List of German fighter pilots in the First World War

The list of German fighter pilots in the First World War includes fighter pilots of the German air force or navy in the First World War , which lasted from 1914 to 1918 , who had more than 20 kills or Pour-le-Mérite - or Goldenes -military -merit-cross- winners were.

Overview

The table includes German airmen with

• Surname
• Rank
• Number of confirmed plus unconfirmed aerial victories (L)
• Awarded Pour le Mérite (PLM), Golden Military Merit Cross (GMV), Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords (HHS), Cross of the Holder of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords (IHHS), Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order (MMJ), Royal Saxon Military St. Heinrich Order (MSH), Royal Württemberg Military Merit Order (WMV), Grand Ducal Baden Military Karl Friedrich Order of Merit (KFV)
• unit
• Part of the armed forces (TSK; H = Air Force / Army, M = Seaplane / Navy).
• Date of death (†)

Note: The list can be sorted : By clicking on a column header, the list is sorted according to this column, clicking twice reverses the sorting.

Surname	image	rank	Section	Award	unit	TSK	†
Richthofen, Manfred Freiherr von		Rittmeister	80	PLM , MSH , WMV	J 2, J 11, JG 1	H	Apr 21, 1918
Udet, Ernst		First Lieutenant d. R.	62	PLM	KEK Habsheim, J 15, J 37, J 11, J 4	H	Nov 17, 1941
Loewenhardt, Erich		First Lieutenant d. R.	54	PLM	J 10	H	Aug 10, 1918
Jacobs, Josef		Lieutenant d. R.	48	PLM	J 22, J 7	H	July 29, 1978
Voss, Werner		Lieutenant d. R.	48	PLM	J 2, J 5, J 14, J 10	H	23 Sep 1917
Rumey, Fritz		Lieutenant d. R.	45	PLM, GMV	J 2, J 5	H	27 Sep 1918
Loerzer, Bruno		Captain	44 + 1	PLM, KFV	J 26, JG 3	H	22 Aug 1960
Berthold, Rudolf	photo	Captain	44	PLM	J 4, J 14, J 18, JG 2	H	15th Mar 1920
Baumer, Paul		Lieutenant d. R.	43	PLM, GMV	J 5, 2	H	July 15, 1927
Boelcke, Oswald		Captain	40	PLM, WMV	FFA 62, J 2	H	Oct 28, 1916
Büchner, Franz	photo	Lieutenant d. R.	40	PLM, MSH	J 9, J 13	H	18 Mar 1920
Richthofen, Lothar Freiherr von		First lieutenant	40	PLM	J 11	H	04th July 1922
Gontermann, Heinrich		Lieutenant d. R.	39	PLM	J 5, J 15	H	Oct. 30, 1917
Menckhoff, Carl		First Lieutenant d. R.	39	PLM	J 3, J 72	H	Jan. 11, 1948
Bolle, Carl	photo	lieutenant	36 + 1	PLM, KVK, HHS	J 28, J 2	H	0Oct 9, 1955
Thuy, Emil	photo	Lieutenant d. R.	36 (?)	PLM, WMV, HHS	J 21, J 28	H	June 11, 1930
Müller, Max Ritter von		lieutenant	36	PLM, HHS, MMJ	J 1, J 2, J 28, J 2	H	0June 9, 1918
Schleich, Eduard Ritter von		Captain	35 + 7	PLM, MMJ	J 21, J 32, JG 4	H	Nov 15, 1947
Buckler, Julius		Lieutenant d. R.	35	PLM, GMV	J 17	H	May 23, 1960
Dörr, Gustav		Lieutenant d. R.	35	PLM, GMV	J 45	H	December 11, 1928
Veltjens, Josef		Lieutenant d. R.	35	PLM	J 14, J 18, J 15	H	0Aug 6, 1943
Bongartz, Heinrich	photo	Lieutenant d. R.	33 + 3	PLM, HHS	FFA 5, J 36	H	Jan. 23, 1946
Konnecke, Otto		Lieutenant d. R.	33	PLM, GMV	J 25, J 5	H	Jan 25, 1956
Kroll, Heinrich	photo	First Lieutenant d. R.	33	PLM, HHS	J 9, 24	H	Feb 21, 1930
Wolff, Kurt		First lieutenant	33	PLM	J 11, J 29, J 11	H	Sep 15 1917
Osterkamp, ​​Theodor		Lieutenant d. RdMA	32 + 6	PLM, RK	Marine J 2	M.	0Jan. 2, 1975
Billik, Paul	photo	Lieutenant d. R.	31	HHS	J 12, J 7, J 52	H	0March 8 1926
Sachsenberg, Gotthard		Lieutenant z. S.	31	PLM	Marine JG	M.	23 Aug 1961
Allmenröder, Karl		lieutenant	30th	PLM	J 11	H	June 27, 1917
Auffarth, Harald		First lieutenant	30th	HHS	J 18, J 29	H	Oct 12, 1946
Degelow, Carl	photo	Lieutenant d. R.	30th	PLM, HHS	FAA 216, J 7, J 36, J 40	H	0Nov 9, 1970
May, Josef		Captain	30th	GMV	J 5	H	Jan. 18, 1982
Neckel, Ulrich		Lieutenant d. R.	30th	PLM	J 11, J 19, J 6	H	May 11, 1928
Shepherd, Karl Emil	photo	lieutenant	30th	PLM, HHS, MMJ	J 11, J 28	H	0June 5, 1917
Frommherz, Hermann	photo	Lieutenant d. R.	29 + 4	KFV	J 2, J 27	H	Dec 30, 1964
Blume, Walter		Lieutenant d. R.	28	PLM	J 26, J 9	H	May 27, 1964
Bülow-Bothkamp, ​​Walter von		lieutenant	28	PLM, MSH	J 36, J 18, J 2	H	0Jan. 6, 1918
Greim, Robert Ritter von		First lieutenant	28	PLM, HHS, MMJ	FFA 3b, J 34	H	May 24, 1945
Laumann, Arthur		lieutenant	28	PLM	J 66, J10	H	Nov 18, 1970
Röth, Friedrich Ritter von	photo	First Lieutenant d. R.	28	PLM, MMJ	J 16	H	December 31, 1918
Bernert, Otto		First lieutenant	27	PLM	J 2, J 6	H	Oct 18, 1918
Fruhner, Otto		Lieutenant dR	27	GMV	J 26	H	June 19, 1965
Kirschstein, Hans	photo	lieutenant	27	PLM	J 6	H	July 17, 1918
Thom, Karl		Lieutenant d. R.	27	PLM, GMV, HHS	J 21	H	03rd Mar 1945
Tutschek, Adolf Ritter von	photo	Captain	27	PLM, MMJ	J 2, J 12, JG 2	H	15th Mar 1918
Wusthoff, Kurt	photo	Lieutenant d. R.	27	PLM	J 4, J 15	H	July 23, 1926
Laumann, Arthur	photo	Lieutenant d. R.	26 + 5	PLM	J 66, J 10	H	Nov 18, 1970
Boenigk, Oskar von	photo	Captain	26th	PLM	J 4, J 21, JG 2	H	Jan. 30, 1946
Dostler, Eduard Ritter von		First lieutenant	26th	PLM, MMJ	J 13, J 34, J 6	H	Aug 21, 1917
Beaulieu-Marconnay, Oliver Freiherr von		lieutenant	25th	PLM	J 15, J 19	H	Oct 26, 1918
Dumbbell man, Georg von		lieutenant	25th		J 15	H	0Sep 7 1924
Nether, Max		Lieutenant d. R.	25th		J 62	H	0Jan. 8, 1919
Pütter, Fritz		Lieutenant d. R.	25th	PLM	J 9, J 68	H	Aug 10, 1918
Böhme, Erwin		Lieutenant d. R.	24	PLM	J 2, J 29, J 2	H	Nov 29, 1917
Becker, Herrmann		Lieutenant d. R.	23	HHS	J 12	H	21 Mar 1970
Meyer, Georg		Lieutenant d. R.	23		J 22, J 7, J 37	H	Sep 15 1926
Goering, Hermann		Captain	22nd	PLM, KFV	FFA 25, J 26, J 27, JG 1	H	Oct 15, 1946
Klein, Hans	photo	First Lieutenant d. R.	22nd	PLM	J 4, J 10	H	Nov 10, 1944
Pippart, Hans-Martin	photo	Lieutenant dL	22nd		J 13, J 19	H	Aug 11, 1918
Preuss, Werner	photo	Lieutenant d. R.	22nd		J 66	H	06th Mar 1919
Schlegel, Karl		Vice Sergeant	22nd	GMV	J 45	H	Oct 28, 1918
Windisch, Rudolf	photo	Lieutenant d . R.	22nd	PLM	J 32, J 66	H	May 27, 1918
Adam, Hans Ritter von		Lieutenant dL	21st	MMJ, HHS	J 6	H	Nov 15, 1917
Altemeier, Friedrich		Vice Sergeant	21st	GMV	J 24	H	Sep 18 1968
Christiansen, Friedrich		Captainleutnant d. RdMA	21st	PLM, HHS	SFSt Flanders I	M.	0December 3, 1972
Höhn, Fritz		Lieutenant d. R.	21st	HHS	J 21, J 81, J 60, J 41	H	0Oct 3, 1918
Bethge, Hans	photo	First lieutenant	20th	HHS	J 30	H	17th Mar 1918
Donhauser, Friedrich		lieutenant	20th	GMV	J 17	H	Jan. 13, 1919
Eschwege, Rudolf von		lieutenant	20th		FA 30	H	Nov 21, 1917
Göttsch, Walter	photo	Lieutenant d. R.	20th		J 8, J 19	H	Apr 10, 1918
Hennrich, Oskar		Vice Sergeant	20th	GMV	J 46	H
Reinhardt, Wilhelm	photo	Captain	20th	HHS	J 11, J 6, JG 1	H	0July 3, 1918
Frankl, Wilhelm		Lieutenant d. R.	19th	PLM	J 4	H	0Apr 7, 1917
Fieseler, Gerhard		Officer deputy	19th	GMV	J 25	H	0Sep 1 1987
Beckhardt, Fritz		Vice Sergeant	17th	IHHS	J 26	H	Jan. 13, 1962
Schwendemann, Josef		Vice Sergeant	17th	GMV	J 41	H
Immelmann, Max		First lieutenant	15th	PLM	FFA 10, FFA 62, FFA 9	H	June 18, 1916
Nathanael, Edmund	photo	Vice Sergeant	15th	IHHS	J 5	H	May 11, 1917
Francke, Rudolf		Vice Sergeant	14th	GMV	J 8	H
Bohnenkamp, ​​Karl		Vice Sergeant	13	GMV	J 22	H
Buddecke, Hans-Joachim		Captain	13	PLM	FFA 23, J 4, DMT, J 30	H	10 Mar 1918
Heibert, Robert		Deputy Officer	13	GMV	J 46	H
Althaus, Ernst von	photo	First lieutenant	09 + 8	PLM, HHS, MSH	KEK Vaux, J 4, J 14, J 10	H	Nov 29, 1946
Buder, Erich		Vice Sergeant	12	GMV	J 26	H
Esswein, Otto		Deputy Officer	12	GMV	J 26	H
Frickart, Wilhelm	photo	lieutenant	12			H
Meyer, Karl		Oberflugmeister	09	GMV	2. Sea flight. Dept.	M.
Mulzer, Maximilian Ritter von		lieutenant	09	PLM	FFA 4b, FFA 62, FFA 5b	H	26 Sep 1916
Rosenstein, Willy		Lieutenant d. R.	09		J 27, J 40	H	May 1949
Schniedewind, Gustav		Vice Sergeant	07	GMV	J 1F	H
Walz, Franz Josef		Captain	07	PLM	J 2, FA 304b	H	Dec 18, 1945

On the German side, a total of 8397 aerial victories were officially documented in the First World War, 7425 of them on the Western Front, 358 on the Eastern Front and 278 by naval aviators. In contrast, 3,128 German aircraft and their crews never returned from use. Of the pilots and gunmen deployed, 358 scored at least 5 kills, which, according to international understanding, gave them the status of flying aces.

Abbreviations

• dL = the Landwehr
• d. R. = the reserve
• dMA = the sailors artillery
• DMT = German military mission in Turkey
• FA = Aviation Department
• FAA = Artillery Aviation Department
• FFA = Field Aviation Department
• J = Jagdstaffel ( "Jasta" )
• JG = Jagdgeschwader
• KEK = combat single seaters command
• SFSt = sea flight station
• zS = at sea

Individual references / comments

1. ↑ On westalliierter side of the propaganda coined term "was flying ace " used, but already with a number of at least five victories. This term was not used on the German side. In aviation jargon, however, one spoke of "cannons" as well as "large" and "very large cannons"
2. ↑ The list is essentially based on the semi-official compilation, which was compiled in 1919 by the community of fighter pilots on the basis of the documented and confirmed aerial victories. Since a later addition was not made, it does not claim to be complete. For the recognition of an aerial victory, restrictive regulations applied in the German army: As an official aerial victory, only kills on this side of the front line were confirmed, as these could be clearly proven on the basis of the aircraft debris. Only in exceptional cases (e.g. several independent witness statements) were kills "beyond" the lines later recognized. Aerial victories were unambiguously awarded to a soldier; While on the Allied side aerial victories could be shared between several airmen, i.e. halved or quartered, the German side, in case of doubt, assigned the victory to an airman by arbitration by the squadron leader.
3. ↑ The two awards "Pour le-Mérite" (PLM.) And "Golden Military Merit Cross" (GMV) were the highest German war awards for officers and NCOs in the First World War. Only one officer out of 480 officers received the order Pour le Mérite and only one soldier out of 7,200 NCOs and men received the Golden War Merit Cross .
4. ↑ different information between 32, 35 or 36; here reference to http://www.flieger-album.de/geschichte/portraits/portraitemilthuy.php
5. ↑ Osterkamp is one of the few soldiers who was awarded the highest distinction in both world wars.
6. ^ Ernst Wilhelm Arnold von Hoeppner: Germany's war in the air . KF Koehler, Leipzig 1921.
7. ↑ Complete official list of fighter pilots with more than three confirmed victorious dogfights . In: Oskar Ursinus (Ed.): Zeitschrift Flugsport . Verlag Flugsport, Frankfurt am Main March 1919, p. 98 .

literature

• 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 978-3-934596-15-3
• Arthur GJ Whitehouse: Aviator Aces 1914-1918 . Stuttgart 1970
• Web link to W. Sanke postcards and an index of the postcards

See also

• List of Austro-Hungarian fighter pilots in the First World War
• List of Italian fighter pilots in World War I.
• List of Russian fighter pilots in World War I.
• List of French fighter pilots in World War I.
• List of British fighter pilots in World War I.
• List of Canadian fighter pilots in World War I.
• List of American fighter pilots in World War I.