Leutnant Rudolf Wendelmuth was a World War I German flying ace credited with 14 aerial victories.

Early life

Rudolf Wendelmuth was born on 28 July 1890 in Gotha, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

World War I service

In the Levant

At break of war, Wendelmuth was posted to the 233rd Reserve Infantry Regiment. He transferred to aviation on 1 March 1915, reporting to FEA 3 in his home town of Gotha for training. His first assignment was to Bulgaria in September. In July 1916, he returned to Cologne to Fokker Commando. He was then posted to FA 8 in Sevdi Koy, Turkey as an acting oberleutnant. While with this unit, he scored his first victory, downing a

Royal Naval Air Service 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 t ...

Farman off the Turkish coast on 5 November 1916.

On the Western Front

During Bloody April 1917, Wendelmuth returned to the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

. He was assigned to

Jagdstaffel 8 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 8 was a fighter squadron of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. Although the ''Jasta'' went out of existence along with its parent units shortly after the Armistice end ...

. Between 29 July and 14 October 1917, he accumulated another ten victories;The Aerodrome website http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/wendelmuth.php Retrieved on 12 April 2010. during this span, on 25 September, his plane was shot down but he escaped unharmed.

In command

On 19 October, he was appointed to command Royal Prussian

Jagdstaffel 20 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 20 was a fighter squadron of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. History Jasta 20 was founded in the 2 Armee sector on 25 October 1916. On 24 December 1916, it suffered ...

. He scored three more wins in October and November 1917. On 30 November, Wendelmuth died in a midair collision that also killed Wilhelm Schulz of Jagdstaffel 4.

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 L. R. Franks, et al. Grub Street, 1993. , . 1890 births 1917 deaths People from Gotha (town) People from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prussian Army personnel Luftstreitkräfte personnel Ottoman military personnel of World War I German World War I flying aces German military personnel killed in World War I Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1917 Military personnel from Thuringia {{germany-mil-bio-stub