Max Kahlow

Last updated
Max Kahlow
Born11 May 1894
Bad Schoenfließ, German Empire (present day Poland)
DiedUnknown
Allegiance German Empire
Service/branchAviation
Years of service1913-1918
Rank Vizefeldwebel
UnitFA 42, Jagdstaffel 34
Awards Iron Cross

Vizefeldwebel Max Kahlow (born 11 May 1894, date of death unknown) was a German World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories. [1]

Germany Federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas to the north and the Alps, Lake Constance, and the High Rhine to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west.

World War I 1914–1918 global war starting in Europe

World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, the Seminal Catastrophe, and initially in North America as the European War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as "the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides and the resulting 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide.

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.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Max Kahlow was born on 11 May 1894 in Bad Schoenfließ, German Empire; [2] due to changes in political boundaries, the town is in present-day Poland.[ citation needed ]

Trzcińsko-Zdrój Place in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland

Trzcińsko-Zdrój is a town in Gryfino County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,591 inhabitants (2005). It is also the centre of an urban-rural municipality with the same name, an area of about 170 km², and about 5700 inhabitants (2010).

German Empire empire in Central Europe between 1871–1918

The German Empire, also known as the Second Reich or Imperial Germany, was the German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II in 1918.

Military service

Kahlow joined the military before World War I began, on 20 April 1913. By 14 March 1916, he was flying on the Eastern Front. In 1917, he moved to Romania. He joined Flieger-Abteilung (Flier Detachment) 42 in April 1917, and was teamed with Leutnant Paul Philipp as his observer when they scored an aerial victory on 31 May 1917. At some point, Kahlow had returned to Russia, as they shot down a Nieuport over Elipicesti. [2]

Eastern Front (World War I) Theatre of World War I

The Eastern Front or Eastern Theater of World War I was a theater of operations that encompassed at its greatest extent the entire frontier between the Russian Empire and Romania on one side and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire and the German Empire on the other. It stretched from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south, involved most of Eastern Europe and stretched deep into Central Europe as well. The term contrasts with "Western Front", which was being fought in Belgium and France.

Romania Sovereign state in Europe

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It has borders with the Black Sea to the southeast, Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, and Moldova to the east. It has a predominantly temperate-continental climate. With a total area of 238,397 square kilometers, Romania is the 12th largest country and also the 7th most populous member state of the European Union, having almost 20 million inhabitants. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, and other major urban areas include Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, Constanța, Craiova, Brașov, and Galați.

Leutnant is the lowest Lieutenant officer rank in the armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), Austrian Armed Forces, and military of Switzerland.

In June 1917, Kahlow attended fighter training. On 18 June, he was posted to a Western Front fighter squadron, Jagdstaffel 34, for his final war assignment. He scored his second aerial victory on 29 July 1917. On 21 August, his craft was brought down by anti-aircraft fire, but Kahlow was unwounded. He would score four more confirmed victories during 1918. By the time he was discharged from the military on 15 December 1918, Max Kahlow had earned both the Second and First Class Iron Cross and the Kingdom of Bavaria's Military Merit Cross. [2]

Western Front (World War I) Main theatre of war during the First World War

The Western Front was the main theatre of war during the First World War. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne. Following the Race to the Sea, both sides dug in along a meandering line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France, which changed little except during early 1917 and in 1918.

Jagdstaffel 34

Royal Bavarian Jagdstaffel 34, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 34, was a "hunting group" of the Luftstreitkräfte, the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. The unit would score 89 confirmed aerial victories during the war, including three enemy observation balloons. In turn, they would suffer eleven killed in action, one killed in a flying accident, five wounded in action, one injured in an accident, and five taken prisoner of war.

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 Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia on 17 March 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars. The award was backdated to the birthday of his late wife Queen Louise. 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 that was awarded during World War II has a swastika in the center. 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.

Later life

Max Kahlow would eventually become a Lufthansa pilot. [2]

Deutsche Lufthansa AG , commonly known as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier and largest German airline which, when combined with its subsidiaries, is also the largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from the German word Luft meaning "air" and Hansa for the Hanseatic League. Lufthansa is one of the five founding members of Star Alliance, the world's largest airline alliance, formed in 1997.

Sources of information

  1. ↑ Max Kahlow
  2. 1 2 3 4 Franks et al 1993, p. 140.

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References

Norman Leslie Robert Franks is an English militaria writer who specialises in aviation topics. He focuses on the pilots and squadrons of World Wars I and II.

International Standard Book Number Unique numeric book identifier

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.


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