While most aspects of aerial combat were at least tried during World War II, German ace Werner Mölders has gotten credit for developing the innovative Vierfinger or “finger four” formation. This concept, which he introduced as a member of the German Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War, involved a roughly horizontal formation of four fighters that, upon contact with the enemy, could break up into two mutually supporting pairs. This pair of pairs could be expanded upon to create larger squadron, group or wing formations until combat was joined.
More flexible than the standard flights of World War I, which involved five or six aircraft either in tight formations or every man for himself, the finger four was widely credited with giving Messerschmitt Me-109 pilots an edge until the Allies adopted similar formations under other names, such as the U.S. Navy’s Thach Weave.
The concept may, however, have predated Mölders. The Finnish air force claims to have adopted a finger four pair of wingmen as early as 1935, and the mutually supporting wingmen on which the finger four is based dates back to the summer of 1915, when the Fokker E.I, with its synchronized machine gun, began decimating Allied aircraft. That August, pioneer German ace Oswald Boelcke disobeyed a standing order to stay within his own lines – to prevent his secret weapon from falling into enemy hands – and while attacking one Allied plane was almost shot down by another. For him, the incident revealed what we now consider obvious: Lone wolf tactics don’t gain control of the air.
Boelcke responded by formulating the idea of two Fokkers working as a team, with a wingman flying slightly above and to the side, to guard the leader’s tail. In spite of the friendly rivalry that developed between him and his partner, Max Immelmann, the two worked well as a team. Their scores were tied at six on January 12, 1916, when both were awarded the Orden pour le Mérite. Immelmann’s lack of Boelcke’s tactical vision did not prevent him from working with other wingmen, such as Max Mulzer, when Boelcke was assigned elsewhere.
As is often the case, it’s hard to state that anything is “the origin” of an action or a device, because you can usually find a precedent elsewhere.
About the Author: Born in Flushing, New York on January 3, 1951 and brought up in the little Hudson River town of Palisades, N.Y., Jon Guttman got his Master’s Degree in European History from the State University of New York at Albany in 1975. Since July 1988, he has lived and worked in Leesburg, as senior editor, research director and contributing writer for the magazines currently published by Weider Publications. He was editor of Modern Warfare magazine from 1989 to 1990 and of Military History magazine from 1995 to 2006. He is currently research editor for the Weider History Group and publications such as Military History, World War II, Aviation History, America’s Civil War, Civil War Times Illustrated, Vietnam and Wild West.
Best-known internationally for his research and writing in the field of World War I aviation—an interest that evolved from his childhood, both from building models and reading his father’s old aviation magazines from the 1930s—Mr. Guttman has also written numerous articles on naval history and World War II aviation. His first book on the former subject, Defiance at Sea, was published in Britain in 1995 and has been reprinted twice since. A book on aviation, Fighting Firsts, was published in London in March 2000. He is the editor and contributing author of the book Great Commanders in Action, and a contributing editor and co-author in Desert Storm. In addition to his many World War I-related magazine articles, he has written softback monographs on the Nieuport 28, Caudron G.3, Caudron G.4, American D.H.4, Salmson 2A2, Nieuport Pilots of the Lafayette and the experimental James V. Martin K.III Kitten fighter of World War I and co-authored Salmson Aircraft of World War I and Spad Two-Seat Fighters of World War I. He has also published four books for Osprey’s Aircraft of the Aces series, Spad VII Aces of World War 1, Spad XII and XIII Aces of World War1, Balloon Busting Aces of World War 1, Bristol F2 Fighter Aces of World War 1 and Pusher Aces of World War 1, as well as three more for that publisher’s elite units series—N.124 Lafayette Escadrille, Groupe de Combat 12 Les Cigognes and USAS 1st Pursuit Group; and Duel series books Sopwith Camel vs Fokker Dr I , SPAD XIII vs Fokker D VII. and SE 5 vs Albatros D V.
A resident of Leesburg since 1988, Jon served more than 20 years in the Army National Guard, retiring as a master sergeant in the 29th Infantry Division (Light) effective January 15, 2005. In June 1994, he went to Normandy as a member of the 29th’s Color Guard, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the division’s participation in the D-Day invasion of France. He was also called to active service in and around Washington, D.C., during the January 1996 blizzard, and on peacekeeping duty in Bosnia and Herzegovina between September 2001 and April 2002.
Find similar posts tagged with: airplanes, famous people, Military History
Mark Grob said:
Interesting post. I was under the assumption that Boelcke did formulate the working pairs tactic for flying formations.
July 28th, 2009 at 5:51 am
Michael Simmons said:
Unrelated to your post that I’ve stumbled upon recently, I came across a book review in Aviation History magazine and wanted to know if you’ve read “Rite of Passage” by Ray Matheny. The foreword was written by Gen. Johannes Steinhoff and I was wondering if you’ve come across the name in your studies of WWII aviation.
August 25th, 2009 at 10:05 pm