Sous Lieutenant Bernard Artigau (28 August 1894 – 3 May 1968) 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 twelve aerial victories. He later became an airline pilot in South America, and returned to serve his nation again in World War II.
Caudron
The Société des Avions Caudron was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 as the Association Aéroplanes Caudron Frères by brothers Gaston and René Caudron. It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for ...
s at
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...
and
Avord
Avord () is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France.
Geography
A farming area comprising the village and several hamlets situated by the banks of the river Yèvre, some east of Bourges at the junction of ...
. He was promoted to Caporal on 23 March 1917. On 15 May, he received his Pilot's Brevet, No. 5894. He was assigned to ''Escadrille N15'' (the 'N' denoting
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 ...
s) on 20 June. In August, he was promoted again, to Sergeant. At 1540 hours 4 September 1917, Artigau scored his first win. On 1 November, he helped down a two-seater reconnaissance aircraft. On 23 December, he closed out 1917 by sharing victory over another German two-seater with
Gabriel Guérin
Sous Lieutenant Gabriel Fernand Charles Guérin (25 July 1892 – 1 August 1918), ''Legion d'honneur, Medaille militaire, Croix de Guerre'', was a World War I fighter pilot credited with 23 confirmed aerial victories.
Prewar life
Gabriel Fernand ...
.
1918
On 3 February 1918, Artigau again teamed with Guérin to down an enemy aircraft over
Nogent-l'Abbesse
Nogent-l'Abbesse () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territorie ...
. A promotion 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 ...
for Artigau came in March. Artigau then tallied back to back triumphs on 11 and 12 April. He split two victories in May–one on the 15th with
Andre Barcat
Sous-lieutenant André Jean Louis Barcat (8 November 1896 – 16 July 1918) was a French World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories.
World War I service
Barcat entered the army and was posted to the ''30e Régiment d'Artillerie ...
and the other on the 27th with
Armond J. Berthelot
Adjutant Armond/Armand Jean Berthelot (1894–1961) was a French World War I flying ace credited with eleven confirmed aerial victories. He was a scourge to enemy aerial observers, as his victory record contained six observation aircraft and two ...
. June brought him wins on the 1st and 7th, and the ''Médaille militaire'' on the 25th. His eleventh victory came on 22 July, when he shot down a
Rumpler
Rumpler-Luftfahrzeugbau GmbH, Rumpler-Werke, usually known simply as Rumpler was a German aircraft and automobile manufacturer founded in Berlin by Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler in 1909 as Rumpler Luftfahrzeugbau.Gunston 1993, p.259 The fir ...
. In October 1918, he was commissioned Sous Lieutenant. On the 28th of the month, he shot down a
Fokker D.VII
The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII qu ...
for his final win.
Post World War I
Artigau returned to Argentina with 444 hours in his pilot's logbook, wearing not just the ''Médaille militaire'', but both French and Belgian ''Croix de Guerres''. He would receive the ''Légion d'honneur'' on 25 April 1919. He became a pioneering commercial pilot during the between-wars period. When World War II began, he was once again called up to his country's aid. Once World War II ended, Artigau went home to Buenos Aires. He died there on 3 May 1968.
Honors and awards
;Médaille militaire
:"Non-commissioned officer driven by the highest spirit and devotion, which he has rapidly revealed during the course of difficult combats, and daily as a pursuit pilot full of bravery, endurance and skill. He recently downed in our lines, an enemy two-seater, reporting therewith his eighth victory. Three citations."
;Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
:"Pursuit pilot beyond compare, on 28 October 1918 he reported his eleventh victory. Médaille Militaire for feats of war – six citations."