"Austria-Hungary is not well known for its fighter pilots. The largely rural, agrarian economy was not sufficient to meet the demands of a modern, mechanized war. The Allied blockade was especially severe in Austria-Hungary and shortages were everywhere, especially of rolled steel and coal. Her industries were only able to produce 5,000 aircraft and 4,000 engines during the entire course of the war. Italy, by comparison, even with a year less fighting, was able to produce 20,000 aircraft and 38,000 engines. Austria had generally only 500 planes in operation, spread out over the Russian, Balkan, and Italian fronts in both the Austrian Army Air Force and the naval forces.
It's amazing that Austria-Hungary was able to field a Luftfaehrt-truppen, (LFT), Army Air Force, at all. But the boys did remarkably well. The top Austro-Hungarian ace, Godwin Brumowski, is credited with 35 official "kills" and eight more "unofficial" because the aircraft went down behind Allied lines.
Brumowski was born in Wadowice, Austrian Galicia, 26 July 1889, the same year as Crown Prince Rudolf's supposed suicide at Mayerling. (Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, would also be born in Wadowice, in 1920.) Brumowski was born into a military family. He later attended the Technical Military Academy in Moedling, near Vienna, graduating 10 August 1910. Upon graduation he was commissioned a Leutnant (second lieutenant) in the KuK Armee, field artillery, regiment #29. By the outbreak of the war, Brumowski had been promoted to Oberleutnant (first lieutenant), as regimental adjutant with the 6th Artillery Division, serving on the Russian Front until July, 1915…"
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Amicalement
Armand
adds a machinegun platoon to his WWI Brits.
