Leutnant Hans von Keudell (5 April 1892 – 15 February 1917) was a 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 twelve aerial victories.The Aerodrome website http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/keudell.php Retrieved on 17 April 2010.

Early life and service

Keudell was educated in Berlin. In 1904, he joined the cadets at Bensberg. In 1911, he joined the

Uhlans Uhlans (; ; ; ; ) were a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. While first appearing in the cavalry of Lithuania and then Poland, Uhlans were quickly adopted by the mounted forces of other countries, including France, Russia, Pr ...

. He began World War I with the Uhlans, and went into combat with them in both France and Poland. He was commissioned by April 1915, transferred to aviation and began training on 7 June. On 13 December, he was posted to fly bombing missions, objectives

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

, Toul, and Dunkirk, for Brieftauben Abteilung Ostende.

Service as a fighter pilot

By early summer of 1916, Keudell was training as a fighter pilot. On 4 August, he joined KEK B under the command of Hans Bethge. From there, on 22 August, Keudell became a founding member of

Jagdstaffel 1 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 1 (commonly abbreviated as Jasta 1) was a fighter squadron of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. Jasta 1 was founded on 22 August 1916, using single seat fighters drawn ...

, destined to fly successively a Fokker D.I, a Halberstadt D.III and an

Albatros D.III The Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service (''Luftstreitkräfte'') during World War I. A modified licence model was built by Oeffag for the Austro-Hungarian Air Service ( ''Luftfahrtruppen''). T ...

for them. On 31 August 1916, he shot down a

Martinsyde Elephant The Martinsyde G.100 "Elephant" and the G.102 were British fighter bomber aircraft of the First World War built by Martinsyde. The type gained the name "Elephant" from its relatively large size and lack of manoeuvrability. The G.102 differed fro ...

for his first win. He then scored steadily through the rest of the year, reaching ten on 22 November. On 1 January 1917, Keudell was awarded the Knight's Cross with Swords of the

Royal 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 v ...

. He shot down his eleventh victim on 24 January 1917. On 5 February, he was appointed to raise and command

Jagdstaffel 27 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 27 (german: Königliche Preussische Jagdstaffel Nr. 27), commonly abbreviated to ''Jasta'' 27, was a "hunting group" (fighter squadron) of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World Wa ...

. He then scored the brand new jasta's first victory on 15 February, only to be in turn killed in action flying Albatros D III #2017/17 by Lt. Stuart Harvey Pratt, flying a

Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars. History Beginnings Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...

two-seater of No. 46 Squadron RFC. Keudell's Albatros landed behind British lines and was salvaged by the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

to become an item in their fleet of captured aircraft.

Sources of information

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, ''et al.'' Grub Street, 1993. , . * ''Early German Aces of World War I.'' Greg VanWyngarden, Harry Dempsey. Osprey Publishing, 2006. , . {{DEFAULTSORT:Keudell, Hans Von 1892 births 1917 deaths Prussian Army personnel Luftstreitkräfte personnel German military personnel killed in World War I Aviators killed by being shot down German World War I flying aces Military personnel from Berlin