The first sustained, controlled, powered flight of a fixed-wing aircraft happened on December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The enormous military potential of this new device was already apparent. And when the First World War started, in July 1914, it provided the perfect impetus for the rapid military exploitation of the air. Indeed, aviation was one of the most romanticised facets of the War. Air aces were lionised by politicians and press alike, and quickly achieved celebrity status. Though the term “ace” meant different things in different countries, it was generally taken to mean any pilot credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft.

Max Immelmann, known as “The Eagle of Lille”, was one of Germany’s early air aces, credited with 15 (sometimes 17) aerial victories. Together with Oswald Boelcke, he became famous as a daring fighter pilot whom the Allied pilots would rather not mess with. Immelmann was the first to receive the Pour le Mérite (colloquially called the “Blue Max” in his honour) at the same time as Boelcke. And a distinctive combat manoeuvre – a half loop followed by a half roll on top, employed to rapidly reverse the direction of flight – came to be called an “Immelmann turn”. However, more likely, an Immelmann turn was a sharp rudder turn, off a near-vertical zoom climb – a manoeuvre that Immelmann may have originated and used in combat.

Max Immelmann was born on September 21, 1890, in Dresden, Germany. He was fascinated with engines and other mechanical devices, and entered the Dresden Cadet School when he was 15. By the time he became a pilot the War was in full swing. For the first half of 1915, he served with various flying units. On several occasions he was involved in combat while flying the LVG – a German two-seat reconnaissance biplane – but without success. On June 3, 1915, he was shot down by a French pilot. However, he managed to land his plane safely behind German lines.

Everything changed in July 1915, when the German aircraft manufacturer Fokker delivered two early examples of its Fokker Eindecker fighter – the E.13/15 – to Immelmann’s unit, one for Oswald Boelcke’s use, and the other for Immelmann’s. The E.13/15 aircraft was armed with one lMG 08 Spandau machine gun, synchronised to fire forward through the propeller arc. It helped Immelmann achieve his first confirmed air victory of the war on August 1, 1915, just a fortnight after another German pilot had recorded the very first confirmed German aerial victory. In fact, the Fokker Eindecker was Germany’s first fighter aircraft, and the first to be designed to fire through the propeller arc. It helped Max Immelmann, Oswald Boelcke, and other pilots to put in place the so-called “Fokker Scourge” by inflicting heavy losses on British and French aircraft. Although around 200 German pilots flew Eindeckers, only three or four came close to Immelmann in their scores.

In September 1915, three more victories followed and Immelmann was promoted to First Lieutenant. In October 1915, he became solely responsible for the air defence of the city of Lille. That is how he received the nickname “The Eagle of Lille” from the German newspapers. Meanwhile, Immelmann and Boelcke engaged in a fluctuating contest to be Germany’s leading ace. On January 12, 1916, both pilots received the “Blue Max” from Kaiser Wilhelm II. Thus encouraged, Immelmann made March 1916 his best month, with five victories.

On June 18, 1916, Immelmann led four Eindecker fighter in pursuit of four British F.E.2b two-seat pusher fighters (called “Fees”) of No. 25 Squadron. Immelmann succeeded in forcing one down near Arras, but only after his own plane suffered serious damage. Later that same evening, Immelmann in a Fokker E.III, encountered No. 25 Squadron again. After recording another victory (which turned out to be his last) he closed into a British Fee piloted by Second Lieutenant G.R. McCubbin, with Corporal J.H. Waller as gunner/observer. Immelmann’s aircraft was hit by a burst of gunfire and started going down. Suddenly, it pitched up and stalled over its left wing. Witnesses saw its fuselage break off behind the cockpit. As it began its death dive, both wings tore away as well. Immelmann’s body was recognised only by his monogrammed kerchief and the Blue Max at his throat.

Max Immelmann was given a state funeral and buried in Dresden, his home town. There was deep shock in the German camp, since many had seen Immelmann as invincible. He was one of their first great aces to die in combat. People claimed that his Eindecker had been hit by friendly anti-aircraft fire, or that his synchroniser gear had malfunctioned (one of the propeller blades appeared to be sawed off). Anything except the painful but most likely truth: that he had been shot down by a British fighter pilot.