Max Näther was born on August 24, 1899 in Tepliwoda, Silesia (the eastern part of the Kingdom of Prussia which is now part of Poland). At the age of only fifteen, he joined the German Army… just after the Great War began. Näther was wounded twice before being commissioned as Leutnant der Reserve on August 11, 1916. By this time, he won both Second and First Class Iron Crosses (the latter awarded to him on February 1, 1916).
In the summer of 1917, Näther volunteered for transfer to the Air Service. He took basic flight training in Bucharest, and later progressed to training with Fliegerersatz-Abteilung 7 (Replacement Detachment 7) at Brunswick. Näther’s final training was at Jastaschule I (Fighter Training School 1) in Valenciennes, France.
After graduation, Näther was assigned to Jagdstaffel 62 (Fighter Squadron 62) on the last day of March 1918. He flew an all black Albatros D.Va with a personal insignia of a German national flag streaming from a slanted staff imposed on a white square painted on the side of the plane’s fuselage just aft of the cockpit.
On May 16, 1918, Näther scored his first aerial victory over a Spad XIII. The following month, he reeled off a string of six victories over enemy observation balloons. At that time, balloons were well defended by surrounding anti-aircraft and nearby patrols of fighter planes, and attacks on them were considered near suicidal.
Exactly one month after his first kill, Näther became an ace! He also became Staffelführer (Commander) on July 7, 1918, seven weeks before his 19th birthday. Soon after, Näther took three weeks leave. It was rumored that he waited to change to a Fokker D.VII plane until after his return.
In September, Näther was awarded the Knight’s Cross with Swords of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern. He scored another six victories that month, including two more balloons. Näther had a notable day on September 26th, when he downed a Spad S.XIII in the morning and a balloon and another Spad S.XIII by the evening. But the following day, he was slightly wounded.
Näther scored back to back double wins on October 9th and 10th. After another victory on the 18th, he incinerated his tenth and final balloon on the 23rd. As he returned from this mission, Näther was shot down by Jacques Swaab, but he survived a fiery crash-landing.
On October 29th, Näther scored his final three victories. Although he had become eligible for the Pour le Mérite with his 20th and 21st victories back on October 10th, Näther was not nominated for the Blue Max until the 29th. His was one of several nominations not approved due to the November 11th armistice that brought an end to the fighting.
Näther’s score of twenty-six victories comprised over half the wins for his entire squadron! In addition to burning ten observation balloons, he had destroyed eleven enemy fighters: ten SPAD S.XIIIs and a Sopwith Dolphin.
On January 8, 1919 (ten days before the Paris Peace Conference formally opened), Max Näther died during the Greater Poland uprising. He was killed by Polish ground fire flying over Kolmar in what was the Province of Posen (now a part of Poland). He was only nineteen years old…