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Description: | 2 albums (284 prints) and 103 loose photographic prints mostly covering the service of Leutnant Ernst Wilhelm Reinhold in the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I. Material relating to kite balloons includes images of spherical balloons used for training, kite balloons being inflated, balloon ascents and the manhandling/walking of an inflated kite balloon. There are also two group photographs of officers of Luftschiffer Abteilung 20 with nurses. The collection also contains two photographs of a motor-driven balloon winch and crew. An aerial photograph of Stettin and two of Berlin, including the Kurfurstendamm, also included. Reinhold's initial career as a pilot is covered by a number of photographs taken at Flensburg between April - May 1917. These include images of aircraft and a number of named pilots. There is also a small number of images relating to his service on the Eastern Front - photos of towns of Baranowicze and SÅ‚onim (Russian Empire, then prewar Poland and today Belarus) included.
The majority of the remaining photographs in the collection relate to his service with Flieger Abteilung 30 (FA 30) in Macedonia. These include group photographs of aircrew (many named) and portraits of two-seater crews with their aircraft, including Reinhold and his observer Jager. There are also individual portraits of Rudolf von Eschwege and Rittmeister Neumann. A number of photographs of the airfield at Hudova (Serbian Macedonia) also figure showing personnel, buildings, aircraft and the progress and aftermath of a British bombing raid. Aircraft of FA 30 are also shown in flight and after making forced landings. The collection also contains a number of photographs illustrating the results of air combat. Amongst these are views of the wreckage of two aircraft of 47 Squadron (RFC), a BE12 (Lt Montague) and an Armstrong Whitworth FK8 (Lt Gubbin and Air-Mechanic Bury), lost on 29 October 1917, during a bombing raid on Cestovo Dump. The albums also contain a number of photographs taken during off-duty periods showing officers of FA 30 and German nurses relaxing in Uskub (Skopje), Ohrid and Resna. For the latter location there are also views of the airfield and soldier's rest home. Alongside these images are a number that cover the local inhabitants, buildings and topography of Macedonia and Bulgaria. Locations include Uskub, Kavalla, Strumitza, Philipi, Drama, Kalukowa, Plausch and Veles. Also of interest are two long-distance photographs taken from a mountain-top observation post in the Bulgarian front line. These show the harbour of Salonika filled with ships and Mount Olympus. The collection also includes a large number of aerial reconnaissance photographs, the majority taken by FA 30 over Albania and the Adriatic during 1918. Locations include Italian camps at Ersek and Gorica, Smrdes, Elbasan, Tirana and the nearby Austro-Hungarian airfield (KuK Flieger Kompany 6), the Italian airfield at Korca, and the harbours of Brindisi, Corfu, Durazzo and Valona. In addition are a number of aerial photographs of French warships in the Adriatic including Bretagne, Courbet and Danton Class battleships. Other aerial photographs cover the motorboat station on Lake Prespa, the airfield of Bulgarian flying unit No.1, the ruined castle at Philipi and the towns of Belgrade, Budvar, Cattaro, Castellnuovo, Drama, Kavalla and Kivivari. There are also a small number of photographs depicting German infantry and artillery on the Eastern Front during 1916-17. These may relate to Reinhold's early military service, or that of a friend or relative. A number of these photographs were taken at the partially destroyed village of Baranowitchi. Other images include artillery and machine-guns mounted for anti-aircraft defence, a 77mm field gun ready to fire from an open position, a trooptrain at Brest-Litovsk in 1916 and men of a German Landwehr unit in Russia during May 1916. Finally, the collection includes a published souvenir book of photographs entitled: Bilder vom Mazedonischen Kriegsschauplatz. This includes images of senior commanders and troops of the Central Powers in the Balkans, although the majority depict the local inhabitants and the topography. | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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