Vizeflugmeister Karl Scharon was a

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 eight aerial victories.
The Aerodrome website's page on Scharon

Biography

Karl Scharon was born on 15 May 1892. He first came to notice when he was flying 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 ...

for '' Marine Feld Jagdstaffel'' 2. The German naval

fighter squadron A squadron in an air force, or naval or army aviation service, 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, ...

was based at

Jabbeke Jabbeke () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Jabbeke proper, Snellegem, Stalhille, Varsenare and Zerkegem. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 13,572 inhabitants. Th ...

, Belgium. Scharon was promoted to '' Vizefeldmeister'' on 16 August 1918.Franks et al 1993, pp. 197-198. Scharon scored his first aerial victory on 20 September 1918, when he shot down 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 ...

from No. 204 Squadron RAF over Pervyse at 1005 hours. On 7 October, he downed another Camel south of

Blankenberge Blankenberge (; ; ) is a seaside Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city in the Belgium, Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Blankenberge proper and the settlement of Uitke ...

, Belgium along with an Airco DH.9. He then destroyed a third Camel on 14 October over

Roeselare Roeselare (; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The name of the city is derived from two ...

, and a

Sopwith Dolphin The Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin was a British fighter aircraft manufactured by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It was used by the Royal Flying Corps and its successor, the Royal Air Force, during the First World War. The Dolphin entered service on the ...

the following day, running his total to five. He was credited with an "enemy aircraft" for his next victory, date and location uncertain. Then he shot down a Camel from 204 Squadron on both 23 and 27 October 1918, running his tally to eight. Scharon survived the war, having been awarded 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 ...

First Class, and joined in the postwar fighting by joining the Marine ''

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European paramilitary volunteer units that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenaries or private military companies, rega ...

'' in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and other Baltic nations. He perished on 26 May 1921. He scored all of his victories flying the D.VII.

External links

* http://s291.photobucket.com/user/FOKKERDVII/media/FokkerDVIIIstripped.jpg.html reproduces a photograph of Scharon's aircraft * http://riseofflight.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9743 shows a re-creation of Scharon's aircraft markings.

Sources of information

References

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. ''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. , . 1892 births 1921 deaths German World War I flying aces Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class {{Germany-mil-bio-stub