Leutnant August Delling was a German World War I

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

credited with five aerial victories.

Early life and service in artillery

On 19 October 1895, August Delling was born on a farm at Braunetsrieth in northeastern

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. As World War I began, Delling joined the Bavarian artillery service in August 1914. By September, he was an ''

Unteroffizier () is a junior non-commissioned officer rank used by the . It is also the collective name for all non-commissioned officers in Austria and Germany. It was formerly a rank in the Imperial Russian Army. Austria , also , is the collective name t ...

''. On 1 September 1916, he was commissioned as a

Leutnant () is the lowest Junior officer rank in the armed forces the German (language), German-speaking of Germany (Bundeswehr), Austrian Armed Forces, and military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") fro ...

and placed in command of an artillery unit.Franks et al 1993 p. 97.

World War I aerial service

On 25 June 1917, Delling transferred to the ''

Luftstreitkräfte The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alt ...

'' (German Air Service). He underwent pilot's training at the Bavarian ''Jastaschule 2'' in Furth. Upon graduation, on 16 March 1918 he was posted direct to a fighter squadron, Royal Bavarian ''

Jagdstaffel 34 Royal Bavarian ''Jagdstaffel'' 34, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 34, was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. The unit would score 89 confirmed aerial ...

''. In accordance with German custom, Delling was allowed to mark his own

Albatros D.V The Albatros D.V is a fighter aircraft built by the Albatros Flugzeugwerke and used by the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I. The D.V was the final development of the Albatros D.I family and the last Albatro ...

, serial numbered D.4483/17. Over the basic silvery white of the fuselage went a light red wash from nose to cockpit, with the same red in a wide band around the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

. Wings remained standard five-color lozenge camouflage. The

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplane ...

maintained its stock coloring of green and lavender on top, but the undersides were light blue and the rudder was painted white. Delling is also known to have operated a third or fourth hand

Fokker Dr.I The Fokker Dr.I (''Dreidecker'', "triplane" in German), often known simply as the Fokker Triplane, was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918. It became famous as the ...

triplane, though probably without his personal markings. Between 6 April and 23 June 1918, Delling was credited with five confirmed aerial victories, but denied confirmation on a sixth credited to an anti-aircraft unit. On 3 August 1918, Delling left combat duty with ''Jasta 34'' because of ill health. He would recoup to fly again as an instructor at Bavaria's ''Fliegerersatz-Abteilung (Replacement Detachment) 2''.

Post World War I

August Delling survived the war and went on to become a

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

of the firm of Huecke and Buhren. He died on 17 June 1962 in Battenberg.The Aerodrome website's page on Delling http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/delling.php Retrieved 14 January 2013.

Honors and awards

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

's Military Merit Order (Fourth Class with Swords) *

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

Second and First Class.

Sources of information

References

* Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank W.; Guest, Russell. ''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. , . * Franks, Norman. ''Albatros Aces of World War 1. Part 1 of Albatros Aces of World War I.'' Osprey Publishing, 2000. , . * Norman Franks, Greg VanWyngarden. ''Fokker Dr I Aces of World War I''. Osprey Publishing, 2001. , . {{DEFAULTSORT:Delling, August 1895 births 1962 deaths German World War I flying aces Luftstreitkräfte personnel People from Neustadt an der Waldnaab (district) Military personnel from the Kingdom of Bavaria Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Military personnel from Bavaria