Oberleutnant Hans Schilling (24 September 1892 – 4 December 1916) was an early World War I German observer

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 ...

. He scored his eight confirmed aerial victories teamed with

Albert Dossenbach ''Leutnant'' Albert Dossenbach (5 June 1891 – 3 July 1917) was a World War I flying ace credited with 15 aerial victories.The Aerodrome website's page on Dossenbach http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/dossenbach.php Retrieved 15 January 2010 ...

. The pair of them were shot down on 3 November 1916. Dossenbach was wounded; Schilling was burnt. As a result, Schilling was teamed with another pilot, and killed in action on 4 December 1916 by

Charles Nungesser Charles Eugène Jules Marie Nungesser (15 March 1892 – presumably on or after 8 May 1927) was a French ace pilot and adventurer. Nungesser was a renowned ace in France, ranking third highest in the country with 43 air combat victories during Wo ...

Biography

Hans Schilling was born in Zäckerick (Prussian

province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg (german: Provinz Brandenburg) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1945. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg ...

), now Siekierki (Poland), on 24 September 1892.Franks et al 1993, pp. 198–9. Schilling first comes to notice as an

aerial observer Aerial may refer to: Music * ''Aerial'' (album), by Kate Bush * ''Aerials'' (song), from the album ''Toxicity'' by System of a Down Bands *Aerial (Canadian band) * Aerial (Scottish band) * Aerial (Swedish band) Performance art * Aerial sil ...

with ''Flieger-Abteilung'' (Flier Detachment) 5 in an

Albatros C.III The Albatros C.III was a German two-seat general-purpose biplane of World War I, built by Albatros Flugzeugwerke. The C.III was a refined version of the successful Albatros C.I and was eventually produced in greater numbers than any other C-typ ...

's rear seat. However, he had no success until he transferred to ''Flieger-Abteilung'' (Flier Detachment) 22 and teamed with

. On 10 January 1916, the pair shot down a French Morane near

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

. Details of the next two aerial victories have been lost, except that Schilling and Dossenbach remained paired. Their fourth win came on 13 August 1916, when they downed

Royal Aircraft Factory BE.12 The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12 was a British single-seat aeroplane of The First World War designed at the Royal Aircraft Factory. It was essentially a single-seat version of the B.E.2. Intended for use as a long-range reconnaissance and bom ...

number G549 from No. 19 Squadron RFC near

Bapaume Bapaume (original Dutch name Batpalmen) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. The inhabitants of this commune are known as ''Bapalmois'' or ''Bapalmoises''. Geography Bapaume is a farmi ...

at 1845 hours. His next victories came on 24, 26, and 27 September; they included another BE.12 from 19 Squadron, as well as a

Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2 The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 was a British single-engine tractor two-seat biplane designed and developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory. Most of the roughly 3,500 built were constructed under contract by private companies, including establish ...

b from No. 25 Squadron RFC, and an unidentified craft. The combat with the 25 Squadron plane was a double downing without injury, as

Leslie Court Second Lieutenant Leslie Simpson Court (1897 – 10 December 1918) was a British World War I flying ace. He was credited with eight aerial victories, gained while serving as an observer/gunner in No. 25 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps.Guttman & Demps ...

also managed to bring down the German aircrew.Franks et al 1997, p. 83. On 12 October 1916, Schilling received the Knight's Cross of the

House Order of Hohenzollern The House Order of Hohenzollern (german: Hausorden von Hohenzollern or ') was a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Hohenzollern awarded to military commissioned officers and civilians of comparable status. Associated with the various ...

for his efforts; he was one of the few German observer aces. (The German decoration system being progressive, Schilling should have already received both classes of the Iron Cross.) On 3 November 1916, they downed FE.2B number 6374 over Mory. However, they also came down that day, Dossenbach being lightly wounded and Schilling scorched. Schilling was reassigned to fly with a different pilot. On 4 December he was flying with Leutnant Rosenbachs in a two-seater

Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bombi ...

. Just past noon, they were shot down and killed in action near Flesquieres;

apparently vanquished them.

Sources of information

References

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. ''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. , . * Norman Franks; Russell Guest; Gregory Alegi. ''Above the War Fronts: The British Two-seater Bomber Pilot and Observer Aces, the British Two-seater Fighter Observer Aces, and the Belgian, Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Fighter Aces, 1914–1918: Volume 4 of Fighting Airmen of WWI Series: Volume 4 of Air Aces of WWI''. Grub Street, 1997. , . {{DEFAULTSORT:Schilling, Hans 1892 births 1916 deaths People from Gryfino County German World War I flying aces Prussian Army personnel Luftstreitkräfte personnel German military personnel killed in World War I Aviators killed by being shot down People from the Province of Brandenburg