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Name: Ernst Udet
Orden Pour le Mérite (Blue Max)
Knight's Cross with Swords of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern
Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class		 Ernst Udet
Country: Germany
Rank: Oberleutnant
Units: FA 68
FA(A) 206
KEK Habsheim
Jasta 4, 11, 15, 37
Victories: 62
Born: 26 April 1896
Place of Birth: Frankfurt am Main
Died: 17 November 1941
Place of Death: Berlin
Cemetery: Invalidenfriedhof, Berlin Image
 
 
Udet served as a motorcycle messenger with the Württemberg Reserve Division in 1914. He learned to fly by taking private lessons and entered the German Air Force in September 1915. Flying a Fokker D.III, he scored his first victory on 18 March 1916 in a lone attack against 22 French aircraft. He scored five more victories with Jasta 15 and reportedly dueled with Georges Guynemer in June 1917. Udet would later write that during the dogfight, his guns jammed and the French ace broke off his attack when he saw Udet pounding on the breech of his machine gun. On 26 July 1917, he transferred to Jasta 37 where he scored fifteen victories. From there he transferred to Jasta 11 in March 1918 and Jasta 4 in May 1918. On 26 September 1918 he was wounded in the thigh. All of the aircraft he flew in combat were marked with "LO!" on the fuselage in honor of his fiancée, Eleonore Zink. Udet was the highest scoring German ace to survive World War I. Post war he traveled the world performing in airshows for the public. He joined the Luftwaffe in 1935 and as Quartermaster-General in World War II, foresaw his own doom and the defeat of the Luftwaffe and committed suicide in 1941. The Nazi authorities claimed he died in an accident while testing a new weapon.
 
Victories
Date Time Unit Aircraft Opponent Location
1 18 Mar 1916 1710 KEK Habsheim   Farman F40 Mulhausen
2 12 Oct 1916 1530 Jasta 15   Bréguet-Michelin Rustenhart
3 24 Dec 1916 1100 Jasta 15   Caudron G.IV Oberaspach
4 20 Feb 1917 1200 Jasta 15   Nieuport Scout Aspach
5 24 Apr 1917 1930 Jasta 15   Nieuport Chavignon
6 05 May 1917 1930 Jasta 15   SPAD VII Bois de Ville
7 14 Aug 1917 2030 Jasta 37   D.H.4 Pont-a-Vendin
8 15 Aug 1917 1025 Jasta 37   Sopwith 1½ Strutter Pont-a-Vendin
9 21 Aug 1917 0845 Jasta 37   D.H.4 (A7577) Ascq
10 17 Sep 1917 0730 Jasta 37   D.H.5 S of Izel
11 24 Sep 1917 1220 Jasta 37   Sopwith Camel E of Loos
12 28 Sep 1917 1800 Jasta 37   Sopwith Camel W of Wingles
13 28 Sep 1917 1805 Jasta 37   Sopwith Camel (6209) Vermelles
14 18 Oct 1917 1035 Jasta 37   S.E.5a Deulemont
15 28 Nov 1917 1340 Jasta 37   D.H.5 Poelcapelle
16 05 Dec 1917 1430 Jasta 37   S.E.5a Westroosebeke
17 06 Jan 1918 1615 Jasta 37   Nieuport Bixschoote
18 28 Jan 1918 1635 Jasta 37   Scout SE of Bixschoote
19 29 Jan 1918 1200 Jasta 37   Bristol F.2b Zillebeke
20 18 Feb 1918 1050 Jasta 37   Sopwith Camel Zandvoorde
u/c 09 Mar 1918 1040 Jasta 37   Sopwith Camel W of Houthem
21 27 Mar 1918 1150 Jasta 11   R.E.8 Albert
22 28 Mar 1918 0910 Jasta 11   Sopwith Camel (C8244) Albert-Bapaume
23 06 Apr 1918 1415 Jasta 11   Sopwith Camel Hamel
24 31 May 1918 1300 Jasta 4   Bréguet 14 SW of Soissons
25 02 Jun 1918 1150 Jasta 4   Bréguet 14 NW of Neuilly
26 05 Jun 1918 1200 Jasta 4   SPAD S of Buzancy
27 06 Jun 1918 1140 Jasta 4   SPAD S of Faverolles
28 07 Jun 1918 1900 Jasta 4   SPAD E of Villers-Cotterêts
29 13 Jun 1918 1745 Jasta 4   SPAD NW of Faverolles
30 14 Jun 1918 2000 Jasta 4   SPAD N of Pierre-Aigle
31 23 Jun 1918 1210 Jasta 4   Bréguet 14 La Ferté Milon
32 23 Jun 1918 2015 Jasta 4   Bréguet 14 Crouy
33 24 Jun 1918 1000 Jasta 4   Bréguet 14 Montigny
34 25 Jun 1918 1845 Jasta 4   SPAD Longpont Woods
35 25 Jun 1918 1850 Jasta 4   SPAD Chavigny Ferme
36 30 Jun 1918 2000 Jasta 4   SPAD Faverolles
37 01 Jul 1918 1145 Jasta 4   Bréguet 14 Pierrefont-Morte
38 01 Jul 1918 2055 Jasta 4   SPAD Faverolles
39 02 Jul 1918 0815 Jasta 4   Nieuport 28 (N6347) Bezu-St. Germaine
40 03 Jul 1918 0825 Jasta 4   SPAD E of Laveraine
41 01 Aug 1918 0930 Jasta 4   Nieuport 28 N of Cramaille
42 01 Aug 1918 1215 Jasta 4   Bréguet 14 Muret-Crouettes
43 01 Aug 1918 2030 Jasta 4   SPAD VII N of Bagneux
44 04 Aug 1918 2005 Jasta 4   SPAD VII N of Braisne
45 08 Aug 1918 1730 Jasta 4   S.E.5a Fontaine-le-Cappy
46 08 Aug 1918 1830 Jasta 4   S.E.5a SE of Barleux
47 08 Aug 1918 2040 Jasta 4   Sopwith Camel (D9481) SE of Foucaucourt
48 09 Aug 1918 1625 Jasta 4   Sopwith Camel S of Vauvillers
49 09 Aug 1918 2120 Jasta 4   Sopwith Camel SE of Herleville
50 10 Aug 1918 1130 Jasta 4   Sopwith Camel S of Morcourt
51 10 Aug 1918 1945 Jasta 4   Sopwith Camel E of Fay
52 11 Aug 1918 1000 Jasta 4   D.H.9 Chaulnes
53 12 Aug 1918 1130 Jasta 4   S.E.5a Péronne
54 14 Aug 1918 1900 Jasta 4   Bristol F.2b Vermandouvillers
55 15 Aug 1918 1715 Jasta 4   Sopwith Camel Herleville
56 16 Aug 1918 1040 Jasta 4   SPAD VII S of Foucaucourt
57 21 Aug 1918 1830 Jasta 4   S.E.5a S of Hébuterne
58 21 Aug 1918 1915 Jasta 4   Sopwith Camel (E1478) Courcelles
59 22 Aug 1918 0830 Jasta 4   Sopwith Camel N of Bray
60 22 Aug 1918 1230 Jasta 4   S.E.5a Maurepas
61 26 Sep 1918 1710 Jasta 4   D.H.9 Buch
62 26 Sep 1918 1720 Jasta 4   D.H.9 S of Metz
 
Books
Ace of the Iron Cross [ or try here ]
Ernest Udet / Hardcover / Arco 1981
The Fall of an Eagle
The Life of Fighter Ace Ernst Udet; Armand van Ishoven / Unknown Binding / Kimber
Ein Fliegerleben
Ernst Udet / Hardcover / Berlin 1935
Udet: A Man's Life
Biography of Ernst Udet, detailing his experiences during WWII; Hans Herlin / Hardcover / London 1960
 
Films
Udet worked as a stunt pilot in several early black and white films and starred in three Arnold Fanck movies:

The White Hell of Piz Palu ( Weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü), 1929
Storm over Mont Blanc ( Stürme über dem Mont Blanc), 1931
S.O.S Iceberg ( S.O.S. Eisberg), 1933
Miracle of Flight ( Wunder des Fliegens), 1935
 
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