Franz Hemer

Franz Hemer
Nickname(s)	"Locken"
Born	6 June 1894 Pfeddersheim, Worms, Grand Duchy of Hesse[1]
Died	18 October 1982 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Allegiance	Germany
Service / branch	Aviation
Rank	Leutnant
Unit	Flieger-Abteilung (Artillerie) (Flying Detachment (Artillery)) 283; Jagdstaffel 6 (Fighter Squadron 6)
Awards	Royal House Order of Hohenzollern[2] Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd Class General Honor Decoration (Hesse)[3]

Leutnant Franz Hemer was a World War I German flying ace credited with 18 aerial victories.[4]

Biography

Hemer was originally a talented concert cellist. His long curly blonde hair sparked his nickname of "Locken".[5]

Hemer served with Flieger-Abteilung (Artillerie) 283 before he was posted to Jagdstaffel (Jasta) 6 on 10 September 1917. He scored his first victory on 27 October 1917, when he shot down an RE.8. He scored once more in 1917, on 12 November.[4] He was then assigned a Fokker Dr. 1. He had a wavy yellow line painted the length of the fuselage, symbolizing the wavy locks of hair that gave him the nickname "Locken".[6]

By the end of March 1918, he became an ace. He scored at least five more victories with the triplane before upgrading to a Fokker D.VII. He scored his last victory on 8 August 1918. The following day, he was wounded in action when his Fokker D.VII was shot down during a dogfight with RAF DH.9s of No. 49 Squadron RAF supported by Sopwith Camels. While convalescing, he was commissioned a Leutnant. However, he apparently did not return to flight duty before the war's end.[5]

Later he became managing Director of König & Bruder in Leipzig, head office in Vienna, an old fur trading company.[7]

Franz Hemer died on 18 October 1982 in Frankfurt.[6]

References

1. GenWiki, Verlustlisten 1. Weltkrieg
2. O'Connor, "Aviation Awards," pp. 174-191
3. O'Connor, "Aviation Awards," pp. 174-191
4. "Franz Hemer". www.theaerodrome.com. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
5. 'Richthofen's Circus': Jagdgeschwader. Bloomsbury USA. 2004. ISBN 978-1-84176-726-0.
6. Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps 1914 - 1918, pp. 126-127
7. Manes, Philipp (1941). Die deutsche Pelzindustrie und ihre Verbände 1900–1940, Versuch einer Geschichte (in German). Vol. 4. Berlin. p. 336.

Sources

• Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps 1914 - 1918. Norman L. R. Franks, et al. Grub Street, 1993. ISBN 978-0-948817-73-1.
• O'Connor, Neal W. (2002). Aviation Awards of Imperial Germany and the Men Who Earned Them, Volume VII. Princeton, New Jersey: Schiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7643-1626-5.

Further reading

'Richthofen's Circus': Jagdgeschwader. Bloomsbury USA. 2004. ISBN 978-1-84176-726-0.