Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 45, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 45, 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 ...

. The squadron would score over 113 aerial victories during the war, including 28 observation balloons downed. The unit's victories came at the expense of four pilots killed in action, two injured in flying accidents, and five wounded in action.

History

Jasta 45 was formed on 11 December 1917 at ''Flieger-Abteilung'' (Flier Detachment) 1 at

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

, Germany. It flew its first combat sorties on 9 January 1918, and scored its first aerial victory on the 20th. It was incorporated into '' Jagdgruppe 5'' during July 1918. By the time it flew its final combat missions on 30 October 1918, the squadron was one of the highest scoring Jastas of 1918. Jasta 45 disbanded on 26 November 1918 at its point of origin.

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 ...
'')

Hans Rolfes Hans Joachim Rolfes was a German World War I flying ace credited with 17 confirmed and two unconfirmed aerial victories. He scored his first confirmed victory while with Royal Bavarian ''Jagdstaffel 32'', on 6 July 1917. His second and subsequent v ...

: 17 December 1917 * Lothar Zencominierski: ca October–November 1918

Duty stations

Marville Marville may refer to: * ''Marville'' (comics), a Marvel Comics series from the early 2000s * Marville, Meuse Marville () is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. An airbase built by NATO hosted fighter squ ...

, France: 25 December 1917 * Cohartville: 25 March 1918 *

Vivaise Vivaise () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aisne department The following is a list of the 799 Communes of France, communes in the French Departments of F ...

, France *

Sissonne Sissonne () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It is about 20 km east of Laon, close to the source of the river Souche. The community dates back to the 12th century with the first church built c.1107. ...

, France * Mont-Saint-Martin, France *

Rocourt-Saint-Martin Rocourt-Saint-Martin is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aisne department The following is a list of the 799 communes in the French department of Aisne. ...

, France * Arcy * Mont-Notre-Dame, France *

Maizy Maizy () is a commune in the Aisne department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aisne department The following is a list of the 799 communes in the French department of Aisne. Th ...

, France *

Plomion Plomion () is a Communes of France, commune in the Aisne Departments of France, department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Plomion was the site of a massacre by retreating German forces on the evening of August 31, 1944 as the Ame ...

, France * Boulers

Notable personnel

Gustav Dörr Gustav Dörr (5 October 1887 – 11 December 1928) was a German World War I fighter pilot credited with 35 victories.The Aerodrome website page on DörRetrieved on 5 November 2020. He went on to become one of the world's first airline pilots. Ea ...

* Karl Schlegel * Hans Rolfes *

Arno Benzler Leutnant Arno Benzler (Cross of Distinction in War, Iron Cross) was a German First World War flying ace and aerial commander credited with nine confirmed aerial victories.''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Nav ...

Karl Meyer Karl Meyer may refer to: *Karl Meyer (activist) (born 1937), American pacifist, activist, Catholic worker and tax resister *Karl Meyer (aviator) (1894–1917), World War I flying ace *Karl Meyer (biochemist) (1899–1990), German biochemist *Karl M ...

Operations

Jasta 45 opened its career by supporting '' 5 Armee'', beginning 25 December 1917. On 25 March 1918, it moved to support '' 7 Armee''. It would remain in this assignment until war's end.

References