Lieutenant Jean Seraphin Benjamin Emmanuel Bozon-Verduraz was a French

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 ...

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 Benjamin Emmanuel Bozon-Verduraz was born on 29 May 1889 in

Saint-Étienne-de-Cuines Saint-Étienne-de-Cuines ( frp, Sent-Tièno-de-Cuéna) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. See also *Communes of the Savoie department The following is a list of the 273 communes ...

, France.

World War I service

Bozon-Verduraz joined the French military on 1 October 1910. On 3 April 1911, he was promoted to enlisted

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

. On 25 September 1912, on the day he was released from duty, he was also promoted to Maréchal-des-logis. He was recalled to duty when World War I began. After a requested transfer to aviation, he went to Crotoy for pilot's training. After advanced training at Bourget, he received Pilot's Brevet No. 2437 on 19 January 1916. On 10 March, he was assigned to Escadrille C11 (the 'C' denoting the squadron's use of

Caudron The Société des Avions Caudron was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 as the Association Aéroplanes Caudron Frères by brothers Gaston and René Caudron. It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for ...

s). He was injured in an accident on 12 May 1916. He was promoted to

Adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

on 21 November 1916. On 28 May 1917, he went to fighter school; by 15 June, he was a

Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars. History Beginnings Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...

pilot with Escadrille 3. He was commissioned a

Sous lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 19 ...

on 11 July. Bozon-Verduraz scored his first aerial triumphs on 16, 17, and 20 February 1918. He was subsequently appointed a Chevalier in the ''Légion d'honneur'' on 5 April. He promptly tallied two more victories in April, becoming an ace on the 21st. After scoring thrice more in May, on 1 July he was appointed to command a Spad squadron, Escadrille 94. Subsequently, he was promoted to temporary Lieutenant on the 18th. Leading from the front, Bozon-Verduraz scored three more times with his new escadrille. He finished out his war with 11 confirmed victories scored in logging over 683 hours flight time.

Honors and awards

''Légion d'Honneur''
"Remarkable officer pilot; during two years, he has gained the admiration of the Army Corps Escadrille with which he served, carrying out the most arduous missions, never ceasing to seek battle with a joyous zeal. He downed, one after the other, three enemy planes in the space of four days. One wound. Three citations."
—''Légion d'Honneur'' citation— Bozon-Verduraz also won the ''Médaille Militaire'', the ''Croix de guerre'', The Aerodrome http://www.theaerodrome.com/medals/france/cdg.php?pageNum_recipients=3&totalRows_recipients=307#recipients Retrieved 11 November 2017. and the Russian

Cross of Saint George The Cross of Saint George (russian: Георгиевский крест, Georgiyevskiy krest) is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was initially established by Imperial Russia where it was officially known as the Decoration of ...

Endnotes

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. , .

External links

* The Aerodrome http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/bozon-verduraz.php * World War I Aviation https://web.archive.org/web/20101130182415/http://wwiaviation.com/aces/ace_Bozon-Verduraz.html 1889 births 1942 deaths French World War I flying aces {{wwi-air