József Kiss

Who was József Kiss?

Lieutenant József Kiss de Elemér et Ittebe was a World War I flying ace for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was credited with 19 aerial victories. He was the most successful Hungarian ace in the war.

Born 26 January 1896, Kiss's father was a gardener at the Pozsony military academy. His grandfather was Lieutenant-General Ernő Kiss, one of the 13 Martyrs of Arad who were executed in 1849. When the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war against Serbia, Kiss promptly dropped out of school and enlisted in the 72nd Infantry Regiment of the Austro-Hungarian army despite the fact that his truncated education would keep him from the officer's ranks. On 26 October 1914 he went into action against the Russians in the Carpathian Mountains. He was severely wounded there, and sent home to convalesce. While on convalescent leave he became interested in the Austro-Hungarian air service. He applied, was accepted, and trained at Wiener-Neustadt.

He graduated as a sergeant pilot in April 1916, and was assigned to the newly founded Flik 24. He scored his first victory on 20 June 1916 while still flying a two-seater Hansa-Brandenburg C.I; he and observer Georg Kenzian forced down a Farman. While flying the two-seater Hansa-Brandenberg he forced down two three-engined Caproni bombers, one of which holed his plane 70 times. He was then upgraded to a single seated Hansa-Brandenburg D.I fighter. By November 1917 he had amassed seven victories, including four forced down and captured.