Lieutenant József Kiss de Elemér et Ittebe was a World War I

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

for the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. He was credited with 19 aerial victories. He was the most successful Hungarian ace in the war.

Biography

Born 26 January 1896, Kiss's father was a gardener at the Pozsony military academy. His grandfather was Lieutenant-General

Ernő Kiss Ernő Kiss (13 June 1799, in Temesvár – 6 October 1849, in Arad, Romania, Arad) was a Royal Hungarian Landwehr, honvéd (Hungarian Army) lieutenant-general. He was executed for his part in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and is considered one ...

, one of

the 13 Martyrs of Arad The Thirteen Martyrs of Arad () were the thirteen Hungarian rebel generals who were executed by the Austrian Empire on 6 October 1849 in the city of Arad, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary (now in Romania), after the Hungarian Revolution ( ...

who were executed in 1849. When the

declared war against Serbia, Kiss promptly dropped out of school Retrieved 20 December 2009. and enlisted in the 72nd Infantry Regiment of the

Austro-Hungarian army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

despite the fact that his truncated education would keep him from the officer's ranks. On 26 October 1914 he went into action against the Russians in the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

. He was severely wounded there, and sent home to convalesce. While on convalescent leave he became interested in the Austro-Hungarian air service. He applied, was accepted, and trained at

Wiener-Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; .e. Lower Austria , ) is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land District. The c ...

. He graduated as a sergeant pilot in April 1916, and was assigned to the newly founded Flik 24. He scored his first victory on 20 June 1916 while still flying a two-seater Hansa-Brandenburg C.I; he and observer Georg Kenzian forced down a

Farman Farman Aviation Works () 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 nationalization and rational ...

. While flying the two-seater Hansa-Brandenberg he forced down two three-engined

Caproni Caproni, also known as ''Società de Agostini e Caproni'' and ''Società Caproni e Comitti'', was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Its main base of operations was at Taliedo, near Linate Airport, on the outskirts of Milan. Founded by Giova ...

bombers, one of which holed his plane 70 times. He was then upgraded to a single seated Hansa-Brandenburg D.I fighter. By November 1917 he had amassed seven victories, including four forced down and captured. He was then transferred to Flik 55J flying the

Albatros D.III The Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service () during World War I. A modified licensed version was built by Oeffag for the Austro-Hungarian Air Service (''Luftfahrtruppen''). The D.III was flown ...

. Kiss' personal aircraft was painted black with a large white 'K' on either side of the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

, and he would wield it with a courage bordering on recklessness. Comrades included fellow aces

Julius Arigi Julius Arigi (3 October 1895 – 1 August 1981) was a flying ace of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I with a total of 32 credited victories. His victory total was second only to Godwin von Brumowski. Arigi was considered a superb natur ...

and Josef von Maier, who formed the rest of his flight, and the three of them became known as the Kaiser Staffel (Emperor's Squadron). As Kiss's score mounted he was turned down for commissioning as an officer because of his humble family background and incomplete schooling. Jozsef kiss

He was seriously wounded again in late January 1918 but returned to duty only two months after having some of his bowel surgically removed. His last victory was on 28 January 1918. He flew without any further triumphs until he was killed in action on 24 May 1918 by Lt. Gerald Birks of No 66 Squadron. His final score of 19 included at least seven enemy aircraft forced down and captured and 9 victories shared 'Above the war fronts' Franks, Guest, Alegi, 1997 page 188 with other pilots Kiss was posthumously promoted to Leutnant; he was the only noncommissioned officer in the Austro-Hungarian military to be so promoted. His funeral was held three days after his death, at the Italian airfield at

Pergine Valsugana Here is the translation into English: **Pergine Valsugana** (/ˈpɛrʤine valsuˈgana/; "Pèrzen" or "Pèrzem" in Trentino dialect, "Persn" in Mochena language) is an Italian municipality with 21,641 inhabitants in the province of Trento, the th ...

. A sizable flyover of opposing Allied planes, including British, French, and Italians, dropped a funeral wreath with a note attached. It read: "Our last salute to our courageous foe." Kiss's girlfriend Enrica Bonecker never married, and she visited his grave daily for the next 52 years.

Sources of information

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiss, Jozsef 1896 births 1918 deaths Austro-Hungarian World War I flying aces Military personnel from Bratislava Austro-Hungarian military personnel killed in World War I