Franz Gräser

Who was Franz Gräser?

Leutnant Franz Gräser was a World War I flying ace credited with 18 aerial victories.

Gräser was a technical university student in Budapest until World War I broke out. In October 1914, he enlisted in Infanterieregiment No. 72, graduated reserve officer school in mid-July 1915, and began World War I as the commander of a machine gun unit on the Russian Front. After being wounded, he transferred to K.u.K, the Austro-Hungarian air service. He was commissioned as an officer and assigned to observer duties in the rear seat of a reconnaissance aircraft in Flik 2. His skill with machine guns helped him to his first two victories, from the rear seat, on 10 February and 20 May 1917.

Like many observers, Gräser made the transition to becoming a pilot. Unlike just about anyone else, he did so without formal training. The feldwebel pilot who coached him thought he was a natural, but he never received any official training. Without ever being licensed as a pilot, Gräser began flying an Albatros D.III fighter for Flik 42J beginning in September 1917. His personal insignia of an owl on his plane was based in Baltic culture; an owl was considered a sign of death.