German Aces of World War I

The air aces of Imperial Germany’s Luftstreitkräfte are an ever-popular subject among aviation historians, enthusiasts, war gamers, and aircraft modelers. The images of famous airmen such as Manfred von Richthofen, Ernst Udet, and Werner Voss are well known and frequently published, but the same cannot be said for all of the over 300 German airmen who achieved five or more aerial victories in the Great War. Their stories have often been published, but never have as many photographs of the aces been assembled within the pages of one volume. Of necessity these photos vary widely in style, format and quality, yet they serve to reveal a good deal of information about the pilots and the multitude of different uniforms and decorations they wore. Students of World War I aircraft will also find useful illustrations of the various machines in which these pilots attained their fame. Over 330 photographs of the aces are provided. The aces are listed in ‘score’ order, starting with the ‘Red Baron’ himself with eighty victories, and proceeding down the list to the last alphabetically ordered airman with five claims, Martin Zander. Each photograph is accompanied by a brief service history and victory total of the ace.