September Evening: The Life and Final Combat of the German World War One Ace Werner Voss

by Barry Diggens

This is the first full-length biography ever written on the life and death of the nineteen-year-old Werner Voss, who was a legend in his own lifetime and the youngest recipient of the Pour le Me'rite, Germany's highest award for bravery in WWI. At the time of his death he was considered by many, friend and foe alike, to be Germany's greatest ace and, had he lived, he would almost certainly have overtaken Manfred von Richthofen's victory total by early spring 1918. Voss is perhaps best remembered for his outstanding courage, his audacity in the air and the prodigious number of victories he achieved before being killed in one of the most swash-buckling and famous dogfights of the Great War; a fight involving James McCudden and 56 Squadron RFC, the most successful Allied scout squadron.

Yet the life of Voss and the events of that fateful day in September are surrounded by mystery and uncertainty and even now aviation enthusiasts continue to ask questions about him almost on a daily basis.

Barry Diggens was determined to find out the truth and his book unearths and analyses every scrap of information concerning this extraordinary young man. His conclusions are sometimes controversial but his evidence persuasive and this study will be welcomed by, and be of great interest to, the aviation fraternity worldwide.

Includes an excellent photographic section.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Aviation

194 pages, Hardcover

First published December 19, 2003

Reviews

[KOMET · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's a good biography of the German aviator Werner Voss, with special emphasis on his First World War service as a fighter pilot. Along with Oswald Boelcke and Manfred von Richthofen, he was one of Germany's notable aces. Voss was daring, audacious, and a superb pilot who compiled a sizeable victory score before his death in September 1917 in one of the war's most famous air battles.

[R_ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an exhaustively (but impressively) researched & detailed book mainly about one extraordinary pilot, but naturally it discusses many others. Voss's flying/fighting prowess put many others to shame ... even the more famous "Red Baron". I appreciate the photo insert as well (but I wish the Kindle version would point out the existence of a photo insert somehow...would have been nice to refer to it while reading. It took me by surprise.) While it is a non-fiction account of a real life warrior, it is a story told in a very likeable, upbeat tone by the author. Even so, I had to stop reading after the main portion - I skimmed the remaining chapters about his girlfriend, alternate theories of his death, and I'm saving the appendices for later. But, by and large a very readable & interesting work.

[Captain Dunsel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good info, comfortably written. The chapter on Voss's final fight is fascinating; I've read it several times (McCudden's memoir is one of my favorite WWI books) and seen it portrayed on Dogfights. Still, the confusion about how many triplanes were there, what other German and Allied fighters were (or may have) involved, and what actually happened when Voss was killed makes 'who shot JFK' seem simple.
I was disappointed to learn Collishaw may not have not been as honest I thought he was, being jealous of McCudden and other RFC/RAF pilots.

[Claire Paravel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Werner Voss either one of the bravest men who ever lived or one of the craziest.
Lived more in his nineteen years than most of us in a lifetime. One of my heroes.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really great book about a pilot that there is not many books on but mentioned in numerous books about WWI aviators.