| Oswald Boelcke | |
|---|---|
 Captain Oswald Heinrich Boelcke standing before his biplane on July 2, 616 P.C., the day he was introduced into Knighthood, just three days prior to his death on July 5, 616 P.C. | |
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Race |
Human |
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Born |
April 24, 592 P.C. |
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Place of Birth |
Alterac City, Alterac |
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Titles |
The Orange Falcon |
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Occupations |
Alliance Soldier (Formerly) |
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Allegiance |
The Grand Alliance (Formerly) |
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Faith |
The Church of the Holy Light |
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Family |
Wolfram Boelcke Sr. (Father-Deceased) |
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Alignment |
Lawful Good |
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Status |
Deceased |
Oswald Heinrich Boelcke (Formally Captain Oswald Boelcke, b. April 24, 592 P.C. - d. July 5, 616 P.C.) was a flying ace who served in the Stormwind Navy, aviation division, from 612 P.C. up until his death in 616 P.C. He was most known for creating several useful fighter formations and tactics involving things similar to a hunting wolf-pack circling over their prey. He is recognized as a fighter-ace, with his claim of thirty-eight Horde fighter-flying machines, the destruction of a single Zeppelin and credit for bombing, and disabling a horde warship off the coast of Arathi in 615 P.C. He was a Captain at the time of his death.
Early Years[]
Oswald Boelcke was born in Alterac City, as the son of a schoolmaster. His father's first teaching job had been in Stratholme, from where the family had recently returned; Boelcke's only younger sibling was born in Corin’s Crossing.
His family name was originally spelt Bölcke, but Oswald and his younger brother Wolfram dispensed with the umlaut and adopted the Common (Stormic-Common) spelling in place of the Alteraci. The pronunciation is the same for both spellings.
Whilst he was young, Boelcke's family moved to Stormwind City, the capital of the Grand Alliance. As a youth he caught whooping cough; in order to build up his stamina, he became increasingly involved in playing sports but retained a tendency towards asthma throughout his life. Among his athletic pursuits were swimming, wrestling, rowing, hunting, long-distance running and gymnastics. However, he never did become very large; in later life, he was described as being about 6 feet 1 inches tall, much more short than his 6 foot 5 inch brother, Wolfram.
Oswald Boelcke was studious as well as athletic; he excelled at mathematics and physics. His father was a nationalist and a militarist; under his influence, the 13-year-old Boelcke had the audacity to write a personal letter to the Admiral of the Fleet of the Grand Alliance, requesting an appointment to military school. His wish was granted, but his parents' objected and he did not attend Cadets School until the age of 16. He took it upon himself to learn how to fly airplanes and how to build engines from a private Engineering school in Ironforge while he waited for his parent’s original approval.
After leaving school he joined Stormwind Navy, A.V.D. (Aviation Division), and was placed in the 92nd Squadron based in Stormwind City as a Cadet-Officer on March 15, 612 P.C.; and after attending the Advanced Aviation Courses in Ironforge, he took his Lieutenant's exam, he received an officer commission in the Stormwind Navy nearly a year later. Since Boelcke had abitur, his commission was pre-dated August 12, 611 P.C., making him senior to the other new Lieutenants in his squadron.
Career in Aviation[]
Oswald was always fascinated with flying, whether it involved a Gryphon, or a flying machine soaring above the clouds. He spent a majority of his youth reading and studying Engineering, motors and Alliance military tactics and history. His fascination was so great, that at age 13, he, and his brother Wolfram, had begun to build a two-seater biplane, taking nearly two years to complete. Finally, just shy of his 16 birthday, they had completed the machine, and on March 23, 608 P.C., the two took their first flight against their parent's will, which ended in a surprising success. The biplane was later confiscated by the brother's mother, Kaitlyn, and it was never seen again.
Boelcke was not always a Man-of-the-Alliance. He was originally turned away from early aviation service due to his asthma, which effected how he acted at various altitudes when flying, and could make him pass out if he were to dive too steep for too long. Distraught and not about to let his life-long obsession get kissed away, he enrolled in an Ironforge Engineering school to further his education atop the Military School he was accepted into. He landed his first job as a smuggler for the famous Tandrious von Steelmane of the Steelmane Gang, and served in secret, with questionable loyalty, up until his application was accepted and he was allowed into boot-camp for the Stormwind Navy's Aviation Division.
Enlisted[]
The Stormwind Navy is currently collecting the various of files which hold details about this part of Oswald Boelcke's life in the service.
Final Flight[]
Boelcke was originally scheduled for an off day on July 5, 616 P.C., however, the pilot whom was going to fill in as squadron leader for Boelcke became ill, and he had to step back in to lead a patrol around the Southern Tanaris region, reporting to rumors of Horde Naval and Airforce activity. At around 12:40 P.M., while high above the Gaping Chasm, he spotted a small patrol of Goblin fighter-biplanes. He, and his squadron of about fifteen pilots dove upon the small patrol of eight Goblin fighters, sparking a lethal dogfight. Little to Boelcke's knowledge, the patrol he had ordered his men to engage with was led by Goblin Ace Razzle Firespanner, the man responsible for killing the previous man in Boelcke's position a few months earlier. The duo singled each other out, and they fought fiercely, using nearly every tactic in their books to get one up on the other. Due to the numbers, Razzle's patrol was eventually forced to retreat, but Boelcke was blinded by wish for revenge for the Captain who sat in the seat before him. He broke the first rule in his book and chased after Razzle as they retreated, diving rather steeply as they soared through Southbreak Shore.
At around 1:30 P.M, right under an entire hour after the initial engagement, Boelcke was alone and chasing three Goblin fighter planes into the sun, making it difficult for the man to focus due to the blinding light provided by the hot desert sun. Due to lack of vision, he had failed to notice Razzle had broken off formation and looped around to his tail. Razzle fired a long burst, about five seconds, into the fuel tank, upper and lower left wings and the main body of the plane, and at around 1:33 P.M, Boelcke's machine belly-landed without using landing gear in the sands of Lands End Beach. Alliance footmen discovered the wreckage at around 1:56 P.M, after following a long smoke trail. It is there where they discovered Boelcke strapped into the cockpit. He stopped breathing at around 2:15 P.M. while being rushed to Gadgetzan.
Despite the volley of bullets from Razzle, only one had actually struck Boelcke, entering his upper right shounder and exiting right under his left nipple. He suffered immense pain for nearly an hour as he waited for death before actually succumbing to blood loss form internal bleeding. He was Razzle's 83 kill. He died just under three months after his 24 birthday.
Captain Boelcke's Biplane after the crash-landing.
Burial[]
Oswald was rushed to Gadgetzan, where several attempts revive the downed man were tried. After several attemps and no response from Boelcke's heart, he was pronounced dead July 5, 616 P.C. at 2:30 P.M. by Ardvertan Melkarn, a then Sergeant of the First Regiment. His body was then sent to Theramore City by boat, then teleported to Stormwind City for the funeral. He was mummified in his officer's uniform and placed in an expensive silver and bronze casket. Goblin Ace Razzle Firespanner sent a wreath of roses with a banner tied into the middle of the wreath, with the words," To our friend and enemy, rest in peace.", hand-written to the open-casket service in the Cathedral of Holy Light in the Cathedral Square on July 7, 616 P.C., before he was buried with full military honors in the Stormwind City Graveyard, military section, plot C, grave number 1256, where his brother Wolfram, would later join him as his neighbor in death in grave number 1257.
The graves of Captain Oswald Boelcke (Left) and Lieutenant Wolfram Boelcke (Right) in the Stormwind City Graveyard, military section, plot C, grave numbers 1256 and 1257.
Awards | Medals | Orders[]
- The Iron Cross (First-Class Edition) - Received in May, 614 P.C. for landing his fighter-plane in a neutral zone to rescue a downed ally.
- The Iron Cross (Second-Class Edition) - Received in October, 614 P.C, for his 15th kill in the skies.
- The Purple Waddle - Received in January, 613 P.C. for a bullet grazing his thigh while in combat over Tanaris.
- The Guardian Angle - Medal received in July, 613 P.C. for jumping after a sailor whom fell overboard during a storm with a life-preserver around his torso.
- The Boelcke Barricks - Barricks named after both Oswald and Wolfram Boelcke, constructed in Stormwind City, May, 621 P.C.
- The Order of Merit (Stormwind Navy-Edition) - April 2, 615 P.C., for years of service, success and expanding the tactics involving air warfare and for the success of being a pilot.
- Honor Cup - A reward for his first victory in the skies. August 26, 612 P.C. as an observer-gunner for a Alliance Observation-Bomber Biplane over Northern Barrens.
- Order of Bravery - February 24, 615 P.C. Received for his 25th kill in the skies.
- The Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Black-Diamonds - Received on April 24, 616 P.C., on his birthday for his 35th kill in the skies, and his 100th successful air-mission. Knighted July 2, 616 P.C.
- The Fallen Hero's Badge - Received July 5, 616 P.C. upon his body being recovered from Tanaris.
- Engineer's Spanner (Bronze) - Received June 15, 614 P.C. upon completing the Stormwind Military's Engineering course in Ironforge.
- Engineer's Spanner (Silver) - Received December 12, 615 P.C. upon completing the Stormwind Military's Advanced Engineering course in Stormwind City.
- Stormwind Navy Captain's Bars - Received August 19, 615 P.C., for his promotion to Captain from Lieutenant.
- Stormwind Navy Lieutenant Bar - Received upon graduation from the Kul Tiran Naval Officer's Academy, June 6, 613 P.C. Granted admission due to being a qualified Alliance citizen.
Relatives[]
Oswald only had one sibling, which is his younger brother, a Lieutenant Wolfram Eriksson Boelcke, Jr. (b. October 12, 594 P.C. - d. April 27, 619 P.C.), whom was killed at around the three year anniversary of Oswald's death. He was killed in a crash-landing from engine-failure after receiving a flak blow to his right engine from the Horde Zeppelin he and the squadron he was flying with were trying to take down. In Wolfram's hurry to get into the air prior to the dogfight, he had failed to strap himself into the cockpit with the safety harness, which ultimately resulted in his demise due to a shattered sternum followed by internal bleeding from being thrown into the dashboard of the cockpit when he crash-landed in a field in North-Eastern Silverpine Forest. His body was originally recovered by Sin'dorei Rangers whom happened to be passing by in the area, and after negotiations and a fee, his body was returned to Stormwind City where he was buried next to his brother, Oswald, with full military honors. He was a Lieutenant at the time of his death.