Fritz Rumey

Fritz Rumey
Fritz Rumey received both the Golden Military Merit Cross of Prussia, known as the "PLM for enlisted men", as well as the coveted Pour le Mérite. This made him one of only five pilots to have received both highest decorations for military valor.
Birth date	3 March 1891(1891-03-03)
Place of birth	Königsberg, East Prussia, Prussia, German Empire
Death date	⚔ 27 September 1918 (aged 27)
Place of death	Neuville-Saint-Rémy, France
Allegiance	German Empire
Service/branch	Imperial German Army
Rank	Leutnant der Reserve
Unit	Flieger-Abteilung (Artillerie) 19 Jagdstaffel Boelcke (Jasta 2) Jagdstaffel 5
Awards	Pour le Mérite

Fritz Rumey (3 March 1891 – 27 September 1918) was a German officer of the Imperial German Army. Between July 1917 and September 1918, the World War I flying ace of the Luftstreitkräfte and knight of the Order "Pour le Mérite" shot down 45 enemy planes (Luftsiege), all of them at the Western Front.

Life

Fritz Rumey (2nd from left) in front of his snarling head (African savage) marked Albatros D.Va of Jasta 5

Fritz Rumey was born in Königsberg, completed his compulsory education (Realschule) and started a three-year roofing apprenticeship (Dachdecker) when he was 16. After successful completion, he began his two-year compulsory military service with the Prussian 8. Ostpreußisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 45 and was released to the reserves c. 1912, returning to his occupation. At the beginning of WWI, he was reactivated with his regiment and was transferred to the the Grenadier-Regiment „König Friedrich Wilhelm I.“ (2. Ostpreußisches) Nr. 3.

He saw action with the Imperial German Army against the Imperial Russian Army at the Eastern Front and was decorated with the Iron Cross 2nd class. Subsequently, he applied for aviation duty, was accepted on 5 August 1915, completed an observer's course (Fliegerschule Hundsfeld of the Flieger-Ersatz-Abteilung 11 near Breslau) and served with the Fliegerabteilung (Artillerie) 219 in Kaunas (Kauen).

When the war began, Rumey was serving with the 45th Infantry Regiment. After serving with the 3rd Grenadier Regiment on the Russian Front, he transferred to the German Air Force in the summer of 1915. Serving first as an observer with FA(A) 219, he completed Jastaschule and was assigned to Jasta 2 in May 1917. The following month, he joined Jasta 5. He was wounded in action on 25 August 1917 and again on 24 September 1917 [Note: Other sources claim, these dates were in 1918]. Rumey's 25th victory came on 26 June 1918, when he shot down a Sopwith Camel flown by Canadian ace Edward Eaton.

Later, he was accepted for pilot training and when he completed his training (Jastaschule), he was sent to France in early 1917, serving for a brief period with Jasta Boelcke (May 1917) flying a yellow Fokker, and then was reassigned to Jagdstaffel 5 on 10 June 1917.

On 22 November 1917, the weather prevented flying except at extremely low height, but on 23 November, bitter air combat took place. Just after noon, Jasta 5 Flying Circus aircraft engaged Sopwith Camels over Bourlon Wood. Three Camels got on the tail of Jasta 5’s commander, Oberleutnant Richard Flasher, who was saved by the intervention of Vizefeldwebel Fritz Rumey and Leutnant Otto Könnecke.

Both pilots were reported to have shot down one Sopwith Camel each. In fact, only Fritz Rumey received credit for both.He shot down ace Lt. James Dawe of No. 24 Squadron on 7 June 1918, for his 23rd victory. This same day he was commissioned as a Leutnant d. R. (2nd Lieutenant of the reserves). After going scoreless in August 1918, Rumey shot down an amazing sixteen aircraft in the month of September over a period of three weeks. It was a figure surpassed only by Franz Büchner.

The Golden Triumvirate

He served first as a Vizefeldwebel, along with Josef Mai and Otto Könnecke, two other enlisted pilots. These three friends flew together and scored many of the squadron's 250 successes. In addition to Rumey's 45 eventual confirmed victories, Mai was credited with 30 confirmed and 15 unconfirmed, and Könnecke with 35 more. They were known as "The Golden Triumvirate" and ended up claiming 40% of the Jasta's victories between them, and making Jasta 5 the third highest scoring unit of the war.

Among the German Jastas, one of the highest scoring was Jasta 5, with over 250 victories to its credit. Three of its most notable pilots – Ltn d R Fritz Rumey, Ltn d R Josef Mai and Ltn d R Otto Könnecke – gained such a notable reputation that they acquired the nickname “The Golden Triumvirate.” Between them, these three non-commissioned officers scored 110 victories by the war’s end. Like all other German Jastas, Jasta 5 was based at several different aerodromes during the war. However, the unit is usually associated with with the Boistrancourt aerodrome, shown here. Boistrancourt was notable in that it was one of the only German Aerodromes to have hard, fixed hangars rather than the canvas tent hangars which were normally utilized. Behind the aerodrome was a chateau and a sugar refinery which added to its distinctive look.

Victories

Fritz Rumey’s final tally of forty-five victories consisted almost entirely of downing enemy fighter planes. In fact, he shot down more enemy scouts (thirty-five) and even had a greater fighter to two-seater victory ratio (3.5 to 1) than the great Red Baron, Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen (whose ratio was 0.57 to 1 with only twenty-nine enemy scouts grounded).

Death

Rumey was killed in action on 27 September 1918, during a dogfight over Neuville-Saint-Rémy/Cambrai, France. It is believed his plane collided with a British Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a flown by South African George Edgar Bruce Lawson (1899–1923; 6 victories in WWI). 27-year-old ace Rumey plunged to his death when his parachute failed to open entirely (from 1,000 feet up according to Lawson's account). Other sources state, it was not a collision, but rather that the wings of Rumey's fighter plane had started coming off during the high-speed chase of Lawson, who was in a nosedive and Rumey never fully abandoned his Fokker D.VII before it crashed. Lawson could not have seen this, because he was occupied with all his might flying his severely damaged Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a back to his own lines.

Awards, decorations and honours

WWI

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Prussian Observer's Badge 1914 (Abzeichen für Beobachtungsoffiziere aus Flugzeugen)
• Prussian military pilot badge (Preußisches Militär-Flugzeugführer-Abzeichen)
• Honour Goblet for the Victor in Aerial Combat (Ehrenbecher für den Sieger im Luftkampf)
• Military Merit Cross (Bavaria), 3rd Class with Swords (BMVK3⚔/BM5c⚔)
• Wound Badge (Verwundetenabzeichen 1918) in Black
• Prussian Golden Military Merit Cross (GMVK) on 12 May 1918 as Vizefeldwebel
• Pour le Mérite on 10 July 1918 as Leutnant and pilot (Flugzeugführer) in the Jasta 5

Honours

In c. October 1933, the Deutsche Lufthansa (DLH) at the airport Berlin-Tempelhof (later stationed at Köln-Butzweilerhof) named the Junkers Ju 52/3m (D-2650, later D-AKEP) in honour of the fallen German ace „Fritz Rumey“. In World War Two, the Ju 52 served with the Luftwaffe of the Wehrmacht and crashed in 1942.

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