Otto Esswein
Otto Esswein | |
---|---|
Born | Waiblingen, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire | 3 March 1890
Died | 21 July 1918 near Hartennes-et-Taux, France | (aged 28)
Allegiance | German Empire |
Service/ | Imperial German Air Service |
Rank | Offizierstellvertreter |
Unit | Jagdstaffel 26 |
Awards | Military Merit Cross; Iron Cross First and Second Class; Württemberg's Military Merit Order |
Offizierstellvertreter Otto Esswein (3 March 1890 – 21 July 1918) was a German World War I flying ace credited with twelve aerial victories.[1][2]
Early life
[edit]Otto Esswein was born in Waiblingen, in the Kingdom of Württemberg within the German Empire, on 3 March 1890.[1]
Aviation service
[edit]Details of Esswein's entry into military service are not available. However, Esswein transferred from ground service to aviation in mid-1915. On 30 October 1917, he was assigned to Jagdstaffel 26. He scored his first victory, shooting down a Sopwith Camel on 15 November.[2] He was then slightly wounded in the right eye on 27 November.[1]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/Fordi-2.jpg/250px-Fordi-2.jpg)
When he returned to the squadron in early 1918, a new Fokker Dr.I 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, one of which was the Royal Aircraft Factory SE-5 of No. 84 Squadron RFC's Lt. Cyril Ball, brother of English ace Albert Ball. By 26 March 1918, he was a double ace with ten victories. On 31 May, he increased his tally to a dozen with his two last victories.[2] He was awarded the Military Merit Cross on 3 June 1918 to join his Iron Crosses, and later awarded his home kingdom's Military Merit Order. On 16 July, in one of the pioneer usages of a parachute, he successfully bailed out of his burning plane after being shot down attacking a balloon. Five days later he was unable to repeat the feat and was killed in action in another flaming aircraft[1] over Hartennes-et-Taux, France.[2]
Sources of information
[edit]References
[edit]- Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank W.; Guest, Russell (1993). Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918. Grub Street. ISBN 0-948817-73-9, ISBN 978-0-948817-73-1.
- 1890 births
- 1918 deaths
- Aviators killed by being shot down
- German military personnel killed in World War I
- German World War I flying aces
- Luftstreitkräfte personnel
- Military personnel of the Kingdom of Württemberg
- People from Waiblingen
- Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class
- Military personnel from Baden-Württemberg