Josef Raesch Lieutenant Josef Raesch ( born June 4 , 1897 , date of death unknown ) was a World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories . Two of his victories were over other aces , Guy Wareing and Ernest Charles Hoy . Biography . Josef Raesch was born in Zewen near Trier on 4 June 1897 . The start of World War I sparked his enlistment into the German infantry on 4 August 1914 . On 1 December 1917 , he transferred from this duty to pilot ' s training at " " Fliegerersatz - Abteilung " ( Replacement Detachment ) 5 . After training he was assigned to a reconnaissance unit , " Flieger - Abteilung " ( Flier Detachment ) 7 , as a two - seater pilot . After seasoning there , he attended " Jastaschule " ( Fighter pilot training ) , with subsequent posting to a fighter squadron . He joined " Jagdstaffel 43 " on 6 June 1918 . In his June diary entries , he mentioned that rookie pilots posted to the squadron were given older Albatros D . III s or Albatros D . V s to fly , but that newer Fokker D . VII s were filtering into the unit . The eighth D . VII arrival is noted . Raesch inherited Otto Creutzmann ' s Fokker D . VII when the latter left the " Jasta " on 13 June . Creutzmann ' s insignia of a forward - thrusting pitchfork remained on the plane . For his first aerial victory , Raesch shot down a Royal Aircraft Factory SE . 5 a north of Hantay at 1100 hours on 27 June 1918 . His diary contained a vivid description : The Englishmen started to circle , and as soon as I had one in my sights I opened up with a volley from both guns , whereupon the SE 5 went into a vertical climb and then slipped off into a spin , with me closely on his tail . I let him have a second burst , and I could see my tracers entering his cockpit and engine and finally had to pull away to avoid a collision . I spotted my victim some 300 meters below me . . . I dived and again opened up with both guns . The SE 5 went into a climb , and now I could see the machine was on fire . The machine spun twoards the earth in a tower of fire and finally crashed . On 1 July , he scored again , downing a Sopwith Camel . One week later , he shot down another SE . 5a over Nieppe Wood for his third confirmed victory . The Summer weather became so hot that the German phosphorus ammunition for machine guns would sometimes " cook off " ; according to Raesch ' s diary , " Jasta 43 " lost a pilot to that catastrophe on 16 July . He also noted such ersatz war materials as iron bullets for brass , and wooden landing gear wheels being supplied . On 25 July , he lost a combat at 1800 hours ; Lieutenant Ivan Frank Hind flying SE . 5a C5358 shot Raesch down in flames , using Buckingham incendiary ammunition . The bullets narrowly missed Raesch ' s head , but a burst of flame struck him in the face . Although having had a parachute for only the past fortnight , in one of the pioneering wartime jumps , Raesch baled out and reached ground alive but facially singed . He had had to yank his chute from its container in midair to do so . Then a two - meter hole had burned the ' chute . The chute was repaired and reissued to save another pilot ' s life . Raesch was temporarily relegated to piloting a Pfalz D . XII before regaining a Fokker D . VII . He had become the de facto squadron leader , as he usually led the aerial combat patrols . In August 1918 , " Jasta 43 " was hampered by shortages of fuel and aircraft . Raesch ' s diary remarks that the squadron could not fly because it had no serviceable aircraft . Raesch would not score again until 1750 hours on 28 September 1918 , when he shot down a flight commander from No . 29 Squadron RAF , Ernest Charles Hoy . Flying ace Hoy survived the crash of his Royal Aircraft Factory SE . 5 a east of Ypres , but was captured by German ground troops . Raesch would not score again until 26 October , when he sent down a SE . 5a over Velennes , France . The following day at 1030 hours , he shot down another flight commander from 29 Squadron , Captain Guy Wareing . Wareing ' s body and aircraft wreckage landed east of Tournai . On 30 October 1918 , Raesch was credited with his final victory , an unidentified enemy aircraft . Raesch ' s victory tally had reached six enemy fighter planes , plus the unknown craft . On 2 November 1918 , Josef Raesch was awarded the First Class Iron Cross , to join the Second Class one awarded earlier . Nine days later , the fighting ended . Nothing more is known of Josef Raesch , except that as late as 1967 , he was known to be working as a machine tool manufacturer .