Rudolf Windisch

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Maximilian von Cossel (left) and Rudolf Windisch (right)

Rudolf Windisch (born January 27, 1897 in Dresden ; † or missing May 27, 1918 ) was an officer in the air force and scored 22 confirmed kills in the First World War .

Life and military service

Windisch was born in Dresden as the son of the pastry shop owner Bruno Windisch. He had an early interest in aviation and built model aircraft. As a one-year volunteer , he joined the replacement battalion Infantry Regiment 177 on September 14, 1914 and, after a short training period, went to war. Wounded by shrapnel, he was taken to the Laon military hospital on November 21, 1914, and later to the Dresden reserve hospital.

At the end of 1914 he came to Aviation Department 6 in Grossenhain as requested. In February 1915 he was transferred to the military aviation school in Leipzig-Lindenthal, where he was promoted to NCO and where he worked as a flight instructor for some time. On May 1, 1916, he came to the Eastern Front with Fliegerabteilung 62. Windisch and his observer, Oberleutnant Maximilian von Cossel , destroyed important railroad lines behind the Russian front with aerial bombs . On the night of October 2nd or 3rd, 1916, they blew up the Rovno-Brody railway line 85 kilometers behind the Eastern Front. This was mentioned appreciatively in the army report of October 4, 1916: “Eastern theater of war: ... First Lieutenant v. Cossel, dropped off the plane by Vice Sergeant Windisch southwest of Rowno and picked up again after 24 hours, interrupted the Rowno-Brody railway line at several points by blowing up ... First Quartermaster General Erich Ludendorff ". This company was thus the first known airborne command company in military history.

At the beginning of 1917 he was transferred to General Command I on the Western Front and carried out numerous enemy flights in the unit of Jagdstaffel 32 in Upper Alsace, Lorraine, near Verdun, on the Chemin des Dames, near Reims, on the Ailette. In 1917 he was awarded the House Order of the Hohenzollern.

At the beginning of 1918, Windisch took over the management of Jasta 66, where he increased the number of his kills to 22.

death

During an air battle on May 27, 1918, Windisch shot down a French biplane with his Fokker D.VII No. 2035 between Lesges and Couvrelles. He himself was attacked by several enemy fighter pilots during this battle, received a shot in the fuel tank and had to make an emergency landing on enemy territory. German soldiers found the aircraft with a broken chassis at the emergency landing site, 50 meters from the burning French biplane. There was no trace of Windisch himself. The parents were informed by the Red Cross Stuttgart that he was unwounded in French captivity. According to other reports, he died in French captivity as a result of his wounds. The exact death of Lieutenant Rudolf Windisch has not yet been clarified.

The Pour le Mérite was awarded to him posthumously on June 6, 1918

Awards

See also

literature

  • Jürgen Brinkmann: The knights of the order "Pour le mérite" 1914–1918. Th.Schäfer Druckerei GmbH Hanover, Hanover 1982.
  • Walter Zuerl: Pour le merite-Flieger. Steinebach-Wörthsee, Luftfahrtverlag Axel Zuerl 1987, ISBN 3-934596-15-0 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Windisch, Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German air force officer in the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH January 27, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Dresden
DATE OF DEATH after May 27, 1918