Fritz Rumey

Fritz Rumey (March 3, 1891 September 27, 1918)

Pour le Mrite, Golden Military Merit Cross was a
German ghter pilot in the First World War, credited with
45 victories.[1]

32 Squadron, who survived). With the top wing of his

Fokker D.VII smashed to pieces (his plane thus driven
out of control), he bailed out. The spin that his aeroplane
was in, however, caused his parachute to open incorrectly
when he threw it from the cockpit.

Another suggests Lieutenant Frank Hale (7 victories) of

32 Squadron actually shot Rumey down, while Rumeys
squadron comrades believed that his full throttle diving
A pre-war infantryman with the 45th Infantry regiment, pursuit of an RAF SE5a caused the fabric to peel o the
he saw action against the Russians and was decorated with upper wing of his aircraft.
the Iron Cross 2nd class. Subsequently in August 1915 Whichever account is true, when he jumped from his
he applied for aviation duty and completed an observers damaged machine, his parachute failed entirely, sendcourse and served with Fliegerabteilung (Artillerie) 219. ing the 27-year-old ace plummeting to the ground beLater he was accepted for pilot training and when he com- low (from 1,000 feet up according to Lawsons account).
pleted his training, he was sent to France in early 1917, Rumey did not survive.
serving for a brief period with Jasta Boelcke, and then
went to Jagdstael 5 on 10 June 1917. He served as a Fritz Rumeys tally of 45 victories was almost entirely
Vizefeldwebel, along with Josef Mai and Otto Knnecke, over enemy ghter planes. He shot down more enas one of the three NCO pilots who ew together and emy scouts (35) than Manfred von Richthofen, the Red
[1]
scored 40% of the squadrons successes, and were known Baron.
as The Golden Triumvirate. His personal marking on
the aircraft he used was a demons head.

Service career

3 References

Rumeys rst victim was a British observation balloon,

amed on July 6, 1917. His third was over British ace
Captain Gerald Crole (5 victories) of 43 Squadron, who
was taken prisoner. Rumey was wounded on 25 August
1917, and again on 24 September. By years end he was
credited with ve victories.

[1] Fritz Rumey. The Aerodrome. Retrieved 2012-11-10.

When the war began, Rumey was serving with the 45th
Infantry Regiment. After serving with the 3rd Grenadier
Regiment on the Russian Front, he transferred to the German Air Force in the summer of 1915. Serving rst as an
observer with FA(A) 219, he completed Jastaschule and
was assigned to Jasta 2 in May 1917. ...

Rumey continued to accrue single victories throughout

the rst half of 1918. He killed ace Lt. James Dawe (8
victories) of No. 24 Squadron on 7 June 1918, for his
23rd claim. This same day he was commissioned as a
leutnant. He brought down and killed Canadian ace Lt.
Edward C. Eaton of No. 65 Squadron on 26 June 1918.
About this time, he switched to a yellow Fokker D.VII.

4 Further reading
Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank W. & Guest, Russell (1993). Above the Lines: A Complete Record
of the Fighter Aces of the German Air Service, Naval
Air Service, and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914-1918.
London, UK: Grub Street. ISBN 978-0948817731.

With 29 victories to his credit, Leutnant Rumey received

the coveted Pour le Mrite in July 1918. This made him
one of only ve pilots to have received both this award and
the Golden Military Merit Cross. He went scoreless in
August but in September, shot down 16 aircraft, a gure
only surpassed by Franz Bchner.

Franks, Norman & Van Wyngarden, Greg (2004).

Fokker D VII Aces of World War I: Part 2. London,
UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1841767291.

Killed in action

Franks, Norman (2000). Albatros Aces of World

War I. London, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 9781855329607.

There are conicting accounts of Fritz Rumeys death.

One theory was that he was killed after a mid-air collision with the SE5a of Captain G. E. B. Lawson (No.
1

5 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

5.1

Text

Fritz Rumey Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Rumey?oldid=708882434 Contributors: GCarty, Lupo, Rich Farmbrough, Bender235, Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ), Olessi, FlaBot, Wavelength, Tresckow, Retired username, Gerhard51, Bota47, Hmains, Bluebot,
Harryurz, Nobunaga24, -js-, Btillman, Cydebot, Jackyd101, JustAGal, Dawkeye, VonV, Scarlett Lily, Magioladitis, Waacstats, EyeSerene,
Horst, MisterBee1966, A4bot, McM.bot, Scoop100, SieBot, Dreamafter, Monegasque, Kumioko (renamed), Addbot, Lightbot, Yobot,
Georgejdorner, LilHelpa, Full-date unlinking bot, RjwilmsiBot, Hazard-Bot, DA - DP, KasparBot and Anonymous: 6

5.2

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Turkmenistan.airlines.frontview.arp.jpg Original artist: Turkmenistan.airlines.frontview.arp.jpg: elfuser
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5.3

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