The Aegean Eagle

Peter H · Post by **Peter H** » 26 May 2003 05:03

Leutnant Rudolf von Eschwege (1895-1917)achieved 20 confirmed victories on the Salonika Front in 1916/17,the only 'great' ace produced in this theatre of operations.His first posting was to Macedonia in May 1915 as a two seater recce pilot and he progressed to a fighter position in June 1916.

His fighting career spanned 1917,and was brought to an end on November 21 1917 by a ruse.Eschwege had recently displayed a penchant for attacking balloons,and on the day of his death,the British had put up a balloon with 500 Ibs of explosives in the basket.As Eschwege came in to attack the charge was exploded from the ground,the blast causing Eschwege's Halberstadt D11 to break up and killing the pilot.

From http://www.frontflieger.de

James McBride · Post by **James McBride** » 26 May 2003 05:11

Excuse my ignorance, but this pilot was of Austrian descent, right? I just checked firstworldwar.com, and I could not find the name there.

Peter H · Post by **Peter H** » 26 May 2003 08:07

Eschwege was from Hesse-Nassau,Germany and served in the cavalry before transferring to the Air Service.

A list of all German Aces can be found here:

http://users.accesscomm.ca/magnusfamily/ww1ger.htm