Leutnant Richard Wenzl 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 twelve aerial victories.The Aerodrome website http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/wenzl.php Retrieved on 17 April 2010. German World War I flying ace Richard Wenzl

German World War I flying ace Richard Wenzl

World War I service

Wenzl flew first for an artillery cooperation unit, FAA 236. He transferred, first to KEK Ost, then to Jagdstaffel 31 in the spring of 1917. For his first victory, he shot down and destroyed a Spad on 19 April 1917. He had an unconfirmed claim the following month. He would not score again for a year, after he had switched into

Jagdstaffel 11 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 11 ("No 11 Fighter Squadron"; commonly abbreviated to Jasta 11) was founded on 28 September 1916 from elements of 4 Armee's “Kampfeinsitzer” or KEKs) 1, 2 and 3 and mobilized on 11 October as part of the Germ ...

on 27 March 1918. After his second victory, on 16 May, he transferred to

Jagdstaffel 6 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 6 was one of the original units of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. History The ''Jasta'' was founded on 25 August 1916 from Fokkerstaffel Sivry, itself an early at ...

the next day. He began a five-month scoring streak on 5 June, running his total to 11 destroyed enemy aircraft and an observation balloon on 5 November 1918. Wenzl also served as the squadron's acting commander from 10 August to 9 September 1918. In the early Autumn of 1918, Wenzl met

Ernst Jünger Ernst Jünger (; 29 March 1895 – 17 February 1998) was a German author, highly decorated soldier, philosopher, and entomologist who became publicly known for his World War I memoir '' Storm of Steel''. The son of a successful businessman and ...

while in an infirmary in Hanover. Jünger described Wenzl as "one of the tall and fearless types our nation still produces. He lived up to the motto of his squadron, 'Hard - and crazy with it!' and had already brought down a dozen opponents in single combat, although the last had splintered his upper arm with a bullet first."

Victory list

Confirmed victories are numbered; unconfirmed claims are denoted as U/C.

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. , . 1957 deaths Year of birth missing German World War I flying aces Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class {{germany-mil-bio-stub