The man Ltn.de.Res. Friedrich Weitz. arrived at Jasta 26 on 18 Jan.1917. He was wounded in action on 11 March 1917. Weitz died of his wounds on 12 March 1917.

At approx. 10:17am on 11 March 1917, Jasta 26 engaged Escadrille 49 over Bernwiller. Lieutenant Maus of Esc 49 falls in combat. His Nieuport 17 crashes 5km away near Ammerzwiller.

During the night of 11 March it was decided to disassemble the crashed Nieuport 17 (now in German hands), Weitz was present (and unwounded.) *What action mortally wounded Ltn. des. Res Weitz?

(Hint: he did not fly any further missions but he is listed as DOW on 12 March 1917.)

It did not involve explosives,shelling or sniping from the ground troops/enemy.
It did not involve accidental shooting by his own people.
He did not attempt or commit suicide.
He did not die of natural causes.
The enemy pilot been dead for several hours previous. ???

I just love "murder" mysteries

My guess would be that he got some bit of the Nie 17 in the head while it was dissasembled?

Mikael

Golly gee Uncle Stephen, please do tell what happend to that gallant Lt. Weitz. We do so want to know.

Please. . . . . . .

Stephen - I have no idea but I will take a guess.... obviously the Nieuport was in such as state that it was salvagable. It was probably behind German lines but close to the front? Weitz was "present" but you did not mention him being with the ground troops.... maybe he was flying around or over the crash site - perhaps trying to spot for it for the ground troops or flying cover so the efforts to capture the downed nieuport were not thwarted. Given that it was at night he probably misjudged his altitude or struck and obstacle and crashed near by, mortally wounding himself. Not quite wounded "in action" though the definition could be stretched to cover this if the flight was a legitimate "protection flight" for the chaps attempting to disassemble the Nieuport.... just my wild guess

BC

I'm gonna go with some type of freak accident like the plane's guns went off accidentally and killed him or part of the plane hit him someway while attempting to retrieve it? Can't wait for the answer..............

I'm going to guess that he was killed by a vehicle. It was at night, the Germans were disassembling an aircraft, there was probably a vehicle present to bring the parts back to the airfield for examination. As the vehicle was being readied to return to base, Weitz was run over as he wasn't seen. naturally the vehicle woud have been in a darkened condition. This is all predicated upon that they were using a motor vehicle vice a horse drawn affair; which still could have killed him as dead as a motor vehicle.
A second scenario could be as someone has already stated, a piece of the nieuport could have killed, an errant cable that was released before the tension was taken out of it could have struck him, a carelessly handled piece of the airplane during disassembly could have struck him as well.

Mark

From my experience in the military, I can only guess that you should never walk in front of a gun when there is a left-handed untergefrieter playing around with the trigger.

Maybe he was souvenier hunting,and by playing around with the prop he caused the interupter gear to fire a bullet that was in the breach causing a fatal head wound.

Hi!
My guess is, they re-assembled the Nieuport, and Weitz, used to flying the In-line Albatros, crashed the trickier Nieuport.

Hi again!
Were there two Weitz's?

Google doesn't have the answer, so come on Stephen - tell us!

Well it is not as easy to find as you might think but its there.

First published in C&C USA Vol.13,#2, p.188. *'Edward L. Leiser. . .
writes: *the diary of Sgt. (Feldwebel) Theilarm of the 3rd Co. 36th Regiment of the 113 German Infantry Division, who had been taken prisoner and who was on the front in Alsace facing Mulhouse, reports that on 11 March a French airman was brought down *near the German lines... The German aviator who brought down a French machine in front of us found a tragic end. . .The German aviator was present as the machine was up side down was turned over. *At the moment of doing so the machine gun on the airplane was set in action and a bullet from it killed the German aviator who then happened to be standing infront of it.' *

See also:
C&C USA Vol. 22 #1, p.19.
C&C USA Vol. 22 #4, p.382.

War record of Ltn.des Res. Friedrich Weitz
KEK Habsheim - 4Sep16 WIA,lt.
KEK Habsheim 4Sep16 - 10Oct16
Jasta 15 10Oct16 - 18Jan17
Jasta 26 18Jan17 - 11/12Mar17 WIA,DOW

Just bringing this up for Halloween.

Bumping this up for things that go "Bump" in the night.

"Remember, kids: Once Mr safety catch is disengaged, Mr Machine Gun is no longer your friend."

or.............."do not try this trick at home"!!
Cheers,
Lance