Oberleutnant Eduard Ritter von Dostler (3 February 1892 – 21 August 1917) '' PlM'', MOMJ was a German

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

fighter ace credited with 26 victories. On three consecutive assignments during World War I, Dostler was entrusted with the combat leadership of German ''jagdstaffeln'' (fighter squadrons).

Early life and ground service

Eduard Dostler was born on 3 February 1892 in Pottenstein,

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

. He was commissioned in the 4th Pioneer Battalion of the

Bavarian Army The Bavarian Army was the army of the Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom (1806–1919) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereignty (''Wehrhoheit'') of Bavaria into that of ...

on 28 October 1912. He was awarded the Bavarian Lifesaving Medal for saving two of his men from drowning in the Danube River shortly after the war began, in August 1914. Later that month, Dostler went into action with his battalion in France on the Western Front. He won the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia e ...

First Class in March 1915.Previous award of the Second Class was a prerequisite. He was also awarded his native Bavaria's Military Service Order. Dostler's brother was a pilot who was killed in action. In response, Eduard Dostler decided to switch to the '' Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches'' (Imperial German Flying Corps) because of his brother's death.

Air service

Dostler first reported to ''

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe d ...

27'' (Protection Squadron) 27, then being reassigned to ''Kampfstaffel 36'' (Tactical Bomber Squadron 36) on 15 June 1916. Dostler scored his first confirmed aerial victory while flying a

Roland C.II The LFG Roland C.II, usually known as the ''Walfisch'' (Whale), was an advanced German reconnaissance aircraft of World War I. It was manufactured by Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft G.m.b.H. Characteristics The C.II had much lower drag than comparab ...

two-seater for ''Kampfstaffel 36''. He downed a

Sopwith Scout The Sopwith Pup is a British single-seater biplane fighter aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It entered service with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps in the autumn of 1916. With pleasant flying characterist ...

on 17 December 1916. He then transferred to Royal Prussian ''

Jagdstaffel 13 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 13 was a World War I "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 108 aerial victories during the war, at the exp ...

'' (Fighter Squadron 13), a newly formed unit, taking command on 27 December 1916. On 22 January 1917, he scored ''

s initial triumph. At that time, he was already an '' oberleutnant''. On 20 February 1917, Dostler assumed command of Royal Bavarian '' Jagdstaffel 34'' (Fighter Squadron 34) upon its official formation. He had it in action in three days, and scored its first victories on 24 March,The Aerodrome website's page of Jasta 3

/ref> shooting down a pair of

Caudron G.IV The Caudron G.4 was a French biplane with twin Piston engine, engines, widely used during World War I as a bomber. It was designed by René and Gaston Caudron as an improvement over their single-engined Caudron G.3. The aircraft employed wing ...

bombers. By the time he left the squadron, he had become an ace, with eight confirmed victories, and one claim unconfirmed. Dostler transferred to Royal Prussian '' Jagdstaffel 6'' (Fighter Squadron 6), assuming command in the wake of Fritz Otto Bernert's 9 June 1917 departure. Dostler scored a double victory on 16 June, with further wins on the 17th and 20th. Two days later, ''Jagdstaffel 6'' was incorporated into Germany's first fighter wing, Jagdgeschwader I (Fighter Wing I). By 26 July, when

Manfred von Richthofen Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of t ...

took command of ''Jagdgeschwader I'', Dostler's score was up to 18. The following day, Dostler was awarded the

Royal House Order of Hohenzollern The House Order of Hohenzollern (german: Hausorden von 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 ...

. The day after that, Dostler led a patrol from his squadron into a momentous attack upon a formation of

Airco DH.4 The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an early British aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during the First World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the world by 1918. Ai ...

s from

No. 57 Squadron RFC The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, ...

; he shot two of the six British victims that day as ''Jagdstaffel 6'' wiped out the British patrol. His twentieth victory qualified him for the ''

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Order of the Red Ea ...

''. He finished the month of July 1917 with 21 victories.The Aerodrome website's page on Dostle

/ref> On 6 August, he received Germany's highest award for valor, the ''

'', which is also nicknamed the Blue Max. Dostler's famous commanding officer, the Red Baron himself,

took his personal ''Pour le Mérite'' from around his own neck and placed it around Dostler's throat for the wing's celebration of the award. Dostler shot down five enemy aircraft in August, extending his list of victims to 26. His final victory was scored on 18 August 1917. Three days later, Dostler attacked an obsolete British

R.E.8 The Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 was a British two-seat biplane reconnaissance and bomber aircraft of the First World War designed and produced at the Royal Aircraft Factory. It was also built under contract by Austin Motors, Daimler, Standard ...

of No. 7 Squadron RFC and was hit with machine gun fire. Dostler's airplane caught fire and exploded in midair. The flaming wreckage fell near Frenzenburg, Belgium. Eduard Dostler was awarded the

Military Order of Max Joseph The Military Order of Max Joseph (german: Militär-Max-Joseph-Orden) was the highest military order of the Kingdom of Bavaria. It was founded on 1 January 1806 by Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, the first king of Bavaria. The order came in th ...

after his death, backdated to 18 August 1917; its award both entitled him to a lifetime pension and granted him a non-hereditary knighthood As a visible sign of his honor, his name posthumously became Eduard Ritter von Dostler.The Aerodrome website's page on the MOM

/ref>

Decorations and awards

* Bavarian military pilot badge *

of 1914, 1st and 2nd class * Knight's Cross of the Royal

House Order of Hohenzollern The House Order of Hohenzollern (german: Hausorden von 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 ...

with Swords *

(6 August 1917) * Military Merit Order, 4th class with Swords (Bavaria) *

(18 August 1917, posthumously)

Footnote

Inline citations

References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dostler, Eduard 1892 births 1917 deaths People from Bayreuth (district) Aviators killed by being shot down German military personnel killed in World War I German World War I flying aces Knights of the Military Order of Max Joseph Luftstreitkräfte personnel Military personnel from Bavaria People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class)