Emil Thuy

Emil Thuy (11 March 1894 – 11 June 1930), Pour le Merite, Württemberg's Order of Military Merit, House Order of Hohenzollern, Iron Cross First and Second Class, was one of the leading German fighter aces of World War I, with 35 victories. After the war, he was an adviser to the Finnish air force and was involved in the secret origins of the Luftwaffe within the Soviet Union.

Early life Emil Thuy was born in Hagen, Germany, the son of a factory owner. He was interested in airplanes even as a child, building models and testing a glider.

After graduation from secondary school, he worked for a while in a colliery in Lebanon, Germany. He then enrolled in 1913 in the Faculty of Mining at the Technical University of Clausthal; he was interested in metallurgical engineering.

Nevertheless, when he recuperated, he volunteered for the Imperial German Air Service. He underwent aviation training in Berlin. Despite flying a two-seater plane poorly suited for combat, he scored his first victory on 8 September 1915. On 24 September, he scored his first victory with his new squadron. He continued to accumulate wins on a steady basis, by ones and twos. At about this time, he changed aircraft from the Pfalz D.III he had been flying, to a Fokker D.VII. In July, Jagdgruppe 7 was founded, incorporating his Jasta and three others. Thuy commanded both JG 7 and Jasta 28 simultaneously.

Post World War I Thuy resumed his studies and upon graduation, joined his father in the family's factory in Hagen. He wrote treatises on aviation on the side. As a result, he received an offer from Siemens-Schuckert to be a "technical consultant" for the Finnish Air Force.

Thuy was a member of a paramilitary veterans organization known as Der Stahlhelm, which was the armed wing of the German National People's Party. He was active in the resistance to the French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr.

He then went to Finland in early 1923 as an Oberleutnant or senior lieutenant. He was the head of the aerial gunnery department of the Finnish Air Force Flying School, departing finally about 16 August 1924.

The Treaty of Versailles banned Germany from having an air force. To get around this, a secret training base was established in the Soviet Union, at Lipetsk fighter-pilot school, in 1924. Thuy was offered the opportunity to serve there and accepted.

On 11 June 1930, while flying from Moscow to Berlin as part of this mission, Thuy crashed fatally in the vicinity of Smolensk. He was testing a secret Albatros L 76 reconnaissance airplane at the time.