Emil Thuy (11 March 1894 – 11 June 1930),

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 ...

, Württemberg's Order of Military Merit,

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 ...

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 and Second Class, was one of the leading German fighter aces of

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 ...

, with 35 victories. After the war, he was an adviser to the Finnish air force and was involved in the secret origins of the Luftwaffe within the Soviet Union.

Early life

Emil Thuy was born in Hagen, Germany, the son of a factory owner. He was interested in airplanes even as a child, building models and testing a glider.''Der Logbuch'' website After graduation from secondary school, he worked for a while in a colliery in Lebanon, Germany. He then enrolled in 1913 in the Faculty of Mining at the Technical University of Clausthal; he was interested in metallurgical engineering.

Military service

In August, 1914, Thuy volunteered to serve as a pioneer, which was the German equivalent of a combat engineer. After only six weeks basic training, he was rushed into combat. In November, 1914, he was so severely wounded as to be considered unfit for further military service. Nevertheless, when he recuperated, he volunteered for the

Imperial German Air Service Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Impe ...

. He underwent aviation training in Berlin. He then reported for duty with FFA 53, which was a reconnaissance unit that spotted and directed artillery fire from the air. He reported in on 10 July 1915 as a vizefeldwebel or non-commissioned pilot. He would remain with FFA 53 until 1 November 1916.
Despite flying a two-seater plane poorly suited for combat, he scored his first victory on 8 September 1915. On 1 November 1916, he entered fighter pilot training, graduating only 18 days later. He was then assigned to

Jagdstaffel 21 Royal Saxon Jagdstaffel 21 was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. As one of the original German fighter squadrons, the unit would score 148 verified ...

(Jasta 21), then equipped with

Albatros An albatross is one of a family of large winged seabirds. Albatross or Albatros may also refer to: Animals * Albatross (butterfly) or ''Appias'', a genus of butterfly * Albatross (horse) (1968–1998), a Standardbred horse Literature * Albat ...

fighters. He was commissioned Leutnant (lieutenant) in the reserves on 27 March 1917 after three weeks training. On 16 April 1917, after joining Jasta 21, he scored his second victory. He began to tally triumphs on a regular basis. By the time he left Jasta 21 on 29 September 1917, his list read 14, with number 14 being shot down on 22 September. He then transferred to command

Jagdstaffel 28 Royal Württemberg Jagdstaffel 28, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 28, was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. As one of the original German fighter squa ...

, which had lost two commanders killed in action in the previous month. On 24 September, he scored his first victory with his new squadron. He continued to accumulate wins on a steady basis, by ones and twos. He was injured in a crash on 2 February 1918. On the 20th, he was discharged from hospital and returned to duty. On 30 June 1918, he was awarded the Blue Max (

). At about this time, he changed aircraft from the

Pfalz D.III The Pfalz D.III was a fighter aircraft used by the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (Imperial German Air Service) during the First World War. The D.III was the first major original design from Pfalz Flugzeugwerke. Though generally considered inferior to co ...

he had been flying, to a

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 ...

. In July, ''Jagdgruppe 7'' was founded, incorporating his Jasta and three others. Thuy commanded both JG 7 and Jasta 28 simultaneously. He ended his victory string with a double victory on 14 October 1918. In his combat career, he had earned several awards even before the ''Pour le Merite''; besides both classes of the

, he had also been given the Knight's Cross of the Military Merit Order of Württemberg.''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps 1914 - 1918'', pp. 216-217

Post World War I

Thuy resumed his studies and upon graduation, joined his father in the family's factory in Hagen. He wrote treatises on aviation on the side. As a result, he received an offer from

Siemens-Schuckert Siemens-Schuckert (or Siemens-Schuckertwerke) was a German electrical engineering company headquartered in Berlin, Erlangen and Nuremberg that was incorporated into the Siemens AG in 1966. Siemens Schuckert was founded in 1903 when Siemens & H ...

to be a "technical consultant" for the Finnish Air Force. Thuy was a member of a paramilitary veterans organization known as ''

Der Stahlhelm ''Der Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten'' (German: 'The Steel Helmet, League of Front-Line Soldiers'), commonly known as ''Der Stahlhelm'' ('The Steel Helmet') or ''Stahlhelm BdF'' ('D.S. BdF'), was a Revanchism, revanchist Veteran, ex-servi ...

'', which was the armed wing of the

German National People's Party The German National People's Party (, DNVP) was a national-conservative and German monarchy, monarchist political party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major nationalist party in Weimar German ...

. He was active in the resistance to the French and Belgian occupation of the

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populati ...

. He then went to Finland in early 1923 as an ''

Oberleutnant (English: First Lieutenant) is a senior lieutenant Officer (armed forces), officer rank in the German (language), German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces. In Austria, ''Oberle ...

'' or senior lieutenant. He was the head of the aerial gunnery department of the Finnish Air Force Flying School, departing finally about 16 August 1924. The

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

banned Germany from having an air force. To get around this, a secret training base was established in the Soviet Union, at

Lipetsk fighter-pilot school The Lipetsk fighter-pilot school (), also known as WIWUPAL from its German codename ''Wissenschaftliche Versuchs- und Personalausbildungsstation'' "Scientific Experimental and Personnel Training Station", was a secret training school for fighter pi ...

, in 1924. Thuy was offered the opportunity to serve there and accepted. On 11 June 1930, while flying from Moscow to Berlin as part of this mission, Thuy crashed fatally in the vicinity of

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

. He was testing a secret Albatros L 76 reconnaissance airplane at the time.

References

Bibliography

* Franks, Norman and Greg Wyngarden (2004) et al. ''Fokker D.VII Aces of World War I: Part 2''. Osprey Publishing. ASIN: B00SLUY3RM. * Franks, Norman and Frank Bailey (1993). ''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps 1914 - 1918'' Grub Street. , . {{DEFAULTSORT:Thuy, Emil 1894 births 1930 deaths Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Military personnel of the Kingdom of Württemberg German World War I flying aces People from Hagen Military personnel from the Province of Westphalia Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents Finnish Air Force personnel Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1930 Clausthal University of Technology alumni Military personnel from North Rhine-Westphalia Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the Soviet Union