''Offizierstellvertreter'' Fritz Gustav August Kosmahl

HOH Water () is a polar inorganic compound that is at room temperature a tasteless and odorless liquid, which is nearly colorless apart from an inherent hint of blue. It is by far the most studied chemical compound and is described as the "univer ...

, IC (5 September 1892—26 September 1917) was one of the first

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 ...

s of Germany's ''

Luftstreitkräfte The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Combat Forces)known before October 1916 as (The Imperial German Air Service, lit. "The flying troops of the German Kaiser’s Reich")was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-langu ...

'' during World War I. He was one of the few German two-seater aces of the war, being officially credited with nine aerial victories. He was also one of the first ten German aviators to earn the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern. Note: In the German award system, winning the Iron Cross was usually a prelude to the Hohenzollern.

Early life

Fritz Gustav August Kosmahl was born on 5 September 1892 in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

World War I military service

Kosmahl started pilot's training very early in World War I, on 12 August 1914, at ''Fliegerersatz-Abteilung 2''. On 11 January 1915, he joined '' Feldflieger Abteilung 22'' in France. During 1916, he scored three aerial victories while operating a two-seater reconnaissance plane; details of his first two wins is lost to history, but his third win came on 10 October 1916. As a result, on 9 January 1917, Kosmahl was awarded the Member's Cross with Swords of the

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 ...

. He was one of the first ten German fliers to receive this prestigious award, second only to the famed Blue Max. He was also awarded the Saxe-Meiningen Medal for Merit in War while with '' Feldflieger Abteilung 22''. He also won both classes of the Iron Cross. '' Feldflieger Abteilung 22'' morphed into '' Feldflieger Abteilung 261'' in December 1916. On 2 February 1917, Kosmahl shot down 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 characteristi ...

piloted by acting Flight Lieutenant W.E.Traynor of 8 squadron

RNAS 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 ...

over

Hermies Hermies () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France southeast of Arras. Population See also *Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department The following is a list of the 887 communes of the Pas ...

. On 11 March, he downed a

Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2 Between 1911 and 1914, the Royal Aircraft Factory used the F.E.2 ("Farman Experimental 2") designation for three quite different aircraft that shared only a common "Farman" pusher biplane layout. The third "F.E.2" type was operated as a day a ...

b south of

Beugny Beugny () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. Geography A farming village located 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Arras at the junction of the N30 and D20 roads. History In 1877 t ...

and became an ace. He then departed for advanced training, to become a fighter pilot. In late July 1917, he was assigned to '' Jagdstaffel 26''. On 17 August, he scored his first win as a fighter pilot, downing an RAF FE.2d at

Zonnebeke Zonnebeke (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of , , Passendale, Zandvoorde (Zonnebeke), Zandvoorde and Zonnebek ...

. On 9 September, Kosmahl downed a

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...

fighter plane. On both 19 and 20 September, he shot down

Sopwith Triplane The Sopwith Triplane is a British single seat fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the First World War. It has the distinction of being the first military triplane to see operational service. The T ...

fighters at Passchendaele. Two days later, on 22 September 1917, Fritz Kosmahl suffered a stomach wound in combat, but managed to return to base despite his injury. He lingered four days after landing, succumbing at 0230 hours on 26 September 1917.

Endnotes

Bibliography

* ''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, Frank W. Bailey, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1993. , .

External links

* The Aerodrome website http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/kosmahl.php, The Aerodrome gives a detailed list of his victories, and contains his photograph {{DEFAULTSORT:Kosmahl, Fritz 1892 births 1917 deaths German World War I flying aces Military personnel from Leipzig Military personnel of the Kingdom of Saxony Luftstreitkräfte personnel Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class German military personnel killed in World War I