Erich Thomas
German flying ace
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The basics
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| Intro | German flying ace | |
| Places | Germany | |
| was | Flying ace | |
| Work field | Military | |
| Gender |
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| Birth | 10 February 1897, Essen, Düsseldorf Government Region, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany | |
| Death | 18 November 1960Münster, Münster Government Region, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (aged 63 years) |
The details
Biography
Leutnant Erich Thomas was a World War I flying ace credited with ten aerial victories. Nine of these were observation balloons he destroyed.
Thomas was assigned to Jasta 9 in December 1917. He shot down his first enemy observation balloon on 3 January 1918. He carried on his career as a balloon buster for Jasta 9 through 16 March 1918, when he downed numbers seven and eight. He then transferred to Jasta 22, and shot down a ninth balloon on 21 March, and a Sopwith on the 22nd. On 23 March, he attacked another French balloon and was shot down by Jean Chaput, Marcel Haegelen, and Auguste Lahoulle. Thomas was taken prisoner of war.