Country of origin:

Germany

Description:

Two-seat fighter scout

Power Plant:

One 119 kw (160 hp) Mercedes D.IIIa six-cylinder in-line liquid-cooled engine

Specifications:

Armament:

One fixed Spandau 7.7 mm (0.303 in) machine gun firing forward; one or two Parabellum 7.7 mm (0.303 in) machine guns fired to rear by observer; anti-personnel grenades or light 10 kg (22 lb) bombs on external racks

History:

The Halberstadter Flugzeugwerke, formerly the German office of the Bristol & Colonial Aeroplane Company, produced a series of fighter aircraft for the German Air Force prior to and during World War I. Initially it produced other manufacturer’s designs, but in 1916 it produced the C.I, a two-seat aircraft with a rotary engine which did not enter production. In 1917 it produced the CL.II, a well liked aircraft. Six squadrons were equipped with the type and these were used to attack British troops at the Battle of the Somme. The pilot and observer shared the same cockpit, the observer having a gun-ring for one or two rearward firing Parabellum machine guns.

Clashes between German CL.II units and fighters of Nos 2, 3 and 4 Squadrons of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) are well documented. One CL.II (1534/17) was forced down and captured by an Australian RE.8 crew on 9 June 1918 (see below). One successful operation involving the CL.II was attacks made on the Somme bridges at Bray and St Christ on 6 September 1917 when some 24 Halberstadts machine gunned troop concentrations crossing the bridges, and also the artillery and their horses to the rear, it being said the action disorganised the best part of a Division.

Construction comprised metal around the engine and a fuselage of wood structure covered with thin plywood panelling which was tapered. The fixed tail surfaces were of wooden frame, the elevator and rudder being of welded steel tube framework, the whole being fabric covered. The wings were single bay with a pronounced sweep made of two spruce spars with plywood leading-edges which were fabric covered.

At the end of World War I a number of captured aircraft were conveyed to No 2 Aircraft Salvage Depot near London, United Kingdom, many of these being collected by Australian troops for eventual shipping to Australia for placement in a war museum. Certainly at least two, and maybe three, examples were brought to Australia for exhibition purposes after the war. These included: CL.II 6867/18 (149 kw / 200 hp Benz engine) – also recorded as a CL.IV; and CL.II 8284/17 (134 kw / 180 hp Mercedes engine) – also noted in records as 8384/17. The latter was shipped with other captured aircraft to Australia on the ‘SS Booral’.

Aircraft serial 8284/17 was shipped to Tasmania for exhibition. It is interesting to note as late as April 1920 Australian War Museum (AWM) records indicated it held two Halberstadts. However, it seems one was never un-crated and was stored in the grounds of the Newton Infirmary. It was purchased by an unknown person who used parts in an aircraft he was constructing. It is believed to have been destroyed in bushfires in 1967. The engine has survived and has been held in a private collection.

Records also indicated a CL.II 1534/17 (also recorded as 15342/17) flown by Defreiter Kuesler and Vizefeldwebel Mullenbach was forced to fly to, and land at, Flesseles, the base of No 3 Squadron AFC, by Lt R J Armstrong and Lt F J Mart flying an RAF RE.8 (D4689). This aircraft, after examination by British Intelligence, was allotted number G.5b/16. Painted in British markings, it was flown by Capt S G Brearley and Capt R Ross from Bertangles to Marquisev in France. It was claimed as a war trophy and presented to the Australian Government. After being displayed in the United Kingdom it was recorded as being shipped to Tasmania as ‘war booty’. It is believed to have been destroyed in a fire whilst in storage in Melbourne, VIC in 1924.

Aircraft serial 6867/18, which is noted in Australian records as a complete aircraft, was placed on display by the AWM in the Exhibition Buildings in Melbourne between 18 June and 3 July 1920 to raise funds for the proposed National War Museum. The exhibition was very successful and was extended for a week. Subsequently, an exhibition was held by the Motor Traders Association of South Australia in 1920 and a number of the aircraft were placed on display. Aircraft 6867/18 seems to have then been placed in storage in Melbourne for the Australian War Memorial but was probably destroyed in a fire in 1924 along with a number of other captured aircraft.

In more recent times a collection of replica World War I aircraft has been assembled as a flying museum at Omaka airfield near Blenheim, NZ, and a Halberstadt D.IV, built by Carl Swanson in the United States and registered as a Swanson Halberstadt D.IV Replica, was imported and flown regularly at displays as ZK-JOW (c/n S.11) before being placed on display in the Aviation Heritage Centre at Omaka.

One Halberstadt CL.IV (8103/18) has been restored and has been on display at the Deutsches Museum at Oberschleissheim in Germany.