Franz Peter (8 October 1896 – 1968) was an Austrian

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 in

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 ...

The Aerodrom

Retrieved 6 January 2018. while flying for

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops The Austro-Hungarian Aviation Troops or Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops (german: Kaiserliche und Königliche Luftfahrtruppen or , hu, Császári és Királyi Légjárócsapatok) were the air force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the e ...

World War I service

At the outbreak of the Great War Peter joined the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

and served on the Eastern Front. In late 1915 he volunteered for the Air Service as an aircraft observer. After finishing training school in late January 1916 he was posted to the Eastern Front unit ''Fliegerkompanie 14'' (Flik 14)Flik = ''Fliegerkompanie'', a basic Air Force unit of Squadron size. The average Flik was often understaffed, numbering on average 8 pilots. as an observer. During the next two years of service he received several awards and was promoted to ''oberleutnant'' on 1 November 1917. After brief service with ''Fliegerkompanie 47F'' (Flik 47F),Flik with 'F' = 'F' for ''Fernaufklärerkompanie'' was the designation for a Long Range Reconnaissance unit. he applied for pilot training and was accepted in March 1918. After completing further training as a fighter pilot he was posted to ''Fliegerkompanie 3J'' (Flik 3J)Flik with'J' = 'J' denoted ''Jagdfliegerkompanie'' which was composed of dedicated Fighter aircraft. at Romagnano in May 1918 where he flew the

Albatros D.III The Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service ('' Luftstreitkräfte'') during World War I. A modified licence model was built by Oeffag for the Austro-Hungarian Air Service ( ''Luftfahrtruppen''). ...

fighter. He scored his first and second confirmed victories on July 16 when he downed two

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Hanriot Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'' the company survived in differen ...

fighters over

Concei Concei was a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. On January 1, 2010 it merged (with Pieve di Ledro, Bezzecca, Molina di Ledro, Tiarno di Sopra and Tiarno di Sotto) in the new municipality of ...

. Peter scored his sixth and last confirmed victory on October 7 when he shot down a

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the ...

of 66 Squadron,

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

Post-war

After World War I, Peter decided to join the Polish Air Force, encouraged by Stefan Stec, with whom he had served during the war. He fought during the Polish-Ukrainian War and Polish-Soviet War from 1919, flying as a pilot of two-seater reconnaissance machines, in strafing and bombing missions. Between February and March 1920 he commanded the 6th Reconnaissance Escadre, near

Ternopil Ternópil ( uk, Тернопіль, Ternopil' ; pl, Tarnopol; yi, טאַרנאָפּל, Tarnopl, or ; he, טארנופול (טַרְנוֹפּוֹל), Tarnopol; german: Tarnopol) is a city in the west of Ukraine. Administratively, Ternopi ...

. He was wounded during this posting.Franks, et al, p. 196. After these wars, he settled in Poland, working in aerospace industry, especially in the field of engine design.Andrzej Glass (in Polish), ''Polskie konstrukcje lotnicze 1893-1939'', WKiŁ, Warsaw 1977, p. 45—51 As Europe was sucked into World War II, he moved to Romania, then to France. When the Germans overran France, he was returned to Warsaw. Given the choice of prison or factory work, he survived the war performing the latter.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Peter, Franz 1896 births 1968 deaths Military personnel from Vienna Austro-Hungarian World War I flying aces Polish aviators Polish Air Force officers Polish aerospace engineers