Julius Arigi

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Julius Arigi as deputy officer in 1918.

Julius Arigi (born October 3, 1895 in Tetschen , Austria-Hungary , † August 1, 1981 in Seewalchen am Attersee ) was a highly decorated fighter pilot in the First World War . With 32 confirmed aerial victories, Julius Arigi was the second most successful field pilot in the Austro-Hungarian aviation force after Godwin Brumowski .

Life

Arigi was born as the son of a German-Bohemian family and completed an electrical engineering apprenticeship after finishing school. On October 5, 1913, he volunteered for the fortress artillery regiment No. 1 ("Kaiser Franz-Joseph") in Vienna. In March 1914, Arigi was transferred to the Airship Division of the Joint Army. There he completed the pilot training and on November 23, 1914 became an officially confirmed field pilot with the rank of platoon leader. Arigi was assigned to Fliegerkompanie 6 in the Balkans, where he was initially used as a reconnaissance and artillery pilot.

During a mission in October 1915 he had to make an emergency landing on Montenegrin territory due to an engine failure and was taken prisoner. After five unsuccessful attempts to escape, he and five other Austro-Hungarian soldiers managed to escape in a curious way in mid-January 1916 . Arigi was on labor duty in the Montenegrin artillery barracks in Podgorica when, in an unobserved moment, he stole King Nikola I's Fiat limousine from a garage and fled with six other inmates. Arrived at an Austro-Hungarian outpost, Arigi reported with six men and a king's car.

After the fall of Lovćen , the unit was moved to Skadar further south. He scored his first and four other kills on August 22, 1916 alone against a squadron of six Italian aircraft, which immediately earned him the rank of a so-called pilot's ace . At the end of the year he was transferred to Fluggeschwader 1 (later Fliegerkompanie 101G ) on the Isonzo front and mainly flew the escort on bombing missions. In the spring of 1917 he was assigned to the 41J fighter pilot company under the command of Godwin von Brumowski , but soon switched to the 55J fighter pilot company stationed at Pergine Valsugana due to personal differences with him .

In the eight months or so at Flik 55J, he achieved most of his aerial victories. Together with the commanders Josef von Maier and Josef Kiss , both also flying aces, he soon earned the unit the name Kaiserstaffel . In April 1916 he returned for a short time to Fliegerkompanie 6 before he was assigned to Fighter Flier Company 1J, which was also stationed in the Balkans . The Flik 1J also operated unofficially as the "Arigi-Staffel" for the remainder of the war.

In total, Julius Arigi had over 700 enemy flights by the end of the world war.

After the First World War, Arigi traveled to South America and a little later in 1919 he moved to Czechoslovakia, where he founded the Ikarus airline that same year . The company in Marienbad subsequently developed into a worldwide flight organization which could also offer long-haul flights. Not least because of this, Arigi is considered the "founder of Czechoslovak air traffic". In 1928, Arigi joined the DNSAP . Due to the political situation in Czechoslovakia, he moved first to Berlin and then to Austria in 1934 and became an Austrian citizen again in 1936. Together with Benno Fiala von Fernbrugg he founded the aircraft factory Wiener Neustädter Flughafenbetriebs GmbH .

After the "annexation" of Austria to the German Reich Arigi was established in March 1938 as a captain in the German Luftwaffe was added and, subsequently, a flight instructor at the Jagdfliegerschule 5 in Schwechat, and Gauamtsleiter in Gau Lower Danube . Two of his most famous flight students were Walter Nowotny and Hans-Joachim Marseille . During the Second World War he also served on various air bases in Hungary, the Balkans and North Africa.

At the end of the war in 1945, Arigi was back in Marienbad, but had to leave Czechoslovakia immediately due to the expulsion . He fled first to Vienna and in 1947 on to Seewalchen am Attersee. There he worked as a sales representative and acquired his private pilot's license in 1957.

Arigi finally died in his sleep on August 1st, 1981 at home on the Attersee.

Awards

  • quadruple gold medal for bravery ; The first was for the sinking of a transport ship and the second for his five victories in the air on August 22, 1916
  • Four times the Silver Medal for Bravery, 1st class
  • Double award of the Silver Medal for Bravery, 2nd class
  • Double award of the Bronze Medal for Bravery
  • Bulgarian Royal Order of Valor, 1st class
  • Prussian War Merit Medal

literature

  • Manuel Maringgele: Deputy Officer Julius Arigi . In: Thomas Albrich / Nikolaus Hagen (eds.): Austria-Hungary's flying aces in the First World War 1914–1918 . Universitätsverlag Wagner, Innsbruck 2019, ISBN 978-3-7030-0997-6 , pp. 109–117.
  • Martin O'Connor: Air Aces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1914-1918 . Flying Machines Press, Mountain View (California) 1986, ISBN 1-891268-06-6 .
  • Ernst Peter: The Austro-Hungarian Airship and Aviation Troops - 1794–1919 . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-87943-743-2 .
  • Christopher Chant: Aircraft of the Aces - Austro-Hungarian Aces of World War 1 . Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2002, ISBN 1-84176-376-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ [1] Entry from the birth register
  2. ↑ Entry in the Austrian Biographical Lexicon was corrected on March 15, 2013 from the originally incorrect entry Attersee am Attersee .
  3. ↑ a b Manuel Maringgele: Officer Deputy Julius Arigi (Flik 6, 55J). Austria-Hungary's flying ace in the First World War. Ed .: Thomas Albrich / Nikolaus Hagen. 1st edition. Universitätsverlag Wagner, Innsbruck 2019, ISBN 978-3-7030-0997-6 , p. 109-117 .
  4. ^ Moravian daily newspaper . June 1, 1917, p. 4 .
  5. ↑ Illustrated sports newspaper . July 21, 1923.
  6. ↑ a b c H. Prigl:  Arigi, Julius . In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 . 2nd revised edition (online only).
  7. ↑ Private page about cemeteries
  8. ↑ all information from: Johann Stolzer, Christian Steeb: Austria's Order from the Middle Ages to the Present. Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, Graz 1996, ISBN 3-201-01649-7 , p. 242.
personal data
SURNAME Arigi, Julius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian fighter pilot
DATE OF BIRTH October 3, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Tetschen , Northern Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH August 1, 1981
Place of death Seewalchen am Attersee