Olivier of Beaulieu-Marconnay

Tomb of Olivier von Beaulieu-Marconnay in the Berlin Invalidenfriedhof

Olivier Hans Adolf Leo Freiherr von Beaulieu-Marconnay (born September 14, 1898 in Berlin ; † October 26, 1918 in Arlon ) was a German fighter pilot in the First World War and the youngest knight of the order Pour le Mérite .

Life

origin

Olivier came from the noble Huguenot family Beaulieu-Marconnay . His parents were the Prussian captain Karl Freiherr von Beaulieu-Marconnay and his wife Ottilie geb. by Schell.

Military career

Directly from the cadet institute he came in June 1915 to the substitute squadron of the Dragoon Regiment "von Bredow" (1st Silesian) No. 4 as a flag junior . He fought with the regiment on the Eastern Front , was promoted to lieutenant on July 28, 1916 and received the Iron Cross in the autumn of the same year for his achievements in the fighting in the Pripyat Marshes .

Like his older brother Heinz von Beaulieu-Marconnay, he signed up for the air force in the spring of 1917 and passed his pilot examination in November 1917. On December 1, 1917, "Bauli", as his comrades called him, joined Jagdstaffel 18, and finally on March 20, 1918 he was transferred to Jagdstaffel 15, which was led by Joseph Veltjens . As a former dragoon, he marked his aircraft, which was painted blue, with a stylized “4D”. He achieved his first aerial victory on May 28, 1918 over a Dorand AR.2 near Soissons , nine days later he shot down an Airco DH4 and a Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a . At the end of June he had already achieved eight, and after another two months 21 victories, six of them within just four days.

On September 2, 1918, at the age of only 19, he took over the leadership of the 19 squadron. On October 16, 1918, during an air battle, he was caught in the machine gun fire of his own machine, possibly from the 74 squadron. Seriously wounded, he had to make an emergency landing and died on October 26, 1918 in the hospital in Arlon his wounds.

Shortly before, he had learned that he had been awarded the Order Pour le Mérite after 25 victories in the air , having already received the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with swords. At only 20 years old, Lieutenant Olivier Freiherr von Beaulieu-Marconnay was the youngest knight of this order.

Olivier von Beaulieu-Marconnay rests in the Invalidenfriedhof in Berlin (grave site II / 13/16). The epitaph reads:

“Here sleeps the hero
Olivier
Freiherr v. Beaulieu Marconnay
Lieutenant in the Dragoons Rgt. Bredow
(1. Silesia) No. 4
Leader of a hunting squadron
Knight of the order Pour le Mérite
born. Sept. 14, 1898
wounded in aerial combat Oct. 18, 1918
died Oct. 26, 1918

"With us is the Lord, our God,
whom we do not forsake".
2. Chronica 13:10. "

His brother Heinz survived the war because he made an emergency landing on the US side with his Fokker D.VII and was taken prisoner by the US. He died in the USSR in 1944/45.

literature

Hanns Möller: History of the knights of the order pour le mérite in the world war. Volume I: A – L, Verlag Bernard & Graefe, Berlin 1935, p. 51
Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 1: A-G. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1999, ISBN 3-7648-2505-7 , p. 64
Arthur George Joseph Whitehouse: Aviator Aces. 1914 - 1918. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1970.

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Wilmersdorf registry office : death register . No. 1783/1918.

↑ ^a ^b Lt. OLIVER Freiherr von BEAULIEU .

personal data
SURNAME	Beaulieu-Marconnay, Olivier of
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Beaulieu-Marconnay, Olivier Hans Adolf Leo von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German fighter pilot in the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH	September 14, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH	Berlin
DATE OF DEATH	October 26, 1918
Place of death	Arlon

[Tod-1] Wilmersdorf registry office : death register . No. 1783/1918.

[fliegergraeber-2] Lt. OLIVER Freiherr von BEAULIEU .