Fritz Höhn was born in Wiesbaden on May 31, 1896. He began his military service in the elite Seventh Guards Infantry Regiment.
SOLDIER TURNED AIR FIGHTER
Höhn began his aerial duty in the Great War as an artillery spotter in two-seated reconnaissance planes, flying for Flieger-Abteilung (Flier Detachment) 227. He was seconded to Jastaschule II, and eventually, Höhn graduated as a fighter pilot.
On November 15, 1917, Höhn joined a fighter squadron, the Royal Saxon Jagdstaffel 21. Around the same time, the unit was received the new Pfalz D.III planes. When December 1917 dawned, Höhn shot down a Breguet 14 bomber for his first victory.
The twenty-one-year old pilot had Pfalz no. 4011/17 painted with diagonal stripes wrapped around the fuselage. The design intent was to deceive the aim of anyone shooting at him. Höhn also had two rear view mirrors and a teddy bear wired on the rear of the cockpit facing tailwards. However, it is unknown if Höhn and his teddy bear mascot were successful with this particular plane.
On April 11, 1918, Höhn became a balloon buster for his next win, shooting down a French kite balloon from 33e Compagnie de Aerostiers. The next day, he downed a Spad and a balloon. On April 20th, Höhn scored two victories against balloons: one each from the 45e and 75e Compagnies. These two kills officially made him an air ace. But in doing so, Höhn was severely wounded in the knee.
Returning to action in August 1918, Höhn had already been awarded both classes of the Iron Cross, as well as the Knight’s Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern. On August 20th, he added two more enemy aircraft and two more observation balloons to his tally. By September, he was a double ace with ten victories… and a balloon ace with six!
THE COMMANDER
As September 1918 began, Höhn was given command of the Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 81… which lasted for only three days! He shot down a Spad on both September 2nd and 3rd. For the remainder of the month, Höhn was the acting commander of the Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 60. In that capacity, he scored two Spads and four more balloons.
In October 1918, Höhn was then given command of the Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 41. He scored victories in each of the first three days of the month, increasing his tally to twenty-one. But on the 3rd, Fritz Höhn was killed in action over Saint-Martin-l’Heureux when his Fokker D.VII was downed by a member of French squadron Spa67. Neither his dual rear view mirrors nor his teddy bear mascot saved him!
Höhn’s final victory total was ten balloons and eleven airplanes… for a grand total of twenty-one victories. If he had survived, the young Leutnant would have been eligible for the Germany’s highest honor for valor, the Pour le Merite (upon confirmation of his 20th victory).
Fritz Höhn was just twenty-two years old…
