''Escadrille 15'' is one of the oldest units of the French Air Force, which was founded on 22 August 1912 at Reims, France, and is still active.

History

Escadrille 15 was originally equipped with Robert-Esnault-Pelleterie K 80 machines. When World War I erupted, the ''escadrille'' went into action. It moved bases 16 times during August and September 1914. On 7 October 1914, it was posted to ''X Armee'' of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

.Franks, Bailey 1992, p. 90. On 30 March 1915, it re-equipped with

Morane-Saulnier L The Morane-Saulnier L, or Morane-Saulnier Type L, or officially MoS-3, was a French parasol wing one or two-seat scout aeroplane of the First World War. The Type L became one of the first successful fighter aircraft when it was fitted with a si ...

aircraft, becoming ''Escadrille MS 15''. In September 1915, it traded machines again, gaining Nieuport 11s and being renamed ''Escadrille N 15''. The ''escadrille'' was then consolidated into an

ad hoc Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with '' a priori''.) C ...

Groupe de Chasse ''Groupe de Chasse'' or ''groupe de chasse'' (usually abbreviated as GC) is the French language term for " fighter group" or "fighter wing". More literal translations include "pursuit group" (the US term for fighter groups prior to 1942) and "hu ...

'' along with ''Escadrille F 16'' and ''Escadrille N 57''. Under the command of Capitaine Paul de Peuty, this ''groupe'' was committed to the

Third Battle of Artois The Third Battle of Artois (25 September – 4 November 1915, also the Loos–Artois Offensive), was fought by the French Tenth Army against the German 6th Army on the Western Front of the First World War. The battle included the Battle of Lo ...

. On 24 October 1915, the ''groupe'' was cited for its performance. In early March 1916, ''Escadrille N 15'' moved to the vicinity of

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

. On 8 May 1916, it was reassigned to ''X Armee''. On 13 December 1916, it moved again, to ''VI Armee''. It was gathered into the new '' Groupe de Combat 13'' on 12 March 1917. The ''escadrille'' was detached again from 17 March to 6 June 1917, to support ''VI Armee''. It then rejoined ''GC 13'' for the remainder of the war. On 17 October 1917, the ''escadrille'' was supplied with SPAD fighters, and became ''Escadrille SPA 15''. Under its new designation, the unit would twice be

cited A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of ...

for its deeds. On 10 September 1918, it again shared in a ''groupe'' citation. Out of the 166 aerial victories scored by ''GC 13'', ''Escadrille SPA.15'' was credited with 73 victories over aircraft and seven over observation balloons. ''Escadrille 15'' continues its service in the present French Air Force.

Commanding officers

* Capitaine De Chaunac Lanzac * Capitaine Rene Geible * Capitaine Max Boucher: 30 March 1915 - 30 April 1915 * Capitaine Rene Turin: 1 May 1915 -

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 ...

6 September 1916 * Lieutenant Georges Louis: 7 September 1916 - 15 September 1916 * Capitaine Yves de Chambaudoin d'Erceville: 16 September 1916 - early September 1917 * Lieutenant Paul Gastin: early September 1917 - 8 October 1917 * Lieutenant Ferdinand Chevillion: 9 October 1917 - war's end

Notable personnel

* ''

Sous lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

'' Gabriel Guérin * ''Sous lieutenant'' Bernard Artigau * ''Sous lieutenant'' Lucien J. Jailler * Adjutant

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 ...

Aircraft

* Robert Esnault-Pelterie K-80 *

* Nieuport 17: September 1915 * SPAD fighters: 17 October 1917

Endnotes

References

* * Franks, Norman; Frank W. Bailey. ''Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918'' Grub Street, 1992. , .

External links

Escadrille REP 15 - MS - 15 - N 15 - SPA - 15
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 French Air and Space Force squadrons