Authors
CHRISTOPHER A. LAWRENCEThe Hunting Falcon was written by Hans-Joachim Buddecke, a top German First World War ace. Though his autobiography of his experiences as a combat pilot were published in the Spring of 1918, in the last year of the war, Buddecke did not see his book in print; he was shot down over the Western Front on 10 March 1918. His father was left to write the forward. Hans Buddecke's journey to war started in America in 1913-1914, where he was working in Indianapolis at his uncle's car factory. A new immigrant to the United States, he was very much part of the German community of Indianapolis. Ambitious, he learned to fly at Cicero Flying Field near Chicago. He then lined up Indianapolis investors to establish a new plane manufacturing company. The deal was sealed just as war broke out in Europe in 1914. Buddecke then travelled to New York and, disguised as a man from Alsace-Lorraine, travelled to Italy on a Greek ship to bypass the British blockade. He was one of the few Germans in America who found his way home. Being a pilot, he joined the German air force and flew with his good friend, future ace Rudolf Berthold. As one of the first Eindecker pilots, he began scoring kills. His second victim was Lawrence of Arabia's younger brother. In time, Buddecke was posted to Turkey, where he became a top ace fighting in the skies over Gallipoli. His exploits in this theatre earned him the nickname 'El-Schahin', the 'Hunting Falcon'. He was the third German pilot to be awarded the Pour le Merite, the Blue Max, Germany's highest award. The two earlier recipients were the legendary ace Max Immelmann (the source of the medal's nickname) and Oswald Boelcke, Germany's great combat aviation leader and ace. Returning to the Western Front from Gallipoli, Hans Buddecke was recognised as one of the top pilots of his day. He was shot down and killed, by Sopwith Camels of 3 Squadron RNAS, on 10 March 1918. By this stage, he had been credited with thirteen 'kills'. AUTHORS: Christopher A. Lawrence is a professional historian and military analyst. He is the Executive Director and President of The Dupuy Institute, an organization dedicated to scholarly research and objective analysis of historical data related to armed conflict and the resolution of armed conflict. He was the program manager for a number of Data Base Simulations. He participated in studies for the US Army, Department of Defense, the Joint Staff, and the US Air Force. He has also directed a number of studies related to the military impact of banning anti-personnel mines for the Joint Staff, the Los Alamos National Laboratories, and the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. Jay Karamales is a software engineer by training, but has always had a keen interest in history and military affairs. He was hired by The Dupuy Institute in 1986 to design and build the database for the Ardennes Campaign Simulation Data Base project, for which he also used translated German unit records. In 1989 Mr. Karamales was hired by the consulting firm SAIC to conduct a quantitative analysis study of anti-tank warfare on the Western Front in the Second World War. He has produced the maps for over one hundred books. Mr. Karamales and his wife live just outside Boise, Idaho, where he is Director and Chief Historian of the Dry Creek Historical Society and editor of the DCHS Newsletter.
