FliK 41J
|
Flik 41J |
|
|---|---|
| active | February 28, 1917 to November 1918 |
| Country |
 Austria-Hungary
|
| Armed forces | kuk aviation troops |
| Branch of service | Jagdstaffel |
The Flik 41J (official name Jagdfliegerkompanie 41) was one of the most famous Austrian-Hungarian aviation companies during the First World War . It was the first pure fighter pilot's association after the 1917 specialization of the kuk aviation troops and was deployed on the Italian front.
history
The company was founded on February 21, 1917 as FliK 41. It was given the suffix J for fighter pilot company on February 28, 1917.
In March of the same year, Godwin Brumowski was appointed commander of the unit after he had previously been transferred to the German Western Front and assigned to the German Jasta 24 fighter squadron to study the experience of aerial combat there. He then brought this knowledge to the Flik 41J.
On March 27, 1917, the FliK 41J stationed in Sesana near Trieste was assigned to the 5th Army . The original target state of 18 aircraft intended for the unit was never achieved and in the end only comprised six aircraft and two reserve aircraft. In November 1917 she joined the 1st Army and in January 1918 the 6th Army . Until the end of the war she was stationed on the following airfields: Campoformido , Aiello del Friuli , Feltre , Torresella and Portobuffolé .
From its foundation until November 1918, it was used in the course of the Twelfth Isonzo Battle , on the Piave and on the Montello.
The Flik 41J had a reputation for being the best unit in the aviation force. Many of the best Austro-Hungarian fighter pilots flew in the unit, such as Frank Linke-Crawford , Kurt Gruber , Karl Kaszala, Friedrich Navratil , Josef Novak and, temporarily, Julius Arigi and Benno Fiala von Fernbrugg .
The flying companies were numbered consecutively in Arabic numbers. The target number of aircraft of a flying company was six aircraft and two reserve aircraft. The company was generally divided into a command, two platoons, a reserve platoon and the train. It had about ten officers, including four observation officers and 100 NCOs and men. As "cover" (security personnel) they were assigned a maximum of a half company of 60 men. The flying companies were very mobile and, if necessary, relocated within a very short time. There was no radio link to the aircraft.
| Aerial victories of the Jagdstaffel | |
|---|---|
| Godwin Brumowski | 24 |
| Frank Linke-Crawford | 13 |
| Kurt Gruber | 2 |
| Friedrich Navratil | 1 |
| Kaszala Károly | 5 |
| Total: | 45 victories |
Aviator types
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The types of aircraft flown by the pilots of the Jagdstaffel:
-
Albatros D.II
- Series 53
-
Albatros Oeffag D.III
- Series 53.2 (1917)
- Series 153 (1917,1918)
- Series 253 (1918)
-
Aviation D.1
- Series 38 (from August – September 1917)
- Series 115 (1918)
-
Hansa-Brandenburg DI
- Series 28, 128
- Series 65
The Hansa-Brandenburg D. I models were a makeshift solution, as the Austro-Hungarian aviation troops lacked a large number of planes. Some fighter pilots like Godwin von Brumowski were very successful with this type of aircraft, even if it was not easy to use.
Others
literature
- Reinhard Karl Boromäus Desoye: The kuk Luftfahrttruppe - The emergence, the structure and the organization of the Austro-Hungarian Army Air Force 1912-1918 , Diplomica Verlag, Hamburg 2000 ISBN 978-3-8324-2914-0 on books.Google
- Alexis Mehtidis: Italian and Austo-Hungarian military aviation on the Italian front in world war one , Tiger Lily Books, 2008 ISBN 978-0-9776072-4-2
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reinhard Karl Boromäus Desoye: The kuk Luftfahrttruppe - The emergence, development and organization of the Austro-Hungarian Army Air Force 1912-1918 p. 176
- ↑ a b c Alexis Mehtidis: Italian and Austo-Hungarian military aviation on the Italian front in world war one p. 98
- ↑ a b Godwin Brumowski - The "Austrian" Red Baron , accessed on October 19, 2017.
- ↑ Karl Kaszala on wwiaviation.com. ( Memento of the original from July 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
