Sebastian Festner

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Sebastian Festner (born June 30, 1894 in Holzkirchen, Kingdom of Bavaria ; † April 25, 1917 near Gavrelle , France) was a German fighter pilot in the First World War .

military service

Sebastian Festner (3rd from left) at Baron von Richthofen's Jasta 11 (sitting in the plane)

Festner began his military service with the infantry before he moved to the Imperial Air Force in October 1914 after being wounded . There he served as a mechanic in various aviation departments. Assigned to the pilot replacement department 7b (FEA) with the rank of private , he learned to fly there unofficially before he completed the official pilot training at the FEA 2b and FEA 5b in 1916. He was assigned to Jasta 11 under the command of Manfred von Richthofen in November 1916 . He achieved his first aerial victory on February 5, 1917 against an English BE2 . By April 16, 1917, as a pilot of an Albatros D.III, he had a total of twelve kills, including that of the British pilot William Robinson , who had previously received the Victoria Cross for shooting down a German airship over England . On April 23, 1917 Festner was awarded the Cross of the Holder of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords for his achievements . This prestigious award was only given 17 times during the First World War.

Two days later, his machine crashed under unknown circumstances between the places Gavrelle and Bailleul in the Somme department in no man's land. Shelling by a British Sopwith Strutter or defensive fire from the ground is believed to be the cause . Since the area was then under artillery fire, no attempts were made to rescue the wreck or the body, so Festner is officially missing .

Most recently, Festner held the rank of vice sergeant .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Norman LR Franks: Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps 1914 - 1918. London, 1993, ISBN 0948817739 , page 105.
  2. ↑ Joachim Castan: The Red Baron: the whole story of Manfred von Richthofen , p. 105 online
  3. ↑ Detailed list of his kills
  4. ^ Greg VanWyngarden: Albatros Aces of World War 1, Part 2 , p. 29 Online
  5. ↑ Jörg Nimmergut: German medals and decorations until 1945, addendum: Anhalt-Deutsches Reich, Register , Central Office for Scientific Order Studies , Munich 2004, ISBN 3-00-00-1396-2 , p. 119
  6. ↑ Jörg Nimmergut: German medals and decorations until 1945, Volume 2: Limburg-Reuss , Central Office for Scientific Order Studies , Munich 1997, ISBN 3-00-00-1396-2 , p. 933
personal data
SURNAME Festner, Sebastian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German fighter pilot in the First World War
DATE OF BIRTH June 30, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Wooden churches
DATE OF DEATH April 25, 1917
Place of death between Gavrelle and Bailleul