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Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 11 ("No 11 Fighter Squadron") was founded on 28 September 1916 from elements of 4 armee's Keks 1,2 and 3 and mobilized on 11 October as part of the German Air force
Luftstreitkräfte

The Deutsche Luftstreitkr?fte, known before 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , was the over-land air arm of the Germany military during World War I ....
's expansion program, forming permanent specialised fighter squadrons, or "Jasta
Jasta

The Jagdstaffeln were specialized fighter aircraft squadrons in the Luftstreitkr?fte during World War I....
s". It became the most successful fighter squadron in the German Air Service.
a 11's first commander was Oberleutnant Rudolf Lang, from its mobilization at Brayelles, until 14 January 1917.






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Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 11 ("No 11 Fighter Squadron") was founded on 28 September 1916 from elements of 4 armee's Keks 1,2 and 3 and mobilized on 11 October as part of the German Air force
Luftstreitkräfte

The Deutsche Luftstreitkr?fte, known before 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , was the over-land air arm of the Germany military during World War I ....
's expansion program, forming permanent specialised fighter squadrons, or "Jasta
Jasta

The Jagdstaffeln were specialized fighter aircraft squadrons in the Luftstreitkr?fte during World War I....
s". It became the most successful fighter squadron in the German Air Service.

Founding

Jasta 11's first commander was Oberleutnant Rudolf Lang, from its mobilization at Brayelles, until 14 January 1917. Jasta 11's first months of operations were very undistinguished.

It was not until the appointment of Rittmeister
Rittmeister

Rittmeister was the military rank of a commissioned cavalry officer in charge of a squadron , the equivalent of O3 or Captain , in the armies of Germany and Austria-Hungary states....
 Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred von Richthofen

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was a German fighter pilot known as the "Red Baron". He was the most successful flying ace of World War I, being officially credited with 80 confirmed Aerial warfare victories....
 on 16 January 1917 as CO that the unit commenced its path to fame and immortality. Von Richthofen, known as the Red Baron (due to the practice of painting his aircraft red for easy identification during combat) was already an able tactical pilot and ace following several months of service in Jasta 2 and became a highly effective unit commander who led his pilots by example. He already had 16 victories and was awarded the Pour le Merite
Pour le Mérite

The Pour le M?rite, known informally during World War I as the Blue Max , was the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military Order until the end of World War I....
 just before he assumed his command. when he assumed his command.

Flying over the Arras
Arras

Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard language dialect....
 front, and equipped with various models of the excellent Albatros sesquiplane fighter, between 22 January 1917 and the end of March the Jasta claimed some 36 victories. The beginning of the Battle of Arras
Battle of Arras

The name Battle of Arras refers to a number of battles which took place near the town of Arras in Artois, France:*Battle of Arras , a clash between the French and the Spanish...
 in early April meant a higher number of targets, with Jasta 11 logging 89 claims for aircraft destroyed in April (from a total of 298 made by all German fighter units for the month.) This decimation of the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps

The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery cooperation and photographic reconnaissance....
 became termed 'Bloody April'.

The Jastas performance is all the more extraordinary as the unit usually flew in small flights of six or fewer. Significant 'scorers' in the unit that April were Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred von Richthofen

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was a German fighter pilot known as the "Red Baron". He was the most successful flying ace of World War I, being officially credited with 80 confirmed Aerial warfare victories....
 (21 claims), Lt. Kurt Wolff (22), Lt. Karl Schäfer (15), Manfred's brother Lothar
Lothar von Richthofen

Lothar-Siegfried Freiherr von Richthofen was a Germany World War I fighter ace credited with 40 victories during the war. He was younger brother of top-scoring ace Manfred von Richthofen and a cousin of the Luftwaffe Generalfeldmarschall Wolfram von Richthofen....
 (15) and NCO pilot Sebastian Festner
Sebastian Festner

'Sebastian Festner' was an air ace of the Luftstreitkr?fte during World War I, with 12 victories. He reached the rank of Vizefeldwebel.Born in Holzkirchen, Bavaria on 30 June 1894, he was a mechanic with Fleiger Abtleilung Nr....
 (10).

Incorporation into JG I

On 26 July 1917, Jasta 11 became part of Jagdgeschwader 1
Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War 1)

The Jagdgeschwader 1 of World War I, was a fighter aircraft unit comprising four Jastas or 'fighter squadrons', originally raised by combining Jastas 4, 6, 10 & 11, on 24 June 1917 with Manfred von Richthofen as commander....
 - a collection of several Jastas into one administrative and highly mobile tactical force. Richthofen was promoted to command JG I, which was the second fighter wing in the history of military aviation. It was dubbed 'Richthofen's Flying Circus' because it mimicked a circus's logistics by using dedicated railway trains to transport it to forward airfields, and because of its vividly painted aircraft.

In August 1917, Jasta 11 would be re-equipped with Fokker Dr.I
Fokker Dr.I

The Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918. It became renowned as the aircraft in which Manfred von Richthofen gained his last 20 victories, and in which he was killed on 21 April 1918....
 triplanes. It would operate these until April-May 1918, when it received the Fokker D.VII
Fokker D.VII

The Fokker D.VII was a Germany World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 1,700 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918....
s it would use until war's end.

Manfred von Richthofen remained Jasta commander until 26 June 1917, when his deputy, Leutnant Karl Allmenroeder took over. Following the latter's death the next day, former Jasta 11 pilot Leutnant Kurt Wolff took over after his transfer back from Jasta 29. After Wolff was wounded in September, Oberlt. Wilhelm Reinhard
Wilhelm Reinhard

Wilhelm "Willi" Reinhard was a Germany pilot during World War I. Reinhard was born in D?sseldorf and became a flying ace during the war, credited with 20 victories....
 took charge until Wolff returned. Soon after Wolff was killed in action on 11 September, thereafter Lothar
Lothar von Richthofen

Lothar-Siegfried Freiherr von Richthofen was a Germany World War I fighter ace credited with 40 victories during the war. He was younger brother of top-scoring ace Manfred von Richthofen and a cousin of the Luftwaffe Generalfeldmarschall Wolfram von Richthofen....
 took command. Jasta 11 would then have a bewildering succession of other temporary commanding officers, especially when Lothar was frequently away from the front recovering from wounds. Oberleutnant Erich Rudinger von Wedel was the last Staffelfuhrer, from September 1918 until the end of the war. The Jasta was demobilised at Darmstadt
Darmstadt

Darmstadt is a city in the States of Germany of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area.The city of Darmstadt was founded by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen in 1330, though settlement in the area is known to have been present as early as the late 11th century....
 on 16 November 1918.

Jasta 11 eventually became the highest scoring German fighter Jasta of World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, with 350 claims. The first was scored on 23 January 1917, the 100th on 23 April, the 200th on 17 August, the 250th on 2 April 1918, and the 300th on 28 June 1918. (By comparison, the British 56 Squadron scored 427.)

It numbered no fewer than twenty aces among its ranks, and "graduated" pilots to command numerous other jastas in the German Air force
Luftstreitkräfte

The Deutsche Luftstreitkr?fte, known before 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , was the over-land air arm of the Germany military during World War I ....
. In return it suffered 17 pilots killed, 2 POW, and 2 killed in flying accidents. Its loss rate was thus less than one-tenth of its opponents, although it also suffered 19 wounded in action.

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