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Aerial Victory Standards Of World War I
During World War I, the national air services involved developed their own methods of assessing and assigning credit for aerial victories. For various reasons, all belligerents engaged in overclaiming aerial victories to a greater or lesser degree. The accuracy of reported aerial victories varied widely according to definitions and terminology, how strict the standards of verification were defined and upheld, and how well they were able to control for all sorts of cognitive biases in assessing the evidence of aerial victory claims. Introduction As aerial combat was a new phenomenon at the war's outbreak, it drew a lot of attention in the press. The idea of " flying aces" (first coined by the French in 1915) who defeated multiple opponents in the skies quickly became popular, but initially there were no rules for determining who "won" an aerial engagement, or what criteria makes someone an "ace". Former '' Wings'' editor Wayne Ralph (2008) observed: 'In the First World War, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
René Fonck
Colonel René Paul Fonck (27 March 1894 – 18 June 1953) was a French aviator who ended the First World War as the top Triple Entente, Entente fighter Flying ace, ace and, when all succeeding aerial conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries are also considered, Fonck still holds the title of "all-time Allied Ace of Aces". He received confirmation for 75 victories (72 solo and three shared) out of 142 claims. Taking into account his probable claims, Fonck's final tally could conceivably be nearer 100 or above. He was made an Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1918 and later a Commander of the Legion of Honor after the war, and raised again to the dignity of Grand Officer. Early life Fonck was born on 27 March 1894 in the village of Saulcy-sur-Meurthe in the Vosges (department), Vosges region of north eastern France. Fonck left school when he was 13.Damien Accoulon (2018), ''René Fonck, As des As et pilote de la Grande Guerre'', Editions Privat, Toulouse. Although he had bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
148th Aero Squadron
The 148th Aero Squadron was a unit of the United States Army United States Army Air Service, Air Service that fought on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I. As a day pursuit (fighter) squadron, its mission was to engage and clear enemy aircraft from the skies and provide escort to reconnaissance and bombardment squadrons over enemy territory. It also attacked enemy observation balloons, and perform close air support and tactical bombing attacks of enemy forces along the front lines. The squadron flew combat operations attached to the British Royal Air Force between July and October 1918. In October 1918, the squadron was transferred to the United States Second Army 4th Pursuit Group. However, with Second Army's planned offensive drive on Metz cancelled due to the 1918 Armistice with Germany, the squadron saw no combat with Second Army. After the 1918 Armistice with Germany, it was demobilized in 1919 as part of the Air Service, Second United States ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balloon Busters
Balloon busters were military pilots known for destroying enemy observation balloons. These pilots were noted for their fearlessness, as balloons were stationary targets able to receive heavy defenses, from the ground and the air. Seventy-seven flying aces in World War I were each credited with destroying five or more balloons, and thus were balloon aces. The crucial role of observation balloons An observation balloon was both a vulnerable and a valuable target: the balloon was moored in a stationary position and was lifted by flammable hydrogen gas, whose use was necessitated by the scarcity of helium reserves among European powers. The artillery observer, suspended in the wicker basket beneath, typically had a wireless transmitter, binoculars and/or a long-range camera. His job was to observe actions on the front-line and behind it, to spot enemy troop movements or unusual activity of any sort, and to call down artillery fire onto any worthwhile targets. Balloon observers we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, although that is not a literal translation of either name. German naval aviation, naval aviators of the were an integral part of the Imperial German Navy (). Both military branches operated aeroplanes, observation balloons and airships. Founding The Imperial German Army created an experimental balloon company inspired by the American balloon corps they had seen while observing the American Civil War, with varying forms of organisation from 1884 to 1901 until a Balloon Battalion was finally formed. The rapid development of aeronautics led to trials of airships and the choice of rigid types built by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, Zeppelin and List of Schütte-Lanz airships, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pour Le Mérite
The (; , ), also informally known as the ''Blue Max'' () after German WWI flying ace Max Immelmann, is an order of merit established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. Separated into two classes, each with their own designs, the was awarded as both a military and civil honour. While the military class has been extinct since the abolition of the German Monarchy, the civil honour continues to be awarded by the German state at the oversight of the Minister of State for Culture and discretion of the Federal President. Alongside the extinct Order of the Black Eagle, Order of the Red Eagle, and the House Order of Hohenzollern, the award was one of the Kingdom of Prussia's most significant, with the ''Pour le Mérite'' itself being the highest order of bravery for officers of all ranks, and the highest recognition of civilian accomplishment awarded by the Prussian Crown. The was awarded as a recognition of extraordinary personal achievement, rather than as a genera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Order Of Hohenzollern
The House Order of Hohenzollern ( or ') was a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Hohenzollern awarded to military commissioned officers and civilians of comparable status. Associated with the various versions of the order were crosses and medals which could be awarded to lower-ranking soldiers and civilians. History The Princely House Order of Hohenzollern originated in 1841, by joint decree of Prince Konstantin of and Prince Karl Anton of . These two principalities in southern Germany were Catholic collateral lines of the House of Hohenzollern, cousins to the Protestant ruling house of Prussia. On 23 August 1851, after the two principalities had been annexed by Prussia, the order was adopted by the Prussian branch of the house. Also, although the two principalities had become an administrative region of the Prussian kingdom, the princely lines continued to award the order as a house order. The Prussian version was then known as the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern (' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Immelmann
Max Immelmann (21 September 1890 – 18 June 1916) ''Pour le Mérite, PLM'' was the first German Lists of World War I flying aces, World War I flying ace.Shores, 1983, p. 10. He was a pioneer in fighter aviation and is often mistakenly credited with the Kurt Wintgens#First victory using a synchronized gun, first aerial victory using a synchronization gear, synchronized gun, which was in fact achieved on 1 July 1915 by the German ace Kurt Wintgens. Immelmann was the first aviator to receive the ''Pour le Mérite'', colloquially known as the "Blue Max" in his honour, being awarded it at the same time as Oswald Boelcke. His name has become attached to a common flying tactic, the Immelmann turn, and remains a byword in aviation. He is credited with 15 aerial victories. Early life Max Immelmann was born on 21 September 1890, in Dresden, to an industrialist father who died when Max was young. In 1905 he was enrolled in the Dresden Cadet School. He joined the ''Eisenbahnregiment (Ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oswald Boelcke
Oswald Boelcke PlM (; 19 May 1891 – 28 October 1916) was a World War I German professional soldier and pioneering flying ace credited with 40 aerial victories. Boelcke is honored as the father of the German fighter air force, and of air combat as a whole. He was a highly influential mentor, patrol leader, and tactician in the first years of air combat, 1915 and 1916. Boelcke fulfilled his childhood dream of a military career by joining the Imperial German Army on 15 March 1911. He pursued an early interest in aviation, learning to fly as World War I began. After duty as an aerial observer during 1914, he became one of the original fighter pilots during mid-1915. Flying the first true fighters, Boelcke, Max Immelmann, and several other early aces began shooting down enemy airplanes. Boelcke and Immelmann were the first German fighter pilots awarded Prussia's highest honor, the ''Pour le Mérite''. The German high command reassigned Boelcke after his 19th victory. Durin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morane-Saulnier Type L
The Morane-Saulnier L, or Morane-Saulnier Type L, or officially MoS-3, was a French parasol wing one or two-seat scout aeroplane of the First World War. The Type L became one of the first successful fighter aircraft when it was fitted with a single machine gun that fired through the arc of the propeller, which was protected by armoured deflector wedges. Its immediate effectiveness in this role launched an arms race in fighter development, and the Type L was swiftly rendered obsolete. The original Type L used wing warping for lateral control, but a later version designated Type LA was fitted with ailerons.Taylor 1989, p. 684. Built by Morane-Saulnier, large numbers of the Type L were ordered by the French '' Aviation Militaire'' at the outbreak of the war. In total about 600 Type Ls were built and, in addition to the French air force, they served with the Royal Flying Corps, Royal Naval Air Service and the Imperial Russian Air Service. The type was also produced under licence in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otto Parschau
''Leutnant'' Otto Parschau (11 November 1890 – 21 July 1916) was a German World War I flying ace and recipient of the Pour le Mérite, Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, and Iron Cross, First Class. He was noted as one of the pre-eminent aces on the Fokker Eindecker. He was one of the world's first flying aces. Parschau and ''Leutnant'' Kurt Wintgens were the pilots chosen to fly the prototype of the revolutionary Fokker Eindecker fighter plane with a machine gun synchronized to fire safely through its propeller arc via use of a gun synchronizer. Background Parschau was born in Klausen (now Klutznick, Poland), in the Allenstein district of East Prussia. He became a commissioned officer a year after having joined the ''Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 151'' in 1910. Parschau was trained as a pilot in Johannisthal, Darmstadt, and in Hanover and received his licence on 4 July 1913. World War I Upon the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914 Parschau was already serving with the ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kurt Wintgens
''Leutnant'' Kurt Wintgens (1 August 1894 – 25 September 1916) was a German World War I fighter ace. He was the first fighter pilot to score an aerial victory with a synchronized machine gun. Wintgens was the recipient of the Iron Cross and the Pour le Mérite (Blue Max). Background Wintgens was born into a military family in Neustadt in Oberschlesien. His military service commenced when he joined the Telegraphen-Bataillon Nr. 2 in Frankfurt/ Oder as a ''Fahnenjunker'' (cadet officer) in 1913. Involvement in First World War Though still in military school when the war began in 1914, Wintgens was sent to the Eastern Front as a leutnant and won the Iron Cross, 2nd Class. On transferring to the German Air Service, Wintgens flew first as an observer, apparently alternating with telegraph duty. However, in early 1915 he entered pilot training at the Fokker school in Schwerin, where ''Leutnant'' Otto Parschau had already been brought in by the Fokker factory to prepare an ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feldflieger Abteilung
Feldflieger Abteilung (''FFA'', Field Flying Detachment) was the title of the pioneering field aviation units of (The Air Forces of the German Empire) formed in 1912, which became the ( German air service) on 8 October 1916, during the First World War. The , the aerial service of the , the Army of the German Empire, was formed in 1912 when its organisation was laid down. Five new (Aviation Battalions) with four companies each began forming in 1913. Four of the new units were created as part of the Communications Branch of the Prussian Army and one by the Bavarian Army; Saxony formed a detachment that was attached to a Prussian unit. The were administrative units to provide flights for each army and corps HQ. At first aircraft were transported with armies, being assembled when they were needed but after one aircraft came apart in the air, killing the crew, the practise was abolished. The rest of the aircraft were modified to make them less likely to kill their crews. When 1914 be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
