How many abschusse?

[Barrett]

I'm preparing two more orations on aviation decorations and wonder if anybody knows which persons or office established the escalating number of victories required for the PlM among jagdfliegern. Presumably it was v. Hoeppner's HQ or higher. Maybe the same situation existed in the U-boat arm or any other branch in which quantifiable results could be tabulated.

[Regulus]

Hi Barrett,

Concerning naval pilots the score needed to get the PlM was not 20 but only 15 at the end of the war (Osterkamp and Sachsenberg).
In the case of Christiansen it had nothing to do with abschusse but with the number of enemy flights,the bombing of Dover, saving a number of survivants of a destroyed torpedoboat, bringing in 5 steamships and a sailboat and the attack on C27 airship. Also the fact that he was the most successfull seaplane pilot counts.
Concerning submarines sinking 200.000 BRT was as good as a guarantee to get the PlM, but there were exceptions such as the sinking of HMS Hogue, Aboukir and Cressy by U9 of Otto Weddigen on one day and the sinking of the HMS Hawke in October 1914.
I can normally find more details on the submarine and other matters for getting the PlM, if needed.

Best from Johan ;)

[Barrett]

* Thank you, Johan. *I appreciate your response. *Any insight as to the administration of the PlM would be helpful, especially regarding which individual(s) or office/bureau set the standards and approved or denied the recommended officers. *I'm aware of one or two German volumes but thus far not much published in English.
Just for comparison: the Medal of Honor of course was awarded to men of any rank in the US armed forces during WW I, alive or dead, whereas the PlM went only to living officers (though one aviator thought alive as a POW was in fact deceased.) Very few MoHs were presented during the war; there were two postwar reviews (1920 and 22, I think) after which presumably no further upgrades of lesser decorations would be permitted. The exception with Rickenbacker, who finally received his in 1930.

[Regulus]

Barrett,

I think concerning the air units decision was finally taken by von Hoeppners staff. With some howevers and bud's...

I also think the original eight victories came from their hand to get the PlM.
By the end of 1916 things got changing quite fastly. Dossenbach dit get it for his 8th victory on the 11th November, Berr did get it for his 10th victory on the 4th of December, and MvR for his 16th victory on the 12th January 1917.

In a number of cases there was coming a financial stipend with the PlM, especially if you were from Pommern, an amount of 60.000 Deutsche Mark.

What really would be interesting is to know the criteria to get the PlM for non fighter pilots. There seems to be known nothing on that matter ! Why did for example Lt. Peter Rieper get the award as a balloon observer ? The citation doesn't really make clear what he had done more then other men in his case...

There are more curious awards, and some of them make it difficult to understand who made the rules :

Horst Treusch von Buttlar-Brandefels received it for his 15 flights over England and the bombing of London with airships.

However in comparison, Rudolf Kleine of the Kagohl 3 got it essentially for leading 6 bombing raids on London, and some months earlier only !

And still earlier Peter Strasser, the famous Zeppelin commander did get it for 200 combat missions of his crew, and approx. 1000 important recon missions.

So this doesn't look logical at all. How earlier in the war it seems for the Zeppelin men, how more hard it was to get the PlM !!! It seems to have been much easier if you were CO of a Kagohl like Kleine or Keller.

Simular in Navy (especially also concerning the U-boat commanders) and in the Air service seems the fact that one normally had to be awarded previously the Knights Cross of the Hohenzollern Order. However if there were made exceptions on this it seems clearly at the direction of Kaiser Wilhelm II himself.

So in any case, even if the Kaisers role after 1916 was for the largest part ceremonial, concerning the awards he still did get the final word !

This is clearly a fact. Concerning the fighter pilots von Hoeppner and co perhaps and very probably made the standards, but the final decision was the Kaiser's even if this was not what his Chief of Staff for the air service had planned.

Also the fact that the naval pilots did get the PlM at such a late stage of the war at 15 victories normally probably comes from the hand of the Kaiser. As does the one from Christiansen to my very humble personal opinion.

Curious evolution is also the fact that how later in 1918, and much worse things were going in Germany with the start to the revolution, how more heroes were created by giving them the PlM. Perhaps really interesting to know who was behind this way of working !

Best from Johan ;)

[Barrett]

* Anybody familiar with Hammell's 3-volume history of the PlM? *I understand it's the most comprehensive English account but don't know if it deals with criteria and selection process.

[Regulus]

Hi

I have the 3rd part of William Hamelman's The history of the Prussian Pour le Mérite Order which deals with the period 1888-1918.
Nothing on the matter in this part however.

Best from Johan

[rammjaeger]

I am not knowing the correct procedure but in general the "Adjutantur" of the Kogenluft would deal with promotions and awards. I think the Adjutantur suggested criteria too.

Here again the structure of the sections of the Kogenluft according to Neumann:

1. Der Chef des Generalstabes der Luftstreitkräfte
2. Generalstab (G1, G2, G3)
3. Adjutantur
4. Flieger
5. Luftschiffer
6. Flugabwehr
7. Heimatschutz
8. Wetterdienst
9. Luftbild
10.Nachrichten, Presse, Politik
11. Feuerschutz
12. Sanitätsdienst
13. Gerichtsdienst
14. Stabswache
Special officers hold the contact to the German Navy and the Bavarian and Austro-Hungarian Aviation troops.