Fokker D VII, (Alb. late), Eduard, 1:48, Ltn Josef Raesch. Jasta 43, 7 victories

So, before the end of the year, I will have time to add one more model. Another addition to the Fokker collection. Again, a very pleasant build, without any major tricks.

Leutnant Josef Raesch was a World War I flying ace with seven aerial victories. Two of his wins were over fellow aces, Guy Wareing and Ernest Charles Hoy.
After training, he was assigned to the reconnaissance unit Flieger-Abteilung (Flier Detachment) 7 as a two-seat pilot. After shooting there, he attended Jastaschule (fighter pilot training) followed by a posting to a fighter squadron. He joined Jagdstaffel 43 on 6 June 1918. He reported in his June diary that rookie pilots posted to the squadron were given the older Albatros D.III or Albatros D.V to fly, but that the newer Fokker D.VIIs were filtering into the unit. The eighth arrival of D.VII is recorded. Raesch inherited a Fokker D.VII from Otto Creutzmann when he left Jasta on 13 June. Creutzmann's insignia of a pitchfork sticking forward remained on the plane.

For his first aerial victory, Raesch shot down a Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a north of Hantay at 11:00 on 27 June 1918. On 1 July he scored again, shooting down a Sopwith Camel. A week later he shot down another SE.5a over Nieppe Wood for his third confirmed victory. On July 25, he lost the fight at 6:00 p.m.; Lt. Ivan Frank Hind flying SE.5a C5358 shot down Raesch in flames using a Buckingham incendiary munition. The bullets narrowly missed Raesch's head, but a burst of flame hit him in the face. Although Raesch had only had a parachute for the past fortnight, during one of the pioneering wartime jumps it collapsed and hit the ground alive, but with a burnt face. To do so, he had to rip his chute out of the container in mid-air. Then a two-meter hole burned the chute. The chute was repaired and reissued to save the life of another pilot. He was the first pilot to use a parachute in combat. Raesch did not score again until 17:50 on 28 September 1918 when he shot down Flight Commander Ernest Charles Hoy of No. 29 Squadron RAF. Flying ace Hoy survived the crash of his Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a east of Ypres, but was captured by German ground troops.
Raesch did not score again until 26 October when he shot down an SE.5a over Velennes, France. At 10:30 the following day, he shot down another flight commander from No. 29 Squadron, Captain Guy Wareing. Wareing's body and wreckage landed east of Tournai.
Nothing further is known about Josef Raesch, except that as late as 1967 he was known to have worked as a machine tool manufacturer.

4 additional images. Click to enlarge.