Leopold Anslinger

Who was Leopold Anslinger?

Leutnant Leopold Anslinger was a World War I flying ace credited with ten aerial victories.

Anslinger learned to fly pre-World War I, earning pilot certificate No. 566 on 14 October 1913. When the war began, he was a corporal pilot. Promoted to Feldwebel, he was posted to FA 54 on the Russian Front. He was commissioned on 22 March 1915. He won the Iron Cross Second Class on 17 April 1915 and the First Class on 18 August. On 5 December 1915, he was awarded the Military Merit Cross. Between 18 January and 28 August 1916, he scored his first four victories, three of them over French pilots. He also received further honors, beginning with the February 1916 award of the Austro-Hungarian Militar-Verdienst Order and Baden Ritterkreuz, followed by the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern and the Austro-Hungarian Iron Cross.

Anslinger was transferred to FA 24 and teamed with Wilhelm Frickart as his gunner. Together, they scored six wins between 12 April and 30 June 1917. Anslinger was then transferred to Kest 9 in Mainz on homeland defense duties.