsen-Meiningen.'
The 'F.E.' ('Fighting Experimental') in this case was FE2b No 5209. The La Bassee-Hulluch area is close to the Fleurbaix-Armentieres region where Australian troops were stationed on their arrival in France in early 1916. The pilot of the Fokker, Unteroffizier Georg Wilhelm von Saalfeld, (who was killed) was indeed the son of Ernst von Sachsen-Meiningen, while Lord Doune (Francis Douglas Stuart-Grey) and his observer both received the Military Cross.
An approximately rectangular section of fabric with two distinct paint layers on its surface. The base coat is an almost transparent finish with a slight touch of brown. The top coat is a red finish.
An approximately rectangular section of fabric, finished with two layers; a light blue/grey layer underneath and a red layer on top. The fabric is marked on the reverse with a circular ink stamp 47mm
Piece of pre-printed lozenge fabric from German aircraft. Lozenge fabric comprised pre-printed polygons that vary in size and are approximately 290 mm long and 150 mm wide. The polygons are irregular
Piece of fabric from the wing of a Fokker DR1 aircraft. One side is covered with red paint, which appears to have been applied as the first coat over the underlying linen. The red paint is an almost e
This artifact consists of two objects: one is a fragment of aircraft linen, painted light blue, with a red painted surface overlaying that. The other item is a piece of paper, to which is adhered red
Piece of lozenge fabric from German aircraft. Lozenge preprinted fabric comprised a pattern of polygons that were printed by rollers in a distinct pattern that repeated along the bolt of fabric. Most