[3] He returned home to Germany to enlist as a leutnant (lieutenant) in the 7th (Magdeburg) Cuirassiers "von Seydlitz" Regiment in 1913 as a one-year volunteer.

At the start of World War I his regiment served on the Western Front,[1] fighting in Belgium and the First Battle of the Marne.

[citation needed] At any rate, upon completion, he was assigned to the bombing group Kampfgeschwader der Oberste Heeresleitung IV in July 1916.

He crash landed within friendly lines and despite his own injury dragged his injured observer safely out of the shell-fire directed at their downed aircraft.

While assigned as a non-flying adjutant, he began tutelage on the fighter pilot's craft with two aces, Karl Emil Schaefer and Otto Hartmann, as well as Bolle's friend, Max Ritter von Müller.

It was a dispirited squadron, having lost three consecutive Pour le Mérite holding commanding officers killed in action.

[10][11] Bolle's command of English turned out to be handy upon occasion, when he questioned downed British Empire fliers.

[3] He opened his tally with Jagdstaffel 2 on 25 April 1918, as part of a huge air offensive launched to support ground assault on Kemmel Ridge.

In August, 1918, when he had scored 28 victories, he received the Military Merit Cross, and the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern; the Pour le Mérite (commonly known as the Blue Max) was bestowed on the 28th.

[1] A week later, he and his pilots defiantly marked their Fokker D.VIIs with their names and victory scores before surrendering them into British hands at Nivelles, Belgium.