Frank Linke-Crawford -- July 30, 2018

Summary of Information, Vol 3, page 895

Frank Linke-Crawford had an unlikely name for an Austro-Hungarian ace, but his mother was British. 100 years ago today, on 30-July-1918, he was shot down in a fight with two Italian airplanes.

I couldn't find any US newspaper accounts of his death, but I found the official Austrian communique for 03-August-1918, which includes this: "On July 30 one of our most successful pursuit aviators, Lieut. Frank Linke-Crawford, died a hero in the course of an air fight."

Notice that the German dispatch mentions Ernst Udet, Lothar von Richtofen and a Sergeant Thom.

I'm going to have fun with this book.