A SUPERB TUNIC BELONGING TO FAMOUS WW1 GERMAN 11 VICTORY ACE RUDOLF STARK, AUTHOR OF ‘WINGS OF WAR’, ARTIST, WHO WAS ONE OF THE EARLY MEMBERS OF THE FLEDGLING SECRET GERMAN AIRFORCE HAVING JOINED IN 1933. A FOKKER DVII IN HIS MARKINGS GRACES THE COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AIR FORCE

RUDOLF STARK

Born on 11th February 1897 to a military family, his father a Lieutenant Colonel in the , Rudolf joined the Army as a Cadet in 1910. By the start of WW1, he had joined the elite 2nd Bavarian Uhlan , serving as Junior Officer with this regiment in lothringen, Northern France and Flanders, Verdun, Kurland and . During his service with the 2nd Uhlans, he was promoted Lieutenant in October 1915 and for gallantry, he was Awarded the Bavarian Military Merit Cross 2nd Class, Iron Cross 2nd Class and Bavarian Military Merit Order 4th Class. From May 1916, he Commanded the machine gun squadron. In March 1917, Stark joined the German air service and after training, he was posted to FA(A) 296 on 18th September 1917. Clearly a good pilot, on 31st December 1817, he was sent for training as a fighter pilot and was posted to Jasta 34b on 18th January 1918. Stark scored five confirmed victories in the spring of 1918 and was Awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class in April. On 24th May, he joined Jasta 77b as Commander, scoring his sixth confirmed victory the day after he arrived. On 7 June, he was reassigned to Command of Jasta 35b where he remained until the end of the war. Stark scored a further five more confirmed victories. On 29th October 1918, Stark was honoured with the Award the Hohezollern House Order Cross with Swords and ended the War being credited with 11 Confirmed and 5 unconfirmed aerial victories.

During his service as a fighter pilot, Stark flew Pfalz DIII’s and a Fokker Dr1 marked with a lilac coloured engine cowling and a lilac band on the fuselage. In August 1918 Jasta 35b were supplied with the new Fokker DVII fighter. Stark applied the same markings to his DVII

POST WW1: Post WW1, Stark flew for a while with Polizei-Fliegerstaffel 1 at Schleisshei and as a test-pilot for Dornier. After that he went to South Africa but returned to his Germany in 1926. Stark was a very talented artist and for the next few years he worked in the advertising industry producing advertisements, many of a comical nature. In 1933, Stark joined the secret German airforce with the rank of Oberleutnant; a very early member. His duties however were not as a pilot but in administration/command. By 1938 he was a Major in the Luftwaffe. During WW2, Stark commanded various airfields, in Germany, Athens and . He was promoted lieutenant colonel on 1st August 1941 and was Awarded The Italian Commendatore dell'Ordine della Corona d'Italia. Stark was discharged from the service on 31st August 1944. It is unknown what Stark did post War, he did stay in Munich, perhaps went back to working as an artist but he did keep a keen interest in WW1 aviation. Rudolf Stark died in 1982 In 1933 Stark wrote ‘Wings of War: an Airman's Diary of the Last Year of World War One’, among of the best accounts by a WW1 fighter pilot. He also produced a number of paintings relating to War service and in particular his paintings of aerial combat are some of the most realistic of the time and have been reproduced in many publications.

The above and the markings Stark’s Fokker DVII, make him one of the better known German Aces of WW1, indeed he is better known that some of the Pour Le Merite winners. Indeed the Fokker DVII in The National Museum of the United States Air Force, is painted in Stark’s colours. TUNIC

Double-breasted tunic M1915," peace ulanka" Königliche Bayerische 2. Ulanen Regiment "König" (2nd Royal Bavarian Uhlan Regiment) belonging to Lieutenant Rudolf Stark.

nd Tunic is tailor made of fine field-gray cloth with 2 ​ Uhlan’s crimson-red stand-up collar, cord ​ and polish cuffs, as well as silver buttons. Sewn in shoulder boards with crimson lining and the golden propeller pads of the flying troupe. Field gray damask lining with tailor label of "Schwarz & Sohn Munich" and owners label "Lieutenant Stark ... 28.4.1916". ​ ​ Stark did not joining the aviation service until March 1917, awarded the pilot badge on 23rd November 1917. The fact that this tunic has had flieger insignia to the shoulder boards and loops for the pilot badge to the breast, shows Stark wore this tunic into at least mid April 1918. On 21st April 1918, Stark was Awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class and there are no loops for this on the tunic.

Condition is very good due to a few moth nips, mainly just below the buttons at the waist on the front of the tunic (see pics) and a couple of small 2 and 3mm ones. However bar this, there is almost none and overall condition would be excellent and shows very little wear THE TAILOR It seems Christian Schwarz & Sohn of Munich was Rudolf Stark’s preferred tailor that he used for his entire military service in WW1 and WW2. Not only is this tunic by this tailor but about 18 years ago I obtained another of Stark’s tunic; his 1915 Litewka tunic. Both collar and inside pocket name labels were the same as the tunic for offer now and both had a similar degree of moth nips. That tunic is now in the collection in New Zealand. RUDOLF STARK’S FOKKER DVII IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ​

WW1 SERVICE IN DETAIL: 18 September 1910: Kadetten-Korps, Munich. 13 August 1914: Ersatz-squadron des Kgl. Bayerischen 2. Ulanen-Regiment "König" 21 August 1914: 2. Ulanen-Regiment/4.squadron 30 September 1914: Fähnrich 25 October 1915: Leutnant 5 May 1916: In of Machine gun squadron 26 March 1917: FEA1 at Schleißheim 14 April 1917: Fliegerschule 1 18 September 1917: FA(A) 296 31 December 1917: Jasta-Schule II 8 January 1918: Jasta 34b 24 May 1918: Command of Jasta 77b 8 June 1918: Command of Jasta 35b

WW1 AWARDS: 29 November 1915: Bavarian Military Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords 16 January 1916: Iron Cross 2nd Class 7 September 1916: Bavarian Military Merit Order 4th Class with Swords 23 November 1917: Pilot Badge 21 April 1918: Iron Cross 2nd Class 29 October 1918; Hohezollern House Order Knights Cross with Swords (this always left out of published biographies) 3 August 1922: Goldenen Hochzeits-Erinnerungsmünze Ludwig III

POST WW1 AWARDS: Front Fighter Honor Cross 1938 Anschluss Medal 1938 Sudetenland Medal War Merit Cross 2nd Class Sports badge (DRA) 4 Year Long Service Medal 12 Year Long Service Medal Commendatore dell'Ordine della Corona d'Italia(Commanders Cross)

AERIAL VICTORIES

Date Time Unit Aircraft Opponent Location 1 23 Mar 1918 1317 Jasta 34 D.H.4 Barleux 2 24 Mar 1918 1310 Jasta 34 Sopwith Camel W of Barleux 3 30 Mar 1918 1230 Jasta 34 Sopwith Dolphin E of Vaire 4 04 Apr 1918 p.m. Jasta 34 R.E.8 Fouilly 5 04 Apr 1918 p.m. Jasta 34 D.H.4 S of Hamelet u/c 19 May 1918 Jasta 34 B.E.2f Proyart 6 25 May 1918 Jasta 77 R.E.8 W of Gentelles u/c 28 May 1918 Jasta 77 R.E.8 Gentelles Wood u/c 01 Jun 1918 Jasta 77 S.E.5a Soyecourt 7 01 Jul 1918 1007 Jasta 35 R.E.8 NW of Arras u/c 09 Aug 1918 Jasta 35 Two-seater Corbie 8 12 Sep 1918 Jasta 35 A.W.F.K.8 Hermies 9 13 Sep 1918 1005 Jasta 35 D.H.4 Recourt 10 15 Sep 1918 1905 Jasta 35 Sopwith Dolphin Cagnicourt u/c 15 Sep 1918 1910 Jasta 35 Sopwith Camel 11 09 Nov 1918 1455 Jasta 35 S.E.5a (E5795) E of Bavai Wood

A rare opportunity to own a tunics worn by one of the best known German Aces of WW1..