Otto Fruhner [SEP] conflict
Otto Fruhner
Generalmajor Otto Fruhner (6 September 1893 – 19 June 1965) MMC, IC, was a German World War I flying ace credited with 27 victories. He was one of the first aviators to parachute from a stricken aircraft.
Beginning as an enlisted mechanic in late 1914, Fruhner rose into the officer's ranks. He was eligible for Germany's highest officer's decoration for valor, the Pour le Merite, when Kaiser Wilhelm II's abdication scotched the award and the German military largely disbanded after its defeat
, Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Iron Cross, scored over half of his 44 victories while commanding Jasta 26.
- The squadron's other winner of the "Blue Max" was Walter Blume, who also rated an Iron Cross.
- Otto Fruhner, leading ace of the Jasta with 27 wins, won the enlisted man's equivalent of the Blue Max, the Military Merit Cross (MMC]], as well as the Iron Cross.
- Erich Buder and Otto Esswein also won the MMC and Iron