Lieutenant Alfred Michael Koch was a Swiss-born Canadian flying ace

Flying ace

A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...

 credited with ten aerial victories.

Early life

Alfred Michael Koch was born on 25 February 1894 in Arosa

Arosa

Arosa is a town and a municipality in the district of Plessur in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It is both a summer and a winter tourist resort.-History:...

, Graubünden

Graubünden

Graubünden or Grisons is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. The canton shares borders with the cantons of Ticino, Uri, Glarus and St. Gallen and international borders with Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein...

, Switzerland. He moved to Canada at the age of four years. His father was John Koch. The younger Koch enlisted in the 19th Alberta Dragoons

19th Alberta Dragoons

The 19th Alberta Dragoons originated in Edmonton, Alberta on 1 February 1908, when the 19th The Alberta Mounted Rifles were authorized to be formed and was redesignated as the 19th Alberta Dragoons on 3 January 1911. On 16 February 1936, it was amalgamated with The Alberta Mounted Rifle. It was...

 on 23 September 1914 at Valcartier, Canada, and was assigned regimental number 2077. He listed a home address in Edmonton

Edmonton

Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...

, Canada, his profession as law student, and claimed prior military experience. His physical examination reported him as 5 feet 3 1/2 inches tall. He reportedly was dark-complected, with dark brown hair, grey eyes, and moles on his right arm.

World War I

Koch was originally a trumpeter for the Alberta Dragoons. He transferred to the 1st Cavalry Division CEF and shipped out for the war zone.

He flew as an aerial observer

Aerial observer

Aerial Observer- Air Force Reconnaissance.An Aerial Observer is the functional position of gathering information visually from an airborne platform for use by military or commercial purposes. This history started when the first balloons were flown in Europe...

 in 6 Squadron, and was wounded in action

Wounded in action

Wounded in action describes soldiers who have been wounded while fighting in a combat zone during war time, but have not been killed. Typically it implies that they are temporarily or permanently incapable of bearing arms or continuing to fight....

 on 22 October 1916. He made the transition to fighter pilot

Fighter pilot

A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained in air-to-air combat while piloting a fighter aircraft . Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and dogfighting...

 and was posted to fly 70 Squadron's Sopwith Camel

Sopwith Camel

The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...

s. On 18 October 1917, he began a decade of successes that carried him through to 23 March 1918; he succeeded against nine German fighter planes as well as destroying one of their observation balloons. However, he was not awarded the Military Cross for these victories. When his Military Cross citation was gazetted on 22 June 1918, it read:
The last known information about Koch is that he was wounded once again in 1918.

List of aerial victories

All victories scored while flying a Sopwith Camel

Sopwith Camel

The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...

 fighter plane for No. 70 Squadron RAF.
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No.	Date/time	Aircraft	Foe	Result	Location	Notes
1	18 October 1917 @ 0900 hours	Sopwith Camel Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...  serial number B2399	Albatros D.V Albatros D.V |-See also:-Bibliography:*Bennett, Leon. Gunning for the Red Baron. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2006. ISBN 1-58544-507-X....  fighter plane	Destroyed	Westrozebeke Westrozebeke Westrozebeke is a village in the Belgian province of West-Flanders. It is part of the municipality of Staden. It is located 6 miles west of Roeselare and 9.5 miles north-east of Ypres. It's a typical agricultural village with lots of farms.... , Belgium
2	20 October 1917 @ 1130 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n B2399	Albatros D.V fighter	Driven down out of control	Abeele
3	8 November 1917 @ 1145 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n B2444	Albatros D.V fighter	Driven down out of control	Westrozebeke, Belgium
4	24 January 1918 @ 1130 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n B9138	Albatros reconnaissance plane	Driven down out of control	Westrozebeke, Belgium
5		Sopwith Camel s/n/B1938	Two-seater reconnaissance plane	Driven down out of control	Dadizeele
6	11 March 1918 @ 1230 hours	Sopwith Camel	Observation balloon Observation balloon Observation balloons are balloons that are employed as aerial platforms for intelligence gathering and artillery spotting. Their use began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World War I, and they continue in limited use today....	Destroyed by fire	Menen Menen Menen is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Menen proper and the towns of Lauwe and Rekkem. The city is situated on the French/Belgian border. On January 1, 2006, Menen had a total population of 32,413... , Belgium	Victory shared with aces Frank Granger Quigley Frank Granger Quigley Frank Granger Quigley DSO, MC & Bar was a Canadian World War I flying ace who was credited with 33 victories. He was notable for scoring the majority of his victories against German fighter planes.-Early life and service:... , Kenneth Seth-Smith, Walter M. Carlaw Walter M. Carlaw Captain Walter Macfarlane Carlaw DFC was a Scottish-born flying ace who served during World War I. He was credited with 12 confirmed aerial victories.-Early life:...
7	11 March 1918 @ 1700 hours	Sopwith Camel	Pfalz D.III Pfalz D.III |-See also:-Bibliography:* Gray, Peter and Owen Thetford. German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putnam, 1962. ISBN 0-93385-271-1.* Grosz, Peter M. Pfalz D.IIIa . Berkhamsted, Herts, UK: Albatros Publications, 1995. ISBN 0-94841-425-1.* Guttman, Jon. Balloon-Busting Aces of World War 1 ...  fighter	Destroyed	Passendale Passendale Passendale or Passchendaele is a rural Belgian village in the Zonnebeke municipality of West Flanders province... , Belgium	Victory shared with Frank Quigley
8	22 March 1918 @ 1525 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n C1672	Albatros reconnaissance plane	Driven down out of control	Vicinity of Cagnicourt Cagnicourt Cagnicourt is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais département in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:A farming village located 11 miles southeast of Arras at the junction of the D13 with the D14E.-Population:... , France
9	22 March 1918 @ 1535 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n C1672	Albatros D.V fighter	Destroyed	Southeast of Lagnicourt, France
10	23 March 1918 @ 0835 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n C1672	Albatros D.V fighter	Driven down out of control	Northwest of Cambrai Cambrai Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included... , France

Endnotes