Eduard Ritter von Dostler
Born(1892-02-03)3 February 1892
Pottenstein, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
Died21 August 1917(1917-08-21) (aged 25)
near Ypres, Belgium
AllegianceGerman Empire
Service/branchPioneers, Air Service
Years of service1912–1917
RankOberleutnant
Unit4th Pioneer Battalion;
Schutzstaffel 27;
Kampfstaffel 36
Commands heldJagdstaffel 13;
Jagdstaffel 34;
Jagdstaffel 6
AwardsPour le Mérite;
Royal House Order of Hohenzollern;
Military Order of Max Joseph;
Iron Cross;
Bavarian Lifesaving Medal

Oberleutnant Eduard Ritter von Dostler (3 February 1892 – 21 August 1917) PlM, MOMJ was a German World War I fighter ace credited with 26 victories. On three consecutive assignments during World War I, Dostler was entrusted with the combat leadership of German jagdstaffeln (fighter squadrons).

Early life and ground service

Eduard Dostler was born on 3 February 1892 in Pottenstein, Kingdom of Bavaria. He was commissioned in the 4th Pioneer Battalion of the Bavarian Army on 28 October 1912.[1] He was awarded the Bavarian Lifesaving Medal for saving two of his men from drowning in the Danube River shortly after the war began, in August 1914.[2] Later that month, Dostler went into action with his battalion in France on the Western Front. He won the Iron Cross First Class in March 1915.[note 1] He was also awarded his native Bavaria's Military Service Order.[3]

Dostler's brother was a pilot who was killed in action. In response, Eduard Dostler decided to switch to the Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches (Imperial German Flying Corps) because of his brother's death.[3] [4]

Air service

Dostler first reported to Schutzstaffel 27 (Protection Squadron) 27, then being reassigned to Kampfstaffel 36 (Tactical Bomber Squadron 36) on 15 June 1916. Dostler scored his first confirmed aerial victory while flying a Roland C.II two-seater for Kampfstaffel 36. He downed a Sopwith Scout on 17 December 1916.[3]

He then transferred to Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 13 (Fighter Squadron 13), a newly formed unit, taking command on 27 December 1916.[5] On 22 January 1917, he scored Jagdstaffel 13's initial triumph.[3][6] At that time, he was already an oberleutnant.[7] On 20 February 1917, Dostler assumed command of Royal Bavarian Jagdstaffel 34 (Fighter Squadron 34) upon its official formation. He had it in action in three days, and scored its first victories on 24 March,[8] shooting down a pair of Caudron G.IV bombers. By the time he left the squadron, he had become an ace, with eight confirmed victories, and one claim unconfirmed.[3]

Dostler transferred to Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 6 (Fighter Squadron 6), assuming command in the wake of Fritz Otto Bernert's 9 June 1917 departure. Dostler scored a double victory on 16 June, with further wins on the 17th and 20th.[3] Two days later, Jagdstaffel 6 was incorporated into Germany's first fighter wing, Jagdgeschwader I (Fighter Wing I).[9]

By 26 July, when Manfred von Richthofen took command of Jagdgeschwader I,[10] Dostler's score was up to 18. The following day, Dostler was awarded the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern. The day after that, Dostler led a patrol from his squadron into a momentous attack upon a formation of Airco DH.4s from No. 57 Squadron RFC; he shot two of the six British victims that day as Jagdstaffel 6 wiped out the British patrol. His twentieth victory qualified him for the Pour le Mérite. He finished the month of July 1917 with 21 victories.[11][1][12]

On 6 August, he received Germany's highest award for valor, the Pour le Mérite, which is also nicknamed the Blue Max.[13][14] Dostler's famous commanding officer, the Red Baron himself, Manfred von Richthofen took his personal Pour le Mérite from around his own neck and placed it around Dostler's throat for the wing's celebration of the award.[15][16]

Dostler shot down five enemy aircraft in August, extending his list of victims to 26. His final victory was scored on 18 August 1917. Three days later, Dostler attacked an obsolete British R.E.8 of No. 7 Squadron RFC and was hit with machine gun fire.[3] Dostler's airplane caught fire and exploded in midair.[17] The flaming wreckage fell near Frenzenburg, Belgium.[11]

Eduard Dostler was awarded the Military Order of Max Joseph after his death, backdated to 18 August 1917;[3] its award both entitled him to a lifetime pension and granted him a non-hereditary knighthood As a visible sign of his honor, his name posthumously became Eduard Ritter von Dostler.[18]

Decorations and awards

Footnote

  1. ↑ Previous award of the Second Class was a prerequisite.

Inline citations

  1. 1 2 Franks, Bailey & Guest 1993, pp. 101–102.
  2. ↑ VanWyngarden & Dempsey 2004, p. 18.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Franks, Bailey & Guest 1993, p. 101.
  4. ↑ Franks 2000, p. 24.
  5. ↑ Franks, Bailey & Guest 1993, p. 35.
  6. ↑ The Aerodrome website's page on Jasta 13
  7. ↑ VanWyngarden & Dempsey 2005, p. 10.
  8. ↑ The Aerodrome website's page of Jasta 34
  9. ↑ The Aerodrome website's page on Jasta 6
  10. ↑ The Aerodrome website's page on Jagdgeschwader I
  11. 1 2 The Aerodrome website's page on Dostler
  12. ↑ Kilduff 1997, p. 123, 127 footnote 117.
  13. ↑ The Aerodrome website's page on award of the Pour le Merite
  14. ↑ The Pour le Merite website
  15. ↑ The Aerodrome forum on PLM award ceremonies
  16. ↑ Kilduff 1997, p. 30.
  17. ↑ Kilduff 1979, p. 84.
  18. ↑ The Aerodrome website's page on the MOMJ

References

  • Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank; Guest, Russell (1993). Above the Lines: A Complete Record of the Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps 1914–1918. London, UK: Grub Street Publishing. ISBN 978-0-948817-73-1.
  • Franks, Norman (2000). Albatros Aces of World War 1. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85532-960-7.
  • Kilduff, Peter (1979). Germany's Last Knight of the Air: The Memoirs of Major Carl Degelow. William Kimber & Co. Limited. ISBN 978-0-7183-0146-0.
  • Kilduff, Peter (1997). The Red Baron Combat Wing: Jagdgeschwader Richthofen in Battle. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 978-1-85409-266-3.
  • VanWyngarden, Greg; Dempsey, Harry (2004). "Richthofen's Circus": Jagdgeschwader Nr 1. Oxford UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-726-0.
  • VanWyngarden, Greg; Dempsey, Harry (2005). Jagdgeschwader Nr II: Geschwader Berthold. Oxford UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-727-7.
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