''Offizierstellvertreter'' Fritz Gustav August Kosmahl

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, IC (5 September 1892—26 September 1917) was one of the first flying aces of Germany's '' Luftstreitkräfte'' during World War I. He was one of the few German two-seater aces of the war, being officially credited with nine aerial victories. He was also one of the first ten German aviators to earn the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern. Note: In the German award system, winning the Iron Cross was usually a prelude to the Hohenzollern.

Early life

Fritz Gustav August Kosmahl was born on 5 September 1892 in Leipzig.

World War I military service

Kosmahl started pilot's training very early in World War I, on 12 August 1914, at ''Fliegerersatz-Abteilung 2''. On 11 January 1915, he joined '' Feldflieger Abteilung 22'' in France. During 1916, he scored three aerial victories while operating a two-seater reconnaissance plane; details of his first two wins is lost to history, but his third win came on 10 October 1916. As a result, on 9 January 1917, Kosmahl was awarded the Member's Cross with Swords of the House Order of Hohenzollern. He was one of the first ten German fliers to receive this prestigious award, second only to the famed

Blue Max Blue Max is an informal name of ''Pour le Mérite'', a German military decoration from 1740 until the end of World War I. Blue Max may also refer to: * Blue Max (video game), ''Blue Max'' (video game) (1983) and its sequel ''Blue Max 2001'' * Blue ...

. He was also awarded the Saxe-Meiningen Medal for Merit in War while with '' Feldflieger Abteilung 22''. He also won both classes of the Iron Cross. '' Feldflieger Abteilung 22'' morphed into '' Feldflieger Abteilung 261'' in December 1916. On 2 February 1917, Kosmahl shot down a Sopwith Pup piloted by acting Flight Lieutenant W.E.Traynor of 8 squadron RNAS over

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. On 11 March, he downed a

Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2 Between 1911 and 1914, the Royal Aircraft Factory used the F.E.2 (Farman Experimental 2) designation for three quite different aircraft that shared only a common "Farman" pusher biplane layout. The third "F.E.2" type was operated as a day and n ...

b south of

Beugny Beugny () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. Geography A farming village located 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Arras at the junction of the N30 and D20 roads. Population Sigh ...

and became an ace. He then departed for advanced training, to become a fighter pilot. In late July 1917, he was assigned to ''

Jagdstaffel 26 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 26 was a "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 score 177 verifie ...

''. On 17 August, he scored his first win as a fighter pilot, downing an RAF FE.2d at Zonnebeke. On 9 September, Kosmahl downed a Sopwith Camel fighter plane. On both 19 and 20 September, he shot down Sopwith Triplane fighters at Passchendaele. Two days later, on 22 September 1917, Fritz Kosmahl suffered a stomach wound in combat, but managed to return to base despite his injury. He lingered four days after landing, succumbing at 0230 hours on 26 September 1917.

Endnotes

References

* ''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914-1918''. Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1993. , .

External links

* The Aerodrome website http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/kosmahl.php, The Aerodrome gives a detailed list of his victories, and contains his photograph {{DEFAULTSORT:Kosmahl, Fritz 1892 births 1917 deaths German World War I flying aces Military personnel from Leipzig Military personnel of the Kingdom of Saxony Luftstreitkräfte personnel Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class German military personnel killed in World War I