Fritz Pütter
Fritz Pütter (born January 14, 1895 in Karthaus near Dülmen ; † August 10, 1918 in Bonn ) was a Prussian officer in the air force and scored 25 confirmed kills in the First World War .
Life
Fritz was the son of the royal rent master Franz Pütter. He attended the municipal high school in Münster and then studied chemistry at the Westphalian Wilhelms University in Münster.
During the First World War, Pütter volunteered on August 24, 1914 in the MG 13 replacement company in Münster, where he was deployed on the Eastern Front until May 1915 . After he had finished the officers' school he was transferred to Infantry Regiment No. 370 on October 12, 1915, and took part in the battles at Flirey and in the Priest Forest.
On May 20, 1916, Pütter reported to Aviation Replacement Department 8 in Graudenz , where he completed training as a pilot . He then returned to the Western Front on December 9, 1916 as a pilot in the A 251 Aviation Division ( 3rd Army ) and was deployed as a reconnaissance aircraft between Reims and Verdun until he was commanded to Jasta 9 on March 7, 1917. On February 3, 1918, after ten kills, he was appointed leader of the Jasta 68, which was newly established for the German spring offensive . Its area of application was the area of Cambrai , Montdidier and finally Reims. In the first days of the offensive, he shot down a balloon and four planes.
After 22 victories in the air, including eight tethered balloons , he was awarded the highest Prussian valor award, the Order Pour le Mérite , by AKO on May 31, 1918 . Prior to that, Pütter had already been awarded both classes of the Iron Cross and the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords. On July 16, 1918, he crashed over Reims after his plane caught fire as a result of the self-ignition of the incendiary ammunition . Pütter died on August 10, 1918 in the university clinic in Bonn due to severe burn injuries. He was buried in the central cemetery in Münster.
literature
- Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 3: P-Z. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2011, ISBN 3-7648-2586-3 , pp. 78-79.
- 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 9783934596153 .
See also
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pütter, Fritz |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German air force officer in the First World War |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 14, 1895 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Karthaus near Dülmen |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 10, 1918 |
| Place of death | Bonn |