Alexander Kasza
Sándor Kasza Official photo
Born1896
Bácskossuthfalva, Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire
DiedFebruary 1945 (aged 48–49)
Budapest, Hungary
AllegianceAustro-Hungarian Empire
Service/branchAviation
RankFeldwebel
Unit86th Infantry Regiment
Flik 55J
Flik15F,
Flik11F[1]
Awards2 awards of Silver Medal for Bravery,
Karl Troop Cross[2]

Feldwebel Alexander Kasza (1896 – February 1945) was an Austro-Hungarian World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories.[3]

Early life

Alexander Kasza was born in 1896 in Bácskossuthfalva, Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire.[note 1][2]

Military service

After joining the military in 1915, Kasza first served in the 86th Infantry Regiment before transferring to the Air Service. While rendering service in the Balloon Section in 1915, he finished a pilot's training course. He was so talented the school kept him on as an instructor.[2]

Kasza would not see action until he was assigned to Flik 55J on the Isonzo Front as a fighter pilot in late 1917. At various times, he used both an Albatros D.III and a Phönix D.II fighter. The latter aircraft had three white bands encircling its fuselage marking his position in his flight, as well as a Maltese cross on its rudder. His personal insignia was a red heart, which was painted on center of its top wing and on the rear of the fuselage.[4]

He gained his first victory on 15 November 1917 and ended his string of six victories on 9 June 1918.[1][5]

In July 1918, he transferred to Flik 15F. The next month, he transferred to a reconnaissance pilot role in Flik 11F; he finished the war with that unit.[1]

Between the World Wars

Kasza was active in aviation circles in Hungary. He also became a member of the Order of Vitéz.[6]

World War II

In February 1945, a Soviet bomb meant for nearby Nazi troops in Budapest neighborhood fell instead on the home of Kasza and his family. They were all killed.[7]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The town is now located in Serbia.

Endnotes

  1. 1 2 3 O'Connor (1986), p. 149.
  2. 1 2 3 Franks, Guest & Alegi (2008), p. 185.
  3. ↑ The Aerodrome website Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  4. ↑ O'Connor (1986), pp. 49–50.
  5. ↑ Franks, Guest & Alegi (2008), pp. 185–186.
  6. ↑ O'Connor (1986), pp. 149–150.
  7. ↑ O'Connor (1986), p. 150.

Bibliography

  • Franks, Norman; Guest, Russell; Alegi, Gregory (2008). Above The War Fronts: A Complete Record of the British Two-seater Bomber Pilot and Observer Aces, the British Two-seater Fighter Observer Aces, and the Belgian, Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Fighter Aces, 1914-1918. Grub Street Publishing. ISBN 1898697566, 978-1898697565.
  • O'Connor (1986). Air Aces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 1914-1918. Flying Machines Press. ISBN 978-1891268069.

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