World War I flying service

Quant began his victory roll as a balloon buster

Balloon buster

Balloon busters were military pilots known for destroying enemy observation balloons. These pilots were noted for their fearlessness. Seventy-six fighter pilots in World War I were each credited with destroying five or more balloons, and thus were balloon aces....

, setting a pair of observation balloons on fire on 21 May 1917. This string of wins ran until the eighth on 8 November 1917, the seventh being over British aces Arthur Taylor and William Benger

William Benger

Sergeant William Joseph Benger was a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories over German Albatros D.V fighters.Rifleman Benger was from Ewell, Surrey before military service. He served as an observer/gunner in the Bristol Two-Seater Fighters of 20 Squadron in 1917. He was injured...

. There would almost a ten month lapse before Quant resumed scoring on 27 August 1918 with a double victory. His eleventh triumph, on 1 September 1918, was over American ace John Donaldson

John Donaldson (aviator)

Captain John Owen Donaldson was a World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories.Donaldson was born in Fort Yates, North Dakota, the son of General Thomas Quinton Donaldson. He left Cornell and joined the Royal Flying Corps in Canada in March 1917. When the U. S. declared war, he...

. He then scored four more times in the next three days, and finished the war as a lieutenant.

Quant was killed in action while flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109

Messerschmitt Bf 109

The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...

 during the Fall of France in the beginning of World War II.

Reference

• Albatros Aces of World War 1: Part 1 of Albatros aces of World War I. Norman L. R. Franks. Osprey Publishing, 2000. ISBN 1855329603, 9781855329607.
• Albatros Aces of World War 1: Part 2 of Albatros aces of World War I. Norman L. R. Franks, Greg VanWyngarden. Osprey Publishing, 2007. ISBN 1846031796, 9781846031793.