Göring first saw action in Mulhouse/Alsace, where he served as battalion adjutant in the regimental staff of the 4th Baden Infantry Regiment Nr. 112 “Prinz Wilhelm”. After the first battles with French troops, for which he was awarded the Iron Cross 2st Class, he was taken to a military hospital in Freiburg for his rheumatoid arthritis. While in Freiburg, his friend Bruno Loerzer (1891-1960), who had taken part in pilot training, left Göring enthusiastic about becoming a pilot. Although his application for a transfer to the Imperial German Army Air Service was rejected, he managed to enlist as an air observer and took part in reconnaissance missions targeting among other things the fortifications of Verdun, for which he was decorated with the Iron Cross 1st Class in March 1915. Finally, between June and September 1915 Göring received his pilot training in Freiburg. Following service at “Feldfliegerabteilungen” 203 and 25 where he obtained his pilot's badge in October 1915, Göring was transferred to “Kampfstaffel Metz” in September 1916 and later to “Jagdstaffel 7”. In November 1916, while Göring was a member of “Jagdstaffel 5”, he was heavily injured in a dogfight. After his recovery, he was transferred to “Jagdstaffel 26” in mid-February 1917, but spent the next weeks again in a military hospital suffering from tonsillitis. In May that year, Göring became Commander of “Jagdstaffel 27” and in August was promoted to 1st lieutenant. In summer 1918, he was awarded Imperial Germany’s highest military honour, the “Pour le Mérite” for aerial victories and gallantry in action. By mid-June he reached his 22nd air combat victory. More important than these honors and successes was his appointment as commander of the famous fighter wing “Freiherr von Richthofen” named after the “Red Baron”, Manfred von Richthofen (1892-1918), on 6 June 1918, by which joining the ranks of the most notable flying aces of the First World War. In April that year, the “Red Baron” was killed in combat and his successor, Wilhelm Reinhard (1891-1918), was also killed a few weeks later. After the Armistice of Compiègne the fighter wing was disbanded and Göring was released from the army in the rank of a captain. Göring saw many battlefields of the Western Front including the Vosges and Lorraine in 1915, Verdun and the Somme in 1916, Arras and Flanders in 1917 and the area between Marne, Oise and Ainse in 1918. https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/goring_hermann