Leutnant Franz Hemer was a World War I German flying ace credited with 18 aerial victories.
Biography Hemer was originally a talented concert cellist. His long curly blonde hair sparked his nickname of "Locken".
Hemer served with Flieger-Abteilung (Artillerie) 283 before he was posted to Jagdstaffel (Jasta) 6 on 10 September 1917. He scored his first victory on 27 October 1917, when he shot down an RE.8. He scored once more in 1917, on 12 November. He was then assigned a Fokker Dr. 1. He had a wavy yellow line painted the length of the fuselage, symbolizing the wavy locks of hair that gave him the nickname "Locken".Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps 1914 - 1918, pp. 126-127
By the end of March 1918, he became an ace. He scored at least five more victories with the triplane before upgrading to a Fokker D.VII. He scored his last victory on 8 August 1918. The following day, he was wounded in action when his Fokker D.VII was shot down during a dogfight with RAF DH.9s of No. 49 Squadron RAF supported by Sopwith Camels. While convalescing, he was commissioned a Leutnant. However, he apparently did not return to flight duty before the war's end.
Later he became managing Director of König & Bruder in Leipzig, head office in Vienna, an old fur trading company.
Franz Hemer died on 18 October 1982 in Frankfurt.
References
Sources
Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps 1914 - 1918. Norman L. R. Franks, et al. Grub Street, 1993. .
Further reading