Leutnant Fritz Gerhard Anders was a

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, ...

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

credited with seven aerial victories. He was the world's first night fighter ace.

Early life

Fritz Gerhard Anders was born in

Cottbus Cottbus (; Lower Sorbian: ''Chóśebuz'' ; Polish: Chociebuż) is a university city and the second-largest city in Brandenburg, Germany. Situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree, Cottbus is also a major railway junction with exte ...

on 23 August 1889.Anders, Fritz Gerhard
Flieger-Album.de He was a prewar pilot, gaining pilot's license 592 on 12 November 1912.''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918'', pp. 61-62.

World War I service

Anders began his aerial service for the First World War as a pilot in ''

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 ...

'' (Protection Squadron) 8. He would serve with this early fighter-bomber unit until he was transferred to a

fighter squadron A squadron in air force, army aviation, or naval aviation is a unit comprising a number of military aircraft and their aircrews, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, dependi ...

, ''

Jagdstaffel 34 Royal Bavarian ''Jagdstaffel'' 34, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 34, was a "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 89 confirmed aerial ...

'' in March 1917. On 14 April 1917, he was

wounded in action Wounded in Action (WIA) describes combatants who have been wounded while fighting in a combat zone during wartime, but have not been killed. Typically, it implies that they are temporarily or permanently incapable of bearing arms or continui ...

; he returned to duty ten days later. On 2 June 1917, he transferred to ''

Jagdstaffel 4 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 4, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 4, was a "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 192 confirmed victories; ...

''. He scored his initial aerial victory on 7 July 1917, when he downed a

Sopwith Pup 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 ...

from Nine Naval Squadron of the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

. On 20 February 1918, Anders was appointed as ''

Staffelführer ''Staffelführer'' 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 World War, where the tit ...

'' to command ''

Jagdstaffel 73 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 73, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 73, was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the '' Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. squadron would score 29 aerial victories du ...

''. He scored his second victory on 14 June 1918, downing a SPAD, possibly flying a

Fokker Triplane The Fokker Dr.I (''Dreidecker'', "triplane" in German), often known simply as the Fokker Triplane, was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918. It became famous as the ...

. Then, flying with his squadron's pioneering nightfighting detail, Anders ran off a string of five aerial victories at night between 20 August and 25 September 1918 to become history's first nightfighter ace. On 13 October 1918, Anders was transferred to ''Jastaschule II'', a school for fighter pilots. During the war, Anders earned both classes of 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 ...

Post World War I

Fritz Gerhard Anders died on 8 November 1919.

Endnotes

References

Norman Franks Norman Leslie Robert Franks (born 1940) is an English militaria writer who specialises in aviation topics. He focuses on the pilots and squadrons of World Wars I and II. Biography He published his first book in 1976. He was an Organisation ...

, Frank W. Bailey, Russell Guest. ''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918''. Grub Street, 1993. , . German World War I flying aces 1889 births 1919 deaths People from Cottbus Military personnel from the Province of Brandenburg Military personnel from Brandenburg Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class {{Germany-airforce-bio-stub