Adjutant Jacques Gérard (1890-1918) 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 ...

. He was credited with eight confirmed aerial victories before dying while battling to liberate his homeland.

Early life

Jacques Gérard was born in Paris, France, on 26 October 1890. He joined the ''113e Regiment d'Infanterie'' to defend his country during World War I.''Over the Front'', p. 165.

World War I

Once he had joined the infantry, he found himself assigned as a mechanic and driver. This work brought him in contact with the truck-borne laboratories used for developing

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing aircra ...

. An assignment to Escadrille C18 of the ''Aéronautique Militaire'' followed. He subsequently entered pilot's training, and was licensed with his brevet in August 1917. He then rounded off his aviation education with advanced training at Pau and

Cazaux Cazaux () is a commune of the Ariège department in southwestern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in t ...

. Upon completion of training, he was assigned to Escadrille N65 as a pilot on 10 November 1917. By this time, he had risen to

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...

. He was promoted to

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

on 25 January 1918, and scored his first aerial victory on 30 January while 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 ...

. His victory tally mounted until he became an ace on 23 April, when he downed a brace of German

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

planes. This action brought him the award of the ''Médaille militaire''. The accompanying citation read (in English translation):''Over the Front'', p. 165. Note: Gerard was still serving in Escadrille 65, only now it had re-equipped and become Escadrille Spa65. On 25 June 1918, the date of his seventh confirmed victory, he was promoted to Adjutant. He would score one more confirmed victory. Then, on 3 July 1918, he was killed in action while battling five German airplanes.

List of aerial victories

References

* ''Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918'' Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey. Grub Street, 1992. , 9780948817540. * ''Spad VII Aces of World War I: Volume 39 of Aircraft of the Aces''. Jon Guttman. Osprey Publishing, 2001. , 9781841762227.

Endnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerard, Jacques French World War I flying aces 1890 births 1918 deaths French military personnel killed in World War I