Leutnant Johannes Klein (died 1926) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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 ...

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 16 confirmed and two unconfirmed aerial victories.The Aerodrome website page on Klei

Retrieved 11 January 2010.

Biography

Johannes Klein's life is unknown before he began his aviation service. He became a fighter pilot in February 1917, and received his initial assignment to either Royal Prussian '' Jagdstaffel 27'' or Royal Prussian '' Jagdstaffel 29''. Regardless of his exact assignment, he failed to score any aerial victories. He switched to Royal Prussian '' Jagdstaffel 18'' in August 1917, and scored his first victories there, downing a Spad on 16 August and 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 ...

on 5 September. Klein then transferred to Royal Prussian '' Jagdstaffel 15'' as part of

Rudolf Berthold Oskar Gustav Rudolf Berthold (24 March 1891 – 15 March 1920) was a German flying ace of World War I. Between 1916 and 1918, he shot down 44 enemy planes—16 of them while flying one-handed. In postwar Germany, Berthold organized a ''Freikor ...

's swapping of personnel between the two units. Klein scored the remainder of his wins between 30 March and 25 September 1918. Klein was slightly wounded on 15 September 1918. He was awarded the

Royal 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 ...

on 19 September 1918,The Aerodrome website page on the Hohenzoller

Retrieved 11 January 2010. having previously earned 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 ...

.''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914-1918'', p. 145 Johannes Klein died in 1926.

Sources

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, Frank W. Bailey, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1993. . * ''Fokker D VII Aces of World War 1, Part 1''. Norman Franks, Greg VanWyngarden. Osprey Publishing, 2003. , . Year of birth missing 1926 deaths German World War I flying aces Luftstreitkräfte personnel {{Germany-airforce-bio-stub