Adjutant Jacques Gérard (1890-1918) was a French World War I

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

. 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 flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wi ...

. 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. Population See also *Communes of the Ariège department The following is a list of the 325 communes of the Ariège department of France France, officia ...

. 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 by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

. He was promoted to

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

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

Spad VII The SPAD S.VII C.1 was the first in a series of single-seat 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 rugge ...

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

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

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