Josef Kiss

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Kiss in January 1918

Josef "Josl" Kiss von Ittebe ( Hungarian Ittebei és Eleméri Kiss József ) (born January 26, 1896 in Bratislava , Austria-Hungary (now Slovakia ); † May 24, 1918 near Lamon , Italy ) was one of the most successful fighter pilots with 19 aerial victories the kuk aviation troops in the First World War and the most successful fighter pilot from the Hungarian half of the empire.

Life and war effort

When the war began, Kiss dropped out of school and volunteered for the Austro-Hungarian Army . After his training he joined the kuk infantry regiment "Freiherr von David" No. 72 on October 26, 1914 . The regiment fought on the Eastern Front in the Carpathian Mountains against the Tsarist army . During his recovery time, he received approval for pilot training in Wiener Neustadt and Parndorf . From the end of April 1916 he flew his first missions from the Ciré field airport near Pergine in the newly established Flik 24 flying company . Before he was transferred to the Flik 55J fighter pilot company , he had achieved seven aerial victories. In the new unit he found two excellent pilots in Julius Arigi and the commander Julius von Maier . Together they earned the Flik 55J the nickname Kaiserstaffel . In the following two and a half months up to the end of January 1918, Kiss achieved a further twelve aerial victories, eight of them in missions with Arigi or von Maier.

Josef Kiss in the rank of sergeant major after being awarded the Golden Medal of Bravery in front of an Albatros (Oeffag) D.III on the Cirè airfield near Pergine

On January 27, 1918, Kiss was wounded in an aerial combat . Not yet fully recovered, he flew on May 24, 1918 with two other pilots on a mission against British aircraft . He was shot down near Lamon by the Canadian aviator Gerald Birks and died in the crash. He was buried with full military honors in Pergine, during the funeral allied airmen threw a wreath with a mourning sash on which read: " Our last salute to our courageous foe " (German: "Our last greeting to our brave enemy") .

Kiss last stood in the rank of an officer's deputy and was the only member of the Austro-Hungarian aviation troops who was posthumously promoted to officer . He was awarded the gold medal for bravery .

His body was transferred to the Castel Dante ossuary in Rovereto in 1970 . Some of Kiss's personal items are on display in the War Museum in Borgo Valsugana .

Hit list

No date unit plane against place
1 June 20, 1916, 12:00 p.m. Flik 24 Hansa-Brandenburg CI (61.23) Farman Monte Cimone
2 August 25, 1916 Flik 24 Hansa-Brandenburg CI (26.29) Caproni Lusern plant
3 September 17, 1916 Flik 24 Hansa-Brandenburg CI Caproni Chizzola at Ala
4th June 10, 1917 Flik 24 Hansa-Brandenburg DI (28:37) Nieuport Asiago
5 June 14, 1917 Flik 24 Hansa-Brandenburg DI (28:37) SAML 2 Roana
6th July 13, 1917 Flik 24 Hansa-Brandenburg DI (28:37) Savoia-Pomilio SP.2 Levico
7th Sept 11, 1917 Flik 24 Hansa-Brandenburg DI SAML 2 Asiago
8th Nov 15, 1917 Flik 55J Albatros (Oeffag) D.III (153.17) Caproni at Asiago
9 Nov 15, 1917 Flik 55J Albatros (Oeffag) D.III (153.17) Caproni at Asiago
10 Nov 17, 1917 Flik 55J Albatros (Oeffag) D.III (153.17) SAML 2 southeast Asiago
11 Nov 18, 1917 Flik 55J Albatros (Oeffag) D.III (153.17) Savoia-Pomilio Monte Cengio
12 Nov 27, 1917 Flik 55J Albatros (Oeffag) D.III (153.17) north of Arsiero
13 Nov 27, 1917 Flik 55J Albatros (Oeffag) D.III (153.17) SAML 2 north of Asiago
14th December 7, 1917 Flik 55J Albatros (Oeffag) D.III (153.17) SAML 2 Roana
15th December 7, 1917 Flik 55J Albatros (Oeffag) D.III Pomilio PE east w. Asiago
16 December 7, 1917 Flik 55J Albatros (Oeffag) D.III SAML 2 Monte jump
17th Dec 16, 1917 Flik 55J Albatros (Oeffag) D.III SAML 2 at Feltre
18th Jan. 12, 1918 Flik 55J Albatros (Oeffag) D.III RE8 Casa Rigoni
19th Jan. 26, 1918 Flik 55J Albatros (Oeffag) D.III (153.17) SAML 2 Monte Magna

literature

  • Christopher Chant: Aircraft of the Aces. Austro-Hungarian Aces of World War 1 (Osprey Aircraft of the aces; Bd. 46). Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2002, ISBN 1-84176-376-4 .
  • Norman L. Franks, Russell Guest, Gregory Alegi: Above the War Fronts. The British two-seater bomber pilot and observer aces; the British two-seater observer aces, and the Belgian, Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Russian fighter aces 1914-1918 . Street Press, London 1997, ISBN 1-898697-56-6 .
  • Martin D. O'Connor: Air Aces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1914-1918 . Flying Machines Press, Mountain View, Cal. 1986, ISBN 0-9637110-1-6 .
  • Giorgio Viola: Il cavaliere romantico: Josef Kiss in: Aerei nella Storia No. 84, June 2012, West-Ward, Parma 2012 ISSN 1591-1071

Web links

Commons : Josef Kiss  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Austria-Hungary fighter pilot in the First World War
  2. ↑ http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/austrhun/kiss.php
  3. ↑ http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/austrhun/kiss.php
  4. ^ Giorgio Viola: Il cavaliere romantico: Josef Kiss p. 50
personal data
SURNAME Kiss, Josef
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kiss, Josl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austro-Hungarian fighter pilot
DATE OF BIRTH January 26, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Poszony , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH May 24, 1918
Place of death Lamon , Italy