- Julius Buckler
Infobox Military Person
name= Julius Buckler
lived=March 28 ,1894 -May 23 ,1960
placeofbirth=Mainz-Mombach
placeofdeath=Bonn
caption= Julius Buckler, in uniform
allegiance=German Empire
serviceyears= 1913-1918
rank=Leutnant
branch=Infantry ,Luftstreitkräfte
unit= FA(A) 209, FEA 6, Jasta 17
awards=Pour le Mérite , Golden Military Merit Cross,Iron Cross 1st & 2nd Class, Golden Wound BadgeJulius Buckler (
March 28 1894 Mainz-Mombach –May 23 1960 Bonn ) was a German First World Warfighter ace credited with 36 victories during the war. He shot down 29 enemy airplanes and 7 balloons; two other victories went unconfirmed.At 15 years of age, Buckler had an interest in architecture and worked for
Anthony Fokker but left in October, 1912 to join the Infantry Life Regiment 117. After suffering a rather bad wound on the Western Front in September, 1914, he applied for a transfer to the German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte) the following month while on recuperation leave.He trained in FEA 6 (Flieger-Ersatz-Abteilung 6), and by the summer of 1915 was flying artillery direction missions over Verdun as a member of FEA 209. After a year, he was invited via telegram to transfer to "Jasta 17" as a founding member, and became a Lieutenant. Just after he joined Jagdstaffel 17, they upgraded to the Albatros D II.
He scored his initial victory on 17 December 1916. In a fumbling but deadly attempt of learning by doing, he made numerous passes at a French Caudron before shooting it down.
He did not score again until 14 February 1917. He then steadily accrued victories until his score stood at 30 on 29 November 1917. Along the way, he was wounded twice more. On 17 July, the same day he scored number 11, he was wounded, and did not score again until 9 August. On 11 August, he downed a British RE 8, and was wounded yet again the next day. Victory 14 didn't come until 29 September, possibly because the wound kept himout of action.
Already wounded 3 times, he was wounded for the fourth time on November 30 of that year. On that day in combat he was wounded in both his arms and his chest. His subsequent crash then completely broke both arms. The injuries kept him out of action for months. He would not score again until 16 April 1918.
On 4 December 1917, while he was recovering from his wounds, he was awarded the
Pour le Mérite .After recovering, he rejoined Jasta 17, flying planes he had dubbed "Mops" and "Lilly" to score 3 more victories before he was severely wounded again on May 6, 1918. Again, his career was interrupted; his next victory came 5 months later, on 5 October. He scored twice more in the waning days of the war, and had his second unconfirmed triumph on 8 November, just ten days before the Armistice.
In 1939, Buckler wrote his memoirs, entitled "Malaula! Der Kampfruf meiner Staffel (Malaula! The Battle Cry of my Squadron)".
He survived World War II and died in Bonn, West Germany, in 1960.
Notes
*It is believed that Buckler is the only German ace to receive the Golden
Wound Badge .Reference
Greg VanWyngarden, "Albatros Aces of World War I, Part 2: V. 2" Osprey Publishing, 2007.
External links
* [http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/buckler.php Julius Buckler page at theaerodrome.com]
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