Söderbaum

Hi Jan I will be glad if you scan the photo, which because of his awards probably is taken before joining the Fliegertruppe. Gunnar

Thanks for the clarification Glenn Gunnar

Thanks AOK4.. Interesting and valuable added information on Hptm Richter, The note that he was WIA in Aug 14 and the connection to IR 9... However the fact that this source says he died in 1918 and another source note him as Major aD in 1919 is intruging.. Gunnar

Thanks Glenn A first name is a good help to come further and solve this Hans Richter... We also knew aproximate Year of birth and probably area of birth. So I am hopeful in this case beacuse there are some sources to dig in. Gunnar

Great information Dave..! In cases like this it is no big problem if you have 5 or 20 candidates because you have some vital clues. The minor problem is the Hauptleute dL and aD where you often dont knew the actual regiment at a certain time. FFA (Feld Fliegerabteilung) 16 was an AOK unit within 8 Army which means they were under "direct" order from the General of this Army. The unit was also responsible for long distant recce flights over the Russian lines within the whole Army sector. As mentioned in my earlier post it was not uncomon that stab personal from the AOK took part in these flights (clue 1) for shorter or longer periods. More important to identify these who got Saxon awards and who not were Saxon is the fact (clue 2) that they probably worked together-within a Saxon regiment or AK. So in cases like this you need to find were Saxon Army units were stationed at a certain time. I have a Saxon friend who can help in cases like this. However Dave, I think you nailed this Hptm Richter with 80 % in first try.. Hptm Richter (observer) received this award at same date as his pilot, the Oblt Franz Hagen who received the award 2nd Class. Personal connection (clue 3). Hagens original regiment was IR 54, same as one of your candidates. Maybe it exist a history of this regiment..? I only need now to find more info on this Hptm Richter from IR 54 to verify or exclude him. I am very glad you took your time Dave to present these possible candidates. Gunnar

Hi Christophe I am aware of that Hptm Richter not was a Saxon as mentioned in OC3. However, If i refine my question, and ask for if it existed any Prussian Hauptleute Richter with this rank around summer 1915..? FFA 16 was part of the 8 German Army on the Eastern front since BOW, and it is high chance that Hptm Richter was picked up from an AK within this Army for flying duty. It was actually rather comon. And as it dont exist records for him later on within the Air Force, he rather certain returned to his regiment. I will be glad for any hints - names Gunnar

Hi Hptm x Richter did receive the Knights Cross, 1st Class with swords of Albert Order on 19 Jun 15 as a member of FFA 16. However this man seems not to "exist"... Could his name be mis-spelled in O´Connors volume III of Saxon awards..? I search any hint to find possible regiment etc. I could not find any information on him within the Air Force after mid 1915. Gunnar

GREAT information Glenn..! It is "typical" that both shared the same first name... Now it is only to dig further to find his date and place of birth. Thank you very much Gunnar

Hi again I am still hunting this mysterious Stein. I knew that FAR 27 had it roots in Wiesbaden. Could it exist any ranglisten or similar of this regiment which might give some clues...? It exists a book about one of the aviation units he led (AFA 211), but sadly this book dont give any bibliographic information on him despite he was the commander for over an Year and actually formed the unit... However it states he got the EKI on 27 Jan 16. Gunnar

Hi Hptm dR x Heyer from IR 165 served nearly the entire War within the Marine Air Force. He was probably born in Hamburg or nearby area. He was the commander of two Marine Air units. On 30 Oct 18 he left the Marine Air Force and was posted to to II Mar Inf Reg. It would be strange if he not was awarded the Hamb HK..! Anyway, I wonder if anyone knew his date and place of birth, first name or promotion to Hptm dR (before Jun18). ..? If you have queston about his War service I might be able to help. Gunnar

Hi I wonder if anyone have the first name for Hptm Köbrich..? He was the commander of at least one aviation unit during the War. His original regiment was IR 176. I knew his promotion dates. I also dont have his date and place of birth.. I knew that he tried to receive the Errinerungsabzeichen but apparently he failed. Anyone who have any hints to find him..? Gunnar

HI I am trying to find possible first name of Hptm Stein from FAR 27. He was promoted Hptm on 081014. He was the commander of several German flying units from 1915 until EOW. He is NOT the Hptm Erich Stein who later become a General during WW2, this is another Stein.. He was likely highly decorated... I am also looking for possible date and place of birth. Any hints are welcome Gunnar

Tack Jonas It his certainly him, the source I have is Tagesbefhle Kofl 4( in Flandern) and they apparently spelled his name.slightly wrong. He did serve in FAA 238 in the spring of 1918, but I dont knew how long he stayed in this unit. As I live in Sweden, I will be able to track him down. Not many Swedish soldiers served within the German Air Force. very good help for me Gunnar

HI I wonder if anyone knew if this man existed..? I only knew that Rittm x Demaré served within the German Air Force in 1918. So any hints regarding possible regiment etc are welcome Gunnar

Hi I wonder if anyone have any hints to find the first name and possible date/place of birth of Hptm Hasert who was a German flyer during the War.. He served originally in IR 59, and I have his promotion dates but have reached an dead end after that.. Any hints are welcome Gunnar

Thanks both Seems that this Hptm Poser is hard to identify in more detail, despite high awards and that he was commander of several flying units in the War. I assume that it does not exist any information from FAR 20 which might be his home regiment.... Gunnar

Hi I am looking for possible added information regarding Hptm x Poser..! He originally belonged to FAR 20 and was promoted to Hptm on 8 Nov 14. In Nov 1915 he become commander of AFA 212 joining in from FFA 17. AFA(FAA) 212 was a newly establish flying unit within 3 Army. He later took over the command of FAA 206. After mid 1917 I lost the track of his units. This is all information I have Any added information is welcome Gunnar

Hi This man is confusing for me... Feld Fliegerabteilung 60 was formed at FEA 6 in Grossenhain in early 1915. The first commander is mostly named as Oblt x Rommel. He apparently left the German Air Force before the summer of 1916, as he is not mentioned in later sources. Another source name him as Oblt. Kommel...however this name dont exists in my files... The chances he had a Saxon background is high, as nearly original flyers of this unit had Saxon origin... Anyone who have hints..? Gunnar

Great information Glenn I liked that such source mention his frozen fingers and amputation..! The life for these long distance recce flyers was harder then for most other flyers because they needed fly really high.up in the air. Gunnar

Oh..that was a really fast answer...! I can easily understand that Rittm Detlef von Schlieffen received the Hohenzollern, maybe he also was a candidate for the Pour le Merite... Actually among all AOK lichtbild-units along the Western front it was probably only two units who did a good job, and that was FA 3 in Flanders (the commander got the PlM) and FA 18 in the southern part of Somme...the rest of the long distance recce units did a "bad" work which was the basic reason to create Arme Fliegerabteilungen... So possible von Schlieffen was nominated to Grufl in Oct 1918 or got the "flue"... Anyone knew when he took command of FA 18..?..or his earlier aviation career..? Thanks Glenn Gunnar

Hi According to one source I have Rittm x von Schlieffen was the commander of FA 18 in the summer of 1918, however when the unit was changed to an Armee Fliegerabteilung in Oct 1918 another man took over. I actually dont have more information on him then above.... So I search any kind of added information. Gunnar

Many thanks for your info Glenn, much appreciated Always feels good to find a new first name for German flyers... Gunnar

Hi I am interested to find more information on Hptm x Blumberg who served the entire War within the German Air Force. I knew that his original regiment is given as IR 129 and that he was promoted Hptm on 1 Oct 13. When the started he served within FFA 31, but not as commander. Then I lost the track of him until he shows up as Kofl 18 in Jan 1918. Later in April 1918 he become Kofl 5, a position he hold until EOW. Kofl 18 actually started as Stofl Woyrsch in Apr 1915 and was later renamed several times before becoming Kofl 18... So maybe he served within this unit a very long time..? I dont have any "conflicting" commander of Stofl Woyrsch since Drechsel left in Oct 1915... Gunnar

Hi Alex I did knew that Gustav Walter was both an observer and pilot but did not knew the dates for the awards... Thanks for all added information..! I also did have a fairly good service record on him, BUT you put some valuable new information.. He apparently served in Flieger Bataillon 4, and possible within 3 Komp before the War started (FB 4/3) as FFA 26 was formed out of this unit... When leaving FFA 26 he apparently become commander of AFP 2 before taking over Stofl 2. Stofl 2 was renamed to Kofl 2 on 29 Nov 16. When leaving the command of Kofl 2 on 31 Jan 18 he took command of FEA 4 at Posen. He ended up the War as commander of Kofl H2 on 1 Oct 18 (Kofl Heimat 2). An impressive War record indeed. Gunnar

Very nice photo Christer Sadly BZ 107 is one balloon units I have very little information on. However they are reported to have served within the 7 Army (Laon area) in spring 1918. The man with the moustache have some similarity to the photo of the commander of FLA 23, Hptm Erich Abt in a recent thread below. Probably the photo was taken when people of FLA 23 were visiting the unit. It also implies that at this time BZ 107 was a part of FLA 23. Normally each Army Korps did have one FLA, and that each FLA could consist of 2 to 5 ballonzüge... What is extra interesting with FLA 23 is that Uffz Otto Heinecke served within this stab unit around this time... He was the inventor of the famous Heinecke parachute. Gunnar