Hans - Joachim Buddecke Hans - Joachim Buddecke ( 22 August 1890 – 10 March 1918 ) was a German Flying Ace in World War I , credited with thirteen victories . He was the third ace , after Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke , to earn the Blue Max ( Pour le Mérite ) . He saw combat in three theaters during the First World War : Bulgaria , Turkey , and the Western Front . Background . Buddecke was born in Berlin and followed his father ' s footsteps into the Army . In 1904 , he started as a Cadet ; in 1910 , he received his commission as Leutnant in the 115th Life Guards Infantry Regiment . He left the army in 1913 due to his little time for a social life and his new enthusiasm for flying . In the same year , he moved to the USA to start a new life . There , he worked as a mechanic at a car factory in Indianapolis . By saving his earnings , he soon was able to buy his own aircraft ( a Nieuport monoplane ) and he immediately taught himself how to fly . On the day Buddecke started his own aircraft production company , war was declared and he abandoned his business plans and returned to Germany . Travelling under a fake name , Buddecke crossed the Atlantic in the Greek ship " Athene " to Palermo ( Italy ) . After he arrived in Europe , he immediately made his way home to join the German Flying Service . Involvement in World War 1 . Buddecke was sent to the Western Front in September 1914 . Initially he flew as an observer but soon he would become a single - seater fighter pilot with FFA 23 . Because of his previous experience on monoplanes , Buddecke ' s good friend , Rudolph Berthold , suggested that he should fly the first of the Fokker Eindecker aircraft delivered to the unit . Buddecke and Berhold , flying the Eindecker and an AEG G . II , respectively , formed a small " Kampfstaffel " within the unit , intercepting British reconnaissance aircraft . Buddecke scored his first three victories during this assignment . Buddecke scored his and the new unit ' s first victory on 19 September 1915 ; a B . E . 2c of No 8 Squadron RFC , crewed by pilot Lt WH Nixon and observer Capt JNS Stott . Opening fire from 200 meters he disabled the observer ' s machine gun , although Captain Stott then returned fire with a pocket pistol . It was shot out of his hands at a range of ten meters and Nixon was hit . Buddecke ' s gun then jammed when its cartridge belt tore in the slipstream . As Buddecke struggled with the jammed gun , Stott clambered atop the shoulders of his dying pilot , set his heels on the pilot ' s knees to operate the rudder and bent forward to grab the controls . Buddecke cleared his gun and aimed at the British observer ' s yellow leather coat . The BE . 2c crash landed near Saint Quentin . Buddecke drove to the wreck after landing , where the uninjured captive Stott showed him the bullet holes in his coat . Buddecke followed this up with confirmed claims on 23 October ( a B . E . 2 of No . 13 Squadron RFC , with Capt CH Marks and Lt WG Lawrence - the brother of TE Lawrence , of Arabian fame - both killed ) and 11 November and an unconfirmed victory on 6 December 1915 . He was then sent to Gallipoli to fly the Halberstadt D . II and Fokker E . III with " Ottoman FA 6 " against the Royal Naval Air Service . The Turkish campaign was successful , with four confirmed victories and seven unconfirmed , and Buddecke was personally awarded he Gold Liakat Medal by Enver Pasha . He was recalled to the Western Front in late August 1916 as leader of the newly formed Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 4 . After three kills during September , he again left for Turkey to fly with " Ottoman FA 5 " . By early 1918 he was back in France with Royal Prussian Jasta 30 , before switching to Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 18 . Within a few days Buddecke was killed during an aerial combat above Lens , France on 10 March 1918 , victim to Sopwith Camel s of 3 Naval Squadron RNAS . Hans - Joachim Buddecke is buried at the Invalidenfriedhof Cemetery in Berlin .