Oberleutnant Henrich Claudius Kroll (3 November 1894 – 21 February 1930) Pour le Merite, Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Saxony's Albert Order Knight Second Class with Swords,[1] Iron Cross First and Second Class, was a World War I fighter ace credited with 33 victories.

[citation needed] In October, 1916, two new Albatros fighters were assigned to the unit, and Kroll started flying one occasionally.

Dorme's Spad suddenly nosed over and barreled straight into the ground, bursting into flames upon impact.

[8][9][10] This victory was influential in Kroll being appointed commanding officer of Royal Saxon Jasta 24 on 1 July 1917.

[2] On 27 July he was shot down in flames[4] by Captain Clive W. Warman of No 23 Squadron, but escaped uninjured.

Warman's machine gun fire set Kroll's airplane's carburetor on fire, but Kroll killed the engine to starve the flames, tore off his oily goggles so he could still see, and landed dead stick, trailing telephone wires.

[15] On 25 January 1918, after he shot down a Bristol F.2b Fighter for number 17,[2] the rear spar of the Pfalz he was flying broke, and the left aileron tore badly, almost separating from the plane.

[14] His 20th victory on 18 February[2] brought an award of the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern and made him eligible for the Pour le Merite.

Kroll continued as Jasta 24's leading ace,[16] steadily racking up his score, mostly against enemy fighters.

[4][9] The 28 victories he scored with Jasta 24 made up almost a third of its 90 claims; he and Friedrich Altemeier combined for over half the squadron wins.

Kroll shot down about as many enemy fighters as his more famous compatriot, Manfred von Richthofen.

In its aftermath he recovered the body of fellow fighter ace Rudolf Berthold, who had been murdered by German communists.