''Vizefeldwebel'' Fritz John Jacobsen 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 eight confirmed and two unconfirmed aerial victories.The Aerodrome website's page on Jacobse

Retrieved 25 February 2013.

Biography

Fritz John Jacobsen was born on 21 May 1896 in

Berlin-Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

, 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 ...

. He became interested in aviation in 1909, while he was in his early teens. By 1914, he was piloting

Etrich Taube The Etrich ''Taube'', also known by the names of the various later manufacturers who built versions of the type, such as the Rumpler ''Taube'', was a pre-World War I monoplane aircraft. It was the first military aeroplane to be mass-produced in ...

aircraft at

Johannisthal Air Field The Johannisthal Air Field, located southeast of central Berlin, between Johannisthal and Adlershof, was Germany's first commercial airfield. It opened on 26 September 1909, a few weeks after the world's first airfield at Rheims, France. Ov ...

near Berlin. He qualified as a

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...

and instructor before joining ''der Fliegertruppen'' (the flying troops) for his World War I military service. Once inducted, he was the Chief Pilot of ''Armee Flugpark'' (Army Flight Park) II in early 1915 despite his youth. In May 1915, he was posted to ''Flieger-Abteilung'' (Flier Detachment) I.Franks et al 1993, p. 137. On 11 November 1916, he joined a

fighter squadron A squadron in air force, army aviation, or naval aviation 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, dependi ...

, '' Jagdstaffel 17''. The following month, he served a brief spell with ''

Jagdstaffel 9 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 9 was a "hunting group" (fighter squadron) of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. Although the squadron, and the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', were short-lived, they had great ...

'' before transferring yet again on 15 December 1916, this time to '' Jagdstaffel 31''. Jacobsen scored his first aerial victory with them, downing a

Bristol F.2b Fighter The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane Fighter aircraft, fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, ''"Brisfit ...

from 48 Squadron at 1050 hours 6 July 1917 over Sailly. Jacobsen would score a second aerial victory against a 70 Squadron

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 b ...

over Linselles at 0752 hours on 19 August 1917. He also had a claim in for 28 September, which went unconfirmed; he had been shot down at the end of that fray. In October 1917, ''Jasta 31'' and Jacobsen transferred from France to Italy. On 26 October 1917, Jacobsen was again shot down after a combat resulting in his unconfirmed claim of an Italian

Caproni Caproni, also known as ''Società de Agostini e Caproni'' and ''Società Caproni e Comitti'', was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Its main base of operations was at Taliedo, near Linate Airport, on the outskirts of Milan. Founded by Giovan ...

bomber. ''Jasta 31'' returned to France in February 1918, and Jacobsen went with them, but on 5 March he transferred to '' Jagdstaffel 73''. Between 30 May and 4 September 1918, he shot down five more opposing airplanes and an

observation balloon 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 ...

. He was awarded both the Second and First 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 est ...

. Jacobsen survived the war. Fritz John Jacobsen died in

Nürnberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ci ...

, Germany on 3 August 1981.

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. , . {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobsen, Fritz 1894 births 1981 deaths People from Charlottenburg Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Military personnel from Berlin Luftstreitkräfte personnel