Aerial Service
In December, he commenced ground school in Altenburg; he then took flight school with FEA 10 at Böblingen in February 1918. In June 1918 he attended fighter school and then posted to the Royal Prussian Jasta 27 in Jagdgeschwader 3, commanded by Bruno Loerzer.
Flying a Fokker D.VII with red and white bands painted around the fuselage and on the middle of the top wing, Noltenius soon became a 'star' of the Jasta. His first victory was over a Sopwith Dolphin, on 10 August. His second win, ten days later, initiated him into the ranks of balloon busters as he destroyed an observation balloon. By 2 September, he was an ace, scoring his fifth and sixth triumphs. He survived being blown out of the sky on 14 September, when he attacked a booby-trapped balloon full of high explosives that singed much of the fabric from his plane's wings, and being wounded on the next day. He was also shot down on the 22nd by George Vaughn. Nevertheless, by the end of September, Noltenius had successfully claimed victory over another four enemy airplanes and three more balloons, raising his score to a baker's dozen.
Disputes over victories with his fellow pilots prompted his transfer to the Royal Prussian Jasta 6 on 27 September, the day after his thirteenth victory. He thus joined the elite Flying Circus, Royal Prussian Jagdgeschwader I. Noltenius scored twice with Jasta 6, once on a balloon on 6 October 1918, and once four days later on a Spad. The former victory made him one of the rare balloon aces.
A clash with Ulrich Neckel, his Commanding Officer, led to another move, this time within the Circus, to the Royal Prussian Jasta 11. He scored thrice for his new squadron on 23 October. Three more singleton victories, on 28 October, 3 and 4 November, closed out his career as an ace. The armistice a week after his final victory, and the subsequent revolution, scotched his chances of being awarded Germany's highest decoration, the Pour le Mérite or Blue Max. Indeed, he was one of the last awardees of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern.
Read more about this topic: Friedrich T. Noltenius
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