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Hauptmann Wilhelm "Willi" Reinhard was a German pilot during World War I. Reinhard became a flying ace during the war, credited with 20 confirmed aerial victories. After commanding two successive fighter squadrons, he was picked to replace Manfred von Richthofen as commander of Jagdgeschwader 1 when the Red Baron fell in combat. Reinhard died on 3 July 1918 while testing a prototype fighter.
Walter Blume was a German fighter ace of World War I. During World War I, he flew with two fighter squadrons, Jagdstaffel 26 and Jagdstaffel 9 gaining 28 aerial victories and earning the Iron Cross, Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, and the Pour le Merite.
Max Ritter von Müller PlM, IC, MOMJ was a German World War I fighter ace credited with 36 victories. He was the highest scoring Bavarian pilot of the war.
Eduard Florus Harald Auffarth Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Iron Cross, Silver Wound Badge, Hanseatic Cross, was a World War I German fighter ace credited with 29 victories. After the war, he ran an aviation training school that covertly supported establishment of the Luftwaffe.
Walter Kuno Reinhold Gustav von Bülow-Bothkamp, Pour le Merite, Military Order of Saint Henry, Iron Cross was a German fighter ace from an aristocratic family who was credited with 28 victories. After entering World War I as a hussar, he transferred to the Imperial German Air Service. Although flying a reconnaissance airplane, he managed to down two enemy planes in France in October 1915. He was then transferred to Palestine for 1916; he scored two more victories there. He returned to the Western Front to join Jagdstaffel 18, a fighter squadron. After shooting down nine more enemy planes, he was transferred to command Jagdstaffel 36. He would run his score to 25 enemy airplanes shot down and three observation balloons destroyed by 2 December 1917. He received Germany's highest award for valor, the Pour le Merite, on 8 October 1917. He was also transferred to a more prestigious command, Jagdstaffel 2, on 13 December 1917. On 6 January 1918, he was killed in action.
OberleutnantFritz Otto Bernert was a leading German fighter ace of World War I. After being invalided from infantry duty after his fourth wound, Bernert joined the aviation branch. After pilot training, he scored 27 victories between 17 April 1916 and 7 May 1917 despite being essentially one-armed and wearing pince-nez. Among his 15 victories during Bloody April were five scored in 20 minutes on 13 April 1917. He was promoted to squadron command, first of Jagdstaffel 6, then of Jagdstaffel 2. Removed from command on 18 August 1918 by wounds and illness, he died of influenza on 18 October 1918.
Leutnant Georg Meyer was a German World War I fighter ace credited with confirmed victories over six enemy observation balloons and 18 enemy aircraft.
Leutnant August Hanko was a German World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories.
OberleutnantErich Hahn was a World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories.
Generalleutnant Franz Walz (1885-1945) began his military career in the infantry in 1905. In 1912, he switched to aviation. He attained the rank of Hauptmann (Captain) while becoming a flying ace during World War I. He flew more than 500 combat sorties in Palestine and on the Western Front. He scored seven confirmed aerial victories in the latter theater. His later career led him to join the Luftwaffe during World War II. Toward the end of the war, he was captured by the Russians and died in one of their prison camps in December 1945.
Leutnant Wolfgang Güttler was a World War I flying ace credited with eight aerial victories. He would score the first four while flying with Jagdstaffel 24, and the last four while flying as commander of Jagdstaffel 13. He was killed in a midair collision over his home airfield on 20 February 1918.
Leutnant Hartmuth Baldamus was a German World War I flying ace credited with 18 aerial victories.
LeutnantWalter Böning was a German World War I flying ace from the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg credited with 17 aerial victories. He began his World War I military service as an infantryman. He distinguished himself by winning both the Gold Medal for Bravery and the Second Class Iron Cross. He then transferred to aviation duty, training originally as a reconnaissance pilot before advancing to become a fighter pilot. Between 6 April 1917 and 30 May 1918, he was credited with 17 aerial victories. On 31 May 1918, he survived a midair collision while being attacked by British fighters. Although he coaxed his damaged machine home, the serious leg wound he had suffered sidelined him through war's end.
Leutnant Ernst Hess HOH IC was a World War I flying ace credited with 17 confirmed and four unconfirmed aerial victories. Hess was one of a few World War I pilots involved in aviation prewar, as he gained his civil pilot's license on 26 September 1913. He was already enrolled in Die Fliegertruppen of the Imperial German Army when World War I began. He qualified for his military pilot's license on 21 November 1914, and was launched on his flying career as one of Germany's first fighter pilots. He would score his first aerial victory in tandem with Oswald Boelcke on 5 January 1916. He would rotate through four assignments before scoring a dozen victories within July–September 1917 while flying an Albatros D.Va for Jagdstaffel 28. On 19 September 1917, he was promoted to command of Jagdstaffel 19. He had just been appointed to command of a Jagdgruppe being formed by Germany's First Army when he was killed in combat on 23 December 1917.
Hans Joachim Rolfes was a German World War I flying ace credited with 17 confirmed and two unconfirmed aerial victories. He scored his first confirmed victory while with Royal Bavarian Jagdstaffel 32, on 6 July 1917. His second and subsequent victories were while leading Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 45 during the first nine months of 1918. On 29 September 1918, he was additionally given command of a four squadron wing. Rolfes died in an aviation accident on 12 August 1935.
LeutnantKarl Odebrett was a German World War I flying ace credited with 16 aerial victories.
Leutnant Heinrich Arntzen was a German World War I flying ace credited with eleven aerial victories.
OffizierstellvertreterFritz Gustav August Kosmahl HOH, IC was one of the first flying aces of Germany's Luftstreitkräfte during World War I. He was one of the few German two-seater aces of the war, being officially credited with nine aerial victories. He was also one of the first ten German aviators to earn the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern.
LeutnantHermann Habich (1895–?) was one of the original pilots in the Imperial German Air Service, having earned his brevet two months before World War I began. He is noted for having killed French aviation pioneer Roland Garros. Habich scored seven victories in all, becoming a flying ace. He joined the Luftwaffe in the 1930s and served in World War II.
References
- Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank W.; Guest, Russell. Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918. Grub Street, 1993. ISBN 978-0-948817-73-1.