Charles Eugene Joseph Marie Lefevre (1893-1948) was a French

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 six aerial victories during the First World War. He led two different fighter squadrons into combat to do so, and won the ''

Legion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

'' for his exploits.The Aerodrome websit

Retrieved 17 August 2020.

Biography

Charles Eugene Joseph Marie Lefevre was born in

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, France on 30 July 1893. He volunteered for military service on 8 October 1912. He served in the ranks of the cavalry until 11 October 1913, when he was selected as an

Aspirant Aspirant is a rank in the Royal Canadian Navy, Estonian Defence Forces, French military, Brazilian military, Portuguese military, Swiss military, Italian Air Force, Argentinian Armed Forces, Romanian Navy, Polish Policja and Państwowa Straż ...

for officer's training. He would become an officer on 5 August 1914, and a lieutenant on 4 April 1916.''Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918'', p. 183 On 14 April 1916, he went to pilot training. He received his pilot's brevet on 12 July 1916. On 20 December 1916, he began serving as 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 pilot for ''Escadrille N.15''. On 20 June 1917, he took command of ''Escadrille N.152''. He scored his first aerial victory with them on 20 October 1917, downing

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

L.49. However, he lost his command when he was medically evacuated on 5 November. Upon recovery, he was given command of ''Escadrille Spa.96'' on 17 May 1918. Shortly thereafter, on 14 July, he was promoted to ''Capitaine''. He scored a series of five victories at about this time, including one over an

observation balloon An observation balloon is a type of balloon that is employed as an aerial platform for intelligence gathering and artillery spotting. Use of observation balloons began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World War ...

. On 29 August 1918, he was wounded in action. Upon recovery, he was appointed to the Aviation Mission to Japan on 1 October 1918. Lefevre won the ''

'' on 9 November 1917, after winning the ''

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

'' with three ''palmes'', an ''etoile de argent'', and an ''etoile de bronze''. He died on 1 March 1948.

End notes

Reference

* Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank (1993). ''Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918'' London, UK: Grub Street Publishing. . 1948 deaths 1893 births French World War I flying aces {{france-mil-bio-stub