Léon Bourjade (25 May 1889 – 22 October 1924), born Jean-Pierre Léon Bourjade, was a leading French fighter pilot in

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 ...

, notable for being his country's leading balloon-busting ace. He interrupted his theological studies to fight in World War I; post-war, he completed his studies and spent the few remaining years of his life as a missionary in what is now

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

Early life and service

Bourjade was born at

Montauban Montauban (, ; oc, Montalban ) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department, region of Occitania, Southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, ...

, France on 25 May 1889. It was his childhood dream to become a missionary priest. His studies to that end were interrupted by his compulsory military service for France. Upon his release from service, he resumed his studies, but in Switzerland. In 1914 he returned to France to enter the army. He served as an enlisted

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

man for nearly three years. His initial service was with 23eme Regiment d'Artillerie for the

First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne was a battle of the First World War fought from 5 to 12 September 1914. It was fought in a collection of skirmishes around the Marne River Valley. It resulted in an Entente victory against the German armies in the ...

. In 1915, he transferred to the 125^e Brigade de Bombardiers, a mortar brigade. While serving with this unit, he was commissioned into officers' ranks as 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 ...

''.

Aviation service

He transferred to

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot a ...

in 1917, receiving his Military Pilot's Brevet on 17 June. He went on to advanced training at Pau. From there, he joined Escadrille N152; he was eventually to become its highest-scoring pilot. Originally, he flew 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 ...

with his own personal touch - a Sacré-Coeur banner streaming from his headrest. He opened his list on 27 March 1918, after his squadron re-equipped, flying his newly acquired

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 ...

to shoot down a German observation balloon. With one exception, all of his air victories were to be over balloons. Bourjade scored another victory in April and two in May. He then went off combat duty for three weeks to attend gunnery school. After his return, he became an ace on 25 June with the first of his four scores for the month. His seventh, on 29 June 1918, was over a

Fokker D VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII qui ...

, his only victory not involving a balloon. In the remaining four months of his career, his victories totaled seven in July, one in August, four in September, and eight in October. Beginning in August 1918, he made it a practice to coordinate his attack on the balloons with other French pilots. August was the month he spent largely out of action, with three weeks in the hospital and eight days leave spent with his parents. He ended the war with a victory list of 27 balloons and one aircraft shot down, with a second airplane as an unconfirmed victory. It was a total that left him second only to

Willy Coppens Willy Omer François Jean baron Coppens de Houthulst (6 July 1892 – 21 December 1986) was Belgium's leading fighter ace and the champion "balloon buster" of World War I. He was credited with 37 confirmed victories and six probables. Early ...

of Belgium as a balloon buster. He was awarded a Chevalier of the

Legion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

. In 1920, he was raised to Officier in the Legion.''Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918'', pp=122-123

Post war

On 26 July 1921 he was finally ordained as a priest, taking ship to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

that November to join the Catholic Sacred Heart Mission on

Yule Island Yule Island is a small island in Central Province (Papua New Guinea), Central Province, Papua New Guinea. It is located 160 km NW from Port Moresby, on the south coast of Papua New Guinea. History Yule Island was probably named after Charle ...

, in what was then the Australian Territory of Papua (British New Guinea). Bourjade died in 1924, of hematuria (perhaps the result of an overdose of quinine against malaria). He was 35 years old. French warships visiting Yule Island would fire salutes in his honour.

Citations for Decorations

Légion d'Honneur (Chevalier) "Officer pilot of uncommon bravery and audacity. After brilliant conduct in the artillery, he has proven the highest qualities of courage by attacking numerous balloons and has shot down four. Four citations." Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur citation, June 5, 1918 Légion d'Honneur (Officier) "Officer of the highest value; pursuit pilot of heroic bravery. Specialist in the attack of enemy observation balloons, has rendered brilliant service, proven by the numbers of his victories and by magnificent personal examples. Fourteen citations. One wound." Officier de la Légion d'Honneur citation, June 16, 1920.

Endnotes

References

* ''Footsteps in the sea: Christianity in Oceania to World War II''. John Garrett, University of the South Pacific. Institute of Pacific Studies. 1992. , . * ''Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918.'' Norman Franks, Frank Bailey. Grub Street Publishing . * ''SPAD XII/XIII Aces of World War I''. Jon Guttman, Harry Dempsey. Osprey Publishing, 2002. , .

External links

* ''As 14-18'' website http://www.as14-18.net/Bourjade Accessed 6 February 2019
Military file on French DoD website
Accessed 31 July 2020. * The Aerodrome website http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/bourjade.php Accessed 1 September 2008. * Century of Flight website http://www.century-of-flight.freeola.com/Aviation%20history/airplane%20at%20war/upload3/Leon%20Bourjade.htm Accessed 1 September 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bourjade, Leon 1889 births 1924 deaths Officiers of the Légion d'honneur French World War I flying aces Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) Christian medical missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in Papua New Guinea Deaths from leprosy French expatriates in Papua New Guinea Infectious disease deaths in Papua New Guinea French Roman Catholic missionaries Drug-related deaths in Papua New Guinea