Royal Bavarian Jagdstaffel 79, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 79, 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 ...

. The squadron would score over 28 aerial victories during the war, including three observation balloons downed. The unit's victories came at the expense of four killed in action, three killed in flying accidents, 13 wounded in action, two injured in aviation accidents, and three taken prisoner of war.

History

Jasta 79 was founded on 7 November 1917 at ''Fliegerersatz-Abteilung'' ("Replacement Detachment") 1,

Schleißheim Schleißheim is a municipality in the district Wels-Land in the Austrian state of Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria border ...

. It was activated on 28 January and posted to '' 3 Armee'' on 2 February 1918. The new squadron drew first blood on 22 March 1918. Also in March, they were reassigned to '' 18 Armee''; they would remain in support of this army until war's end.

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 ...
'')

Franz Xaver Danhuber Franz Xaver Danhuber (often wrongly spelled ''Xavier'' and ''Dannhuber''; 27 January 1891 – 4 October 1960) was a German World War I flying ace credited with eleven aerial victories. War service Danhuber was first assigned to ''Kampfgeschwader' ...

: 28 January 1918 - 11 February 1918 (Injured in crash) * Hans Böhning: 11 February 1918 - 22 September 1918 * Franz Xaver Danhuber: Early October 1918 - war's end

Duty stations

Thugny-Trugny Thugny-Trugny () 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 coo ...

, France: 2 February 1918 *

Villeselve Villeselve () is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Oise department The following is a list of the 679 communes of the Oise department of France. The communes cooperate in the following ...

, France: 25 March 1918 - 9 August 1918 *

Guise Guise (; nl, Wieze) is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. The city was the birthplace of the noble family of Guise, Dukes of Guise, who later became Princes of Joinville. Population Sights The remains ...

West, France: 6 September 1918 - 8 October 1918 * Thuilles: 29 October 1918

Notable personnel

* Franz Xaver Danhuber * Hans Bohning *

Roman Schneider Leutnant Roman Schneider was a German World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories.The Aeerodrome websitRetrieved 16 September 2020 Biography Roman Schneider was born in Passau, Kingdom of Bavaria on 9 August 1898.''Above the Lines: ...

Aircraft

Jasta 79 was initially equipped with Pfalz D.III fighters. They later re-equipped with

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 qu ...

s. It also operated one or more

Pfalz D.XII The Pfalz D.XII was a German fighter aircraft built by Pfalz Flugzeugwerke. Designed by Rudolph Gehringer as a successor to the Pfalz D.III, the D.XII entered service in significant numbers near the end of the First World War. It was the last P ...

fighters.

References