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Georges Guynemer (, 24 December 1894 – 11 September 1917
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) was the second highest-scoring French
fighter 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 ...
with 54 victories during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and a French
national hero The title of Hero is presented by various governments in recognition of acts of self-sacrifice to the state, and great achievements in combat or labor. It is originally a Soviet-type honor, and is continued by several nations including Belarus, Ru ...
at the time of his death. Guynemer's death was a profound shock to France.


Early life and military career

Georges Marie Ludovic Jules Guynemer was born in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
to a wealthy and aristocratic family. His father was Paul Guynemer. His mother, Julie Noémi Doynel de Saint-Quentin's ancestry included
King Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...
. Guynemer experienced an often sickly childhood. Nevertheless, he succeeded as an aviator through his enormous drive and self-confidence. He was originally rejected five times for
military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...
due to frailty, but was accepted for training as a mechanic in late 1914. With determination, he gained acceptance to
pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
training, joining ''Escadrille'' MS.3 on 8 June 1915. He remained in the same unit for his entire service.– The Most Brilliant Stork
''
The first plane allocated to him was a
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 ...
monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...
previously flown by Charles Bonnard, and accordingly named ''Vieux Charles'' (''Old Charles''). Guynemer kept the name and continued to use it for most of his later aircraft. On 19 July 1915, he shot down his first plane, a German
Aviatik Automobil und Aviatik AG was a German aircraft manufacturer during World War I. The company was established at Mülhausen (today in France) in 1909 and soon became one of the country's leading producers of aircraft. It relocated to Freiburg in 1 ...
. On 5 December 1915, the ''Escadrille'' MS.3 was renamed the ''Escadrille'' N.3, after being re-equipped with new
Nieuport 10 The Nieuport 10 (or Nieuport XB in contemporary sources) was a French First World War sesquiplane that filled a wide variety of roles, including reconnaissance, fighter and trainer. Design and development In January 1914, designer Gustave Delag ...
fighters. Flying the more effective plane, Guynemer quickly established himself as one of France's premier fighter pilots. He became an
ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...
, with his fifth victory coming in February 1916, and was promoted to
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
in March. On 12 March 1916 he scored his 8th victory. At the end of the year, his score had risen to 25. Capitaine Brocard, commander of ''Escadrille'' N.3 (''Storks''), described Guynemer at that time as "...my most brilliant Stork." Less than a year later, Guynemer was promoted to captain and commander of the Storks squadron. Guynemer became influential enough to affect French fighter aircraft design. In December 1916, he wrote a letter to the chief designer at Spad, criticizing the
Spad VII The SPAD S.VII was the first of a series of highly successful biplane fighter aircraft produced by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) during the First World War. Like its successors, the S.VII was renowned as a sturdy and r ...
as inferior to the German
Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bombi ...
that was its contemporary. As a consequence, Spad developed two new but very similar models, the
SPAD XII The SPAD S.XII or SPAD 12 was a French single-seat biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War developed from the successful SPAD VII by Louis Béchereau, chief designer of the Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés (SPAD). Development ...
and
SPAD XIII The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII. During early 1917, the French designer Louis Béc ...
. The new models were promising, but had teething problems with the reduction gear between engine and propeller. On 23 January 1917 Guynemer scored a "double" credit of victories 26 and 27, first shooting down an Albatros C piloted by Captain Martin Korner, who was killed, followed by a Rumpler C I of Flieger-Abteilung (A) 216 piloted by Lt. Bernhard Röder and his observer Lt. Otto von Schanzenbach who were both killed. On 26 January 1917 Guynemer forced down an Albatros C.VII of Flieger-Abteilung (A) 226 whose crew was captured for his 30th credit. On 8 February 1917, flying a
SPAD VII The SPAD S.VII was the first of a series of highly successful biplane fighter aircraft produced by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) during the First World War. Like its successors, the S.VII was renowned as a sturdy and r ...
, Guynemer became the first Allied pilot to shoot down a German
Gotha bomber ''Gothaer Waggonfabrik'' (''Gotha'', GWF) was a German manufacturer of rolling stock established in the late nineteenth century at Gotha. During the two world wars, the company expanded into aircraft building. World War I In World War I, Got ...
, his 31st victory. On 16 March 1917 he brought down his 32nd credit, a
Roland D.II The LFG Roland D.II was a German single-seat fighter of World War I. The type was manufactured by Luftfahrzeug Gesellschaft, and also by Pfalz Flugzeugwerke under license. Design and development The D.II used a plywood monocoque fuselage. Tw ...
of
Jasta 32 Royal Bavarian Jagdstaffel 32, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 32, was a "hunting group" (i.e., fighter squadron) of the German ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. The unit would score 41 aerial victor ...
whose pilot was captured. On 14 April 1917 he downed his 36th credit, by killing a crew from Flieger-Abteilung (A) 254. His highest scoring month was May 1917, when he downed seven German aircraft including a quadruple credit on 25 May. By July, he began to fly the Spad XII; his ''avion magique'' was, at his behest, armed with a cannon whose barrel fired through the propeller shaft. It was also armed with a air-cooled
Vickers machine gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a Water cooling, water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more me ...
. Although the cannon promised devastating firepower, the new plane was a handful because of it, as the cannon's rearwards-protruding breech mandated separate aileron and elevator controls split from each other on opposing sides of the cockpit. The single shot cannon had to also be manually reloaded in flight; it had a heavy recoil when fired and filled the canopy with fumes with every shot. The Spad XII was not a plane for a novice pilot. However, Guynemer used it to down an Albatros fighter on 27 July, and a DFW the next day. The latter triumph made him the first French ace to attain 50 victories, with headlines such as "Fifty machines destroyed! This had been Guynemer's dream!" written in the newspapers. File:168 6 A Brocard devant le pilote abattu par Guynemer.jpg, "The body of the German pilot" (Guynemer's 26th air victory—23 January 1917. Captain Martin Korner killed File:168 5 escadrille des Cigognes avec le commandant Brocard une canne à la main.jpg, "Commandant Brocard chief of Guynemer in front of the aircraft shot down" (Guynemer's 26th air victory—23 January 1917. The 27th victory from Flieger-Abteilung (A) 216 burned rew killedFile:168 6 Brocard et l'avion de Guynemer.jpg, "The front is his plane scratched by a bullet during the fight" 3 January 1917File:SPADXIIIguynemerweb.jpg, Georges Guynemer's SPAD XIII bears typical markings for his squadron


Death

Guynemer failed to return from a combat mission on 11 September 1917. The previous week had been one of mechanical ills, in both his assigned aircraft and the ones he borrowed. At 08:30, with rookie pilot
Jean Bozon-Verduraz Lieutenant Jean Seraphin Benjamin Emmanuel Bozon-Verduraz was a French flying ace during World War I. A prewar soldier, he was recalled and switched from cavalry to aviation to achieve 11 confirmed aerial victories. Early life Jean Seraphin Benja ...
, Guynemer took off in his
Spad XIII The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII. During early 1917, the French designer Louis Béc ...
S.504 n°2. His mission was to patrol the Langemark area. At 09:25, near
Poelkapelle Langemark-Poelkapelle () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. Geography Other places in the municipality include Bikschote, Langemark and Poelkapelle. On January 1, 2006, Langemark-Poelkapelle had a total populat ...
, Guynemer sighted a lone
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 ...
, a German observation plane, and dove toward it. Bozon-Verduraz saw several Fokkers above him, and by the time he had shaken them off, his leader was nowhere in sight, so he returned alone. Guynemer never came back. Guynemer was confirmed
missing in action Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, ex ...
by his squadron commander Major Brocard; it was officially announced in Paris by the French War Department on 25 September 1917. Unofficial confirmation came from a captured German pilot who was shot down behind Canadian lines the evening of 29 September.''Air Service Journal''. 4 October 1917. "Captain Guynemer Missing." Vol. I, No. 13, p 413. A German sergeant from the 413th Regiment swore he had witnessed the crash and identified Guynemer's corpse; he also certified that he had died from a bullet through the head, with other injuries including a broken leg and a finger shot away. The German party retrieving the body was driven away by Allied artillery fire before they could bury or remove the body. The 25 September details released by the French War Department were unclassified and became public knowledge as described by one of his flying comrades (name withheld due to security reasons):
Guynemer sighted five machines of the Albatros type D-3. Without hesitation, he bore down on them. At that moment enemy patrolling machines, soaring at a great height, appeared suddenly and fell upon Guynemer. There were forty enemy machines in the air at this time, including Baron von Richthofen and his
circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
division of machines, painted in diagonal blue and white stripes. Toward Guynemer's right some Belgian machines hove in sight, but it was too late. Guynemer must have been hit. His machine dropped gently toward the Earth, and I lost track of it. All that I can say is that the machine was not on fire.
Additional details were furnished by Major Brocard, as listed in an article from the Paris ''Le Matin'':
The last fight of the French aviator occurred four or five miles inside the German lines northeast of Ypres and opposite the British lines. Captain Guynemer was accompanied by Lieutenant Bozon Verduraz, who says that they were flying at a height of 15,000 feet when Guynemer sighted an enemy two-seater, which he attacked. Almost at the same moment Verduraz saw four German monoplanes approaching and turned toward them instantly so as to draw them off. They circled around for a while and then disappeared. Verduraz then returned to the place where he had left Guynemer engaged with the German biplane, but Guynemer had vanished.
The two-seater, described as a Rumpler type by Bozon-Verduraz, has never been identified, but recent research shows that it could have been a machine flown by Lt. d. R. Max Psaar (observer) and Fl. Georg Seibert (pilot) from FA(A)224. German ace
Kurt Wissemann Kurt Wissemann was a German World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories.The Aerodrome websitRetrieved 14 September 2020 Biography Born in Elberfeld, Wissemann trained as a Leutnant with ''Jastaschule 1'' (Fighter school 1) before ...
of
Jasta 3 Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 3 was a fighter squadron of the '' Luftstreitkräfte'', the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I. It was founded on 10 August 1916 at ''Flieger Ersatz Abteilung'' 5 in Braunschweig, Germany, as one of th ...
was credited with the victory. Wissemann would himself be killed in action little more than two weeks later on 28 September 1917. According to an American Red Cross communique from the French front, the death of Guynemer was determined to be "definitely confirmed". This Red Cross report provided these details:
Information received by the Red Cross says Guynemer was shot through the head north of Poelcapelle, on the Ypres front. His body was identified by a photograph on his pilot's license found in his pocket. The burial took place at Brussels in the presence of a guard of honor, composed of the 5th Prussian Division. Such is the story told by a Belgian, who has just escaped from the Germans. The burial was about to take place at Poelcapelle, when the bombardment preceding the British attack at Ypres started. The burying party hastily withdrew, taking the body with them. The German General chanced to be an aviation enthusiast with a great admiration for Captain Guynemer's achievements. At his direction the body was taken to Brussels in a special funeral car. Thither the captain was carried by non-commissioned officers and was covered with floral tributes from German aviators. The Prussian Guards stood at salute upon its arrival and during the burial, which was given all possible military honors. The French Government has been invited to place in the Pantheon, where many great Frenchmen are buried, an inscription to perpetuate the memory of Captain Guynemer as 'a symbol of the aspirations and enthusiasm of the Army.' A resolution to this effect has been introduced in the Chamber of Deputies by Deputy Lasies.
Guynemer had 54 victories at the time of his death.


Legacy

Guynemer was lionized by the French press and became a national hero. The
French government The Government of France ( French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...
encouraged the publicity to boost morale and take the people's minds off the terrible losses in the trenches. Guynemer was embarrassed by the attention, but his shyness only increased the public's appetite to know everything about him. This was quite different later in 1918 with the French top ace
René Fonck Colonel René Paul Fonck (27 March 1894 – 18 June 1953) was a French aviator who ended the First World War as the top Entente fighter ace and, when all succeeding aerial conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries are also considered, Fonc ...
, who despite having 75 confirmed victories, had bad publicity for his arrogance and shameless self-promotion. Guynemer's death was a profound shock to France; nevertheless, he remained an icon for the duration of the war. Only 22 at his death, he continued to inspire the nation with his advice, "Until one has given all, one has given nothing." The Paris street rue Guynemer is named after him as is a school in
Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with 19 c ...
, the Institution Guynemer. A statue is erected in Poelcapelle in commemoration of Georges Guynemer. The episode " The Last Flight" (1960) from season one of the American television series ''
The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, su ...
'' was loosely based on the disappearance of Guynemer put to fictional speculation as to what happened to him. He was decorated
Order of Karađorđe's Star The Order of Karađorđe's Star ( sr, Orden Karađorđeve zvezde, italics=yes, sr-Cyrl, Орден Карађорђеве звезде) is Serbia's highest civilian and military decoration. It originated in the Kingdom of Serbia, and was initial ...
with swords and a number of other decorations.


See also

*
French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...
*
List of people who disappeared Lists of people who disappeared include those whose current whereabouts are unknown, or whose deaths are unsubstantiated. Many people who disappear are eventually declared dead ''in absentia''. Some of these people were possibly subjected to enfo ...
*
List of World War I flying aces The following are lists of World War I flying aces. Historically, a flying ace was defined as a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The term was first used by French newspapers, describ ...
*'' When the World was Wide''


Ancestry


Notes


See also

*
Arthur Constantin Krebs Arthur Constantin Krebs (16 November 1850 in Vesoul, France – 22 March 1935 in Quimperlé, France) was a French officer and pioneer in automotive engineering. Life Collaborating with Charles Renard, he piloted Timeline of aviation - 19 ...
, father of Jean Krebs, the college friend of Georges Guynemer


References

*''SPAD XII/XIII aces of World War I.'' Jon Guttman. Osprey Publishing, 2002. , 9781841763163. * Bordeaux, Henry. (1918) "Guynemer: Knight of the Air." Translated from French by Louise Morgan Sill. Yale University Press; Second Printing. *Franks, Norman L. R. & Bailey W. (1992) "Over The Front; A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces And Units of the United States And French Services, 1914-1918." Grub Street, London, . *Guttman, Jon. (2004) "Groupe de Combat 12, France's Ace Fighter Group in World War 1." Aviation Elite Units Osprey Publishing. INBN 978 1 84176 753 6. * * Musciano, Walter A. ''Capt. Georges Guynemer: W.W.I Eagle of France''. New York: Hobby Helpers, 1963.


External links


Georges Guynemer – Detailed biography and color profiles of his planes
* ttp://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/guynemer.php Georges Guynemer page at theaerodrome.combr>Georges Guynemer: France's World War I Ace Pilot at Historynet.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guynemer, Georges 1894 births 1910s missing person cases 1917 deaths Aerial disappearances of military personnel in action Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Belgium Collège Stanislas de Paris alumni French aviators French military personnel killed in World War I French World War I flying aces Missing in action of World War I Missing person cases in Belgium Military personnel from Paris Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)