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7 players, Italian Front, British Camels
vs. Oeffag Albatrosses
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| Oberleutnant Joseph Purer |
After three years of service in the South African Mounted
Rifles, Jack Cottle transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in 1917. Upon receiving his wings, he was assigned to RAF 45 which
was stationed on the Italian front to assist the Italians with their air war against the Austro-Hungarians. Jack would score
13 victories in Italy, but his most memorable fight was on the last day of August, 1918.
At 8:35 am, Jack led a flight of three Camels over the
front, including another RAF ace, Captain Mansell James of Canada (11 victories), and Lt. R. H. Davis. The three Brits found
a flight of four Albatrosses and positioned themselves for the attack. Little did they know that the Albatri were rookie fighter
pilots, completely lost and in search of their formation.
Ltn. Joseph Purer had accumulated a stunning record as a two
seater pilot in the Austro-Hungarian Air Service... good enough to earn a transfer to Flik 3J as a fighter pilot. But all
seven of his victories had been scored as a two seater pilot - he had no combat experience in an Albatros, nor did any of
the three pilots with him. Worse yet, Purer and his comrades (Ltn. Stanislav von Tomicki, Ltn. Jaroslav Kubelik, Stb.
Otto Forster) had become separated from their flight when Cottle's Sopwiths attacked.
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| Oblt. Friedrich Navratil, the flight leader that Purer should have been following, was in this plane |
The Austro-Hungarians were decimated by the more experienced Brits. James
scored victories over Tomicki and Kubelik, while Cottle shot down Joseph Purer and Forster in a short dogfight. Forster
was taken prisoner, but pieces of Purer's plane were scattered across an Italian hillside. When Cottle drove to the site,
the soldiers guarding the wreckage offered to permit him to see Purer's body. He declined, but glanced at the pilot's identification.
Purer's picture reminded Cottle so strongly of his cousin, who had been killed in action on the Somme, that he immediately
returned to his airfield and was sent on leave.
Cottle was transferred to the western front in the final months of the war, where
he scored one additional victory to survive the war with a total of 14. He elected to stay in the RAF and served until 1942,
when he retired and moved with his wife to India.
- August 31, 1918, 9:35 am
- 4 Oeffag Albatros 153's at 9,600 feet
- 3 Sopwith Camel 130's at 9,800 feet
- over No Man's Land
- wind and clouds determined randomly
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