Karl Bolle

Karl Bolle
Bolle during World War I
Born	(1893-06-20)June 20, 1893 Berlin, Germany
Died	October 9, 1955(1955-10-09) (aged 62) Berlin, Germany
Allegiance	Germany
Service/branch	Cavalry, Air Service
Years of service	1913–1918
Rank	Rittmeister (Cavalry Captain)
Unit	7th von Seyditz Kurassier Regiment, Kagohl IV, Kampstaffel 23, Jagdstaffel 28, Jagdstaffel 2
Commands held	Jagdstaffel 2
Awards	Pour le Merite, Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Military Merit Cross, Friedrich Order, Iron Cross
Other work	Helped covertly train pilots for secret founding of Luftwaffe.

Rittmeister Karl Bolle, (20 June 1893 – 9 October 1955), Pour le Merite, Military Merit Cross, Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Friedrich Order, Iron Cross was a fighter ace with 36 aerial victories during World War I. He became a Jagdstaffel commander during that war, and an advisor to the Luftwaffe during World War II.

Karl Bolle was born in Berlin on 20 June 1893, to a family owning a well-known dairy. He studied economics at The University of Oxford in 1912, and was also well known for his athletic prowess, playing ice hockey while there.

He returned home to Germany to enlist as a leutnant (lieutenant) in the 7th (Magdeburg) Cuirassiers "von Seydlitz" Regiment in 1913 as a one-year volunteer. At the start of World War I his regiment served on the Western Front, fighting in Belgium and the First Battle of the Marne. It was then transferred to the Eastern Front; Bolle seeing action in Poland and in Courland in Latvia. By the end of 1915, Bolle had won an award for bravery, the Iron Cross, Second Class and transferred to the Luftstreitkräfte.

He undertook his initial training at Johannistal, then was forwarded to FEA 5 in Hannover, Germany. Later he trained to become a fighter pilot at Valenciennes, France at Jastaschule I. The standard German practice was to be trained initially at a Fliegerschule or an FEA (Flieger-Ersatz Abteilung = Pilot Replacement Unit) and serve initially in a two-seater unit, in this case Kagohl IV, and then later transfer for training as a fighter pilot at a Jastaschule where they would be closely tutored by experts with frontline experience. They also had access to captured British and French fighters to familiarize themselves with their opponent's aircraft.