Leutnant () is the lowest Junior officer rank in the armed forces the German-speaking of Germany (Bundeswehr), Austrian Armed Forces, and military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") from Middle High Ge ...

'' Ludwig Luer was a German

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 six aerial victories.

World War I service

Luer was forwarded from ''Armee-Flug-Park'' 4 (Army Flight Park 4) to ''

Jagdstaffel 27 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 27 (german: Königliche Preussische Jagdstaffel Nr. 27), commonly abbreviated to ''Jasta'' 27, was a "hunting group" ( fighter squadron) of the '' Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World ...

'', a

fighter squadron A squadron in air force, army aviation, or naval aviation is a unit comprising a number of military aircraft and their aircrews, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, dependi ...

, on 7 March 1917. At that time, he was ranked as an ''

Offizierstellvertreter Offiziersstellvertreter, short OStv ( en: ''Officer deputy''), is a rank of the higher non-commissioned officers rank group (also staff NCO group) in the Austrian Bundesheer and Imperial German Army. ;See also Ranks of the Austrian Bundesheer ...

'' (Deputy Officer). By August 1917, he had been commissioned as a ''

''. On 14 August, he shot down an observation balloon west of

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality c ...

at 1637 hours; that same day, he 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 es ...

First Class.Note: German regulations made a prior award of the Second Class a prerequisite for the First Class.Franks et al 1993, p. 160. On 9 September 1917, Luer shot down 70 Squadron

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the ...

serial number B3916 over Frezenberg. At 1010 hours on 24 October, he downed a SPAD from Naval Ten northeast of

Zonnebeke Zonnebeke (; vls, Zunnebeke) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of , , Passendale, Zandvoorde and Zonnebeke proper. On January 1, 2006, Zonnebeke had a total population of ...

. His fourth victory came on 5 November 1917, when he destroyed another Sopwith Camel. On 5 January 1918, Luer left ''Jasta 27'' to become the first '' Staffelführer'' (Commanding Officer) of '' Jagdstaffel 62''. He would score his fifth victory with them on the evening of 22 April, when he scored another SPAD over Mezieres. He would tally one more victory on 16 May 1918, over a SPAD over Montdidier. On 22 May, he went to hospital until 1 July. On 8 July 1918, Ludwig Luer was relieved from combat duty.

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) {{Germany-airforce-bio-stub