Karl Thom (aviator)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Karl Thom (born May 18, 1893 in Freystadt , † March 3, 1945 in Pillau ) was an officer in the air force of the German Empire and scored 27 confirmed kills in the First World War .

Life

Karl Thom was one of the few aviators who emerged from the crew status. He was born the son of a worker. From 1899 to 1907 he attended elementary school in Freystadt and worked as a farmhand on a farm. In 1911 he signed up as a three-year-old volunteer for the Hussar Regiment “Fürst Blücher von Wahlstatt” (Pommersches) No. 5 and left there in April 1914. He was promoted to sergeant on September 4, 1914. In November 1914 he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class. After being wounded on November 18, 1914, he was taken to the hospital in Insterburg and later to Nuremberg . He then served in his regiment for half a year and signed up for the air force in June 1915.

He successfully completed his pilot training in Schneidemühl after a short time. He first came to Artillery Aviation Department 216, where he fell seriously injured at night on May 16, 1916 and was unconscious in the hospital in Colmar for several days . Hardly recovered, he reported back to the front. On July 24, 1916 he was promoted to Vice Sergeant and three days later he was transferred to the Field Aviation Department (FFA) 48. On April 8, 1916, he received the pilot's badge . The FFA 48 was relocated to Romania , where Thom had to make an emergency landing due to an engine failure and was taken prisoner by the Romanians . There he fled and with great difficulty reached his department again. For this he was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class.

He successfully completed his training as a fighter pilot on April 24, 1917 and was transferred to Eduard Ritter von Schleich's Fighter Squadron 21 in mid-May 1917 , where he flew until the end of the war. On November 10, 1917, he was promoted to officer's deputy . On December 23, 1917 Thom was wounded by an artillery shell and had to go to the field hospital in Dun for four weeks . Although the wound had not yet healed and he could not walk properly, he flew enemy flights every day. 1918 was his most successful year in fighter aviation. On July 24, 1918, he scored three kills in one day and thus had his 24th kill on that day. On August 11, 1918, Thom was again seriously wounded in an aerial battle. He was awarded the cross of the owners of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords on August 7, 1918. Shortly afterwards, on August 28, he was promoted to lieutenant . The full recovery of his wound dragged on by November 1918. On November 1, 1918, he was awarded the Pour le Mérite . Thom crashed again on November 9, 1918, and suffered a severe concussion. He ended the war with 27 confirmed kills.

In the Second World War he was socially committed and z. B. in Koenigsberg for the concerns of the frontline soldiers and war victims.

Karl Thom died shortly before the end of the Second World War on March 3, 1945 in Pillau. His burial took place in the comrades' grave in the Baltiysk cemetery .

See also

literature

  • Hanns Möller: History of the Knights of the Order pour le mérite in World War II , Volume II: M – Z, Verlag Bernard & Graefe, Berlin 1935, pp. 414–415.
  • Jürgen Brinkmann: The knights of the order Pour le merite 1914-1918. Th.Schäfer Druckerei GmbH, Hanover, Bückeburg 1982
  • Walter Zuerl: Pour le Mérite-Flieger. Luftfahrtverlag Axel Zuerl, 1987. ISBN 9783934596153

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jörg Nimmergut: German medals and decorations until 1945, addendum: Anhalt-Deutsches Reich, Register , Central Office for Scientific Order Studies , Munich 2004, ISBN 3-00-00-1396-2 , p. 119
personal data
SURNAME Thom, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German air force officer in the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH May 18, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Freystadt
DATE OF DEATH March 3, 1945
Place of death Pillau