Anton Rippon - Gunther Pluschow: Airmen, Escaper and Explorer

First published in Great Britain in 2009 by

Pen & Sword Military

an imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

47 Church Street

Barnsley

South Yorkshire

S70 2AS

Copyright Anton Rippon 2009

ISBN 978 1 84884 132 1

eISBN 9781844685240

The right of Anton Rippon to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is

available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

Typeset in Ehrhardt by Phoenix Typesetting, Auldgirth, Dumfriesshire

Printed and bound in England by MPG

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The proud young naval officer: Gunther Plschow in 1906. ( plschow )

SMS Frst Bismarck, the flagship on which Gunther Plschow first served on the China Station. ( Authors Collection )

A Little bit of Germany by the sea: Tsingtao pictured on the eve of the First World War. ( Bundesarchiv )

German officers horse racing at Tsingtao. Gunther Plschow had to use the racecourse as a makeshift airfield. ( Bundesarchiv )

Japanese forces land at Laoshan Bay to the north of Tsingtao in September 1914. ( Authors Collection )

Plschows Rumpler Taube outside the walls of Haichow. ( Dr Ruth Bennett Morgan )

Plschow presents the engine of the Taube to the local mandarin at Haichow. ( Dr Ruth Bennett Morgan )

A sad moment: Plschow with his burning Taube. ( Dr Ruth Bennett Morgan )

Plschow poses in the clothes he wore during his escape from London. ( Plschow )

Mr McGarvin on board the Mongolia as it reaches the United States. ( Plschow )

The liner Andania was used as a prison ship in the Solent. It was Gunther Plschows first home when he arrived in England. ( Authors Collection )

A newspaper artists impressions of life at Dorchester POW camp in 1915. ( Authors Collection )

German prisoners attract much attention as they are marched through the streets of Castle Donington on their way to Donington Hall in 1915. ( Authors Collection )

Donington Hall camp, a stately home surrounded by a wire fence. ( Authors Collection )

German officers enjoy a game of football in the shadow of their Donington prison. ( Authors Collection )

Two German officers engrossed in a game of chess at Donington Hall. ( W W Winter )

Gunther Plschow and Isot are married in an aircraft hanger at Libau in June 1916. ( Plschow )

A portrait of Gunther Plschow taken in 1930 before he returned to South America for the last time. ( Archiv Gerhard H Ehlers, Odenthal )

Gunther Plschow (third from the right) hosts a visit by the kaiserin, Princess Auguste Viktoria, to the air base at Kiel-Holtenau in 1916. ( Plschow )

The Heinkel HD 24W the Silberkondor pictured in the bay at Ushuaia. ( Archiv Gerhard H Ehlers, Odenthal )

The Feuerland that took Plschow and his party halfway around the world. ( Archiv Gerhard H Ehlers, Odenthal )

The Silberkonder in the harbour at Punta Arenas, December 1928. Gunther Plschow is standing on the left. ( Archiv Gerhard H Ehlers, Odenthal )