# Jagdstaffel 18

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Jasta 18 "Raven" insignia used by Jasta 18, May 1918 to the Armistice Active 1916–1918 Country German Empire Branch Luftstreitkräfte Type Fighter squadron Equipment Albatros D.Va Pfalz D.III Fokker Dr.I Fokker D.VII Engagements World War I

Military unit

Royal Prussian **Jagdstaffel 18** was a "hunting squadron" (fighter squadron) of the *[Luftstreitkräfte](/source/Luftstreitkr%C3%A4fte)*, the air arm of the [Imperial German Army](/source/Imperial_German_Army) during [World War I](/source/World_War_I).[1]

## History

The Jasta was formed on 30 October 1916, at [Halluin](/source/Halluin) under [4th Armee](/source/4th_Army_(German_Empire)) auspices; [Oberleutnant](/source/Oberleutnant) Karl von Grieffenhagen transferred in from [Jasta 1](/source/Jasta_1) to take command.[2] It deactivated at war's end, having existed some 25 months.

## Personnel

Jasta 18's *[Staffelfuhrer](/source/Staffelfuhrer)* (also *Jastaführer*, Commanding officers) were:[2][3]

1. Oberleutnant Karl von Grieffenhagen: 30 October 1916 – 12 August 1917

1. Oberleutnant [Rudolf Berthold](/source/Rudolf_Berthold): 12 August 1917 – 10 October 1917

1. Oberleutnant Ernst Turck: 10 October 1917 – March 1918

1. Leutnant der Reserve August Raben: 14 March 1918 – November 1918[4]

A dozen [flying aces](/source/Flying_aces) served within its ranks, including Berthold, [Hans Müller](/source/Hans_M%C3%BCller_(aviator)), [Walter von Bülow-Bothkamp](/source/Walter_von_B%C3%BClow-Bothkamp), [Wilhelm Kühne](/source/Wilhelm_K%C3%BChne_(aviator)), [Paul Strähle](/source/Paul_Str%C3%A4hle), [Harald Auffarth](/source/Harald_Auffarth), [Joseph Veltjens](/source/Joseph_Veltjens), and [Johannes Klein](/source/Johannes_Klein). After Raben took command, aces such as [Wilhelm Kühne](/source/Wilhelm_K%C3%BChne_(aviator)) and [Kurt Adolf Monnington](/source/Kurt_Adolf_Monnington) served with the unit, with Hans Müller among those who moved from Jasta 15 along with Raben. During the course of the war, the Jasta suffered eight killed in action, eleven wounded, and one taken prisoner.[3]

## Aircraft and operations

Its initial operational aircraft was the [Albatros D.III](/source/Albatros_D.III) fighter and sometime later, the [Fokker Dr.I](/source/Fokker_Dr.I) triplane. Its theater of operations was the [Western Front](/source/Western_Front_(World_War_I)).[3]

The new unit mobilized on 8 January 1917. Fifteen days later, it was credited with the first of its 112 confirmed victories during the war.[3] It moved to [Marckebeke](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marckebeke&action=edit&redlink=1) and [Harlebeke](/source/Harlebeke) airfields. On 23 November 1917, it moved to [Avelin](/source/Avelin) to work for the [6th Army](/source/6th_Army_(German_Empire)).[2]

In the spring of 1918, Berthold was promoted to command the Prussian [Jagdgeschwader II](/source/Jagdgeschwader_II) wing, consisting of the Prussian *Jagdstaffeln* [12](/source/Jagdstaffel_12), [13](/source/Jagdstaffel_13), [15](/source/Jagdstaffel_15) and [19](/source/Jagdstaffel_19). Berthold wanted to take his old squadron with him and make it part of the wing, but this was disallowed. On 19 March 1918, he engineered a wholesale swap of pilots between Jasta 18 and Jasta 15 as a means of taking the pilots he knew with him. The exchange took place at [Guise](/source/Guise), in the [18th Armee](/source/18th_Army_(German_Empire)) area of operations.[5] About this time, *[Leutnant](/source/Leutnant) [der Reserve](/source/German_Army_(German_Empire)#Reserve_system)* August Raben transferred in from [Jasta 15](/source/Jasta_15) to take command on 14 March 1918. On 8 April 1918, he led the reconstituted squadron back to Avelines Airfield; they would henceforth refer to themselves as the "Staffel Raben", and changed to a new color scheme from the change in command, abandoning the red/blue fuselages of the formerly Berthold-led unit. The new color scheme adopted by the squadron, already equipped with the [Albatros D.Va](/source/Albatros_D.V) and even a few [Pfalz D.IIIas](/source/Pfalz_D.III) and applied to those veteran fighter designs, also appeared on the [Fokker D.VIIs](/source/Fokker_D.VII) in its service, as the new Fokker fighter rapidly began to replace the earlier aircraft. The new unit livery for Raben's Jasta 18 began to appear by the end of April 1918,[6] and consisted of a white rear [fuselage](/source/Fuselage) and all-white tail surfaces, with [vermilion](/source/Vermilion) red forward of the cockpit and on the wings' upper surfaces, and usually left the bare wing panels' undersides unpainted, showing their printed [lozenge camouflage](/source/Lozenge_camouflage).[7] The squadron's main unit insignia consisted of a [stenciled](/source/Stencil) black raven, similar in appearance to what Raben himself had used on his own [fighter aircraft](/source/Fighter_aircraft) while previously serving with [Jagdstaffel 39](/source/Jagdstaffel_39), on just about all of the squadron's aircraft fuselage sides on the white rear area, with varying personal insignia added in black, usually along with the raven. The only Jasta 18 aircraft ever to feature a white raven instead were August Raben's own Fokker D.VII, and a later [Fokker Dr.I](/source/Fokker_Dr.I) he personally used, with the red area on the fuselages of both aircraft extended rearwards to end much closer to the stabilizer's leading edge.[8] The unit would move on to assignments at [Faches-Thumesnil](/source/Faches-Thumesnil) and [Lomme](/source/Lomme) in the 6th Army zone of operations. On 14 June, it moved to support of [19th Armee](/source/19th_Army_(German_Empire)), it moved to [Montingen](/source/Montoy-Flanville), near [Metz](/source/Metz) for the remainder of the war,[2] in opposing the efforts of the British [Independent Air Force](/source/Independent_Air_Force) in the 19th Armee's sector, with Jasta 18 being by far the most experienced fighter squadron in the area. Jasta 18's efforts in resisting the British IAF bomber forces were achieved alongside [Jagdstaffel 80](/source/Jagdstaffel_80) sharing Jasta 18's area of operations; with [Jagdstaffel 70](/source/Jagdstaffel_70) and the Bavarian [Jagdstaffel 78](/source/Jagdstaffel_78) immediately south, and the Württemberg [Jagdstaffel 64](/source/Jagdstaffel_64) and [Jagdstaffel 65](/source/Jagdstaffel_65) immediately north. A few *KEST (**K**ampf**e**insitzer **St**affel)*-designation units also existed in the 19th Armee area, as home defense fighter units.[9]

The macabre "Grim Oscar" insignia of the USAAS' [13th Aero Squadron](/source/13th_Aero_Squadron), an opposing unit to Jasta 18, Sept-Nov. 1918.

While still based at Lomme, the *Staffel Raben* would also see action for the first time against American pilots of the [USAAS](/source/United_States_Army_Air_Service) starting in the second half of May 1918, specifically the American "inheritor unit" of the French *[Lafayette Escadrille](/source/Lafayette_Escadrille)* of largely American personnel, the [103d Aero Squadron](/source/103d_Aero_Squadron).[10] By early autumn 1918, after the final move to Montingen, the aerial actions undertaken between the USAAS and the *Luftstreitkräfte* over the [Battle of Saint-Mihiel](/source/Battle_of_Saint-Mihiel) pitted Jasta 18 against the macabre-marked USAAS' [13th Aero Squadron](/source/13th_Aero_Squadron#Combat_in_France) and their [*Grim Oscar*](/source/Grim_reaper)-bearing [SPAD XIII](/source/SPAD_XIII) fighters, with the two units tangling a number of times from the St. Mihiel offensive onwards to the Armistice.[11]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Jagdstaffeln (Jastas)"](http://www.theaerodrome.com/services/germany/jasta/index.php). *The Aerodrome*. 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFranksBaileyGuest199337_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFranksBaileyGuest199337_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFranksBaileyGuest199337_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFranksBaileyGuest199337_2-3) [Franks, Bailey & Guest (1993)](#CITEREFFranksBaileyGuest1993), p. 37.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-theaerodrome_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-theaerodrome_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-theaerodrome_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-theaerodrome_3-3) ["Jasta 18"](http://www.theaerodrome.com/services/germany/jasta/jasta18.php). *The Aerodrome*. 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** van Wyngarden, Greg (2011). *Osprey Elite Aviation Units #40: Jasta 18 - The Red Noses*. Oxford UK: Osprey Publishing. pp. 67–69. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-84908-335-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-84908-335-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEFranksBaileyGuest199335–37_5-0)** [Franks, Bailey & Guest (1993)](#CITEREFFranksBaileyGuest1993), pp. 35–37.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** van Wyngarden, Greg (2011). *Osprey Elite Aviation Units #40: Jasta 18 - The Red Noses*. Oxford UK: Osprey Publishing. p. 72. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-84908-335-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-84908-335-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Jasta 18 Fokker D.VII color schemes](http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234943896-jasta-18-fokker-fighters-albatros-oaw-dvii-132-pheon-decals/)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** van Wyngarden, Greg (2011). *Osprey Elite Aviation Units #40: Jasta 18 - The Red Noses*. Oxford UK: Osprey Publishing. pp. 86 & 87. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-84908-335-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-84908-335-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** van Wyngarden, Greg (2011). *Osprey Elite Aviation Units #40: Jasta 18 - The Red Noses*. Oxford UK: Osprey Publishing. pp. 92–93. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-84908-335-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-84908-335-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** van Wyngarden, Greg (2011). *Osprey Elite Aviation Units #40: Jasta 18 - The Red Noses*. Oxford UK: Osprey Publishing. pp. 75–76. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-84908-335-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-84908-335-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** van Wyngarden, Greg (2011). *Osprey Elite Aviation Units #40: Jasta 18 - The Red Noses*. Oxford UK: Osprey Publishing. pp. 107–115. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-84908-335-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-84908-335-5).

**Bibliography**

- [Franks, Norman](/source/Norman_Franks); Bailey, Frank W. & Guest, Russell F. (1993). *Above The Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service, and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918*. London, UK: Grub Street. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-948817-73-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-948817-73-1).

- van Wyngarden, Greg (2011). *Osprey Elite Aviation Units #40: Jasta 18 - The Red Noses*. Oxford UK: Osprey Publishing. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-84908-335-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-84908-335-5).

v t e Jastas of the Imperial German Army Air Service Prussian 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 17 18 19 20 25 26 27 29 30 31 33 36 37 38 39 41 42 43 45 46 48 49 50 51 52 53 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 73 74 75 81 82 83 85 86 87 88 89 90 Bavarian 16 23 32 34 35 76 77 78 79 80 Saxon 21 22 24 40 44 54 72 Württembergian 28 47 64 84

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jagdstaffel 18](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagdstaffel_18) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagdstaffel_18?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.