''Leutnant'' Hans Böhning,

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 ...

, was a German World War

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 17 aerial victories. He served 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 ...

first as an artilleryman, then as an aerial observer for artillery, as a fighter pilot, and finally as the ''

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 ...

'' of a fighter squadron. He would survive the war and die in a gliding accident on 20 October 1934.

Early life and ground service

Hans Böhning was born on 6 July 1893 in the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

. Early in World War I, he served in Bavaria's Field Artillery Regiment No. 13.Franks et al 1993, p. 79.

Aviation service

Böhning made the transition to aviation in 1916. He began his flying career with '' Feldflieger Abteilung'' (Field Flier Detachment) 290, which was an artillery cooperation unit, on 26 April 1917. He transferred from FA(A) 290 on 3 July 1917, to take training as a fighter pilot. He survived an accident on 17 July 1917. Upon completion of training, Böhning was transferred to Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 36. He scored his first victory with them on 23 August 1917. He scored his fourth triumph with the unit on 27 October 1917. He was then transferred to Royal Bavarian Jagdstaffel 76 and scored his fifth win over opposing fighter planes on 1 December 1917. By February, 1918, he had transferred to another Bavarian squadron,

Jagdstaffel 79 Royal Bavarian Jagdstaffel 79, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 79, was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. The squadron would score over 28 aerial victo ...

. He now began his greatest string of victories while flying a Pfalz D.III with his initials painted aft of the cockpit. He would upgrade to a newer

Albatros D.V The Albatros D.V is a fighter aircraft built by the Albatros Flugzeugwerke and used by the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I. The D.V was the final development of the Albatros D.I family and the last Albatro ...

a with a fuselage ringed by blue and white stripes and decked by the ace of spades, its upper tail surfaces bearing both light and dark blue stripes. Between 22 March 1918 and 18 September, he tallied another dozen victories, including three over enemy observation balloons. On 20 September 1918, he was wounded while using a

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 ...

to fight British

Airco DH.9 The Airco DH.9 (from de Havilland 9) – also known after 1920 as the de Havilland DH.9 – was a British single-engined biplane bomber developed and deployed during the First World War. The DH.9 was a development of Airco's earlier successful ...

s over Soriel. On 1 November 1918, he was selected to command Bavarian

Jagdstaffel 32 Royal Bavarian Jagdstaffel 32, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 32, was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the German ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. The unit would score 41 aerial victor ...

; the war ended 11 days after his appointment. He was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross during his service.

Post war life

After the war, he took on sport aviation and gliding. He took part in the F.A.I. International Tourist Plane Contest - Challenge International de Tourisme 1930, taking the 34th position (for 35 classified competitors, of 60 starting ones). Krzyżan, Marian. Międzynarodowe turnieje lotnicze 1929-1934, Warsaw 1988, Hans Böhning was killed in a glider accident on 20 October 1934.

Postwar tribute

During its restoration in 2013,

Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome is a living museum in Rhinebeck, New York. It owns many examples of airworthy aircraft of the Pioneer Era, World War I and the Golden Age of Aviation between the World Wars, and multiple examples of roadworthy antiqu ...

's airworthy reproduction

a was changed from

Eduard Ritter von Schleich Eduard-Maria Joseph Ritter von Schleich (9 August 1888 – 15 November 1947), born Schleich, was a high scoring Bavarian flying ace of the First World War. He was credited with 35 aerial victories at the end of the war. During the Second World ...

's color scheme to that of Böhning's, when he flew for Jasta 76, with its prominent ''Rautenflagge'' rhombus-patterned Bavarian light-blue/white checkerboard state colors for its rear fuselage.

Sources of information

External links

* The Aerodrome website's page on Böhning is at http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/bohning.php.

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. , . * Krzyżan, Marian. ''Międzynarodowe turnieje lotnicze 1929-1934: Volume 37 of Biblioteczka Skrzydlatej Polski''. Wydawn, Komunikacji i Łączności, 1988. , 9788320606379. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bohning, Hans 1893 births 1934 deaths German World War I flying aces Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Military personnel from the Kingdom of Bavaria Military personnel from Bavaria Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Germany