Leutnant () is the lowest junior officer rank in the armed forces of Germany ( Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") from Middle High German «locum ...

'' Franz Piechulek 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 14 aerial victories.

World War I military service

He was assigned to ''Kampfeinsitzerstaffel 5'' on 27 October 1917. He scored his first aerial victory there, downing a

Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars. History Beginnings Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...

on 22 November. He then moved on to Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 41 on 14 December. On 5 January 1918, he set an enemy

observation balloon An observation balloon is a type of balloon that is employed as an aerial platform for gathering intelligence and spotting artillery. The use of observation balloons began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World ...

afire for his second win. Four days later, he moved to Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 56 to pilot an Albatros D.Va or 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 ...

. He arrived the same day as his new

Staffelführer ''Staffelführer'' (, " Formation leader") was one of the first paramilitary ranks used by the German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) in the early years of that group's existence. The later SS rank of ''Staffelführer'' traces its origins to the First ...

, Franz Schleiff. Between 5 March and 4 October 1918, Piechulek rolled up another dozen triumphs, outlasting both Schlieff and his replacement, Dieter Collin.

Sources of information

References

* ''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps 1914 - 1918'' Norman L. R. Franks, et al. Grub Street, 1993. , . Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown German World War I flying aces Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class {{germany-airforce-bio-stub