Leutnant Olivier Freiherr von Beaulieu-Marconnay (14 September 1898 – 26 October 1918) was a German

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 ...

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

fighter pilot credited with 25 victories. Having joined the military at age 16, his success in shooting down 13 enemy aircraft led to his being appointed to command a fighter squadron, '' Jagdstaffel 19'', at age 19. He was credited with another dozen victories before being mortally wounded. Because Germany's highest award for valor could not be granted posthumously, it was hurriedly approved just hours before his death. He is notable for being World War I's youngest recipient of the

Pour le Merite Pour is a name which can be used as a surname and a given name: * Kour Pour (born 1987), American artist of Iranian and British descent * Mehdi Niyayesh Pour (born 1992), Iranian footballer * Mojtaba Mobini Pour (born 1991), Iranian footballer * P ...

Early life and service

Olivier ''Freiherr'' (Baron) von Beaulieu-Marconnay was born in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

on 14 September 1898, the son of an aristocratic Prussian Army captain. When

started in August 1914, he was a high school student, not quite 16. The following year, at 16, he volunteered as a

cadet A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...

for service in his father's former regiment, the 4th Prussian Dragoons. He served with the Dragoons in Russia, and participated in fighting in the Rokitno Swamps in the summer of 1916. He was promoted to

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 ...

in July 1916, being awarded the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

First Class later in the year.

Aerial service

He then transferred to the German air service in 1917 and by November had qualified as a pilot. On 1 December 1917 he was assigned to ''

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 Armee auspic ...

''. He paid tribute to the 4th Prussian Dragoons by having a personal insignia painted on all his planes consisting of a numeral 4 merged with a capital letter D. His planes also featured a blue

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

, yellow wheel covers, and nose painted yellow back to the cockpit. Beaulieu-Marconnay served with ''Jagdstaffel 18'' without success until his transfer to

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 Muss ...

' ''

Jagdstaffel 15 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 15, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 15, was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. The unit would score over 150 aerial victor ...

'' on 20 March 1918. However, he developed such a close friendship with two other teenage aces,

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 ...

and Hugo Schäfer, that they were dubbed The Inseparables. ''Jagdstaffel 15'' had recently received the new

Siemens-Schuckert D.III The Siemens-Schuckert D.III was a German single-seat fighter built by Siemens-Schuckert Werke. The D.III was a development of the earlier Siemens-Schuckert D.IIc prototype.Green and Swanborough 1994, p. 530. The D.III was an (nearly) equal-span b ...

fighters, and were limited to defensive operations, as they had orders forbidding flights over enemy lines lest one of the new planes fall into Allied hands. However, on 28 May 1918, a formation of French Dorand AR.2s were reported over German held territory. The squadron scrambled to intercept and Beaulieu-Marconnay scored his first victory. The following month he scored regularly becoming an ace on 11 June and a week later had run his total to eight. A double victory on 9 August made him a double ace. He went on to score three more victories in August. At some time in August, he was equipped with a much-modified

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

engined

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 ...

, seemingly a Berthold hand-me-down. Despite being only 19 years old, Beaulieu-Marconnay was then appointed to command '' Jagdstaffel 19'' on 4 September. He would begin his tenure as commander by totaling ten victories in September, and four more in October. His 25th and last confirmed victory came on 10 October 1918. On 18 October, in the confusion of a dogfight, Beaulieu-Marconnay was seriously wounded in the thigh, possibly as a result of

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy or hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while ...

from a fellow German pilot from '' Jagdstaffel 74''. He managed to regain his home airfield and land safely, and was rushed to the hospital, bleeding freely and in very critical condition. The award of the ''

'' was reportedly rushed through as it could not be awarded posthumously, and to procrastinate risked the young ace's death while he was honored with only the

Notice of the award was forwarded to the hospital on 26 October 1918. However, Olivier Freiherr von Beaulieu-Marconnay, who had lingered with his wound for eight days, died six hours before the news arrived, possibly as the result of a post-operative infection. He was buried in the famous

Invalidenfriedhof The Invalids' Cemetery () is one of the oldest cemeteries in Berlin. It was the traditional resting place of the Prussian Army, and is regarded as particularly important as a memorial to the German Wars of Liberation of 1813–15. History Th ...

in Berlin. His grave lies in a triangular arrangement with those of his old commander

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. In postwar Germany, Berthold organized a ''Freikor ...

and Berthold's friend Hans-Joachim Buddecke.

Inline citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bealieu-Marconnay 1898 births 1918 deaths People from Charlottenburg German World War I flying aces German military personnel killed in World War I Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Burials at the Invalids' Cemetery Military personnel from the Province of Brandenburg German barons Luftstreitkräfte personnel Prussian Army personnel Military personnel from Berlin