'' Oberleutnant'' Erich Hahn (18 October 1891 – 4 September 1917) was a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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 six aerial victories.The Aerodrome webpage on Hah

Retrieved 29 October 2020

Biography

Erich Hahn was born on 18 October 1891 in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was formed from the Electorate of Saxo ...

, in the German Empire.Franks et al 1993, pp. 122–123. He joined Saxony's Infantry Regiment Nr. 2 just before World War I. In 1913, he learned to fly at Anthony Fokker's flying school. As one of the very few experienced pilots about, he was serving in ''Flieger-Abteilung'' (Flier Detachment) 64 when the war began. He then moved on to service in ''Flieger-Abteilung'' (Flier Detachment) 23 and then to artillery direction with ''Flieger-Abteilung'' (''Artillerie'') (Flier Detachment (Artillery)) 221. SHMOrder Knight's Cross

On 10 August 1916, he transferred to fighter aviation with his assignment to ''Kampfeinsitzerkommando'' (Combat Single-Seater Command) Bertincourtt. When '' Jagdstaffel 1'' (Fighter Squadron 1) was founded as one of the original dedicated German fighter squadrons later in August, Hahn joined them. On 10 November, he would both succeed to acting squadron commander and score his first aerial victory. On 29 November 1916, he transferred to command of ''

Jagdstaffel 19 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 19 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 ...

'' (Fighter Squadron 19). Having already won both classes of the

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 es ...

, he accepted the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Saint Henry on 29 December 1916. Hahn was the first fighter pilot to receive the Saint Henry. He would not score again until April, when he downed three enemy airplanes and two

observation balloons An observation balloon is a type of balloon that is employed as an aerial platform for intelligence gathering and artillery spotting. Use of observation balloons began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World War I ...

. Notable among these wins was his fourth victory, when he downed French ace René Doumer. On 1 May, Erich Hahn was awarded the

Royal House Order of Hohenzollern The House Order of Hohenzollern (german: Hausorden von 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 ...

. After these six confirmed victories, Hahn led his squadron until 1935 hours 4 September 1917. At that time, French ace, Lieutenant

Georges Madon Georges Félix Madon (28 July 1892 – 11 November 1924) was the fourth ranked French ace pilot of the First World War. His lengthy career and wide variety of aviation experiences were remarkable. Early years Madon was born in Bizerte, Tunisia, ...

shot him down over Beine, France and killed him.

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. , . 1891 births 1917 deaths German World War I flying aces Military personnel from Leipzig People from the Kingdom of Saxony Luftstreitkräfte personnel German military personnel killed in World War I Aviators killed by being shot down {{germany-airforce-bio-stub