''Escadrille 23'' of the French Air Force was formed at Brie on 4 August 1914.

History

Escadrille 23 was equipped with

Morane-Saulnier Aéroplanes Morane-Saulnier was a French aircraft manufacturing company formed in October 1911 by Raymond Saulnier (1881–1964) and the Morane brothers, Léon (1885–1918) and Robert (1886–1968). The company was taken over and diversified ...

s and forwarded to ''VI 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 For ...

in September, and transferred to ''IV Armee'' in October 1914. Later that month, it moved to the Somme. It would operate from there until 6 August 1915. It then returned to the ''VI Armee'' for a short spell before being posted to ''IV Armee'' on 21 August 1915.Franks, Bailey 1992, p. 90. Escadrille N23

On 20 September 1915, the unit re-equipped with

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s and became ''Escadrille N23''. Its performance earned it a citation in orders on 5 November 1916. It was credited with victories over 17 enemy aircraft and four observation balloons. On 3 February 1917, the ''escadrille'' was posted to ''VII Armee''; it soon moved to support ''II Armee''. On 19 March 1918, the ''escadrille'' earned the fourragere of the '' Croix de Guerre'' by being cited again, for downing another 23 enemy airplanes. The unit subsequently retooled with '' SPAD'' fighters, but did not change its designation to ''Escadrille SPA.23'' until August 1918. Wartime victories for ''Escadrille SPA.23'' totaled 59 aircraft destroyed. ''Escadrille SPA.23'' still serves in today's French Air Force.

Commanding officers

* Capitaine Auguste de Reverend: 4 August 1914 - 8 December 1915 * Lieutenant Louis Robert de Beauchamp: 9 December 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 ...

17 December 1916 * Capitaine Pierre de Langle de Cary: 18 December 1916 - September 1917 * Capitaine Armand Pinsard: September 1917 -

Notable personnel

* Capitaine Armand Pinsard * Adjutant Maxime Lenoir * Lieutenant

Jean Casale Sous Lieutenant Jean Pie Hyacinthe Paul Jerome Casale, was a French World War I flying ace credited with thirteen aerial victories. He was one of the few aces that survived the entire course of fighter aviation in the war.The Aerodrome website http ...

*Lieutenant Eugène Gilbert * Lieutenant François de Rochechouart

Aircraft

: 4 August 1914 *

: 20 September 1915 * SPAD: Summer 1918

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 MS 23 - N 23 - SPA 23
{{France-mil-unit-stub French Air and Space Force squadrons