Gottfried Freiherr von Banfield
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Freiherr Gottfried Freiherr von Banfield |
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| Born | 6 February 1890 Castelnuovo, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 23 September 1986 (aged 96) Trieste, Italy |
| Allegiance |
 Austria-Hungary
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| Service/branch |
 Austro-Hungarian Navy
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| Years of service | 1909–1918 |
| Battles/wars |
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| Awards | |
| Relations | Richard Banfield (Father) |
Gottfried Freiherr von Banfield (6 February 1890 – 23 September 1986) was the most successful Austro-Hungarian naval aeroplane pilot in the First World War. He was known as the 'Eagle of Trieste' and was the last person in history to wear the Military Order of Maria Theresa. He may have been the only flying ace who flew a flying boat to five or more victories.
Of Norman origin, the Banfields were an Irish family in the 16th century. The ancestor Thomas Banfield, an officer in the British army, while in Bavaria married an Austrian noblewoman. He took part in the Crimean War and died after the taking of Sevastopol. His son Richard Banfield, born in Vienna in 1836 and educated in Austria, chose Austrian citizenship, became an officer of the k.u.k. Kriegsmarine and took part in the Battle of Lissa as one of the commanders on Wilhelm von Tegetthoff's flagship, the Erzherzog Ferdinand Max.
Banfield was born 6 February 1890 in Castelnuovo, which is situated in the Bay of Cattaro and was the homeport of an Austrian fleet. His father was a British subject, but the boy Gottfried took Austrian nationality.
He attended the Military secondary-school in Sankt Pölten, and the Naval academy in Fiume: on 17 June 1909 he emerged as cadet. In May 1912 he was promoted to frigate-Lieutenant. One month later he began pilot training in the flying school in Wiener Neustadt, and in August he obtained his flying licence. Enthused with aviation like his older brother, who had already become a well-known aviator, he was chosen to be among the first pilots of the Austrian navy, and went off to perfect his training at the Donnet-Lévèque pilot school in France, where his trainer was the company's chief pilot, the naval lieutenant Jean-Louis Conneau, a pilot famous at the time for having won many air contests under the pseudonym of Beaumont. On the Pola Naval Air base of Santa Caterina island he trained in seaplanes. As a result of a forced landing in 1913 he broke a leg so badly that the foot was barely saved. He was not airborne again until the outbreak of war.
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