| Erich Löwenhardt | |
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Oblt. Erich Loewenhardt wearing his Pour le Mérite, Iron Cross First Class, and Wound Badge. |
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| Born | April 7, 1897 Breslau, Silesia |
| Died | August 10, 1918 (aged 21) near Chaulnes |
| Allegiance | German Empire |
| Service/branch | Luftstreitkräfte |
| Years of service | 1914-1918 |
| Rank | Oberleutnant |
| Unit | FA(A) 265, Jasta 10 |
| Awards | Pour le Mérite |
Erich Löwenhardt (April 7, 1897 - August 10, 1918) was the 3rd highest German flying ace with 54 victories during the First World War, behind only Manfred von Richthofen and Ernst Udet.
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Löwenhardt was born in Breslau, Silesia, Germany (a son of a Doctor). As a prewar cadet he was 17 when hostilities erupted in August 1914 and saw infantry action in the East with Infantry Regiment Nr 141 of the Imperial German Army. In October 1914 he was commissioned and by 30 October had been decorated and wounded. He returned to his unit in the Carpathians. In early 1915 he received the Iron Cross 1st Class for saving five wounded men. He then transferred to the Alpine Corps.
He then volunteered for transfer to the Imperial German Army Air Service. Löwenhardt qualified as an observer, then completed pilot training in 1916. Following service in two-seaters with FAA 265 he transferred to fighters and joined Jagdstaffel 10 in March 1917. In June 1917 "Jasta" 10 became one of the four squadrons in Manfred von Richthofen's Jagdgeschwader 1 (wing), and the 20-year-old flier soon made a name for himself. By year's end he had eight victories, and upon doubling his score he became the commander of Jasta 10 on 1 April 1918.
Löwenhardt had several close calls in his career as a pilot, including force-landing slightly wounded in September 1917, a near failure with a parachute in June 1918 and an incident on 6 November 1917, in which his Albatros DV sustained severe damage to the lower right wing after a flak shell tore the fabric to pieces and damaged the ribs inside it. Eventually, it was completely wrenched off; he successfully landed at his aerodrome, although his machine did crash after it hit a rabbit hole on the strip (he walked away, badly shaken but not seriously injured).
Oberleutnant Löwenhardt was an aggressive, skilled fighter whose score grew steadily. At the end of May 1918 he received Prussia's highest honour, the Pour le Mérite (Blue Max) after 24 kills. Flying the new Fokker D.VII, he added eight more in June and no fewer than 16 in July. His tally climbed to 53 on 9 August.
The next day, August 10, 1918, Oblt. Löwenhardt shot down a British SE-5 fighter of No. 56 Squadron RAF near Chaulnes (Somme area of France). However, he collided with another Fokker D.VII (of Jasta 11) flown by Leutnant Alfred Wenz, (who bailed out successfully) and though he jumped from his aircraft, his parachute failed to open, and Löwenhardt plummeted to his death from around 12,000 feet. His body was recovered 4 days later. He was 21.
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