Royal Bavarian Jagdstaffel 23 was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the '' Luftstreitkräfte'', 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 ...

. As one of the original German fighter squadrons, the unit would score a minimum of 63 verified aerial victories. They scored twelve wins over enemy observation balloons as a squadron. In turn, their casualties for the war would amount to 14 pilots killed in action, one killed in a flying accident, nine wounded in action, and two taken

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

History

Royal Bavarian Jagdstaffel 23 was established on 25 October 1916 at Metz-Frescaty. It would not gain a commanding officer until 17 November. The jagdstaffel finally came ready for action on the last day of the year. The following day, 1 January 1917, Jasta 23 moved into action at

Puxieux Puxieux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle Departments of France, department in north-eastern France. See also *Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department *Parc naturel régional de Lorraine References

C ...

. It would not score its first win until 14 February. On 4 July 1917, it was officially designated a Bavarian squadron. It joined the Bavarian Jagdgeschwader IV under command of

Eduard Ritter von Schleich Eduard-Maria Joseph Ritter von Schleich (9 August 1888 – 15 November 1947), born Schleich, was a high scoring Bavarian flying ace of the First World War. He was credited with 35 aerial victories at the end of the war. During the Second World ...

on 10 October 1918, and served there for the last month of the war.

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 Backhaus, 17 November 1916 – 4 August 1917 # Otto Kissenberth, 4 August 1917 – 29 May 1918 # Heinrich Seywald, 2 June 1918 – 29 June 1918 # Fritz Krautheim, 2 July 1918 – 19 July 1918 # Heinrich Seywald, 19 July 1918 – 11 November 1918

Aerodromes

# '' Armee-Abteilung Strantz'': 25 October 1916 – 1 January 1917 # Puxieux, Mars-la-Tour: 1 January 1917 – 14 April 1917 # Erlon, France: 16 April 1917 – 14 July 1917 #

Jametz Jametz is a small commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France, near the Belgian border. Economy Since the 15th century, residents have primarily worked as cattle farmers, cheesemakers, carpenters and leatherworkers. To ...

, France: 20 July 1917 – 24 November 1917 # Saint-Mard, France: 24 November 1917 – 4 February 1918 # Aniche: 6 February 1918 – 16 March 1918 #

Émerchicourt Émerchicourt () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The communes cooperate ...

, France: 17 March 1918 – 27 March 1918 # Bapaume, France: 27 March 1918 – 18 April 1918 # Epinoy, France: 18 April 1918 – 27 August 1918 #

Lieu-Saint-Amand Lieu-Saint-Amand () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is the home of the Sevel Nord facility, an automobile factory which builds Fiat, Peugeot and Citroën vehicles. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department ...

: 27 August 1918 – 25 September 1918 # Bühl, Germany: 27 September 1918 – 8 October 1918 # Harmignies, Belgium: 13 October 1918 – 5 November 1918 # Fleurs, France: 5 November 1918 – 11 November 1918

Notable members

* Otto Kissenberth Pour le Merite,

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 ...

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 est ...

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 ...

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 ...

Pour le Merite, Hohenzollern, Iron Cross,

Military Order of Max Joseph The Military Order of Max Joseph (german: Militär-Max-Joseph-Orden) was the highest military order of the Kingdom of Bavaria. It was founded on 1 January 1806 by Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, the first king of Bavaria. The order came in t ...

Michael Hutterer ''Vizefeldwebel'' Michael Hutterer Military Merit Cross (Bavaria), MMC Iron Cross, IC was a World War I flying ace credited with eight aerial victories. Hutterer began over two years in ground units on 4 August 1914. He won his native Kingdom of B ...

Iron Cross * Theodor Rumpel Iron Cross * Johannes Janzen

Other aces serving in the unit were Karl Schattauer, Heinrich Seywald, Albert Haussmann, Max Gossner, and Albert Dietlen.

Aircraft

Initial equipment for Jasta 23 was the

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 ...

fighter. Later, it would be refurnished with

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 ...

and

Roland D.VI The Roland D.VI was a German fighter aircraft built at the end of World War I. It lost a fly-off to the Fokker D.VII, but production went ahead anyway as insurance against problems with the Fokker. Design and development The Roland D.VI was des ...

a fighters.

Operations

Jasta 23 was formed in the ''Armee-Abteilung'' Strantz Sector. On 16 April 1917, it moved to the '' 7. Armee'' Sector. Its next move, on 18 July, saw it assigned to '' 5. Armee''. In February 1918, it moved to support '' 17. Armee'' at Aniche. On 27 September, it moved to the ''Armee-Abteilung'' A Sector; shortly thereafter, on 8 October, it moved on to work for '' 2. Armee'' until war's end.

References

;Bibliography * 23 Military units and formations established in 1916 1916 establishments in Germany Military units and formations disestablished in 1918 Military units and formations of Bavaria {{wwi-air