Eduard von Dostler
Eduard Dostler , since 1917 Knight of Dostler (* 3. February 1892 in Pottenstein , † 21st August 1917 at St. Julien ) was a Bavarian officer of the German Air Force and scored 26 confirmed kills in the First World War .
Life
Eduard was the son of chief geometer Christian Dostler and his wife Babette, née Raab. After graduating from the humanistic grammar school in Amberg , he joined the 2nd Pioneer Battalion of the Bavarian Army in Speyer on October 1, 1910 as a flag squire . There he was appointed ensign on June 24, 1911 and promoted to lieutenant on October 28, 1912 . On October 1, 1913, Dostler was transferred to the 4th Engineer Battalion in Ingolstadt , where he received the rescue medal after rescuing an officer and a pioneer from the Danube during an exercise .
With this unit, Dostler moved to the western front after the outbreak of World War I and acted as deputy company commander from October 20, 1914. For a successful demolition he was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class on March 5, 1915.
On February 6, 1916, he came to Aviation School I in Schleissheim . His first major overland flight took him to Amberg on May 3, 1916. He scored his first kill of a Nieuport on December 17, 1916. After comparisons with the French leaf reports, it was the well-known bomber pilot Capitain Robert de Beauchamp. At that time Dostler was in Schutzstaffel 27. In April 1917 he joined Jagdstaffel 34 and from there to Jagdstaffel 6 of the Manfred von Richthofen Jagdgeschwader . In 1917 Dostler won 25 of his total of 26 victories. For this he was on August 18, 1917 by King Ludwig III. entrusted with the Knight's Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order . Associated with this was the elevation to the personal nobility and he was allowed to call himself Ritter von Dostler after his entry in the nobility register . On August 9, 1917, he was also awarded the Order Pour le Mérite , having previously received the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords and the Order of Merit IV Class with swords.
On August 21, 1917, Lieutenant Dostler did not return from an enemy flight. Manfred von Richthofen sent several planes to look for him. Only later did it become known that Dostler had fallen in a dogfight over St. Julien.
Honors
In his honor, the town of Amberg , where his parents lived and were buried, is named after Dostlerstrasse.
See also
literature
- Rudolf von Kramer, Otto Freiherr von Waldenfels: VIRTUTI PRO PATRIA. The Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order. Acts of War and Book of Honor 1914-1918. Self-published by the Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order, Munich 1966.
- Jürgen Brinkmann: The knights of the order Pour le merite 1914-1918. Th.Schäfer Druckerei GmbH Hanover, Bückeburg 1982.
- Walter Zuerl: Pour le merite-Flieger. Luftfahrtverlag Axel Zuerl, 1987, ISBN 978-3-934596-15-3 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.flieger-album.de : [1] , accessed on March 5, 2011.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dostler, Eduard von |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Dostler, Eduard; Dostler, knight of |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Bavarian officer, last fighter pilot in the First World War |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 3, 1892 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pottenstein |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 21, 1917 |
| Place of death | at St. Julien |