Friedrich Navratil

Name:

Friedrich Navratil

Country:

Austro-Hungarian Empire

Rank:

Oberleutnant

Units:

Flik 3J, 41J

Victories:

Born:

19 July 1893

Place of Birth:

Sarajevo

Died:

7/8 June 1947

Place of Death:

Zagreb, Yugoslavia

Friedrich Navratil attended Infantry Cadet School in Libenau and served with the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Infantry Regiment No. 1 on the Serb front where he was wounded twice in 1914. His regiment then saw action on the Italian, Montenegrin and Romanian fronts. During this time Navratil was promoted to Oberleutnant and was wounded again in December 1916. The following month, he transferred to the LFT and received training as an observer at Wiener-Neustadr. In July 1917 he was posted to Flik 13 at Galicia and was transferred to Flik 11 in October of that year. After pilot training in November 1917, Navratil scored one victory with Flik 41J before assuming command of Flik 3J on 9 June 1918. With this unit he scored nine more victories by the end of the war. Post-war, he served in the Yugoslavian air force and was, for a time, the Croatian Minister of War during World War II. Navratil was convicted of war crimes and executed in 1947.

Victories

	Date	Time	Unit	Aircraft	Opponent	Location
1	14 Apr 1918	a.m.	Flik 41J	Albatros D.III (153.157)	Sopwith Camel	Arcade
2	28 Jun 1918		Flik 3J	Albatros D.III (153.198)	SPAD	Zugna
3	16 Jul 1918		Flik 3J	Albatros D.III (253.06)	Hanriot	Val del Concei
4	16 Jul 1918		Flik 3J	Albatros D.III (253.06)	Hanriot	Val del Concei
5	23 Jul 1918	a.m.	Flik 3J	Albatros D.III (253.06)	Bristol F.2b	Mattarello
6	05 Aug 1918		Flik 3J	Albatros D.III (253.06)	SIA 7b	Near Romagnano
7	10 Aug 1918		Flik 3J	Albatros D.III (253.06)	Scout	Monte Pasubio
8	16 Aug 1918	a.m.	Flik 3J	Albatros D.III (253.06)	Bristol F.2b	Trento
9	23 Aug 1918	a.m.	Flik 3J	Albatros D.III (253.06)	Bristol F.2b	Gardolo airfield
10	31 Aug 1918		Flik 3J	Albatros D.III (253.06)	EA	E of Monte Pasubio

Books

Above the War Fronts: by Norman L. R. Franks, Russell Guest, Gregory Alegi / Hardcover / Grub Street (September 1997)
Air Aces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1914-1918: by Dr. Martin O'Connor / Hardcover / Flying Machines Press (January 1986)
Austro-Hungarian Aces of World War 1: by Chris Chant, Mark Rolfe (Illustrator) / Paperback / Osprey Publishing (February 25, 2002)