Stark Reality

Alrighty... according to the info that accompanied it, Leutnant Rudolf Stark of Jasta 34b is shown in this photo... although we have not been able to determine which fella is Stark. If your blogmeister had to make a choice, he'd go with the guy on the left in the foreground, based on the few photos of the man we've found online.

Anyhoo, the bird looks to be a Pfalz, perhaps a D.III? Dunno... just guessing. The photo itself is somewhat poor quality, even with a bit of tweaking in Photoshop... but what it lacks in that department it makes up for with atmosphere and sheer grooviness.

Project 914 Archives

Another poor quality image... this one shows Stark with a Fokker Dr.1 which, according to info found HERE, apparently had been transferred to Jasta 34b from Jasta 11. Also, there's a smaller but better quality image of this same photo on that page.

Project 914 Archives

Here's an anecdote from Stark that we came across HERE, concerning Jasta 34b's accommodations at Foucaucourt Aerodrome during 1918...

"Some of us have dogs, one owns a cat, another has brought three magpies along, while yet another has caught a fox-cub. All this menagerie has to be parked in the one hut, over and under the beds, thus curtailing the space available for humans. Unfortunately all the dogs are at war with one another in addition to cherishing the most evil intentions towards the cat. The latter lies in ambush for the magpies, with the result that we often arrive home in the middle of a scrap and just in time to prevent a tragedy. The fox-cub is the only one that sits good and quiet in his corner, but he gets so bored that he goes and grabs everyone's boots in turn and gnaws them. Owing to the presence of the aforesaid menagerie the air in our hut is not exactly what one would call pure ozone."

Krieg ist die Hölle.


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