Leutnant Viktor Schobinger 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 confirmed victories. Victory number two was confirmed over

Charles Dawson Booker Major Charles Dawson Booker (sometimes hyphenated into Dawson-Booker) (21 April 1897 – 13 August 1918) was an English World War I fighter ace credited with 29 victories. He was promoted to high rank while relatively young as a result of his ...

Biography

See also

Aerial victory standards of World War I During World War I, the national air services involved developed their own methods of assessing and assigning credit for aerial victories. For various reasons, all belligerents engaged in overclaiming aerial victories to a greater or lesser degre ...

Viktor Schobinger was born in

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

Alb-Donau district Alb-Donau-Kreis is a (district) in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is bounded by (from the south and clockwise) the districts of Biberach, Reutlingen, Göppingen and Heidenheim, the two Bavarian districts Günzburg and Neu-Ulm, and the city of ...

,Franks et al 1993, p. 204. the

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg ( ) was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Electorate of Württemberg, which existed from 1803 to 1806. Geogr ...

, in 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 ...

on 30 April 1893. His original military service was in a machine gun company. However, he reported to ''Fliegerersatz-Abteilung'' (Replacement Detachment) 10 at

Böblingen Böblingen (; ) is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, seat of Böblingen (district), Böblingen District. Sindelfingen and Böblingen are Geographic contiguity, contiguous. History Böblingen was founded by Count Wilhelm von Tübingen-Bö ...

for pilot's training on 19 October 1916. He soloed in an

LVG Luftverkehrsgesellschaft m.b.H. (L.V.G. or LVG) was a German aircraft manufacturer based in Berlin-Johannisthal (Berlin), Johannisthal, which began constructing aircraft in 1912, building Farman Aviation Works, Farman-type aircraft. The company c ...

before being transferred to ''Armee-Flug-Park'' (Army Flight Park) 6 on 15 March 1917. About a month later, he was posted to combat duty with ''Flieger-Abteilung'' (Flier Detachment) 12. After gaining experience there, he was forwarded to fighter conversion training at ''Jastaschule'' (Fighter Training). Once trained, he joined a

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, ...

, ''

Jagdstaffel 12 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 12 was a World War I "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. As one of the original German fighter squadrons, the unit would scor ...

''. His first success with them came when he downed Bristol F.2 Fighter number A7114 over

Feuchy Feuchy () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. It is a small village, with a little more than 1000 inhabitants, and had only about 500 inhabitants in 1914. It is situated two kilometers east of A ...

at 2100 hours on 9 August 1917. However, Schobinger's most notable triumph came two days later. British

Triplane A triplane is a fixed-wing aircraft equipped with three vertically stacked wing planes. Tailplanes and canard (aeronautics), canard foreplanes are not normally included in this count, although they occasionally are. Design principles The trip ...

ace

shot down and severely wounded Schobinger's ''

Staffelführer ''Staffelführer'' (, " Formation leader") was one of the first paramilitary ranks used by the German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) in the early years of that group's existence. The later SS rank of ''Staffelführer'' traces its origins to the First ...

'', Adolf von Tutschek. In turn, Schobinger saved Tutschek by sending Booker unhurt down behind British lines, but destroying his machine. The hospitalized Tutschek passed temporary command of his ''jasta'' to Schobinger. The latter would lead ''Jasta 12'' for nine weeks without suffering losses. While in command, he would have a personal insignia of a light blue ovoid painted stretching down the side of his Albatros D.V's fuselage. Schobinger continued to score until 31 October 1917, when he tallied his eighth victory. On 15 November 1917, Schobinger suffered a serious wound to his foot while in combat. The wound removed him from combat. Schobinger would finish out the war on instruction duty.Franks 2000, p. 37. Schobinger had been awarded 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 ...

; during 1918, he was also awarded the Knight's Cross with Swords of the

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 ...

. Viktor Schobinger would return to battle during World War II, commanding a bomber squadron in the ''

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

''. He died on 24 May 1989.

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. , . * Norman Franks. ''Albatros Aces of World War 1: Volume 32 of Aircraft of the Aces: Part 1 of Albatros Aces of World War I.'' Osprey Publishing, 2000. , 9781855329607. * Greg VanWyngarden. ''Albatros Aces of World War 1: Aircraft of the Aces: Part 2 of Albatros Aces of World War I.'' Osprey Publishing, 2007. , 9781846031793. * Greg VanWyngarden. ''JAGDGESCHWADER, Issue 2: Volume 19 of Aviation Elite Units: Volume 19 of Osprey Aviation Elite.'' Osprey Publishing, 2005. , 9781841767277. {{DEFAULTSORT:Schobinger, Viktor 1893 births 1989 deaths German World War I flying aces Luftstreitkräfte personnel Military personnel from Ulm People from the Kingdom of Württemberg Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Luftwaffe personnel of World War II