Vizefeldwebel Kurt Ungewitter was a German test pilot for Rumpler Flugzeugwerke and Albatros Flugzeugwerke, aircraft manufacturers in 1913. During World War I, he became a flying ace credited with seven aerial victories.[1] He died in a postwar flying accident on 14 March 1927.
Kurt Ungewitter | |
|---|---|
| Born | 13 November 1891 Elberfeld, German Empire |
| Died | 14 March 1927 (aged 35) |
| Allegiance | Germany |
| Service/ | Aviation (Luftstreitkräfte) |
| Years of service | 1913 - ca 1918 |
| Rank | Vizefeldwebel |
| Unit | Schutzstaffel 5 (Protection Squadron 5), Jagdstaffel 24 (Fighter Squadron 24) |
| Awards | Iron Cross (both classes) |
Biography edit
Kurt Ungewitter was born in Elberfeld on 13 November 1891. He had an early interest in aviation; he learned to fly in 1913 and became a test pilot for two German aircraft companies, Albatros and Rumpler until the start of the First World War.[2] On 27 February 1914, just before the First World War began, he qualified for pilot certificate No. 683.[3]
His assignments and actions in the early days of the war are unknown; however, he was still a Gefreiter when assigned to Schutzstaffel 5 (Protection squadron 5) in 1917.[2]
On 3 January 1918, Ungewitter flew a DFW C.V that attacked a British aerial photography mission flown by Keith Park and his observer. The latter, Lieutenant John Henry Robertson, fired a burst of machine gun fire into the German two-seater, which dropped away in a sharp dive. The British air crew submitted a combat report claiming a "driven down out of control" victory. It was confirmed.[4] Ungewitter also submitted a combat report claiming victory over Park and Robertson. It was denied.[2]
However, flying with Vizefeldwebel Meinke as the aerial observer manning the guns in the rear seat, Ungewitter and Meinke scored two confirmed aerial victories in early 1918, on 9 January and 18 February. Ungewitter was awarded both the Second Class and First Class Iron Cross.[2]
He was subsequently promoted, first to Unteroffizier, then to Vizefeldwebel. Though there is no mention of Ungewitter receiving the usual advanced training at Jastaschule (Fighter School), on 6 June 1918 he left Flug Park 18 (Flight Park 18) on a posting to a fighter squadron, Jagdstaffel 24. At 1940 hours on 27 June, he scored his first single-seater victory when he destroyed an observation balloon over Saint Just.[2]
Ungewitter would not score again until 23 September 1918, when he downed a Bristol F.2b Fighter at 1725 hours over Levergies. He would destroy a Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5 on morning sorties on both 3 and 8 October. A final victory over Sopwith Dolphin number C8165 from No. 87 Squadron RAF on 4 November 1918, just one week before the war ended, brought his total to seven victories.[2]
Kurt Ungewitter was killed in a flying accident on 14 March 1927.[2]
Endnotes edit
References edit
- Norman Franks, Frank W. Bailey, Russell Guest. Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918. Grub Street, 1993. ISBN 0-948817-73-9, ISBN 978-0-948817-73-1.
- Jon Guttman. Bristol F2 Fighter Aces of World War I: Volume 79 of Aircraft of the Aces: Volume 79 of Osprey Aircraft of the Aces. Osprey Publishing, 2007.
ISBN 1846032016, 9781846032011.