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 ...

'' Max Näther (24 August 18998 January 1919)

HOH Water () is a polar inorganic compound that is at room temperature a tasteless and odorless liquid, which is nearly colorless apart from an inherent hint of blue. It is by far the most studied chemical compound and is described as the "univer ...

, IC, 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 ...

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

fighter pilot who destroyed 26 enemy aircraft. He shot down ten observation balloons and sixteen airplanes, including ten

SPAD S.XIII The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by '' Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII. During early 1917, the French designer Louis Bé ...

fighters and a

Sopwith Dolphin The Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin was a British fighter aircraft manufactured by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It was used by the Royal Flying Corps and its successor, the Royal Air Force, during the First World War. The Dolphin entered service on th ...

. He was killed in his plane at the border of Germany during the Greater Poland uprising on 8 January 1919.

Early life and army service

Näther was born on 24 August 1899 in Tepliwoda,

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

, in what was then the eastern part of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

and is now Poland. He joined the German army in 1914, at age 15. He was wounded twice before being commissioned as ''Leutnant der Reserve'' on 11 August 1916, just before his 17th birthday. He won both the Second and First Class

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 ...

es during this time, the latter on 1 February 1916. In the summer of 1917, he volunteered for transfer to the Air Service.''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918'', p. 172

Aerial service

Näther took basic flight training in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. He then progressed to training with ''Fliegerersatz-Abteilung 7'' (Replacement Detachment 7) at Brunswick. His final training was at ''Jastaschule I'' (Fighter Training School 1) in

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...

, France. He graduated from ''Jastaschule I'' and was assigned to '' Jagdstaffel 62'' (Fighter Squadron 62) on 31 March 1918. He flew an all black

Albatros D.V The Albatros D.V is a fighter aircraft built by the Albatros Flugzeugwerke and used by the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I. The D.V was the final development of the Albatros D.I family and the last Albatro ...

a with a personal insignia of a German national flag streaming from a slanted staff imposed on a white square painted on the side of the plane's fuselage just aft of the cockpit. Näther made his first aerial kill on 16 May 1918, over a

Spad XIII The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by '' Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII. During early 1917, the French designer Louis ...

. Then, in June, he reeled off a string of six more over enemy observation balloons between the 1st and the 28th, becoming an

on the 16th. Balloons were well defended by surrounding anti-aircraft and nearby patrols of fighter planes, and attacks on them were considered near suicidal. He became '' Staffelführer'' (Commander) on 7 July 1918, just before his 19th birthday. Näther took leave from 28 July to 21 August; he probably waited to change planes to a

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 qui ...

until after his return. In September, he was awarded the Knight's Cross with Swords of the

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 ...

. He shot down another six that month, including two more balloons. On 26 September, he downed a Spad S.XIII in the morning and a balloon and another Spad S.XIII in the afternoon. He was slightly wounded the following day. He began October with back-to-back kills on the 9th and 10th. After another on the 18th, he incinerated his tenth and final balloon on the 23rd. As he returned from this mission, Näther was shot down by

Jacques Swaab Lieutenant Jacques Michael Swaab (21 April 1894 – 7 July 1963) was an American World War I flying ace with the 22nd Aero Squadron who was credited with ten victories. He later worked in the Hollywood film industry. World War I service Swaab rep ...

, but survived a fiery crash-landing. His final three kills were scored on 29 October. Coincidentally, although he had become eligible with his 20th and 21st on 10 October, he was nominated for the

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Order of the Red Eag ...

on 29 October. His was one of several nominations that was not approved because of the war's end. Näther's 26 kills comprised over half those of his entire squadron. These included ten observation balloons and eleven fighters—ten

s and a

Death in Greater Poland uprising

Näther was killed on 8 January 1919 during the Greater Poland uprising after World War I, by Polish ground fire while flying over Colmar (now Chodziez) in the Province of Posen (now

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Notes

References

* ''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918''. Norman Franks, Frank W. Bailey, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1993. . * ''Balloon-Busting Aces of World War 1''. Jon Guttman, Harry Dempsey. Osprey Publishing, 2005. . * ''Fokker D VII Aces of World War 1: Part 2''. Norman Franks, Greg VanWyngarden, Harry Dempsey. Osprey Publishing, 2004. . * ''SPAD XII/XIII Aces of World War I''. Jon Guttman. Osprey Publishing. Osprey Publishing, 2002. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Nather, Max 1899 births 1919 deaths Aviators killed by being shot down German World War I flying aces Luftstreitkräfte personnel Military personnel from the Province of Silesia People from Ząbkowice Śląskie County Prussian Army personnel