Vizefeldwebel '' '' (Fw or F, ) is a non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in several countries. The rank originated in Germany, and is also used in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. The rank has also been used in Russia, Austria-Hungary, occupied Serbia ...

'' Emil Schäpe (10 October 1890 – 7 January 1925) 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 ...

credited with 18 aerial victories.

Biography

See also

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 degre ...

Emil Schäpe was born on 10 October 1890 in Elbing,

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

, Germany.''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918'', p. 197 Schäpe reported for his required military obligation on 16 October 1912, only to be discharged on 14 November. There is no information as to how he rejoined the military, but somehow he volunteered for aviation duty early in the First World War, and was sent for aviation training on 4 February 1915. He passed through primary and advanced schooling at ''Fliegerersatz-Abteilung 4'' (Replacement Detachment 4), and ''Fliegerersatz-Abteilung 8'' (Replacement Detachment 8) to serve in ''Kampfgeschwader'' 5 (Tactical Bomber Wing 5), ''Kampfstaffel 25'' (Tactical Bomber Squadron 25), ending up in ''Kampfstaffel 26'' (Tactical Bomber Squadron 26) on 2 October 1915. He scored his first aerial victory while piloting a two-seater reconnaissance plane, on 22 October 1916. He scored another nine months later, on 28 July 1917, after transferring to a fighter unit, Jasta 33. It was nearly another year before he began scoring again, but he finally became an ace on 24 July 1918. He then ran off a string of 13 triumphs in October 1918.

Endnotes

References

* ''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918''.

Norman Franks Norman Leslie Robert Franks (1940 – 21 May 2023) was an English militaria writer who specialised in aviation topics. He focused on the pilots and squadrons of World Wars I and II. Biography Franks published his first book in 1976. H ...

, Frank W. Bailey, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1993. , . 1890 births 1925 deaths Military personnel from West Prussia People from Elbląg German World War I flying aces {{germany-airforce-bio-stub