Adjutant André Julien Chainat was a French World War I

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

credited with eleven aerial victories.The Aerodrome websit

Retrieved 26 March 2010.

Early life

André Julien Chainat was born in

La Chapelle-Saint-Laurian La Chapelle-Saint-Laurian () is a Communes of France, commune in the Indre Departments of France, department in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Indre department References

Communes of Indre {{Indre-geo-stub ...

, France, on 27 June 1892. Chainat joined the French military on 25 October 1913 and was trained as an artilleryman. On 22 April 1914, he transferred to the 2eme Groupe d'Aviation and was posted to Escadrille B4, (the 'B' denoting the unit's use of Bleriots), on 20 July 1914, just in time for the beginning of the war.

Aerial service

He was subsequently selected for pilot's training, and received Pilot's Brevet No. 1165 on 8 June 1915. Nine days later, he was promoted to

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...

. Twelve days after that, he was assigned to Escadrille 23; he was later transferred on to Escadrille 38 on 1 November 1915. He was injured twice in accidents with this squadron. On 17 January 1916, he was transferred to Escadrille 3. Four days later, he was promoted to

Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

. He began using a

Nieuport 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 ...

fighter; he added the motto ''L'Oiseau Bleu'' (Blue Bird) to the squadron markings on its fuselage. He used this motto, followed by a number, on each of his successive aircraft; his final

SPAD VII The SPAD S.VII was the first of a series of highly successful biplane fighter aircraft produced by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) during the First World War. Like its successors, the S.VII was renowned as a sturdy and r ...

was Blue Bird 6. From March to September 1916, he continued to score victories, including sharing victims with

Georges Guynemer Georges Guynemer (, 24 December 1894 – 11 September 1917 Missing in action, MIA) was the second highest-scoring French Third Republic, French Flying ace, fighter ace with 54 victories during World War I, and a French people, French Folk h ...

and

Alfred Heurtaux Alfred Marie-Joseph Heurtaux (20 May 1893 – 30 December 1985) was a French World War I fighter ace credited with 21 victories. Later in his life, he joined the French Resistance during World War II, and survived imprisonment in Buchenwald death ...

. Chainat was wounded once during this victory string, on 19 June, which he overcame; his second wounding, on 7 September 1916, removed him from combat.''Nieuport Aces of World War 1'', p. 46. On 10 October, he was promoted to

Adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

. On 1 January 1917, Chainat transferred to the 3eme Croupe d'Aviation.

Postwar

Andre Julien Chainat died in Cannes on 6 November 1961.

Honors and awards

''Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur'' "First class pursuit pilot. Has downed six enemy planes between 26 March and 12 July 1916. He was wounded on 16 June. Already cited four times in orders and received the Médaille militaire." (Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur citation, 3 August 1916) ''Médaille militaire'' "Pilot of great skill and bravery. On 26 March 1916, he attacked and downed a plane which fell in flames in front of our lines." (Médaille militaire citation, 5 April 1916). ''Croix de guerre'' with nine ''palmes'' ''Etoile de bronze'',

Mentioned in Dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

four times

Sources of information

References

* ''Nieuport Aces of World War 1.'' Norman Franks. Osprey Publishing, 2000. , . * ''Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918'' Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey. Grub Street, 1992. , . * ''SPAD VII Aces of World War I''. Jon Guttman. Osprey Publishing, 2001. , 1892 births 1961 deaths French World War I flying aces Knights of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) {{wwi-air