Erich Löwenhardt
| Erich Löwenhardt | |
|---|---|
Oblt. Erich Löwenhardt wearing his Pour le Mérite, Iron Cross First Class, and The Prussian Pilot's Badge.
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| Born | 7 April 1897 Breslau, Silesia, German Empire |
| Died |
10 August 1918 (aged 21) † near Chaulnes, France |
| Allegiance |
 German Empire
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| Service/branch | Luftstreitkräfte |
| Years of service | 1914–1918 |
| Rank | Oberleutnant |
| Unit | FA(A) 265,Jagdstaffel 10 |
| Awards | Iron Cross (both classes), Knight's Cross with Swords of the House Order of Hohenzollern, Pour le Mérite, Austro-Hungarian Military Merit Cross |
Erich Löwenhardt (7 April 1897 – 10 August 1918) was the 3rd highest German flying ace with 54 victories during the First World War, behind only Manfred von Richthofen and Ernst Udet.
Löwenhardt was born in Breslau, Silesia, German Empire on 7 April 1897, the son of a doctor. He received his education at a military school in Lichterfelde. He was 17 when hostilities erupted in August 1914 and was assigned to the German Army's Infantry Regiment Nr. 141; he saw infantry action on the Eastern Front with them. Young Löwenhardt was wounded near Łódź but remained on duty as standard bearer for his regiment as it fought in the Battle of Tannenberg. As reward for his courage, on 2 October 1914 he was commissioned. On 30 October he was both wounded and decorated with the Iron Cross Second Class. After convalescing, he returned to his unit in the Carpathians. In early 1915 he received the Iron Cross 1st Class for saving the lives of five wounded men. Löwenhardt then transferred to the Alpine Corps on the Italian Front. However, he fell ill and was invalided from service as unfit for duty.
After five months' recuperation, Löwenhardt volunteered for the Imperial German Army Air Service and qualified as an aerial observer. He then completed pilot training in 1916. Service in two-seaters with Flieger-Abteilung (Artillerie) (Flier Detachment (Artillery)) 265 followed. In January 1917, he underwent conversion training for fighters. He joined a fighter squadron, Jagdstaffel 10 in March 1917. On 24 March 1917, Löwenhardt scored his first confirmed aerial victory, destroying an enemy observation balloon over Recicourt.
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