Wilhelm Gisbert Groos 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 seven aerial victories.

Early life

Wilhelm Gisbert Groos (often written Gisbert Wilhelm) was born on 10 August 1894 to Dr. Ernst Gisbert Karl Julius Georg Groos and Laura Maria Colsman. He was admitted to the Prussian

Cadet Corps A corps of cadets, also called cadet corps, was originally a kind of military school for boys. Initially such schools admitted only sons of the nobility or gentry, but in time many of the schools were opened also to members of other social classes. ...

and later served in an Uhlan Regiment. While an Ensign before the First World War, he had been training to compete in the 3,000 metre race at the

1916 Summer Olympics The 1916 Summer Olympics (german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1916), officially known as the Games of the VI Olympiad, were scheduled to be held in Berlin, German Empire, but were eventually cancelled for the first time in its 20-year history due to ...

World War I service

Groos received his pilot's licence from the Halberstadt Civil Flying School. He joined Jasta 4 in May 1917. On 17 May, he scored his first victory while flying over Droucourt,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

against a British Sopwith triplane. Shortly afterwards, he was transferred to

Jasta 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 24 May. He is credited with achieving five further victories between 24 June and 23 August. After Wilhelm Reinhard was wounded, Groos was briefly given command of Jasta 11 between 6-11 September. He relinquished command when Kurt Wolff returned from leave. Groos was wounded on 14 September and Wolff was killed the following day. After Wolff's death, Groos briefly reassumed command again between 15 and 25 September until

Lothar von Richthofen Lothar Siegfried Freiherr von Richthofen (27 September 1894 – 4 July 1922) was a German First World War fighter ace credited with 40 victories. He was a younger brother of top-scoring ace Manfred von Richthofen (the ''Red Baron'') and a di ...

was given the position. After Groos recovered he was appointed a position within Jastaschule II in

Nivelles Nivelles (; nl, Nijvel, ; wa, Nivele; vls, Neyvel) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. The Nivelles municipality includes the former municipalities of Baulers, Bornival, Thines, and Monstre ...

. However, he returned to Jasta 11 on 10 July 1918 for a short time when there became a shortage of pilots. On 1 August 1918, he scored his last victory against a British SPAD aircraft. Shortly afterwards, he returned to Jastaschule II on 16 September and remained there for the rest of the war.

Post World War I

Gross retired from the Luftstreitkräfte after the war. He married three times and had two sons, Manfred Wilhelm and Ernst Gisbert. He became the director of the Westdeutschen Steinzeug-Werke company in

Euskirchen Euskirchen (; Ripuarian: ''Öskerche'') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the district Euskirchen. While Euskirchen resembles a modern shopping town, it also has a history dating back over 700 years, having been granted to ...

. In 1994, Groos celebrated his

100th birthday A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100 years. Because life expectancies worldwide are below 100 years, the term is invariably associated with longevity. In 2012, the United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living cent ...

. He died in 1997 near Cologne/Bonn, around 103 years old. At the time of his death he was the last surviving member of

References

1894 births 1997 deaths German World War I flying aces German Army personnel of World War I Luftstreitkräfte personnel German aviators German centenarians Men centenarians {{germany-mil-bio-stub