Royal Bavarian Jagdstaffel 16 was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the ''

Luftstreitkräfte The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alt ...

'', the air arm of the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

History

Royal Bavarian Jagdstaffel 16 was founded from two ''ad hoc'' predecessor units — a Bavarian reconnaissance unit, ''Flieger Abteilung 9'', and ''Kampfeinsitzer-Kommando Ensisheim''. These two units were amalgamated on 16 October 1916, while posted in

Armee-Abteilung B Armee-Abteilung Gaede / Armee-Abteilung B (Army Detachment B) was an army level command of the German Army in World War I. It served on the Western Front throughout its existence and formed the extreme left wing (up against the Swiss Border). ...

Sector. ''Oberleutnant''

Otto Deßloch Otto Dessloch (11 June 1889 – 13 May 1977) was a German Luftwaffe general during World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. Career Dessloch was born in Bamberg, he joined the Bavarian A ...

commanded this nascent squadron the few days it took to be designated Jagdstaffel 16, on 1 November. By the time it disbanded just two years later, it had established its credentials as a

balloon buster Balloon busters were military pilots known for destroying enemy observation balloons. These pilots were noted for their fearlessness, as balloons were stationary targets able to receive heavy defenses, from the ground and the air. Seventy-seven fl ...

squadron, with an even two dozen enemy observation balloons destroyed, as well as 58 victories over enemy aircraft.

Commanding officers (''
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 ...
'')

# Paul Kremer: 1 November 1916 – 8 July 1917 # Heinrich Geigl: 18 July 1917 – 20 August 1917 # Robert Dycke: 20 August 1917 – 1 December 1917 # Heinrich Geigl: 1 December 1917 – 4 April 1918 #

Friedrich Ritter von Röth Oberleutnant Friedrich Ritter von Röth (29 September 1893 – 31 December 1918) was a German World War I fighter ace with 28 victories. He was the most successful German pilot at the extremely hazardous practice of shooting down enemy obse ...

: 8 April 1918 – 9 September 1918 # Rudolf Eck: 9 September 1918 – October 1918 # Friedrich Ritter von Röth: October 1918 – 11 November 1918 # Albert Wilhelm Ferdinand Gröner, 1 November 1916 – 20 July 1917

Duty stations (airfields)

Ensisheim Ensisheim (; gsw-FR, Anze) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is also the birthplace of the composer Léon Boëllmann. The Germanic languages, Germanic et ...

: 16 October 1916 – 13 April 1917 #

Habsheim Habsheim is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It forms part of the Mulhouse Alsace Agglomération, the inter-communal local government body for the Mulhouse conurbation. History The Thalbahn Habsheim was ...

: 13 April 1917 – 6 May 1917 #

Château-Porcien Château-Porcien () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ardennes department The following is a list of the 449 communes of the Ardennes department of France. The communes ...

: 7 May 1917 – 4 June 1917 #

Spincourt Spincourt () is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Geography The village lies on the right bank of the Othain, which flows northwestward through the south-western part of the commune. See also *Communes of th ...

: 6 June 1917 – 20 October 1917 # Erlon: 21 October 1917 – 23 November 1917 # Mercy-le-Haute: 24 November 1917 – 4 February 1918 # Aertrycke: 7 February 1918 – 14 March 1918 # Le Cateau: 15 March 1918 – 20 March 1918 # Foucaucourt: 21 March 1918 – 6 April 1918 # St. Marguerite: 13 April 1918 – October 1918 #

Scheldewindeke Oosterzele () is a municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders, in Belgium. The municipality comprises the towns of , , , , Oosterzele proper and . In 2021, Oosterzele had a total population of 13,740. The total area is 43.12&nbs ...

: October 1918 – 11 November 1918

Notable personnel

Ludwig Hanstein Leutnant Ludwig Hanstein (20 January 1892 – 21 March 1918) HOH, Bavaria's MMO was a World War I flying ace credited with 16 aerial victories.The Aerodrome website's page on Hanstein http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/hanstein.php Retriev ...

* Karl Odebrett *

Otto Kissenberth Otto Kissenberth (26 February 1893 – 2 August 1919) was a German flying ace of World War I credited with 20 aerial victories. He was a prewar mechanical engineer who joined the German air service in 1914. After being trained and after servin ...

* Theodor Rumpel

Aircraft operated

Fokker E.III The Fokker E.III was the main variant of the ''Eindecker'' (literally meaning "one deck") fighter aircraft of World War I. It entered service on the Western Front in December 1915 and was also supplied to Austria-Hungary and Turkey. Design and ...

Fokker E.IV The Fokker E.IV was the final variant of the Fokker Eindecker, ''Eindecker'' fighter aircraft that was operated by Germany during World War I. Design and development Given the Fokker designation of M.15, the E.IV was essentially a lengthened F ...

* Fokker D.I *

Fokker D.II __NOTOC__ The Fokker D.II was a German fighter biplane of World War I. It was a single-seat fighter aircraft developed before the Fokker D.I. It was based on the M.17 prototype, with single-bay unstaggered wings and a larger fuselage and short ...

* Pfalz D.II *

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''). ...

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 ...

Fokker Dr.I The Fokker Dr.I (''Dreidecker'', "triplane" in German), often known simply as the Fokker Triplane, was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918. It became famous as the ...

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 qui ...

References