Kurt Wintgens
Encyclopedia
Leutnant Kurt Wintgens (1 August 1894 - 25 September 1916) was a German World War I fighter ace
. He was the first military fighter pilot to score a victory over an opposing aircraft in an aircraft armed with a synchronized machine gun
. Wintgens was the recipient of the Iron Cross
and the Blue Max
.
/Oder
as a Fahnenjunker (cadet officer) in 1913.
as a leutnant and won the Iron Cross
, 2nd Class. On transferring to the German Air Service
, Wintgens flew first as an observer
, apparently alternating with telegraph duty. However, in early 1915 he entered pilot training at the Fokker
school in Schwerin
, where Leutnant Otto Parschau
had already been brought in by the Fokker factory to prepare an example of an armed (with a Parabellum MG14
synchronized gun) version of the Fokker A.III single-seat monoplane, with serial number A.16/15, for front-line trials. Wintgens specifically requested the chance "to fly in the field the smallest and fastest Fokker type with the Garros-installation, which enabled a built-in machine gun to fire through the propeller." With that background he was selected, along with Leutnant Parschau, as one of the first Fokker Eindecker
pilots, flying single-seaters that had been assigned to fly alone with various two-seater-equipped field flying detachments, starting with the Bavarian Feldflieger Abteilung
6b, then based near Saarburg
.
In the early summer of 1915, the initial deployments of Fokker Eindecker fighter planes began. These were carried out only with single aircraft, with each one attached to established Feldflieger Abteilung
two-seat observation aircraft units, each unit normally equipped with six two-seaters apiece.
Wintgens was one of the very few frontline military fighter pilots to ever be allowed to wear prescription eyewear while flying in combat, as he wore "hard-bridge" style pince-nez
glasses for vision correction, under his pilot's goggles. The practice seems to have been limited almost exclusively to the Luftstreitkräfte
.
Wintgens holds a unique pioneering role in the history of aerial combat, being the first fighter pilot to down an enemy aircraft using a synchronized gun. On July 1, 1915, Leutnant Wintgens was flying the last-produced example of the five Fokker M.5K/MG production prototype Eindecker aircraft, with German military serial number E.5/15, and at 1800 that evening he engaged a Morane-Saulnier Type L
"Parasol" two-seater. The French aircraft was most likely from Escadrille M.S.48, and flown by one Capitaine Paul du Peuty, with Sous-Lieutenant de Boutiny as the observer. The French aviators reported that they were engaged by a "Fokker Monoplane" at 1,300 meters over the Fôret de Parroy, near the village of Lunéville
. The French aircraft was armed with only a carbine
, while the Fokker had a forward-firing, synchronized Parabellum MG14
machine gun. After a few minutes of combat with the Fokker, de Peuty was wounded in the lower right leg. The Eindecker seemed to have been hit by de Boutiny's carbine fire. De Boutiny had exhausted all of his carbine ammunition, leaving his own aircraft defenseless, which gave the Eindecker the advantage, and shortly thereafter the Eindecker likewise wounded de Boutiny in the leg. Despite their injuries, the French aircrew landed their Morane parasol safely, in friendly territory, although their own engine had been hit by E.5/15's machine gun fire, with the combat taking place in the Lorraine sector. However, because the Morane landed in Allied territory, Wintgens was not credited with an official victory. Wintgens would down another "Parasol" in similar circumstances three days later, again unconfirmed.
, within the much-disputed Alsace
border region of northeast France, that had been annexed by the Reich
in 1871. On July 15, Wintgens scored his first "recognized" aerial victory, still flying his E.5/15 Eindecker, and once again downing a Morane Parasol for this victory - the very first "official" victory by an Eindecker pilot, and the first confirmed victory using a synchronized machine gun. Wintgens' victory was the very first for his unit, and earned him an Iron Cross First Class.
He followed up with two more confirmed victories in 1915, as well as an unconfirmed one on 24 January 1916. Wintgens then suffered from a lingering case of influenza that kept him from flying. He would not score again until 20 May 1916, when he shot down a two-seater Nieuport while flying for FFA 6. The following day, the engines of the Caudron
he downed augered a meter and a half in the earth after a 4,000 meter crash. Needless to note, the crew did not survive.
On June 24, 1916, Wintgens (possibly flying a Halberstadt D.II
) achieved his seventh confirmed victory when he confronted a Nieuport 16
, flown by the then-wounded Lafayette Escadrille
American pilot Victor Chapman
, who had been wounded by fellow Eindecker pilot Walter Höhndorf
just a week earlier. Chapman was killed in the crash, the first American fighter aviator flying in World War I to lose his life in an aerial engagement.
Shortly afterwards, on 1 July 1916, Wintgens became the fourth airman to receive the 'Blue Max', after he had completed the required (at the time) eight victories over enemy aircraft. Wintgens continued to score throughout the summer and into the autumn. He continued to use the Fokker E.IV even as his contemporaries upgraded; Hans-Joachim Buddecke's writings mention Wintgens blipping the Fokker's rotary engine on and off as a signal to waiting squadron members that a flight had been victorious. As he entered September, Wintgens remained the third-ranking Eindecker ace, behind Oswald Boelcke
and Max Immelmann
, with some 14 victories in the Fokker monoplane.
On 25 September, Wintgens flew his E.IV on patrol along with his friend Walter Höhndorf. It is claimed that they went to the assistance of a two-seater flown by Josef Veltjens
, which was under attack by French scouts. After downing at least 19 aircraft (with probables and force-downs, as high as 22) in air combat, Wintgens was killed in action near Villers-Carbonnel
, probably by French ace Alfred Heurteaux, for Heurteaux's eighth aerial victory.http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/heurtaux.php Heurteaux was most likely flying one of the early examples of the SPAD S.VII
fighter. Höhndorf rushed back to base to sorrowfully report that Wintgens' plane broke up under the impact of "explosive bullets". Josef Jacobs
remarked in his diary that recovery of Wintgens' body from No Man's Land
was difficult. Buddecke blamed the crash on a severed elevator spar, and noted that Wintgens showed no bullet wounds. Two days later, Wintgens was laid to rest in the same French graveyard that already contained the body of his fellow Fokker Eindecker pioneering pilot, Otto Parschau
.
Fighter Ace
Fighter Ace was a massively multiplayer online computer game in which one flies World War II fighter and bomber planes in combat against other players and virtual pilots...
. He was the first military fighter pilot to score a victory over an opposing aircraft in an aircraft armed with a synchronized machine gun
Interrupter gear
An interrupter gear is a device used on military aircraft and warships in order to allow them to target opponents without damaging themselves....
. Wintgens was the recipient of the Iron Cross
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
and the Blue Max
Pour le Mérite
The Pour le Mérite, known informally as the Blue Max , was the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order for German soldiers until the end of World War I....
.
Background
Wintgens was born into a military family in Neustadt an der Saale. His military service commenced when he joined the Telegraphen-Bataillon Nr. 2 in FrankfurtFrankfurt (Oder)
Frankfurt is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, located on the Oder River, on the German-Polish border directly opposite the town of Słubice which was a part of Frankfurt until 1945. At the end of the 1980s it reached a population peak with more than 87,000 inhabitants...
/Oder
Oder
The Oder is a river in Central Europe. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line...
as a Fahnenjunker (cadet officer) in 1913.
Involvement in 1st World War
Though still in military school when the war began in 1914, Wintgens was sent to the Eastern FrontEastern Front (World War I)
The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front. Despite the geographical separation, the events in the two theatres strongly influenced each other...
as a leutnant and won the Iron Cross
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
, 2nd Class. On transferring to the German Air Service
Luftstreitkräfte
The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte , known before October 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , or simply Die Fliegertruppen, was the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I...
, Wintgens flew first as an observer
Observation
Observation is either an activity of a living being, such as a human, consisting of receiving knowledge of the outside world through the senses, or the recording of data using scientific instruments. The term may also refer to any data collected during this activity...
, apparently alternating with telegraph duty. However, in early 1915 he entered pilot training at the Fokker
Anthony Fokker
Anton Herman Gerard "Anthony" Fokker was a Dutch aviation pioneer and an aircraft manufacturer. He is most famous for the fighter aircraft he produced in Germany during the First World War such as the Eindecker monoplanes, the Fokker Triplane the and the Fokker D.VII, but after the collapse of...
school in Schwerin
Schwerin
Schwerin is the capital and second-largest city of the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The population, as of end of 2009, was 95,041.-History:...
, where Leutnant Otto Parschau
Otto Parschau
Leutnant Otto Parschau was a German World War I Flying Ace and recipient of the Pour le Mérite, Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, and Iron Cross, First Class. He was noted as one of the pre-eminent aces on the Fokker Eindecker...
had already been brought in by the Fokker factory to prepare an example of an armed (with a Parabellum MG14
Parabellum MG14
The Parabellum MG14 was a 7.9 mm caliber World War I machine gun built by Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken. It was an adaptation of their Maschinengewehr 08 gun intended for use on aircraft and zeppelins. The MG08's belt-style ammunition feed was enclosed in a drum, the recoil casing was...
synchronized gun) version of the Fokker A.III single-seat monoplane, with serial number A.16/15, for front-line trials. Wintgens specifically requested the chance "to fly in the field the smallest and fastest Fokker type with the Garros-installation, which enabled a built-in machine gun to fire through the propeller." With that background he was selected, along with Leutnant Parschau, as one of the first Fokker Eindecker
Fokker Eindecker
The Fokker Eindecker was a German World War I monoplane single-seat fighter aircraft designed by Dutch engineer Anthony Fokker. Developed in April 1915, the Eindecker was the first purpose-built German fighter aircraft and the first aircraft to be fitted with synchronizer gear, enabling the pilot...
pilots, flying single-seaters that had been assigned to fly alone with various two-seater-equipped field flying detachments, starting with the Bavarian Feldflieger Abteilung
Feldflieger Abteilung
Feldflieger Abteilung or Field Flying Companies were the pioneering field aviation units of the Luftstreitkräfte in World War I.-Composition:...
6b, then based near Saarburg
Saarburg
Saarburg is a city of the Trier-Saarburg district in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany, on the banks of the Saar River in the hilly country a few kilometers upstream from the Saar's junction with the Moselle....
.
In the early summer of 1915, the initial deployments of Fokker Eindecker fighter planes began. These were carried out only with single aircraft, with each one attached to established Feldflieger Abteilung
Feldflieger Abteilung
Feldflieger Abteilung or Field Flying Companies were the pioneering field aviation units of the Luftstreitkräfte in World War I.-Composition:...
two-seat observation aircraft units, each unit normally equipped with six two-seaters apiece.
Wintgens was one of the very few frontline military fighter pilots to ever be allowed to wear prescription eyewear while flying in combat, as he wore "hard-bridge" style pince-nez
Pince-nez
Pince-nez are a style of spectacles, popular in the 19th century, which are supported without earpieces, by pinching the bridge of the nose. The name comes from French pincer, to pinch, and nez, nose....
glasses for vision correction, under his pilot's goggles. The practice seems to have been limited almost exclusively to the Luftstreitkräfte
Luftstreitkräfte
The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte , known before October 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , or simply Die Fliegertruppen, was the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I...
.
First victory using a synchronized gun
Wintgens holds a unique pioneering role in the history of aerial combat, being the first fighter pilot to down an enemy aircraft using a synchronized gun. On July 1, 1915, Leutnant Wintgens was flying the last-produced example of the five Fokker M.5K/MG production prototype Eindecker aircraft, with German military serial number E.5/15, and at 1800 that evening he engaged a Morane-Saulnier Type L
Morane-Saulnier Type L
-Bibliography:* Bruce, J.M. The Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps . London:Putnam, 1982. ISBN 0 370 30084 x.* Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. The Complete Book of Fighters. New York: Smithmark, 1994. ISBN 0-8317-3939-8....
"Parasol" two-seater. The French aircraft was most likely from Escadrille M.S.48, and flown by one Capitaine Paul du Peuty, with Sous-Lieutenant de Boutiny as the observer. The French aviators reported that they were engaged by a "Fokker Monoplane" at 1,300 meters over the Fôret de Parroy, near the village of Lunéville
Lunéville
Lunéville is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in France.It is a sub-prefecture of the department and lies on the Meurthe River.-History:...
. The French aircraft was armed with only a carbine
Carbine
A carbine , from French carabine, is a longarm similar to but shorter than a rifle or musket. Many carbines are shortened versions of full rifles, firing the same ammunition at a lower velocity due to a shorter barrel length....
, while the Fokker had a forward-firing, synchronized Parabellum MG14
Parabellum MG14
The Parabellum MG14 was a 7.9 mm caliber World War I machine gun built by Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken. It was an adaptation of their Maschinengewehr 08 gun intended for use on aircraft and zeppelins. The MG08's belt-style ammunition feed was enclosed in a drum, the recoil casing was...
machine gun. After a few minutes of combat with the Fokker, de Peuty was wounded in the lower right leg. The Eindecker seemed to have been hit by de Boutiny's carbine fire. De Boutiny had exhausted all of his carbine ammunition, leaving his own aircraft defenseless, which gave the Eindecker the advantage, and shortly thereafter the Eindecker likewise wounded de Boutiny in the leg. Despite their injuries, the French aircrew landed their Morane parasol safely, in friendly territory, although their own engine had been hit by E.5/15's machine gun fire, with the combat taking place in the Lorraine sector. However, because the Morane landed in Allied territory, Wintgens was not credited with an official victory. Wintgens would down another "Parasol" in similar circumstances three days later, again unconfirmed.
Subsequent actions
A fortnight after his initial success, Wintgens was posted to Feld Flieger Abteilung 48, based at Mülhausen im ElsaßMulhouse
Mulhouse |mill]] hamlet) is a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. With a population of 110,514 and 278,206 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2006, it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin département, and the second largest in the Alsace region after...
, within the much-disputed Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
border region of northeast France, that had been annexed by the Reich
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
in 1871. On July 15, Wintgens scored his first "recognized" aerial victory, still flying his E.5/15 Eindecker, and once again downing a Morane Parasol for this victory - the very first "official" victory by an Eindecker pilot, and the first confirmed victory using a synchronized machine gun. Wintgens' victory was the very first for his unit, and earned him an Iron Cross First Class.
He followed up with two more confirmed victories in 1915, as well as an unconfirmed one on 24 January 1916. Wintgens then suffered from a lingering case of influenza that kept him from flying. He would not score again until 20 May 1916, when he shot down a two-seater Nieuport while flying for FFA 6. The following day, the engines of the Caudron
Caudron
The Caudron Airplane Company was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 by brothers Gaston Caudron and René Caudron . It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for the military in both World War I and World War II...
he downed augered a meter and a half in the earth after a 4,000 meter crash. Needless to note, the crew did not survive.
On June 24, 1916, Wintgens (possibly flying a Halberstadt D.II
Halberstadt D.II
The Halberstadt D.II was a biplane fighter aircraft of the Luftstreitkräfte that served through the period of Allied air superiority in early 1916, but had begun to be superseded in the Jagdstaffeln by the superior Albatros fighters by the autumn of that year.-Design and development:The D.II was...
) achieved his seventh confirmed victory when he confronted a Nieuport 16
Nieuport 11
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Angelucci, Enzio, ed. The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft. New York: The Military Press, 1983. ISBN 0-517-41021-4....
, flown by the then-wounded Lafayette Escadrille
Lafayette Escadrille
The Lafayette Escadrille , was an escadrille of the French Air Service, the Aéronautique militaire, during World War I composed largely of American volunteer pilots flying fighters.-History:Dr. Edmund L...
American pilot Victor Chapman
Victor Chapman
Victor S. Chapman was a French-American pilot remembered for his exploits during World War I.-Growing up:...
, who had been wounded by fellow Eindecker pilot Walter Höhndorf
Walter Höhndorf
Leutnant Walter Höhndorf was a pioneer aviator, test pilot, airplane designer and constructor, and fighter ace during World War I. He was credited with twelve aerial victories.-Early life:...
just a week earlier. Chapman was killed in the crash, the first American fighter aviator flying in World War I to lose his life in an aerial engagement.
Shortly afterwards, on 1 July 1916, Wintgens became the fourth airman to receive the 'Blue Max', after he had completed the required (at the time) eight victories over enemy aircraft. Wintgens continued to score throughout the summer and into the autumn. He continued to use the Fokker E.IV even as his contemporaries upgraded; Hans-Joachim Buddecke's writings mention Wintgens blipping the Fokker's rotary engine on and off as a signal to waiting squadron members that a flight had been victorious. As he entered September, Wintgens remained the third-ranking Eindecker ace, behind Oswald Boelcke
Oswald Boelcke
Oswald Boelcke was a German flying ace of the First World War and one of the most influential patrol leaders and tacticians of the early years of air combat. Boelcke is considered the father of the German fighter air force, as well as the "Father of Air Fighting Tactics"; he was the first to...
and Max Immelmann
Max Immelmann
Max Immelmann was the first German World War I flying ace. He was a great pioneer in fighter aviation and is often mistakenly credited with the first aerial victory using a synchronized gun...
, with some 14 victories in the Fokker monoplane.
On 25 September, Wintgens flew his E.IV on patrol along with his friend Walter Höhndorf. It is claimed that they went to the assistance of a two-seater flown by Josef Veltjens
Josef Veltjens
Josef "Seppl" Veltjens Pour le Mérite, Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Iron Cross was a World War I fighter ace credited with 35 victories...
, which was under attack by French scouts. After downing at least 19 aircraft (with probables and force-downs, as high as 22) in air combat, Wintgens was killed in action near Villers-Carbonnel
Villers-Carbonnel
Villers-Carbonnel is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:The commune is situated 25 miles east of Amiens, at the N17 and N29 crossroads.-Population:-External links:*...
, probably by French ace Alfred Heurteaux, for Heurteaux's eighth aerial victory.http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/heurtaux.php Heurteaux was most likely flying one of the early examples of the SPAD S.VII
SPAD S.VII
The SPAD S.VII was the first of a series of highly successful biplane fighter aircraft produced by Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés during the First World War. Like its successors, the S.VII was renowned as a sturdy and rugged aircraft with good climbing and diving characteristics...
fighter. Höhndorf rushed back to base to sorrowfully report that Wintgens' plane broke up under the impact of "explosive bullets". Josef Jacobs
Josef Jacobs
Josef Carl Peter Jacobs was a German flying ace with 48 victories during the First World War. His total tied him with Werner Voss for fourth place among German aces.-Background:...
remarked in his diary that recovery of Wintgens' body from No Man's Land
No Man's Land
No man's land is an unoccupied area between two opposing positions.No Man's Land may also refer to:-Places:In the United Kingdom* No Man's Land, Cornwall, England* No Man's Land Fort, off the coast of England* Nomansland, Devon, England...
was difficult. Buddecke blamed the crash on a severed elevator spar, and noted that Wintgens showed no bullet wounds. Two days later, Wintgens was laid to rest in the same French graveyard that already contained the body of his fellow Fokker Eindecker pioneering pilot, Otto Parschau
Otto Parschau
Leutnant Otto Parschau was a German World War I Flying Ace and recipient of the Pour le Mérite, Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, and Iron Cross, First Class. He was noted as one of the pre-eminent aces on the Fokker Eindecker...
.