Oskar Hennrich was a German World War I

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 20 aerial victories. He was a notable balloon buster, as thirteen of his wins were destructions of observation balloons. He was the leading ace of his squadron, and ended his service with the rank of

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.The Aerodrome website http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/hennrich.php Retrieved on 16 April 2010.

Aerial service

Hennrich's first assignment was as an aerial gunner with ''Kampfgeschwader'' (Tactical Bomber Wing) II, from 20 April 1916 to 20 February 1917. He then trained as a pilot, and was assigned to ''Flieger-Abteilung (Artillerie)'' (Flier Detachment (Artillery)) 273 on 10 October 1917. He moved on to ''

Jagdstaffel 46 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 46 was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. As one of the original German fighter squadrons, the unit would score 20 confirme ...

'' (Fighter Squadron 46) on 6 May 1918. On 14 May 1918 he scored his first victory flying 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 ...

with his initial 'H' on the fuselage; he shot down an observation balloon west of

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. He continued to score, mostly balloons, until 1 October 1918. On 24 September, he shot down three balloons. He was awarded the Military Merit Cross on 3 November 1918.

Sources of information

References

* ''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps 1914 - 1918'' Norman L. R. Franks, et al. Grub Street, 1993. . German World War I flying aces Luftstreitkräfte personnel Prussian Army personnel Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{wwi-air