Max Immelmann
Military pilot Max Immelmann was Germany's first air ace of the First World War, scoring seventeen victories until his death in 1916. With seventeen (some attribute just fifteen) 'kills' to his name - and the Pour le Merite awarded by the Kaiser on 12 January 1916 - Immelmann was shot down and killed on 18 June 1916 near Lens. Such was the shock of his death (which was at first attributed to other causes) that Kaiser Wilhelm II grounded his fellow airman (and rival) Oswald Boelcke for a month to avoid the loss of two aces in short order. (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Max Immelmann
Military pilot Max Immelmann was Germany's first air ace of the First World War, scoring seventeen victories until his death in 1916. With seventeen (some attribute just fifteen) 'kills' to his name - and the Pour le Merite awarded by the Kaiser on 12 January 1916 - Immelmann was shot down and killed on 18 June 1916 near Lens. Such was the shock of his death (which was at first attributed to other causes) that Kaiser Wilhelm II grounded his fellow airman (and rival) Oswald Boelcke for a month to avoid the loss of two aces in short order. (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)