Leutnant Hartmuth Baldamus (first name sometimes rendered Hartmut) (10 August 1891 – 14 April 1917) was a German 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 18 aerial victories.

Early life

Hartmuth Baldamus was born in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

on 10 August 1891.Franks et al 1993 pp. 64-65.

World War I service

Baldamus was in German aviation from the start of the First World War. Ranked as a

Gefreiter Gefreiter (, abbr. Gefr.; plural ''Gefreite'') is a German, Swiss and Austrian military rank that has existed since the 16th century. It is usually the second rank or grade to which an enlisted soldier, airman or sailor could be promoted.Duden; D ...

, he flew a two-seater reconnaissance airplane for ''

Feldflieger Abteilung Feldflieger Abteilung (''FFA'', Field Flying Company) was the title of the pioneering field aviation units of what became the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (German air service) by October 1916, during World War I. Composition The use of aircraft as a tact ...

20'' (Field Flier Detachment 20) beginning 29 March 1915. On 20 September 1915, he was commissioned a ''

Leutnant () is the lowest Junior officer rank in the armed forces the German-speaking of Germany (Bundeswehr), Austrian Armed Forces, and military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") from Middle High Ge ...

''. By the end of 1915, Baldamus had been awarded the

Albert Order The Albert Order (german: link=no, Albrechts-Orden or Albrechtsorden) was created on 31 December 1850 by King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony to commemorate Albert III, Duke of Saxony (known as Albert the Bold). It was to be awarded to anyone w ...

, Knight Second Class. He scored his first aerial victory on 15 March 1916; he scored his fifth confirmed victory on 29 July 1916, though details of some of his earlier wins are missing. Having performed the rather unusual feat of becoming an ace before being assigned to a fighter squadron, Baldamus was now posted to fly fighters with ''

Jagdstaffel 5 History Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 5, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 5, was created on January 21, 1916, and mobilized on 21 August 1916, as one of the first fighter units of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Arm ...

'' (Fighter Squadron 5) on 27 August 1916. He moved on to ''

Jagdstaffel 9 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 9 was a "hunting group" (fighter squadron) of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. Although the squadron, and the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', were short-lived, they had great ...

'' (Fighter Squadron 9) in early November 1916. On 2 December he closed out 1916 with nine victories. The requirement for winning the

Pour le Merite Pour may refer to these people: * Kour Pour (born 1987), British artist of part-Iranian descent * Mehdi Niyayesh Pour (born 1992), Iranian footballer * Mojtaba Mobini Pour (born 1991), Iranian footballer * Pouya Jalili Pour (born 1976), Irania ...

had been set at eight victories for the very earliest German aces, the so-called Fokker Scourge. Now, as Baldamus seemed to qualify, the requirement was raised out of his reach. However, he did receive the prestigious Knight's Cross with Swords of the

Royal Hohenzollern House Order 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 ...

on 8 January 1917.As victories and aces proliferated in the wake of the Fokker Scourge, the victory total needed for the ''Pour le Merite'' was raised to 20. Other prerequisites for the Blue Max were the prior awards of both classes of the

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 es ...

and 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 ...

. Baldamus resumed scoring on 23 January 1917, and steadily achieved more single victories, reaching 17 on 12 April 1917. Two days later, at 1140 hours, Hartmut Baldamus slammed into a midair collision with the French Nieuport 17 serial 2539 of Escadrille N37 piloted by Caporal Simon. Baldamus crashed to his death near Sainte-Marie-à-Py. Simon counted as Baldamus' 18th victory.The Aerodrome webpage on Baldamu

Retrieved 31 December 2020.

Footnote

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

External links

Obituary in ''Der Champagne-Kamerad''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldamus, Hartmuth 1891 births 1917 deaths Aviators killed by being shot down German military personnel killed in World War I Military personnel from Dresden Luftstreitkräfte personnel People from the Kingdom of Saxony