Leutnant Herbert Wilhelm Franz Knappe was a German
flying ace during World War I. He was credited with nine confirmed aerial victories while fighting on both the
Russian Front and
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 ...
.
World War I service
Herbert Wilhelm Franz Knappe was born in
Glatz i. Schl. on 18 January 1891. Knappe joined the ''
Luftstreitkräfte'' in September 1914. He was commissioned ''Leutnant'' on 17 May 1916. He scored his first victory the following month, on 5 June, while flying with ''Feld-Fleiger Abteilung 21''. He used an
Albatros D.II
The Albatros D.II was a German fighter aircraft used during World War I. After a successful combat career in the early '' Jagdstaffeln'', it was gradually superseded by the Albatros D.III.
Design and development
Albatros designers Robert Thelen ...
to down a Russian airplane.
His second triumph would not come for almost two years. From '' Feldflieger Abteilung 21'' (Field Flier Detachment 21), Knappe would be posted to ''Jagdstaffel Ober-Ost'' (Upper East Fighter Squadron), then on to join ''
Jagdstaffel 81
Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 81, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 81, 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 six or more aerial v ...
'' (Fighter Squadron 81) in France. He began 1918 with receipt of the
House Order of Hohenzollern on 9 January. On 31 May 1918, he shot down a
SPAD S.XIII over Remigny. On 7 June, he took out an enemy
observation balloon
An observation balloon is a type of balloon that is employed as an aerial platform for intelligence gathering and artillery spotting. Use of observation balloons began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World War ...
at
Fleury-la-Rivière. Two days later, he shot down an
AR2. A week after that, on 16 June, he himself was shot down for the second time.
Knappe's 22 July 1918 victory over a
SPAD made him an ace. He would run off a string of four more victories, on 4, 7, 10, and 11 August 1918. On 25 August 1918, Knappe was wounded so severely he could not return to combat before war's end.
Endnotes
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, Frank W. Bailey, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1993. , .
1891 births
German World War I flying aces
Luftstreitkräfte personnel
Year of death missing
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