# List of aerial victories of Wilhelm Frankl

List of aerial victories of Wilhelm Frankl

## Background

Wilhelm Frankl (1893-1917) was a German First World War fighter ace credited with 20 confirmed aerial victories. He scored his first aerial victory with a carbine on 10 May 1915, before the Fokker Eindecker, the world's first dedicated fighter airplane, came into use. Once Frankl was equipped with an Eindecker, he became part of Germany's air superiority offensive, the Fokker Scourge, shooting down eight more enemy airplanes. He became one of the first eight aces in Germany's service, and one of its first winners of the prestigious Pour le Merite. As such, he was appointed to lead one of the world's first fighter squadrons, Jagdstaffel 4. Although he died fighting for Germany on 8 April 1917, in later years the Nazis would ignore his wartime conversion to Christianity, and expunge his heroic record because he was Jewish.

## The victory list

Wilhelm Frankl's victories are reported in chronological order, which is not necessarily the order or dates the victories were confirmed by headquarters.
| No. | Date | Time | Foe | Unit | Location | Remarks |
| 1 | 10 May 1915 | | Voisin | | | Downed with a five shot carbine |
| 2 | 10 January 1916 | | Voisin | | Woumen, Diksmuide, Belgium | |
| 3 | 19 January 1916 | | Voisin | | Woumen, Diksmuide, Belgium | No corresponding report of loss |
| 4 | 1 February 1916 | | Voisin | | Chaulnes, France | No corresponding report of loss |
| 5 | 4 May 1916 | | Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2c | No. 7 Squadron RFC | South of Warneton, France | Loss of Life: 2 Lt. Edward Gurney Ryckman, of Toronto, ON and Lieutenant John Romeyn Dennistoun of Winnipeg, Canada |
| 6 | 21 May 1916 | | Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2b | No. 20 Squadron RFC | Houthem, Belgium | |
| Unconfirmed | 1 July 1916 | | Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2c | No. 12 Squadron RFC | | |
| 7 | 2 August 1917 | p.m. | Morane-Saulnier BB | No. 26 Squadron RFC | Beaumetz, France | |
| 8 | 9 or 10 August 1916 | | Voisin? Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2d? | | | Does not match opposing losses on either date |
| 9 | 9 or 10 August 1916 | | Enemy airplane | | | No further details; no match to opposing losses on either date |
| 10 | 7 September 1916 | | Nieuport | | Northeast of Combles, France | |
| Unconfirmed | 8 September 1916 | | Caudron | | | |
| 11 | 15 September 1916 | | Nieuport | | Peronne, France | |
| 12 | 17 September 1916 | 1135 hours | Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2b | No. 11 Squadron RFC | Equancourt, France | |
| Unconfirmed | 22 September 1916 | | Royal Aircraft Factory BE.12 | No. 19 Squadron RFC | Near Le Transloy, France | Victory awarded to a Jagdstaffel 2 pilot |
| 13 | 26 September 1916 | 0920 hours | Caudron | | Rancourt, France | |
| 14 | 10 October 1916 | 1330 hours | Nieuport | | Villers-Carbonnel, France | |
| 15 | 22 October 1916 | 1145 hours | Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter | No. 45 Squadron RFC | Driencourt, France | |
| 16 | 6 April 1916 | 0730 hours | Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2b | No. 100 Squadron RFC | Quiéry-la-Motte, France | |
| 17 | 6 April 1917 | 0850 hours | Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2b | No. 11 Squadron RFC | Fauchy | |
| 18 | 6 April 1917 | 0855 hours | Royal Aircraft Factory FE.2b | No. 11 Squadron RFC | Arras, France | |
| 19 | 6 April 1917 | 0955 hours | Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2c | No. 2 Squadron RFC | Douai, France | |
| 20 | 7 April 1917 | 1925 hours | Nieuport 17 | No. 60 Squadron RFC | Southeast of Fampoux, France | |
Background information from Above the Lines and The Aerodrome website. Supplemental information cited in individual victories and claims. Abbreviations were expanded by the editor creating this list.

## Citations

* 1 2 Franks, Bailey & Guest 1993, pp. 108–109.
* 1 2 The Aerodrome webpage on Wilhelm Frankl
* ↑ Franks 2001, p. 46.
* ↑ Franks 2001, p. 51.
* ↑ Franks 2001, p. 53.
* ↑ "Second Lieutenant Edward Gurney Ryckman". Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
* ↑ "Lieutenant John Romeyn Dennistoun". Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
* ↑ Franks 2001, pp. 111–112.
* ↑ Franks 2001, p. 128.
* ↑ Franks 2001, pp. 129–130.
* ↑ VanWyngarden 2006, pp. 78–79.
* ↑ VanWyngarden 2006, pp. 79–80.

## Sources

* Franks, Norman (2001). Sharks Among Minnows: Germany's First Fighter Pilots and the Fokker Eindecker Period, July 1915 to September 1916. London: Grub Street Publishing. ISBN 9781902304922.
* Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank; Guest, Russell (1993). Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918. London UK: Grub Street Publishing. ISBN 978-0-948817-73-1.
* VanWyngarden, Greg (2006). Early German Aces of World War I. Oxford UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-997-4.