World War I Flying Ace. 13 aerial victories. He was the third ace awarded the Pour le Merite (the Blue Max) and was one of the first aces of World War I, as eight victories were requited to earn the Pour le Merite at that time. As his father was in the Army, he also chose this as his profession, entering service in 1904 as part of the cadet corps and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 1st Hessian Infantry Regiment in 1910. He left the service in 1913 and immigrated to Indianapolis, where he took a job in an automobile factory as a mechanic and learned to fly in his spare time. When war broke out he used an assumed name to cross the Atlantic and return to Germany, where he joined the new German Flying Service in September. He was first an observer, as was common training for most air forces in World War I and then was assigned as a fighter pilot with the 23rd FFA Squadron, being one of the first to fly the Fokker Eindecker in combat. He achieved his first victory in September 1915 and was awarded the Iron Cross First and Second Class during this time. He was then sent to Turkey at the end of the year as part of the German military mission to the Ottoman Empire and took part in aerial battles over the Dardanelles. He was awarded the Turkish Gold Liakat Medal personally by the head of the Turkish armed forces and the Pour le Merite in April of 1916. In September, he returned to the Western Front and took command of Jagdstaffel 4 and then Jasta 14. In January 1917, he returned to Turkey as the commander of the air units at Gallipoli and received the nickname form Turkish soldiers "El Schahin" ("The Hunting Falcon") during this time. In early 1918, he returned to the Western Front, this time as commander of Jagdstaffel 30 during the Spring Offensive. He was killed during a successful attempt to clear the air in his area of an attacking English squadron.