Josef Raesch

Josef Raesch
Born	4 June 1897 Zewen near Trier, Rhineland, Germany
Died	1967 or later
Allegiance	Germany
Service/branch	Infantry; aviation (Luftstreitkräfte)
Years of service	1914 - 1918
Rank	Leutnant
Unit	Flieger-Abteilung (Flier Detachment) 7, Jagddstaffel (Fighter Squadron) 43
Awards	Iron Cross both classes

Lieutenant Josef Raesch (born June 4, 1897, date of death unknown) was a World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories. Two of his victories were over other aces, Guy Wareing and Ernest Charles Hoy.

Josef Raesch was born in Zewen near Trier on 4 June 1897. The start of World War I sparked his enlistment into the German infantry on 4 August 1914. On 1 December 1917, he transferred from this duty to pilot's training at ''Fliegerersatz-Abteilung (Replacement Detachment) 5.

After training he was assigned to a reconnaissance unit, Flieger-Abteilung (Flier Detachment) 7, as a two-seater pilot. After seasoning there, he attended Jastaschule (Fighter pilot training), with subsequent posting to a fighter squadron. He joined Jagdstaffel 43 on 6 June 1918. In his June diary entries, he mentioned that rookie pilots posted to the squadron were given older Albatros D.IIIs or Albatros D.Vs to fly, but that newer Fokker D.VIIs were filtering into the unit. The eighth D.VII arrival is noted. Raesch inherited Otto Creutzmann's Fokker D.VII when the latter left the Jasta on 13 June. Creutzmann's insignia of a forward-thrusting pitchfork remained on the plane.

For his first aerial victory, Raesch shot down a Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a north of Hantay at 1100 hours on 27 June 1918. His diary contained a vivid description:

The Englishmen started to circle, and as soon as I had one in my sights I opened up with a volley from both guns, whereupon the SE 5 went into a vertical climb and then slipped off into a spin, with me closely on his tail. I let him have a second burst, and I could see my tracers entering his cockpit and engine and finally had to pull away to avoid a collision. I spotted my victim some 300 meters below me....I dived and again opened up with both guns. The SE 5 went into a climb, and now I could see the machine was on fire. The machine spun towards the earth in a tower of fire and finally crashed.

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