Otto Esswein
Encyclopedia
Offizierstellvertreter Otto Esswein was a World War I flying ace
Flying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...

 credited with twelve aerial victories.
Esswein transferred from ground service to aviation in mid-1915. On 30 October 1917, he was assigned to Jasta 26. He scored his first victory, shooting down a Sopwith Camel
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...

 on 15 November. He was then slightly wounded in the right eye on the 27th.

When he returned to the squadron in early 1918, a new Fokker Dr.I
Fokker Dr.I
The Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918...

 triplane awaited him. He used it to shoot down another Camel on 2 February, three more the next day, and two more British fighters on the 5th. By 26 March 1918, he was an Überkanone with ten victories. On 31 May, he rounded off his tally at a dozen with his two last victories. He was awarded the Military Merit Cross on 3 June 1918 to join his Iron Crosses; then he was awarded his home kingdom's Württemberg Military Medal in Gold and Silver. On 16 July, in one of the pioneer usages of a parachute, he successfully bailed out of his burning plane. Five days later, he was not so lucky; he was killed in action.

Reference

Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps 1914 - 1918 Norman L. R. Franks, et al. Grub Street, 1993. ISBN 0948817739, 9780948817731.
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