Walter Blume was born on January 10, 1896 in Hirschberg, Silesia. A month after the Great War began, he was serving in the Fifth Silesian Jaeger Battalion. After being wounded early in the conflict, Blume began his training as a pilot in mid-1915.
From June 1916 until January 1917, Blume flew in a two-seater Aviatik aircraft with Feldflieger Abteilung (Field Flier Detachment) 65. During that period, he received the Iron Cross, Second Class (July 24, 1916) and was promoted to Vizefeldwebel, the equivalent of a sergeant (August 1916).
Blume then asked for a transfer to fly single-seat fighters for Jagdstaffel 26. Weeks later on the last day of January 1917, he was commissioned as a lieutenant. On May 10th, Blume scored his first victory for Jagdstaffel 26. Three months later (August 14th), he received the Iron Cross, First Class. On October 24th, Blume became an ace… but just over a month later, he received a serious chest wound in combat against Number 48 Squadron RFC’s Bristol F.2 fighters. He was hospitalized for three months.
After a spell with Fliegerersatz-Abteilung (Replacement Detachment) 3, Blume returned to active duty on March 5, 1918. He was commanding Jagdstaffel 9 and scored a further twenty-two victories. With the exception of double scores on August 31st and September 14th, Blume accumulated his successes alone, mostly against fighters. He flew in both the Albatros fighter and the famed Fokker D.VII. Only four of his victories were over two-seater aircraft.
Blume was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the House Order of Hohenzollern on August 7, 1918. This was soon followed by Germany’s most prestigious decoration (the Pour le Merite) on October 2, 1918 (the same day as his 27th and penultimate victory). However, the German Empire was disintegrating at the top, which culminated in the Kaiser’s abdication (November 9th) and the armistice ending hostilities (November 11th). Two months later, Blume resigned from military service.
After the First World War formally ended in mid-1919, Walter Blume remained in the field of aviation. He trained as an aeronautical engineer at the Technical University at Hanover. Blume then joined the German Arado Flugzeugwerke in the mid-1920s, where he was involved in the design of the Ar 95, Ar 96, and Ar 196.
In early 1933, Blume was appointed chief design engineer of Arado Flugzeugwerke. Over the next ten years, he was responsible for the design of some of the world’s first jets, such as the Ar 234 twin-jet reconnaissance aircraft. Blume witnessed the development of the Ar 234 in several different prototypes, which finally led to the twin-jet bomber, the Ar 234 Blitz.
Towards the end of World War II, Blume led the Arado design team in upgrading the Ar 234 to a four-jet bomber variant. However, it only reached “proof of concept” status. Blume then attempted to revive one of his designs, the Blume Bl.502, as a light civil aircraft. Sadly, it met with no commercial success!
After the German surrender in May 1945, Blume was captured by the Soviet Army. He was promptly taken to the Soviet Union… where for several years he helped in the development of its fledgling jet aircraft program.
Eventually, Walter Blume returned home. He died in Duisburg on May 27, 1964 at the age of sixty-eight.
DECORATIONS AND AWARDS
– Iron Cross, Second Class (July 24, 1916)
– Iron Cross, First Class (August 14, 1917)
– Knight’s Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords (1918)
– Pour le Merite (October 2, 1918)