Heinrich Kroll

Henry Claudius Kroll (alternatively Henry David Kroll) (3 November 1894 - 21 February 1930) Pour le Merite Knight's Cross of the Order of the House of Hohenzollern Saxon Albert Order, Knight Second Class with Swords, Iron Cross First and Second Class, was a World War I fighter ace credited with 33 victories.

Early Life

Kroll was the son of a school teacher, whom one source says was also a school principal. He was born in the village of Flatsby near Flensburg, Germany. Kroll the younger also aspired to become a teacher. He passed his examinations at Kiel and had been, or was being, credentialed as a teacher when World War I started. He was also active in athletics as a member of the Kiel sports club.

He volunteered for service in the "Queen Augusta Victoria" infantry regiment, Fusilier Regiment No. 86, in Flensburg. From there he transferred into Reserve Regiment No. 92. He was in heavy fighting around Hartmannswillerkopf in Alsace, the battle for which began on 31 December 1914. He earned an Iron Cross Second Class, and was commissioned an officer in May 1915.

He then followed a common route for German aviators during World War I, by applying for a transfer to the Air Service in January 1916.

Aerial Service

Kroll trained with Replacement Division 3 at Gotha. From there he went to the airfield at Rethel, France, to fly a Rumpler CI. He was the only officer in FFA 17; commonly, in these early days of reconnaissance, the observer was an officer, and the pilot a lower ranked non-commissioned "chauffeur". Following this practice, Kroll's observer was Lieutenant Holzhausen.

In October, 1916, two new Albatros fighters were assigned to the unit, and Kroll started flying one upon occasion. In November, the unit was reorganized into Jagdstaffel 9, operating Fokker Eindekkers.

On 12 February 1917, Kroll was awarded the Iron Cross First Class. It was about this time that Kroll wrote about the difficulty of confirming victories: "It is difficult to get confirmation of a victory--especially the first one! It must be confirmed by our own ground troops...this is even more difficult if hazy conditions prevail."

The first Kroll victory was on 1 May 1917, over a Spad. He downed four more Spads in May, with number five being one of the most significant wins of the war. On 25 May 1917, Kroll shot down and killed the man who was at that time the second scoring ace in the French Air Force, Rene Dorme. As Kroll's diary told it, the two pilots had locked in a circling dogfight beginning at 5300 meters (about 17,400 feet) and devolving down to 800 meters (about 2600 feet). Dorme's Spad suddenly nosed over and barreled straight into the ground, bursting into flames upon impact. Dorme's body was so disfigured it could only be identified by his watch.

This victory was influential in causing Kroll to be appointed commanding officer of Saxon Jasta 24 around the beginning of July 1917. With short interregnums, he would command this squadron until just before the end of the war.

On 27 July he was shot down in flames but escaped uninjured. Enemy fire set his carburetor on fire, but he killed the engine to starve the flames, tore off his oily goggles, and landed dead stick trailing telephone wires.

On 27 September 1917, after he had run his score sheet to 12 wins, he received the first Pfalz D.III assigned to his Jasta. The Pfalz would almost end his life. Kroll apparently still used his Albatros, as he considered the Pfalz to be its inferior in performance. Whichever craft he used, he rounded off 1917 by scoring his 15th triumph on 4 December.

On 25 January 1918, after he shot down a Bristol F.2b for number 17, the rear spar of the Pfalz he was flying broke, and the left aileron tore badly, almost separating from the plane. It took all Kroll's skill to land safely. His followup complaint gained him a promise of three Fokker Dr.Is for his Jasta, but nothing else. He and his Jasta would have to suffer through with the Pfalzes until the new Fokker D.VII arrived.

His 20th victory on 18 February brought his a 22 February award of the Knight's Cross of the Order of the House of Hohenzollern and made him eligible for the Pour le Merite. The "Blue Max" duly arrived on 29 March 1918.

On 25 May, his Jasta finally received Fokker D.VIIs. At about this time, Kroll also became the commander of Jagdstaffel 12, which consisted of his Jasta, as well as two others, Jastas 44 and 79b. Kroll carried on as his Jasta's leading ace, steadily racking up scores, mostly against enemy fighters. Number 33, a SE 5a, fell on 9 August 1918, to finish his tally.

On 14 August, he was so seriously wounded in the left shoulder that he was not only grounded, but removed from command. He was out of the war.

His legacy was considerable. The 28 victories he scored with Jasta 24 made up almost a third of its 90 triumphs. Despite being handicapped by the poorly built Pfalz, the Jasta under Kroll's leadership had suffered only 15 casualties. Most striking of all, only four of Kroll's victims had been the relatively helpless two seated reconnaissance aircraft many other aces battened upon. Indeed, Kroll shot down about as many enemy fighters as his more famous compatriot, Manfred von Richthofen.

Post War

The end of the war saw him an Oberleutnant, or first lieutenant. He joined the Hamburg police as a captain. While there, he witnessed the attempted Kapp Putsch coup against the Weimar government. In its aftermath, he recovered the body of fellow fighter ace Rudolf Berthold, who had been murdered by German communists.

There followed a quiet period during which he was a clerk. He reclaimed his pilot's license in 1928 and flew pioneer commercial aviation routes to Berlin and to the northern islands. He also used a Junkers F 13, which was the first all-metal civil aviation craft, for sightseeing flights over Hamburg.

He died of pneumonia on 21 February 1930 and was buried in Ohlsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg.

References/Outside Links

* http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/kroll.php
* http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Kroll
* http://www.flieger-album.de/geschichte/portraits/portraitheinrichkroll.php
* Albatros Aces of World War 1, Part 2. Greg VanWyngarden. Osprey Publishing, 2007.
* Groupe de Combat 12, 'Les Cigognes': France's Ace Fighter Group in World War 1. Jon Guttman. Osprey Publishing, 2004.
* Pfalz Scout Aces of World War 1. Greg VanWyngarden. Osprey Publishing, 2006.
* SPAD VII Aces of World War I. Jon Guttman and Harry Dempsey. Osprey Publishing, 2001
* Fokker D VII Aces of World War 1: Part 2. Norman Franks,et al. Osprey Publishing, 2004
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapp_Putsch