1918, Loewenhardt's total was 48: 9 balloons and 39 airplanes. Death in action On 8 August, the Allied Forces launched the war's final offensive against the Germans. The British Royal Air Force led the assault, and Loewenhardt downed three of their airplanes. On the 9th, he shot down two more. On the 10th, flying despite a badly sprained ankle, Loewenhardt launched his yellow Fokker D.VII on a mid-day sortie leading a patrol heavily weighted with rookie pilots. He encountered No. 56 Squadron RAF and shot down a Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a over Chaulnes, France at 1215 hours for his 54th victory. In the aftermath of the combat, he collided with another German pilot, Leutnant Alfred Wenz from Jasta 11. Loewenhardt's Fokker's landing gear slammed the upper right wing on Wenz's D.VII. Both pilots' planes were equipped with parachutes and both pilots bailed out. Erich Loewenhardt's chute failed to open and he fell to his death. Awards and decorations Prussian military pilot badge Iron Cross of 1914, 1st and 2nd class Pour le Mérite Knight's Cross with Swords of the House Order of Hohenzollern, Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary) Endnotes References External links Ace Erich Loewenhardt's Fokker Dr. 1 1918 deaths 1897 births Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in France German Jewish military personnel of World War I German military personnel killed in World War I German World War I flying aces Luftstreitkräfte personnel Military personnel from Wrocław People from the Province of Silesia Prussian Army personnel Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class)