Fokker D VII Aces of World War 1

Hermann Gilly was another pilot to gain victories with the D VII. He had been born in Donaueschingen in 1894 and joined Infanterie-Regiment Nr 168 after the outbreak of the war. He was commissioned on the Eastern Front in March 1916, then transferred to the aviation service in November. A year later he was serving as a pilot in Fl. Abt. (A) 204 on the Piave Front in Italy. Gilly joined Jasta 40s in April 1918 and, except for a brief spell in Jasta 29, stayed with this unit till war’s end.
His D VII displayed a large good luck swastika in white and became respected by his adversaries and comrades alike. Degelow recorded that a captured RAF airman given a tour of the Jasta 40s airfield had pointed out Gilly’s Fokker and said, ‘We know this one very well. We call him the “double lucky stick”’. On 14 July 1918, the famous ace ‘Mick’ Mannock of No 85 Sqn attacked a D VII, which he described as having a black
fuselage, white tail and a swastika in white. This may well have been Gilly. If so, he survived the encounter. Gilly only scored his last three victories in the D VII, but it brought his score to seven. He too served as a major in the Luftwaffe during World War 2.