Wilhelm Frankl | |
|---|---|
 Frankl in 1916 | |
| Born | 20 December 1893 Hamburg, Germany |
| Died | 8 April 1917 (aged 23) Vitry-Sailly, France |
| Buried | Lusienkirchhof II, Charlottenburg, German Empire |
| Allegiance | German Empire |
| Service | Luftstreitkräfte |
| Years of service | 1914–1917 |
| Rank | Leutnant |
| Unit | Feldflieger Abteilung 40; Kampfeinsitzerkommando Vaux; Jagdstaffel 4 |
| Commands | Jagdstaffel 4 |
| Awards | Pour le Mérite; Iron Cross; Royal House Order of Hohenzollern |
Wilhelm Frankl (20 December 1893 – 8 April 1917), Pour le Mérite, Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Iron Cross, was a World War I fighter ace credited with 20 aerial victories. He scored his first aerial victory with a carbine on 10 May 1915, before the Fokker Eindecker, the world's first dedicated fighter airplane, came into use. Once Frankl was equipped with an Eindecker, he became part of Germany's air superiority offensive, the Fokker Scourge, shooting down eight more enemy airplanes. He became one of the first eight aces in Germany's service, and one of its first winners of the prestigious Pour le Merite. As such, he was appointed to lead one of the world's first fighter squadrons, Jagdstaffel 4. Although he died fighting for Germany on 8 April 1917, in later years the Nazis would ignore his wartime conversion to Christianity, and expunge his heroic record because he was Jewish.[1]
- ^ "Wilhelm Frankl". Retrieved 29 April 2017.