Leutnant Georg Meyer (11 January 1893 – 15 September 1926) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

World War I

fighter 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 confirmed victories over six enemy observation balloons and 18 enemy aircraft. Meyer was one of the early German military aviators, volunteering on 1 February 1916. He would serve through the end of the war, rising to squadron command in the process. He would be recommended for Germany's highest award for valor, the Pour le Merite. Meyer remained in aviation postwar, and was head of aviation training at Magdeburg when he was killed in a motorcycle accident.

Early life

Georg Meyer was born in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

in 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 ...

on 11 January 1893. His father was a merchant. After George Meyer completed elementary and high school, he went to work for the customs service from 1911-1912. He also completed his required military service. He joined Infantry Regiment No. 75 in 1911. Just before World War I began, he was conscripted into the Guards Ersatz Division. He went into battle with the Guards in France.

Aerial service during World War I

Meyer transferred to duty with ''Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches'' on 1 February 1916. By 18 August, he had been trained and was piloting a two-seater reconnaissance craft for Feldflieger Abteilung 69 in Macedonia. From there, he transferred to flying two-seaters on artillery direction duty with ''Flieger-Abteilung (Artillerie)'' 253 on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

. On 7 February 1917, he scored his first aerial victory, downing a Nieuport over

Lemmes Lemmes () is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also *Communes of the Meuse department The following is a list of the 499 communes of the Meuse department of France. The communes cooperate in the follo ...

, France. In April 1917, he was transferred to fly single-seater fighters with

Jasta 22 Royal Saxon Jagdstaffel 22 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 57 verified ae ...

. He had two unconfirmed victories there; then Josef Jacobs transferred to

Jasta 7 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 7 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 126 aerial victories (130 claimed) during the war, at the exp ...

on 2 August, taking Meyer with him. Meyer ran his score to four confirmed and two unconfirmed victories before being posted on to Jasta 37 on 25 March 1918. He ascended to command as

Staffelführer ''Staffelführer'' was one of the first paramilitary ranks used by the German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) in the early years of that group's existence. The later SS rank of ''Staffelführer'' traces its origins to the First World War, where the tit ...

on 14 April 1918. In June, the unit re-equipped with

Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII qu ...

s, and Meyer began to quickly accumulate victories. He became a

balloon buster Balloon busters were military pilots known for destroying enemy observation balloons. These pilots were noted for their fearlessness, as balloons were stationary targets able to receive heavy defenses, from the ground and the air. Seventy-seven fl ...

, with six confirmed and two unconfirmed. He was also credited with an additional 18 enemy airplanes destroyed, with two more claims unconfirmed. On 18 October 1918, he was lightly wounded and remained on duty. He had been awarded both classes of the Iron Cross, his native Bremen's Hanseatic Cross, as well as the Knight's Cross with Swords of the House Order of Hohenzollern. On 5 November 1918, he was recommended for the

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 ...

. The recommendation died with the German Empire upon the emperor's abdication.

Post World War I

On 22 January 1920, the Prussian National Assembly decided that Meyer should be awarded the Blue Max later. However, it is uncertain if this ever happened. Meyer remained in aviation. By 1926, he was head of the airline training school at Magdeburg. Georg Meyer was killed in a motorcycle accident on 15 September 1926.

References

* ''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918''.

Norman Franks Norman Leslie Robert Franks (born 1940) is an English militaria writer who specialises in aviation topics. He focuses on the pilots and squadrons of World Wars I and II. Biography He published his first book in 1976. He was an Organisation a ...

, Frank W. Bailey, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1993. , .

Endnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Georg 1893 births 1926 deaths Military personnel from Bremen (city) Recipients of the Hanseatic Cross (Bremen) Luftstreitkräfte personnel German World War I flying aces German Army personnel of World War I Motorcycle road incident deaths Road incident deaths in Germany