Leutnant Kurt Adolf Monnington (1891–1939) was a World War I

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.

Biography

Kurt Adolf Monnington was born on 29 September 1891 in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

.
The Aerodrome website's page on Monnington. His original service during World War I was with the German ground forces. He won an

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 ...

Second Class on 14 June 1915.Franks et al 1993, pp. 168-169. Monnington began his aviation career with a two-seater

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

unit, ''Flieger-Abteilung'' (Flier Detachment) 62. After that seasoning, he was reassigned as a fighter pilot with '' Jagdstaffel (Fighter Squadron) 15'' in 1917. His First Class Iron Cross came on 12 December 1917. He was one of the pilots who switched wholesale from ''Jasta 15'' to ''Leutnant der Reserve'' August Raben's-commanded '' Jagdstaffel (Fighter Squadron) 18'' in March 1918. ''Jasta 18'' would center on

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

as its basis of operations. On 11 May 1918, Monnington scored his first aerial victory, when he shot down a

Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5 The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 is a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory by a team consisting of Henry Folland, John Kenworthy and Major Frank Goodden. It was one of the ...

a over Bailleul at 1825 hours. Mid-day on 5 June, he scored again, shooting down a Bristol F.2 Fighter north of Violanes, France. His combat career following that concentrated on interception of bombers intruding into Germany. He shot down

Airco DH.4 The Airco DH.4 is a British two-seat biplane day bomber of the First World War. It was designed by Geoffrey de Havilland (hence "DH") for Airco, and was the first British two-seat light day-bomber capable of defending itself. It was desig ...

number D7223 from No. 99 Squadron RAF over Grosbliederstroff on 31 July 1918. On 12 August, Airco DH.9 number D2931 from

No. 104 Squadron RAF No. 104 Squadron RAF is a former squadron of the British Royal Air Force. History First World War The squadron was formed at RAF Wyton, Wyton, England on 4 September 1917 equipped with the Airco DH.9, DH 9. It then moved to RAF Andover, And ...

of the

Independent Air Force The Independent Air Force (IAF), also known as the Independent Force or the Independent Bombing Force and later known as the Inter-Allied Independent Air Force, was a First World War strategic bombing force which was part of Britain's Royal Air ...

fell under Monnington's guns. The following day, two DH.9s from the same squadron collided while avoiding his fire; Monnington was credited with both victories. On 10 October 1918, he downed yet another DH.9 from 104 Squadron. On 23 October, he scored his fifth victory against 104 Squadron, destroying DH.9 number D2932 over Fourasse Wood. ''

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 ...

'' Kurt Monnington ended his war with eight confirmed victories, both classes of the Iron Cross, and Württemberg's Military Service Cross. He died in his native Hamburg of pneumonia on 17 February 1939 and was buried in Friedhof Diebstich.

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. , . {{DEFAULTSORT:Monnington, Kurt Adolf 1891 births 1939 deaths German World War I flying aces Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 2nd class Military personnel from Hamburg