By early summer of 1916, Keudell was training as a fighter pilot. On 4 August, he joined KEK B under the command of
Hans Bethge. From there, on 22 August, Keudell became a founding member of
Jagdstaffel 1, destined to fly successively a
Fokker D.I, a
Halberstadt D.II and an
Albatros D.III for them. On 31 August 1916, he shot down a
Martinsyde Elephant for his first win. He then scored steadily through the rest of the year, reaching ten on 22 November. On 1 January 1917, Keudell was awarded the Knight's Cross with Swords of the
Royal House Order of Hohenzollern. He shot down his eleventh victim on 24 January 1917. On 5 February, he was appointed to raise and command
Jagdstaffel 27. He then scored the brand new jasta's first victory on 15 February, only to be in turn killed in action flying Albatros D III #2017/17 by Lt. Stuart Harvey Pratt, flying a
Nieuport two-seater of
No. 46 Squadron RFC. Keudell's Albatros landed behind British lines and was salvaged by the
Royal Flying Corps to become an item in their fleet of captured aircraft. ==Sources of information==