The ''
5me Escadrille de Chasse'' was the second fighter squadron of the
Belgian Air Component
The Belgian Air Component ( nl, Luchtcomponent, french: Composante air) is the air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces, and until January 2002 it was officially known as the Belgian Air Force ( nl, Belgische Luchtmacht; french: Force aérienne belg ...
. The squadron was founded during World War I, reorganized into a dedicated fighter unit under its new designation of 10me Escadrille de Chasse in March 1918, and became part of a fighter wing before war's end.
History
The ''10me Escadrille de Chasse'' was originally the ''
5me Escadrille de Chasse'', which was founded in August 1916 as the second dedicated squadron of the Aviation Militaire Belge. It drew upon the men and equipment of the previously existing provisional Escadrille V. The new unit used a comet as the unit insignia upon its airplanes. The 5me Escadrille de Chasse mobilized in September 1916. It scored its first victory on 17 November 1916. On 15 February 1917, its patrol of seven would be the first Belgian air formation larger than a pair. The 5me would be credited with 15 aerial victories, at a blood cost of two Belgian pilots
KIA
Kia Corporation, commonly known as Kia (, ; formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation), is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second lar ...
and one
WIA. In March 1918, it would be reorganized into the 10me Escadrille and become part of Belgium's first fighter wing, the
Groupe de Chasse. In this incarnation, the squadron was credited with 11 verified aerial victories out of 22 claims. In turn, it suffered three pilots KIA, two captured, and one WIA.
Commanding officers
1 Capitaine Jules Dony: August 1916 -
KIA
Kia Corporation, commonly known as Kia (, ; formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation), is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second lar ...
1 October 1918
[The Aerodrome page on 5me Escadrille http://www.theaerodrome.com/services/belgium/5me.php Retrieved on 30 August 2010.]
2 Ede Woelmont: 1 October 1918 - 5 October 1918
3 L. Robin: 6 October 1918 - 11 November 1918
[The Aerodrome page on 10me Escadrille http://www.theaerodrome.com/services/belgium/10me.php Retrieved on 30 August 2010.]
Aerodromes
1
La Panne: September 1916 - Summer 1917
2
Les Moeres: Summer 1917 - October 1918
[
3 ]Moerkerke
Moerkerke is a town in the Belgium, Belgian province West Flanders and a part (deelgemeente) of the city of Damme
External linksMoerkerke @ City Review
Populated places in West Flanders
Damme
{{WestFlanders-geo-stub ...
: October 1918 - 11 November 1918[
]
Notable personnel
* Edmond Thieffry
Edmond Thieffry (28 September 1892 – 11 April 1929) was a Belgian First World War air ace and aviation pioneer. He made, with Léopold Roger and Jef de Bruycker, the first successful flight between Belgium and Congo (then the Belgian Congo ...
[
]
Aircraft
* Nieuport 11
* Nieuport 17
* Nieuport 23
Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars.
History
Beginnings
Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...
* SPAD VII[
* Hanriot HD.1
* ]SPAD XIII
The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by '' Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII.
During early 1917, the French designer Louis ...
: [
]
Operations
At the start of World War I, Belgium was neutral. An overwhelming invasion by the German army left Belgium partially occupied by the end of 1914, with its preserved territory shielded by deliberate defensive flooding at Nieuwpoort by the Belgians. As a result, the Aviation Militaire Belgium was based in the diminished remnant of a small country, and performed largely in a static defensive mode. Only in March 1918, when the unit reformed as the 10me Escadrille, did it become a dedicated fighter squadron capable of being included in combined Allied operations. Only in September 1918 did the Belgian Army advance.
Endnotes
References
* Pieters, Walter M. ''Above Flanders' Fields: A Complete Record of the Belgian Fighter Pilots and Their Units During the Great War, 1914-1918''. Grub Street, 1998. ,
Military units and formations of the Belgian Air Component{{wwi-air