Kurt Gruber

Kurt Gruber (1896 – 4 April 1918) was an Austro-Hungarian flying ace during the First World War who held the rank of Offiziersstellvertreter. He was credited with eleven aerial victories, 5 shared with other pilots.

Early life

Kurt Gruber was born in 1896 in Linz, Austria. Gruber was a technical student studying engineering in Saxe-Altenburg, Germany when World War I began.

Aerial service

Gruber scored his first aerial victories on 14 April, 2 May, and 6 June 1916, with Godwin Brumowski manning the observer's guns in the Albatros B.I on the 2nd. The 6 June victory was the first by a lone Austro-Hungarian aviator; flying without a gunner, he used his front machine gun to force a Morane-Saulnier Parasol to land. This late in the war, he was still flying an Albatros D.III without interrupter gear; the airplane's machine gun was angled to the left to fire past the end of the propeller arc.

Phönix D.I serial number 228.45. Kurt Gruber's Phönix D.I was s/n 228.24.

Gruber was transferred to Flik 60J on 23 December 1917, under Frank Linke-Crawford. The squadron was equipped, with the Phönix D.I. Between 10 January and 4 April 1918, Gruber scored six more victories. Gruber was shot down and killed on 4 April 1918 in combat with Sopwith Camels of No 66 Squadron, moments after his final claim.

Gruber was recommended by his commanding officers for commissioning as an officer, but the Austro-Hungarian military did not believe in battlefield promotions. Kurt Gruber died as a senior sergeant. He was posthumously awarded the Gold Bravery Medal for the fourth time, becoming one of only two quadruple recipients of the decoration (Julius Arigi). He was buried with honors at Feltre, Italy.

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