What would the Germans have called thier "aces"?

[landsknechte]

I'm looking for WWI era German slang terms that would have been used to describe especially experienced pilots or aces.

Thanks,
--Chris

[DerDrache]

All I know is that the general term for an ace was "kanon."

-Der Drache der Himmel

[Gregvan]

Hi,

Yes, the general term was usually "die Kanone", which literally translates as cannon. Modern writers have usually said it equates to "big shot" or "top gun" in today's parlance, but 'ace' is clearly signified. I don't know if there was any official criterion for this (I doubt it), but usually a German pilot had to have ten victories before he would informally be referred to as a "Kanone". For instance, Richthofen jokingly told Hans Joachim Wolff (after the latter's 4th victory) "Until you get out of those ridiculous single-digits with your victories, you'll never be a 'Kanone'."

Sometime, a high-scoring ace would be called 'eine grosse Kanone', or a great ace.

Greg

[landsknechte]

Thanks for the help!

[wulffo]

Weren't they also refered to as Experten (experts)

[Gregvan]

Hi Wulffo,

It's possible some aces were referred to as 'experten' in World War I, though I cannot recall (off the top of my head) any use of this term in contemporary German WWI literature. However, that doesn't mean it wasn't used. Can anyone else find an example?

As you know it was common practice in the Second World War to refer to high-scoring Luftwaffe aces as experten. I would imagine this term came into general use for such pilots in WW2, but it's possible I'm wrong!

Greg

[wulffo]

i think you are right greg it was definetly a wwii term, just thought that it might have had its roots earlier. kanone is certainly the term that is proven.

[Kirby]

"Experten" (experts) was a WWII term. The German fliers said there were only two classifications of fliers; "Experten und Idioten".

["Junior"]

Kirby's right, the term "Experten" only came into use towards the very beginning of WWII in late 1939. I have heard that one of the first "official" uses of the term happened during 1939 and was to describe former Condor Legion members and obviously their previous combat experience compared with the other yet to be blooded Luftwaffe pilots.

Junior.

I have heard that the german aces was called Uberkanon