Arthur Laumann was a German World War I

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

who scored 28 victories in just over three months. He rose to become Air Attache to Greece and Yugoslavia during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, raising to a final rank of ''

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

'' ''

Generalmajor is the Germanic languages, Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central Europe, Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and R ...

''.

World War I

Born on 4 July 1894, in

Essen, Germany Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

, Laumann joined Field Artillery Regiment Number 83 on 2 August 1914, and was assigned to 40th Artillery Ranging Troop. He was promoted to ''Gefreiter'' (Private first class) on 15 February 1915, and to ''Unteroffizier'' (Noncommissioned officer) on 1 August 1915. He won an

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 ...

Second Class on 8 February 1916. On 13 January 1917, he became an ''Offizier-Stellvertreter'' (Officer candidate). He was commissioned ''Leutnant der Reserve'' on 19 May 1917. On 14 August 1917, he transferred to 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 ...

'' for pilot training. He took pilot training with the 13th Flying Replacement Battalion until 26 February 1918. By 6 March 1918, he was assigned to FA(A) 265, which was an artillery spotting squadron flying two seated airplanes. After only two months, on 19 May, he was assigned to fly

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 ...

fighter planes while commanding ''Jagdstaffel'' 66. Eight days after joining ''Jagdstaffel'' 66, on 27 May 1918, he scored his first triumph in the same dogfight in which his commanding officer, Rudolf Windisch, was shot down and disappeared. Laumann scored three victories in June, and became an ace on 1 July. He ran up 12 wins in July, including a triple on the 18th. He also was awarded the

First Class on the 17th. He ended the month as a triple ace. He shot down another dozen enemy planes in August, including another triple on the 9th. Also during July and August, he briefly commanded ''Jasta'' 66. In mid-August, he was transferred to command ''Jagdstaffel'' 10 in ''Jagdgeschwader'' 1 (JG 1), the ''Jagdgeschwader'' von Richthofen. The JG 1 commander was

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

. Laumann scored his last four victories with ''Jasta'' 10, including his final one on 4 September. On 7 September, he was awarded the

Royal 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 an ...

. 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 ...

'', or Blue Max, followed on 25 October, and was the final one awarded to any member of JG I. He's one of the few pilots who scored all of his victories entirely on the Fokker D.VII, along with

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 ...

Werner Preuss Leutnant Werner Preuss (21 September 1894 – 6 March 1919), Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Iron Cross, was a World War I fighter ace credited with 22 victories. Early life and military service Werner Preuss was the son of a tax inspector. He ...

and Olivier Freiherr von Beaulieu-Marconnay.

Service after World War I

After the armistice, he was transferred to the Signals Battalion of Military District Command VI until August 1919. From there he was returned to the 83rd Field Artillery Regiment and placed on indefinite leave. He was mustered out on 31 December 1920. In 1932 and 1933, he became an advisor to an aviation group. He was appointed ''SA-Standartenführer'', a paramilitary field officer's rank, on 24 August 1932. From there, he moved to leading a formation of the German Air Sport Formation until 31 March 1935. This led to his entry into the ''

'' as a Major on 1 April 1935 as commander of Air Region Reserve 12 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. Also during 1935, he was appointed to squadron command in II. ''Gruppe'' of

Jagdgeschwader 132 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 132 (JG 132) was a fighter wing of Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe before World War II. Formed in 1934 under the cover of ''Reklamestaffel Mitteldeutschland des DLV''. In 1938, the wing was renamed ''Jagdgeschwader'' 131 and in May 1 ...

. He held that post until 1 April 1937, when he moved up to command of II. ''Gruppe'' of JG 132. On 4 September 1939, he left his command to become the Air Attache for

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, with his home base being the German Embassy in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, Yugoslavia. Laumann held this post until 29 May 1941. After that, he held a series of administrative posts until his retirement on 1 March 1945. He had been promoted to ''

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German language, German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the Army, ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, a ...

'' (Colonel) on 1 January 1940; he was given a final promotion to ''

'' (Major General) as he retired.

Awards and decorations

* Prussian

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 ...

: 25 October 1918, ''Leutnant der Reserve'', Leader of ''Jagdstaffel'' 10 * Prussian Royal Hohenzollern House Order, Knight's Cross with Swords: 7 September 1918 * Prussian

(1914) ** 2nd Class : 8 February 1916 ** 1st Class: 17 July 1918 *

War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross () was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Merit Cross was reissued in 1957 ...

, 2nd Class with Swords *

Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (), commonly referred to as the Hindenburg Cross or the German WWI Service Cross, was established by Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, President of the German Weimar Republic, by an order dated 13 July ...

* German Army Pilot's Badge – World War I award: 18 May 1918 * ''Luftwaffe'' Pilot's Badge: 15 December 1936 * Italian

Order of the Roman Eagle The Fascist Civil and Military Order of the Roman Eagle founded in 1942 with civil and military divisions, was abolished in Italy in 1944; although it continued to be awarded by Benito Mussolini in the short-lived Italian Social Republic until 1945 ...

, Commander with Swords * Croatian Order of the Iron Trefoil, 1st Class * Croatian Order of the Crown of King Zvonimir, 1st Class with Swords * Royal Yugoslavian Order of the White Eagle, 3rd Class * Croatian Pilot's Badge * “''Jagdgeschwader'' Frhr. V. Richthofen Nr.1 1917/18” War Commemorative Cuff-Title

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laumann, Artur 1894 births 1970 deaths Military personnel from Essen German World War I flying aces Luftwaffe World War II generals Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Recipients of the Military Order of the Iron Trefoil Recipients of the Order of the Crown of King Zvonimir Military personnel from the Rhine Province Major generals of the Luftwaffe Luftstreitkräfte personnel Air attachés for Germany 20th-century German diplomats