Leutnant Rudolf Wendelmuth was a World War I German
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 14 aerial victories.
Early life
Rudolf Wendelmuth was born on 28 July 1890 in
Gotha
Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...
,
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, links=no ), was an Ernestine, Thuringian duchy ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present- ...
, the
German Empire.
[
]
World War I service
In the Levant
At break of war, Wendelmuth was posted to the 233rd Reserve Infantry Regiment. He transferred to aviation on 1 March 1915, reporting to FEA 3 in his home town of Gotha for training. His first assignment was to Bulgaria in September. In July 1916, he returned to Cologne to Fokker Commando. He was then posted to FA 8 in Sevdi Koy, Turkey as an acting oberleutnant. While with this unit, he scored his first victory, downing a Royal Naval Air Service Farman
Farman Aviation Works (french: Avions Farman) was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French national ...
off the Turkish coast on 5 November 1916.
On the Western Front
During Bloody April
Bloody April was the (largely successful) British air support operation during the Battle of Arras in April 1917, during which particularly heavy casualties were suffered by the Royal Flying Corps at the hands of the German ''Luftstreitkräfte' ...
1917, Wendelmuth returned to the Western Front. He was assigned to Jagdstaffel 8
Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 8 was a fighter squadron of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. Although the ''Jasta'' went out of existence along with its parent units shortly after the Armistice endi ...
. Between 29 July and 14 October 1917, he accumulated another ten victories;[The Aerodrome website http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/wendelmuth.php Retrieved on 12 April 2010.] during this span, on 25 September, his plane was shot down but he escaped unharmed.[
]
In command
On 19 October, he was appointed to command Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 20. He scored three more wins in October and November 1917. On 30 November, Wendelmuth died in a midair collision that also killed Wilhelm Schulz of Jagdstaffel 4
Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 4, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 4, was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. The unit would score 192 confirmed victories; ...
.[
]
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. , .
1890 births
1917 deaths
People from Gotha (town)
People from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Prussian Army personnel
Luftstreitkräfte personnel
Ottoman military personnel of World War I
German World War I flying aces
German military personnel killed in World War I
Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents
Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1917
Military personnel from Thuringia
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