Carl Degelow

Carl "Charly" Degelow (5 January 1891 – 9 November 1970) Pour le Merite, Royal House Order of Hohenzollern,Iron Cross, was a German fighter pilot during World War I. He was credited with 30 victories, and was the last person to win the military Pour le Merite.

Life before aviation

Carl Degelow was born on 5 January 1891 in Münsterdorf, Schleswig-Holstein, in the Kingdom of Prussia.

In 1912-1913, before World War I broke out, Degelow worked in the United States as an industrial chemist. His specialty was the manufacture of cement, and he was known to have visited Chicago and El Paso.

He returned to Germany just before World War I erupted and enlisted in Nassauischen Infanterie-Regiment Nr 88. Degelow initially served with distinction in this infantry regiment in both France and Russia, winning both classes of the Iron Cross and earning promotion in rank from Gefreiter to Vizefeldwebel. He was also wounded in the arm while fighting in Russia. He was commissioned as a Leutnant on 31 July 1915. He was seriously wounded in the arm in Russia in 1915, and commissioned in July 1915 while he was still hospitalized.