Still sidetracked somewhat on the Great War air research. Sorry if this does not hold the interest of many of you. I have been examining the list of the first German aviators who received the Pour le Merite, commonly called the Blue Max, named after its first recipient, Max Immelmann. A total of 13 pilots were awarded the Blue Max in 1916. These first recipients are (name, number of victories, dates, date of death, age, and any notes):
1. Max Immelmann (8): 12 January 1916, KIA 18 June 1916 (25)
2. Oswald Boelcke (8): 12 January 1916, KIA (mid-air collision) 28 October 1916 (25)
3. Hans-Joachim Buddecke (7): 14 April 1916, KIA 10 March 1918 (27)
4. Kurt Wintgens (8): 1 July 1916, KIA 25 September 1916 (22)
5. Max Ritter von Mulzer (8): 8 July 1916, KIA 26 September 1916 (23)
6. Otto Parschau (8): 10 July 1916, KIA 21 July 1916 (25)
7. Walter Hoehndorf (8), 20 July 1916, Crashed 5 September 1917 (24)
8. Ernst Freiherr von Althaus (8): 21 July 1916, died 1946 (56)
9. Wilhelm Frankl (6 or 9): 16 July 1916 or 12 August 1916, KIA (wing failure) 8 April 1917 (23) – Jewish, converted to Christianity in 1917.
10. Rudolf Berthold (8): 12 October 1916, killed in Kapp Putsch 15 May 1920 (28)
11. Gustav Leffers (8): 5 November 1916, KIA 27 December 1916 (21)
12. Albert Dossenbach (9): 11 November 1916, KIA 3 July 1917 (26) – two-seater pilot at time of award
13. Hans Berr (10): 4 December 1916, KIA (mid-air collision) 6 April 1917 (26)
I believe that these are all the airmen that had been awarded the Blue Max in 1916. Of those, 11 died during the war, one died violently shortly after the war, and only one died of natural causes.
According to website The Aerodrome, 81 German military aviators were awarded the Blue Max. 76 army aviators and 5 naval aviators. They also provide a listing of the 62 German aces who won it. A total of 687 Pour le Merite were awarded during the Great War.
Let me know if there is anything I have missed in this listing. Note that I have two different dates given for when Wilhelm Frankl was awarded the Blue Max.
