Gottfried von Banfield

Gottfried von Banfield (6 February 1890 – 23 September 1986), K.u.K. Kriegsmarine, a.k.a. "Freiherr von Banfield", was one of the most successful Austro-Hungarian naval aeroplane pilots in the First World War. He was known as the 'Eagle of Trieste' and was the last person in history to wear the Military Order of Maria Theresa. He scored nine aerial victories during the war, making him one of the only flying aces who flew a flying boat to five or more victories.

Family Of Norman origin, the Banfields were an Irish family in the 16th century. Thomas Banfield, an officer in the British army, while in Bavaria married an Austrian noblewoman. He took part in the Crimean War and died after the taking of Sevastopol. His son Richard Banfield, born in Vienna in 1836 and educated in Austria, chose Austrian citizenship, became an officer of the k.u.k. Kriegsmarine and took part in the Battle of Vis as one of the commanders on Wilhelm von Tegetthoff's flagship, the Erzherzog Ferdinand Max.

Early training Banfield was born 6 February 1890 in Castelnuovo, which is situated in the Bay of Kotor and was the homeport of an Austrian fleet. His father was a British subject, but the boy Gottfried took Austrian nationality.

He attended the military secondary school in Sankt Pölten, and the Imperial and Royal Naval Academy in Fiume: on 17 June 1909 he emerged as a Fähnrich. In May 1912 he was promoted to frigate-lieutenant. One month later he began pilot training in the flying school in Wiener Neustadt, and in August he obtained his flying licence. Banfield was also the first Austro-Hungarian pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft at night, downing an Allied flying boat on 31 May 1917. He was wounded in combat in 1918.

Decorations Banfield's nine confirmed and eleven unconfirmed air-to-air victories make him the most successful Austro-Hungarian naval airplane fighter, and he holds a place among the most successful flying aces of Austro-Hungary. It was because he made most of his expeditions over the northern Adriatic that many of his claimed victories could not be confirmed.

Trieste After the First World War, the city of Trieste was annexed by Italy, and Gottfried von Banfield was for a time imprisoned by the occupation police. In 1920 he emigrated to England and became a British subject. He married the Contessa Maria Tripcovich (died 1976), of Trieste. They settled in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where their son Raphael Douglas, known to the world as the composer Raffaello de Banfield Tripcovich, was born in 1922. In 1926, Gottfried took Italian nationality and returned to Trieste to become Director of the Diodato Tripcovich and Co. Trieste Shipping Company, which he took over from his father-in-law. Trieste Company ships then sailed under the Italian flag. Banfield became a celebrity of the city, usually called "Our Baron", Il nostro Barone, even winning a local tennis championship in 1927. He was a good enough player to qualify for the 1925 Wimbledon doubles Championship with Zerlendi as partner, losing in the first round. Serving as the Honorary Consul of France at Trieste, he was decorated with the Legion d'Honneur in 1977. Gottfried von Banfield died in Trieste 23 September 1986, at the age of 96.

A military tribute As a memorial, the 1990 graduating year's class of the Theresa Military Academy in Wiener-Neustadt, the greater number of whom had begun their foundation military service in the year of Gottfried von Banfield's death, called itself the 'Banfield Class.'