Hartmuth Baldamus (10 August 1891 – 14 April 1917) was a German

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 ...

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 ...

, credited with 18 aerial victories.

Early life

Hartmuth Baldamus (sometimes rendered as Hartmut) was born in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

on 10 August 1891.Franks et al 1993 pp. 64-65.

World War I service

Baldamus was in German aviation from the start of the First World War. Ranked as a

Gefreiter Gefreiter (, abbr. Gefr.; plural ''Gefreite'') is a military rank used in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria since the 16th century. It is typically the second rank or grade to which an Enlisted rank, enlisted soldier, airman, or sailor can be prom ...

, he flew a two-seater reconnaissance airplane for ''

Feldflieger Abteilung Feldflieger Abteilung (''FFA'', Field Flying Detachment) was the title of the pioneering field aviation units of (The Air Forces of the German Empire) formed in 1912, which became the ( German air service) on 8 October 1916, during the First World ...

20'' (Field Flier Detachment 20) beginning 29 March 1915. On 20 September 1915, he was commissioned a ''

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 ...

''. By the end of 1915, Baldamus had been awarded the

Albert Order The Albert Order () was created on 31 December 1850 by King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony to commemorate Albert III, Duke of Saxony (known as Albert the Bold). It was to be awarded to anyone who had served the state well, for civil virtue, s ...

, Knight Second Class. He scored his first aerial victory on 15 March 1916; he scored his fifth confirmed victory on 29 July 1916, though details of some of his earlier wins are missing. Having performed the rather unusual feat of becoming an ace before being assigned to a fighter squadron, Baldamus was now posted to fly fighters with ''

Jagdstaffel 5 History Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 5, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 5, was created on 21 January 1916, and mobilized on 21 August 1916, as one of the first fighter units of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army ...

'' (Fighter Squadron 5) on 27 August 1916. He moved on to '' Jagdstaffel 9'' (Fighter Squadron 9) in early November 1916. On 2 December he closed out 1916 with nine victories. The requirement for winning the

Pour le Mérite The (; , ), also informally known as the ''Blue Max'' () after German WWI flying ace Max Immelmann, is an order of merit established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. Separated into two classes, each with their own designs, the was ...

had been set at eight victories for the very earliest German aces, the so-called

Fokker Scourge The Fokker Scourge (Fokker Scare) occurred during the First World War from Kurt Wintgens#First victory using a synchronized gun, July 1915 to early 1916.Franks 2001, p. 1. Imperial German Flying Corps () units, equipped with (Fokker monoplane) ...

. Now, as Baldamus seemed to qualify, the requirement was raised out of his reach. However, he did receive the prestigious Knight's Cross with Swords of the Royal Hohenzollern House Order on 8 January 1917.As victories and aces proliferated in the wake of the Fokker Scourge, the victory total needed for the ''Pour le Mérite'' was raised to 20. Other prerequisites for the Blue Max were the prior awards of both classes of the

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 ...

and the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern. Baldamus resumed scoring on 23 January 1917, and steadily achieved more single victories, reaching 17 on 12 April 1917. Two days later, at 1140 hours, Hartmut Baldamus slammed into a midair collision with the French

Nieuport 17 The Nieuport 17 C.1 (or Nieuport XVII C.1 in contemporary sources) is a French sesquiplane fighter aircraft, fighter designed and manufactured by the Nieuport company during World War I. An improvement over the Nieuport 11, it was a little large ...

serial 2539 of Escadrille N37 piloted by Caporal Simon. Baldamus crashed to his death near

Sainte-Marie-à-Py Sainte-Marie-à-Py () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. See also *Communes of the Marne department The following is a list of the 610 communes in the French department of Marne. The communes cooperate in the ...

. Simon counted as Baldamus' 18th victory.The Aerodrome webpage on Baldamu

Retrieved 31 December 2020.

Footnote

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 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. , .

External links

Obituary in ''Der Champagne-Kamerad''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldamus, Hartmuth 1891 births 1917 deaths Burials at Johannisfriedhof, Dresden Aviators killed by being shot down German military personnel killed in World War I Military personnel from Dresden Luftstreitkräfte personnel Military personnel of the Kingdom of Saxony German World War I flying aces