Fritz Beckhardt

Fritz Beckhardt
Fritz Beckhardt as a fighter pilot in 1918
Born	27 March 1889 Wallertheim, Rheinhessen, Germany
Died	13 January 1962(1962-01-13) (aged 72) Wiesbaden, West Germany
Allegiance	Germany
Service/branch	Infantry, Air Service
Years of service	1907–1909, 1914–1919
Rank	Vizefeldwebel
Awards	Grand Duchy of Hesse War Honor Decoration, Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Iron Cross First and Second Class, Grand Duchy of Hesse Bravery Medal, Bavarian Military Merit Cross, Baden War Merit Cross (Baden), black Wound Badge, Hamburg Field Honor Badge, The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918

Vizefeldwebel Fritz Beckhardt (27 March 1889 – 13 January 1962), was a German Jewish fighter ace in World War I. The Nazis later expunged him from Luftwaffe history because his valorous war record of 17 aerial victories belied their assertions that Jews were inherently cowardly.

Fritz Beckhardt was born in Wallertheim, Rheinhessen, Germany. His father was Abraham Beckhardt.

Prior to World War I, he had worked in a grocery store, then in a menswear warehouse in Hamburg. As part of his apprenticeship in textiles, he worked in Bingen, Hadamar, and Hamburg. During this prewar period, he served in Infanterie-Regiment No. 143 from 1907 to 1909.

By 1914, he was working in an uncle's clothing factory in Marseilles, France. He repatriated himself to Germany to once again serve in the infantry, until 1916.

On 3 August 1914, Beckhardt volunteered to serve in Company 12 of Infanterie-Regiment Graf Bose (1. Thüringisches) Nr. 31. On 30 November, he transferred to Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 86. During his service with this regiment, he earned both a First and Second Class Iron Cross.

He then trained as a pilot at FEA 5 at Hannover in January, 1917. His first operational assignment, from 29 August to 14 November 1917, was with FA 3, which flew exceptionally long reconnaissance missions. He transferred to Schusta 11. He attended Jastaschule 1 to upgrade to fighter pilot status. He then went on to Jagdstaffel 26, where he served from 17 February 1918 through to 20 May 1918; Hermann Göring also served in Jasta 26. As well, Göring moved up to command Jagdstaffel 27, which shared many of the same airfields with Jasta 26 over an eight-month period.

Rather ironically, Vizfeldwebel Beckhardt's personal insignia, which was featured on at least three of his airplanes, was a Swastika; however, the swastika at that time was not yet a Nazi symbol, and Beckhardt's swastika turned in the opposite direction to the Nazi one.