Otto Fruhner

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Otto Fruhner (born September 6, 1893 in Brieg , † June 19, 1965 in Villach , Austria ) was a German major general who, as a sergeant in the air force , achieved 27 confirmed kills in World War I.

Life

After attending primary school , Fruhner became a locksmith . At the beginning of the First World War he volunteered for the air force and was drafted on November 20, 1914 in Posen to the Air Force Replacement Department (FEA) 4, where he initially worked as a fitter. At the beginning of 1915 he was transferred to Graudenz , trained as a pilot in Köslin on the Baltic Sea and, after passing the exam, transferred back to Graudenz. There he worked as a flight instructor for some time until his command at the front. In May 1916, Fruhner came to Aviation Department 51 in Russia, mainly carried out observation missions, stayed there for ten months and in March 1917 moved with the department to the west , to Alsace.

In July 1917, as requested, he was transferred to Captain Bruno Loerzer's Hunting School 26 in Flanders. Fruhner stayed with this season until the end of the war. After both classes of the Iron Cross , he was awarded the Golden Military Merit Cross on August 3, 1918 and promoted to Lieutenant of the Reserve . During the First World War, this award was given to German soldiers only 1,760 times.

On September 20, 1918, he collided with an English aircraft in a dogfight. When jumping with the parachute, he suffered a sprain so that he had to sit out for a long time. When he returned to the squadron in early November 1918, it was already in permanent retreat. In addition to the Aviation Department (FA) 51, Fruhner was also a member of FA 20 and the Jagdstaffel (Jasta) 26. In September 1918, Pour le Mérite had been proposed for the order, but the outbreak of the revolution made it impossible to award it.

After the First World War, Fruhner was active again in aviation at the German Aviation School in Schleißheim . In 1935, the Fruhner joined the Air Force as the commander of a flight school . At the end of the Second World War he had the rank of major general.

Fruhner died on June 19, 1965 in Villach, Austria.

See also

literature

  • Walter Zuerl: Pour le merite-Flieger. 3rd edition, Curt Pechstein, Munich 1940, pp. 109–115.
  • Dermot Bradley (ed.), Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand: The Generals of the German Air Force 1935-1945. The military careers of the aviation, anti-aircraft, paratrooper, air intelligence and engineer officers. Volume 1: A-G. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1991, ISBN 3-7648-1701-1 . Pp. 373-374.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Walter Zuerl writes from 28
personal data
SURNAME Fruhner, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, fighter pilot in the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH September 6, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Brieg
DATE OF DEATH June 19, 1965
Place of death Villach , Austria