Karl Schlegel (fighter pilot)

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Karl Schlegel

Karl Paul Schlegel (born May 7, 1893 in Wechselburg ; † October 28, 1918 in France) was a German fighter pilot in the First World War . He scored 22 confirmed kills, was awarded the Golden Military Merit Cross and is counted among the “ most successful German fighter pilots ” of the First World War.

Life

Karl Schlegel was born in Wechselburg in Saxony . He first attended from 1907 to 1912, a military school and then entered the Royal Saxony Burger on April 1, 1912 machine gun - Regiment a no. 19. Later he was promoted to sergeant in the 8th department there . At the beginning of the war in 1914 he was assigned to the 8th  Cavalry Regiment and moved with this unit to France and Russia . In the first year of the war he was awarded the Iron Cross II. Class and in the summer of 1915 he was the first soldier in his division to be awarded the First Class (EK I).

At the beginning of 1917 he was transferred to the air force and came to the Aviation Replacement Department (FEA) in Altenburg, where he passed the final aviation exam. He then came to Aviation Replacement Department 6 (FEA 6) and then to the two-seater Aviation Unit 39 (FA 39), where he was involved in an aircraft accident. From January 1918 he was used again in the Flieger-Ersatzabteilung 6 (FEA 6), from where he was commanded to combat single-seater squadron 1 (Kest 1) on the Western Front in May of the same year . Then he came to the Jagdstaffel  45 (Jasta 45).

After his fifth kill, he was promoted to Vice Sergeant on July 15, 1918 . After 14 more kills, on October 15, 1918, he was awarded the highest military award for team ranks, the Golden Military Merit Cross.

After his 22nd kill he was scheduled for a promotion to lieutenant and at the same time for the Pour le Mérite . Before that, however, on October 27, 1918, it was attacked and shot down by 12 French aircraft. Karl Schlegel died a day later as a result of this crash.

Schlegel shot down a total of 15 observation balloons (14 of which were confirmed) and 9 aircraft (of which 8 were confirmed) in an aerial combat. With 14 balloon launches, he is one of the 10 internationally most successful so-called balloon aces (English Balloon Buster).

Awards

literature

  • Klaus D. Patzwall (Ed.): The Prussian Golden Military Merit Cross. Militair-Verlag Patzwall, Norderstedt 1986, without ISBN ( sources and representations on the history of medals and decorations , vol. 2).
  • Arthur George Joseph Whitehouse: Flying Ace. 1914-1918. 3. Edition. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1974, ISBN 3-87943-175-2 .
  • Jon Guttman: Balloon-Busting Aces of World War 1. Osprey Publishing, 2005, English, ISBN 1841768774

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Arthur George Joseph Whitehouse: Fliegerasse. 1914-1918. 3. Edition. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1974, ISBN 3-87943-175-2 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Schlegel, Karl Paul . On: Flieger-Album.de from April 28, 2010; Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  3. ↑ Detailed list of his kills
  4. ^ Norman LR Franks: Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps 1914-1918. London, 1993, ISBN 0948817739 , page 199.
personal data
SURNAME Schlegel, Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schlegel, Karl Paul (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German fighter pilot of the air force in the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH May 7, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Wechselburg
DATE OF DEATH October 28, 1918
Place of death France