Rudolf von Eschwege

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Rudolf von Eschwege

Rudolf von Eschwege (born February 27, 1895 in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe , † November 21, 1917 near Orljak, Macedonia ) was a highly distinguished German fighter pilot in the First World War .

Life

He came from the Hessian noble family von Eschwege and was the son of the first marriage of the meadow construction teacher Wilhelm von Eschwege (1864–1920) and Luise Thomas (* 1869). His parents' marriage ended in divorce in 1910. Thereupon his father married Therese Maa from Bohemia in 1913 . Rudolf von Eschwege attended a secondary school in Freiburg . After finishing school he entered the military as a cavalryman . He reported to the air force in 1915 . In August he was transferred as a pilot to Fliegerabteilung 36 on the Western Front. In 1916 he had already achieved two aerial victories when he was sent to Feldfliegerabteilung 66 on the front in Macedonia . He made a name for himself again with the Aviation Department 30 in 1917 with the German and Bulgarian soldiers as the "Eagle of the Aegean " when he achieved another 18 victories and thus achieved a total of 20 victories in spite of a malaria disease. On November 21, 1917, Rudolf von Eschwege attacked a British tethered balloon . When Eschwege aimed at the target, the No. 17 Balloon Section of the RFC a 250 kg explosive charge in the balloon basket, which Eschweges Halberstadt single-seater ripped apart in the air.

The British buried von Eschwege with military honors and threw photographs of his grave over the German airfield in Drama . A condolence letter read: "To the Bulgarian-German Air Corps in Drama. The officers of the Royal Air Corps regret to discover that Lieutenant Rudolf von Eschwege was killed while attacking the tethered balloon. His private belongings will be thrown over the lines in the next few days . " The Bulgarian side erected a memorial for the fallen aviator there.

See also

literature

  • Georg Heydemarck: The eagle of the White Sea . In: Gustaf von Dickhuth-Harrach (Hrsg.): In the field undefeated. The world war in 28 individual representations . 2nd Edition. Lehmann, Munich 1921, pp. 192-206.
  • Arch Whitehouse: Aviator Aces 1914-1918 . Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1970, pp. 387-390.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The mother also remarried: the Munich painter and specialist teacher for arts and crafts drawing, Bruno von Wahl
personal data
SURNAME Eschwege, Rudolf von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German pilot
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Bad Homburg vor der Höhe
DATE OF DEATH November 21, 1917
Place of death Macedonia