Commandant Fernand Bonneton 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 nine confirmed aerial victories. He would survive the war, only to die in an aviation accident on 24 June 1922.
Early life
Fernand Bonneton was born in
La Coucourde, north of
Montelimar, on 10 May 1890.
[Franks, Bailey, p. 121.]
World War I
In the beginning of World War I, Bonneton served in the cavalry until he was wounded twice. After a voluntary transfer to the infantry, he was wounded twice more and invalided out of ground service in May 1916. He then volunteered for transfer to aviation duty. After training at
Juvisy
Juvisy-sur-Orge (, literally ''Juvisy on Orge'') is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located 18 km south-east of Paris, a few kilometres south of Orly Airport.
The site of the town has been o ...
, he was stationed on the
Eastern Front; in Spring 1917, he was in
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
. He was credited with his first aerial victory there on 8 August; there may have been a second, but details are not available. At any rate, he earned two Mentions in Dispatches and five foreign decorations before moving south to Italy, where he scored again on 30 October 1917.
[
In May 1918, he was moved back to France to join Escadrille Spa69 (the 'Spa' denoting the squadron's use of Spads). On 10 July 1918, Bonneton shot down his third enemy airplane. He then began a career as a balloon buster, running off a string of five wins over them, along with another win over an enemy plane, by 22 October 1918.][
]
Postwar
Bonneton commanded a squadron in Poland at war's end. Then he became Commandant of 1e Fighter Groupe. While serving in this capacity, he died in a flying accident at Brussels on 24 June 1922.[
]
Endnotes
References
* ''Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918'' (1992). Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey. Grub Street. , .
External links
* The Aerodrome website at http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/bonneton.php
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonneton, Fernand
1890 births
1922 deaths
Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)
French military officers
Recipients of the Legion of Honour
French World War I flying aces