Victory
54
Biography
Paris, 1894 - died in aerial combat at Poelcapelle, Belgium, 1917.
Georges Guynemer
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Georges Guynemer
Georges Guynemer
Guynemer in 1917
Guynemer in 1917
Georges Guynemer, born December 24, 1894 in Paris, died September 11, 1917 in Poelkapelle (Belgium), is the most famous French war pilot of the First World War, although he is not the ace of aces.
Captain in the French air force, he won 53 approved victories and more than thirty probable victories in air combat. Flying on different types of Morane-Saulnier, Nieuport and SPAD (VII, XII gun, but never on the XIII contrary to what several sources claim), he experienced successes and defeats (he was shot down seven times), affected during his entire career with Escadrille 3, known as the "Escadrille des Cigognes", the most successful fighter unit of the French wings in 1914-1918.
Demonstrating unparalleled courage and ardor in each of his flights, never seeking to preserve himself, he was killed in aerial combat on September 11, 1917 at Poelkapelle in Belgium. The Germans declared its winner to be Kurt Wisserman. His body, which fell in the middle of no man's land, was pulverized by a British barrage, just like the remains of his plane, and he could not be buried.
In the 1920s, the five Belgian aces (Jacquet, Willy Coppens de Houthulst, Edmond Thieffry, André de Meulemeester and Jan Olieslagers) erected a memorial stone to him near his presumed place of fall in Poelcapelle.
The Air School of Salon-de-Provence has adopts the motto of Georges Guynemer "Fair Face" and the Air Force evokes his memory every September 11 by taking up arms on its air bases, two of which bear his name, Paris (headquarters) and Dijon . On this occasion is read the last quote from Guynemer:
"Died on the field of honor on September 11, 1917. Legendary hero, fallen in the sky of glory, after three years of ardent struggle. Will remain the purest symbol of the qualities of the race:indomitable tenacity, fierce energy, sublime courage. Lively of the most unshakable faith in victory, he bequeaths to the French soldier an imperishable memory which will exalt the spirit of sacrifice and will provoke the noblest emulations."
Academician Henry Bordeaux will devote a widely distributed biography to him. Jules Roy, a former Air Force officer, wrote a short story, Guynemer, the Angel of Death, which aroused contrasting reactions.
