Royal Saxon Jagdstaffel 44, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 44, was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the ''

Luftstreitkräfte The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Combat Forces)known before October 1916 as (The Imperial German Air Service, lit. "The flying troops of the German Kaiser’s Reich")was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-langu ...

'', the air arm of the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The unit would score 19 aerial victories during the war, including four observation balloons downed. The squadron's victories came at the expense of two

killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...

, two killed in flying accidents, two wounded in action, one injured in an accident, and two taken prisoner of war.

History

Jasta 44 was formed on 11 December 1917 at ''Flieger-Abteilung'' ("Flier Detachment") 6 at Grossenhain. It went operational on 23 December 1917. In April 1918, it joined Jagdgruppe 12, commanded by

Heinrich Kroll ''Oberleutnant'' Henrich Claudius Kroll (3 November 1894 – 21 February 1930) Pour le Merite, Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Saxony's Albert Order Knight Second Class with Swords, Iron Cross First and Second Class, was ...

. The squadron served until it was disbanded on 1 December 1918.

Commanding officers (''
Staffelführer ''Staffelführer'' (, " Formation leader") was one of the first paramilitary ranks used by the German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) in the early years of that group's existence. The later SS rank of ''Staffelführer'' traces its origins to the First ...
'')

* Max Raspe: 11 December 1917 * Albert Freytag: 14 February 1918 * Paul Lotz: 10 June 1918 – 23 October 1918 *

Leutnant () is the lowest junior officer rank in the armed forces of Germany ( Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") from Middle High German «locum ...

von Borries: 23 October 1918

Duty stations

Leffincourt Leffincourt () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. Population See also * Mazagran *Communes of the Ardennes department The following is a list of the 447 communes of the Ardennes department of France Fra ...

, France *

Villeselve Villeselve () is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Oise department The following is a list of the 680 Communes of France, communes of the Oise Departments of France, department of Fr ...

, France: March 1918 *

Ercheu Ercheu (; Picard: ''Èrchu'' ) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Etymology of the place name Diverting from the Latin word " Arx-Arcis ", strengthened place: 988 : Arceium 1048 : Archeium 1150 : Er ...

: Early April 1918 * Donstiennes, Belgium: 19 October 1918

Operations

Jasta 44's first operational assignment, at Leffincourt, was support of '' 3 Armee''. After being incorporated into Jagdgruppe 12, it usually supported '' 18 Armee''. The squadron would serve through war's end, being disbanded at

Kamenz Kamenz () or Kamjenc ( Sorbian, ) is a town (''Große Kreisstadt'') in the district of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany. Until 2008 it was the administrative seat of Kamenz District. The town is known as the birthplace of the philosopher and poet Gotth ...

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony () was a German monarchy in Central Europe between 1806 and 1918, the successor of the Electorate of Saxony. It joined the Confederation of the Rhine after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, later joining the German ...

, on 1 December 1918.

Aircraft

Jasta 44 re-equipped with

Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII is a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the '' Fokker-Flugzeugwerke''. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII ...

fighters when it was consolidated into Jagdgruppe 12. Its previous equipment is unknown.

References