The first World War
Preliminary translation
General
World War I lasted from 1914 to 1918.
After some wanderings in Germany, Fokker had settled in Johannisthal (near Berlin) in 1912 and set up an aircraft factory with a loan of 5,000 guilders from his father. This was 'Fokker Aviatics'.
The third version of his Spin had caught the attention of the German army. The device was mainly used for teaching purposes.
When the war broke out, the factory was taken over by the state and moved to Schwerin.
The demand for aircraft increased enormously. Fokker hired thousands of workers and produced various aircraft types in large numbers. Some sources speak of 3,300 units and another 2,000 were built under license.
Fokker designed one, two and three-decker planes and of course he introduced the synchronous machine gun, which could fire through the propeller blades.
His last creation in German service was the Fokker D-VII, which was so feared by the Allies that this fighter aircraft was specifically mentioned in the Treaty of Versailles (the Armistice Agreement).
Anthony Fokker in the First World War
There are various stories about the person Fokker during the First World War.
He was nationalized as a German, but whether or not this happened against him is not clear.
He has become a millionaire and is said to have left Berlin with a suitcase full of banknotes.
Were bribes paid for the 'smuggling trains' and/or was this done with a blind eye from the 'Interallied Control Commission'?
Related articles
(some still to be translated)
- The Air War 1914-1918 A General Introduction by Hans Appel *
- Characteristics of the Aircraft in the First World War by Hans Appel *
- Three-deckers, an introduction by Hans Appel *
- Why a double-decker with tension wires? By Hans Appel *
- Two articles on the development of the synchronized machine gun
- A very extensive article by Hans Appel with an appendix (patents and patent dispute with Fokker)
- A compact English article
* There is a certain amount of overlap between these articles.
