Blue Iron depicts the famous blue and red aircraft of Jasta 15 on approach to their airfield at Balatre. Seen here are the Albatros DV that was formerly flown by Arthur Rahn, and the Pfalz DIII flown by the unit's leader Rudolf Berthold.

Jasta 15 had one of the most unusual histories of the Jasta squadrons. After assuming command of JGII in March, 1918, Hptm Rudolph Berthold tried to have his old unit, Jasta 18, attached to JGII. After failing to do so, he then arranged to have all of Jasta 18’s flying personnel swapped out with those of Jasta 15, a unit already attached to JGII. With them, the former pilots of Jasta 18 brought their unit’s colors – blue fuselages and red noses.

Hptm Rudolf Berthold was one Germany's finest pilots and squadron leaders. Berthold received several very painful wounds during his combat career - wounds that made it difficult for him to fly. Despite his painful wounds, however, he still managed to lead his squadron by example and managed to build under him a core of very loyal and effective pilots. Berthold marked all of his aircraft with his famed flying sword insignia. He finished the war with an impressive 44 victories.

Leutnant Arthur Rahn was one of the pilots involved in the personnel transfer from Jasta 18 to Jasta 15. Rahn marked all of his aircraft with a distinct banded diamond pattern. Having originally come from Jasta 19, Rahn returned to that unit in March of 1918, leaving behind his distinctly marked Albatros for use by other Jasta 15 pilots. He ended the war with 6 victories.

Details of Blue Iron
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