Friedrich Ehmann

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Friedrich Ehmann
Born Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire
Died After 11 November 1918
Allegiance Germany
Service/branch Aviation
Rank Vizefeldwebel
Unit Kest 5; Jasta 47
Awards Iron Cross First Class, Kingdom of Württemberg Military Merit Order

Vizefeldwebel Friedrich Ehmann was a German World War I flying ace credited with eight confirmed aerial victories. Possibly, two of his victims were enemy aces: Richard Minifie and Robert A. Little, though it cannot be confirmed. Both survived their respective crashes.

Flying ace Distinction given to fighter pilots

A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more.

Richard Minifie Australian flying ace, Royal Australian Air Force officer and businessman.

Richard Pearman Minifie, was an Australian fighter pilot and flying ace of the First World War. Born in Victoria, he attended Melbourne Church of England Grammar School. Travelling to the United Kingdom, he enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service in June 1916. Accepted for flight training, he completed his instruction in December and joined No. 1 (Naval) Squadron RNAS on the Western Front in January 1917, flying Sopwith Triplanes. He went on to score seventeen aerial victories on this type of machine throughout the year, becoming both the youngest Australian flying ace of the First World War and No. 1 (Naval) Squadron's highest-scoring ace on the Triplane. The unit re-equipped with the Sopwith Camel late in 1917, with Minifie going on to achieve a further four victories on the aircraft, raising his final tally to a score of twenty-one aircraft shot down.

Robert A. Little Australian fighter ace

Robert Alexander Little,, a World War I fighter pilot, is generally regarded as the most successful Australian flying ace, with an official tally of forty-seven victories. Born in Victoria, he travelled to England in 1915 and learned to fly at his own expense before joining the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Posted to the Western Front in June 1916, he flew Sopwith Pups, Triplanes and Camels with No. 8 Squadron RNAS, achieving thirty-eight victories within a year and earning the Distinguished Service Order and Bar, the Distinguished Service Cross and Bar, and the French Croix de Guerre. Rested in July 1917, he volunteered to return to the front in March 1918 and scored a further nine victories with No. 3 Squadron RNAS before he was killed in action on the night of 27 May, aged twenty-two.

Contents

Early life

Friedrich Ehmann's birthplace in the Kingdom of Württemberg can be deduced by its custom of awarding their military medals solely to their own citizens. [1]

World War I

Ehmann first comes to history's notice when he flew for Kest 5 from 22 October to 25 December 1917. During this time, he claimed his first aerial victory, which went unconfirmed. [2]

He then transferred to an established fighter squadron, Jasta 47. Ehmann's second confirmed victory was over one of the leading Royal Naval Air Service aces, Richard Minifie, who had 21 victories. Minifie, who belonged to 1 Naval Squadron, came down unwounded on 17 March 1918, but sat out the remainder of the fighting as a prisoner of war. [3]

Royal Naval Air Service former air arm of the Royal Navy

The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force, the world's first independent air force.

No. 201 Squadron RAF 1914-2011 Royal Air Force and Royal Naval Air Service maritime reconnaissance squadron

No. 201 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, until March 2010, operated the Nimrod MR2, based at RAF Kinloss, Moray. It is the only squadron affiliated with Guernsey, in the Channel Islands. This affiliation started in 1935 and is commemorated in the museum on Castle Cornet. Its history goes even further back than the RAF itself, being formed originally as No. 1 Squadron RNAS on 17 Oct 1914. The squadron will stand up again in 2021 as the second squadron equipped with the P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft.

Prisoner of war person who is held in custody by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict

A prisoner of war (POW) is a person, whether combatant or non-combatant, who is held in custody by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates to 1660.

On 21 April 1918, Ehmann downed his second enemy ace, Robert A. Little, who was the leading Australian ace of the war, scoring the majority of his wins in a RNAS Sopwith Triplane, shot down one of Ehmann's squadronmates. When Ehmann, in turn, shot Little down, he crashlanded unhurt behind British lines. Little reported the cause of his downing as a shattered main spar and bullet-riddled controls. [4]

Sopwith Triplane airplane

The Sopwith Triplane was a British single seat fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the First World War. It was the first military triplane to see operational service. The Triplane joined Royal Naval Air Service squadrons in early 1917 and was immediately successful. It was nevertheless built in comparatively small numbers and was withdrawn from active service as Sopwith Camels arrived in the latter half of 1917. Surviving Triplanes continued to serve as operational trainers until the end of the war.

Ehmann was awarded Württemberg's Military Merit Order on 18 October 1918. He was also awarded the Iron Cross First Class. [5]

Military Merit Order (Württemberg) award of the Kingdom of Württemberg

The Military Merit Order (Militärverdienstorden) was a military order of the Kingdom of Württemberg, which joined the German Empire in 1871. The order was one of the older military orders of the states of the German Empire. It was founded on February 11, 1759 by Karl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg as the Militär-Carls-Orden, and was renamed the Militärverdienstorden on November 11, 1806 by King Friedrich I. The order underwent several more revisions over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries. It became obsolete with the fall of the Württemberg monarchy in the wake of Germany's defeat in World War I.

Iron Cross military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1870–1918) and Nazi Germany

The Iron Cross is a former military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). It was established by King Frederick William III of Prussia in March 1813 backdated to the birthday of his late wife Queen Louise on 10 March 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars. Louise was the first person to receive this decoration (posthumously). The recommissioned Iron Cross was also awarded during the Franco-Prussian War, World War I, and World War II . The Iron Cross was normally a military decoration only, though there were instances of it being awarded to civilians for performing military functions. Two examples of this were civilian test pilots Hanna Reitsch who was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and 1st Class and Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg, who was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class, for their actions as pilots during World War II.

List of aerial victories

See also Aerial victory standards of World War I

Official victories are numbered and listed chronologically. Unconfirmed victories are denoted by "u/c" and may or may not be listed by date.

No.Date/timeAircraftFoeResultLocationNotes
u/c 7 November 1917 Dorand AR.2 Dannemarie, Haut-Rhin
1 11 March 1918 @ 1705 hours Pfalz Sopwith Destroyed Zonnebeke
2 17 March 1918 @ 1215 hours Pfalz Sopwith Camel serialnumber B6420 Destroyed Moorslede Victim: Possibly Richard Minifie
3 18 March 1918 @ 1205 hours Pfalz Nieuport fighter Destroyed Hooglede Victim from No. 29 Squadron RFC
4 12 April 1918 @ 1020 hours Pfalz Sopwith Camel Destroyed Frelinghien Victim from No. 43 Squadron RAF
5 21 April 1918 @ 1630 hours Pfalz Sopwith Camel s/n B6319 Destroyed Southeast of Hazebrouck Victim: Possibly Robert A. Little
6 11 May 1918 @ 1835 hours Pfalz Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a Destroyed; sent down smoking [6] Messines [7] Victim from No. 1 Squadron RAF
7 28 May 1918 @ 2020 hours [8] Fokker D.VII [9] Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a Destroyed Northwest of Vlamertinghe, Belgium
8 28 May 1918 circa 2020 hours [10] Fokker D.VII [11] Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a Destroyed Northwest of Vlamertinghe [12]

Post World War I

Ehmann is known to have survived World War I. [13]

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References

Endnotes

  1. ↑ Above the Lines, p. 103.
  2. ↑ Above the Lines, p. 103.
  3. ↑ Above the Lines, p. 103.
  4. ↑ Pfalz Aces, p. 66.
  5. ↑ Above the Lines, p. 103.
  6. ↑ Pfalz Aces, p. 66.
  7. ↑ Above the Lines, p. 103.
  8. ↑ Above the Lines, p. 103.
  9. ↑ Pfalz Aces, p. 66.
  10. ↑ Above the Lines, p. 103.
  11. ↑ Pfalz Aces, p. 66.
  12. ↑ Above the Lines, p. 103.
  13. ↑ Pfalz Aces, p. 66.
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