Name: Franz Büchner
Country: Germany
Rank: Leutnant
Units: FFA 270 Jasta 9, 13
Victories: 40
Date Of Birth: January 2, 1898
Place of Birth: Leipzig
Date Of Death: March 18, 1920
Place of Death: Near Leipzig

The son of a successful businessman, this highly decorated German ace was 16 years old when he joined the infantry in 1914. After surviving a case of typhoid fever, Büchner served on the Russian front in 1915 before returning to the trenches of France where he was wounded in combat on April 3, 1916. When he recovered, he transferred to the German Air Service, serving first with FFA 270. He was assigned to Jasta 9 in March 1917, he scored his first and only victory with this unit on August 17, 1917. Büchner was then reassigned to Jasta 13 but only scored one more victory by the end of the year. During the summer of 1918, his score began to climb after downing three enemy aircraft in June. Scoring his seventh victory on July 2, 1918, Büchner shot down the Sopwith Dolphin of Irish ace Joseph Callaghan. Five days later, he scored his eighth victory over a Sopwith Camel flown by the allied ace, Merril Taylor of Canada. With the aid of a parachute, Büchner survived a midair collision with another Jasta pilot on October 10, 1918. He was killed in action during Germany's postwar revolution.



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