Name - Gottfried Freiherr von Banfield Country - Austro-Hungarian Empire Rank - Linienschiffsleutnant Stations - Pola Trieste Naval Air Station Victories - 9 Date Of Birth - February 6, 1890 Place of Birth - Pola Date Of Death - September 23, 1986 Place of Death - Trieste Banfield was the Austro-Hungarian Empire's highest scoring naval ace and the only airman to receive the the Knight's Cross of the Order of Maria Theresa. He was an excellent marksman, scoring all nine victories from flying boats. Flying in more than 400 sorties against the enemy, he was the first Austro-Hungarian airman to score a victory at night. Flying a Lohner two-seater on June 27, 1915, he scored his first victory, downing an Italian balloon near the mouth of the Isonzo River. In February of 1916, he assumed command of the naval air station at Trieste until the war ended. Following his marriage to Countess Maria Tripcovich of Trieste in 1920, Banfield became head of his father-in-law's shipping company. http://www.wwiaviation.com/aces/ace_Banfield.html http://books.google.com/books?id=Ym...nfCxCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6
How can I ignore 'Blue Max' Immelman, the 1st German ace who scored 15 kills, circa May 1916 before his death! This mamma's boy was born in Dresden, circa 1890. A gifted engineer turned out to be a flyer, very soon invented a 'special' half-loop, half-turn, i.e., Immelmann Turn.
