Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 15, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 15, was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the ''

Luftstreitkräfte The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alth ...

'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The unit would score over 150 aerial victories during the war, at the expense of seven killed in action, two killed in flying accidents, three wounded in action, one injured in a flying accident, and two taken prisoner of war.

History

The "Jasta" was formed on 28 September 1916 at Rixheim, from Kampfeinsitzer Kommando Habsheim, FFA 48 and FFA 68. It mobilized on 9 October 1916. Three days later, it flew an interception mission against French and British bombers targeting Oberdorf's Mauser factory and destroyed three of them. For the next few months, the jasta achieved desultory results against French

Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars. History Beginnings Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...

s and Caudrons. However, the ascension of

Heinrich Gontermann Heinrich Gontermann (25 February 1896 – 30 October 1917) was a German fighter ace credited with 39 victories during the First World War. Early life Born in Siegen, Southern Westphalia, on 25 February 1896,''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter ...

to command in April 1917 changed that. The balloon buster ace arrived with 17 victories to this credit; in scoring 22 more with Jasta 15, he would account for about half the squadron's victories. His death via wing failure in an early model

Fokker Dr.1 The Fokker Dr.I (''Dreidecker'', "triplane" in German), often known simply as the Fokker Triplane, was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918. It became famous as the ...

triplane grounded the new aircraft and dampened the jasta's performance. By the time it joined

Jagdgeschwader II ''Jagdgeschwader II (Fighter Wing II, or JG II)'' was the Imperial German Air Service's second fighter wing. Established because of the great success of Manfred von Richthofen's preceding ''Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War I), Jagdgeschwader I'' wing, ...

(JG II), Jagdstaffel 15 had about 47 victories to its credit. It became part of JG II under Adolf Tutschek at

Autremencourt Autremencourt () is a commune in the department of Aisne in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. Geography Location Autremencourt is located some 35 km east by southeast of Saint-Quentin and 25 km northeast of Laon. It can ...

in February 1918. On 19 March 1918,

Rudolf Berthold Oskar Gustav Rudolf Berthold (24 March 1891 – 15 March 1920) was a German flying ace of World War I. Between 1916 and 1918, he shot down 44 enemy planes—16 of them while flying one-handed. Berthold's perseverance, bravery, and willingness t ...

took command of JG 2 when Tutschek was killed; he arranged a swap of Jasta 15's personnel with those of

Jagdstaffel 18 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 18 was a "hunting squadron" (fighter squadron) of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. History The Jasta was formed on 30 October 1916, at Halluin under 4th Army (German ...

, so that Berthold could continue to command those with whom he was familiar - ''Leutnant der Reserve'' August Raben left Jasta 15 to take command of Jasta 18 from then on. Jasta 15 demobilized in November 1918 at FEA 14 in

Halle an der Saale Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anh ...

, Germany.

Commanding officers

The following served as '' Staffelführer'' of the Jasta: # Oberleutnant Herman Kropp: 28 September 1916 – November 1916 # Oberleutnant Max Reinhold: 9 November 1916 – 26 April 1917 # Leutnant

: 26 April 1917 – 30 October 1917 (Killed in flying accident) # Leutnant Hans Hermann von Budde: 30 October 1917 – 14 March 1918 # Leutnant der Reserve August Raben: 14 March 1918 – 20 March 1918 (later leading the reformed

) # Oberleutnant Ernst Turck: 20 March 1918 – 18 May 1918 # Leutnant

Josef Veltjens Josef "Seppl" Veltjens (2 June 1894 – 6 October 1943) was a German World War I fighter ace credited with 35 victories. In later years, he served as an international arms dealer, as well as a personal emissary from Hermann Göring to Benito Mus ...

(Acting): 18 May 1918 – 13 August 1918 # Leutnant

Olivier Freiherr von Beaulieu-Marconnay Leutnant Olivier Freiherr von Beaulieu-Marconnay (14 September 1898 – 26 October 1918) was a German World War I flying ace, ace fighter pilot credited with 25 victories. Having joined the military at age 16, his success in shooting down 13 enemy ...

: 13 August 1918 – 22 August 1918 # Leutnant Josef Veltjens: 22 August 1918 – 11 November 1918

Duty stations (airfields)

1916

* Bixhiem *

Habsheim Habsheim is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It forms part of the Mulhouse Alsace Agglomération, the inter-communal local government body for the Mulhouse conurbation. History The Thalbahn Habsheim was ...

(6 November 1916 - )

1917

* La Selve * Le Clos Ferme * Cambrai

1918

The Jasta used over a dozen airfields in support of 18 Armee, then moved to fly support of 5th Armee.

Notable personnel

A number of notable aces served in the unit during its brief existence, including the following: *

Georg von Hantelmann Leutnant Georg von Hantelmann (9 October 1898 – 7 September 1924) was a German fighter ace credited with winning 25 victories during World War I. It was notable that these victories included three opposing aces shot down within the same week in ...

* Johannes Klein *

* Gustav Klaudat * Heinrich Arntzen * Ernst Udet * Hans Müller *

Arthur Rahn Leutnant Arthur Rahn (18 July 1897 – 27 April 1962) was a German World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories. He served as a fighter pilot for about two years before being wounded in action on 27 July 1918. Exiting hospital after wa ...

* Kurt Haber

Aircraft and operations

The unit was founded with

Fokker D.II __NOTOC__ The Fokker D.II was a German fighter biplane of World War I. It was a single-seat fighter aircraft developed before the Fokker D.I. It was based on the M.17 prototype, with single-bay unstaggered wings and a larger fuselage and short ...

s and

Fokker D.III The Fokker D.III (Fokker designation M.19) was a German single-seat fighter aircraft of World War I. It saw limited frontline service before being withdrawn from combat in December 1916. Design and development The M.19 began as an effort to impr ...

s. In 1917, it operated

Albatros D.III The Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service ('' Luftstreitkräfte'') during World War I. A modified licence model was built by Oeffag for the Austro-Hungarian Air Service ( ''Luftfahrtruppen''). ...

s and

Albatros D.V The Albatros D.V is a fighter aircraft built by the Albatros Flugzeugwerke and used by the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I. The D.V was the final development of the Albatros D.I family and the last Albatro ...

s. Later, it then used

Fokker Dr.I The Fokker Dr.I (''Dreidecker'', "triplane" in German), often known simply as the Fokker Triplane, was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918. It became famous as the ...

triplanes and some Siemens-Schuckert D.IIIs. Their final mount was the

Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was 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 qui ...

. By summer 1918, the Jasta's aircraft markings had settled to royal blue fuselage and tail, brown rudders, and red noses extending back as far as the cockpit. Jasta 15 joined

in February 1918. Identifiable by serial number or pilot insignia, these are some of the aircraft known to have served with the squadron: * Two Albatros D.Vs * Four Fokker Dr.Is * Five Fokker D.VIIs * Three Pfalz D.IIIs * Two Siemens-Schuckert D.IIIs

References

;Bibliography * * * {{wwi-air 15 Military units and formations established in 1916 1916 establishments in Germany Military units and formations disestablished in 1918