Leutnant Kurt Hetze was a

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 ...

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

credited with five aerial victories. Leutnant Kurt Hetze joined Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 13 in June 1918. He scored his first aerial victory flying with them, downing a SPAD on 11 June. On 25 June 1918, he scored again, shooting down a

Bristol F.2 Fighter The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, ''"Brisfit"'' or ''"Biff"'' ...

from

No. 48 Squadron RAF No. 48 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron that saw service in both the First and Second World Wars. History First World War No. 48 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed at Netheravon, Wiltshire, on 15 April 1916. The squadron w ...

south of Albert at 1250 hours. Hetze received the

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 ...

First Class (which presupposes prior award of the Second Class Cross) on 21 July 1918.Franks et al 1993, pp. 329-330. On 15 August 1918, Hetze struck twice. At 0920 hours, he shot down a Spad over

Crapeaumesnil Crapeaumesnil () is a commune in the Oise department of northern France. 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 interc ...

. At 1925 hours, he shot down another Spad, over

Liancourt Liancourt () 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 followin ...

. On 12 September 1918, in his last day in combat, Hetze claimed two Breguet 14 bombers; one of the claims would be confirmed for his fifth victory. On 13 September 1918, Kurt Hetze went upon an automobile trip to the front lines. A strafing Spad put a bullet through his lungs. Hetze was out of action for the remainder of the war.

Sources of information

References

* Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank W.; Guest, Russell. ''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918''. Grub Street, 1993. , . German World War I flying aces Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Year of birth missing Year of death missing {{Germany-airforce-bio-stub