Lieutenant Maximillian John Jules Gabriel Mare-Montembault MC (4 March 1895 – 1953) was a British

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 ...

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 ...

credited with six aerial victories.

Military service

Mare-Montembault was commissioned from private in the

Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have ...

Officers' Training Corps The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...

to second lieutenant on 25 June 1915, assigned to the

North Somerset Yeomanry The North Somerset Yeomanry was a part-time cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1798 to 1967. It maintained order in Somerset in the days before organised police forces, and supplied volunteers to fight in the Second Boer War. It served on ...

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

. He was later seconded for duty with the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

(RFC) and appointed a flying officer on 3 August 1916. Mare-Montembault was posted to No. 32 Squadron RFC on 10 August 1916, flying the Airco DH.2 single-seat fighter. He gained his first aerial victory on 15 September by sending a

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

C reconnaissance aircraft down in flames south of

Bapaume Bapaume (original Dutch name Batpalmen) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. The inhabitants of this commune are known as ''Bapalmois'' or ''Bapalmoises''. Geography Bapaume is a far ...

. On 10 October he was shot down by

Oswald Boelcke Oswald Boelcke PlM (; 19 May 1891 – 28 October 1916) was a World War I German professional soldier and pioneering flying ace credited with 40 aerial victories. Boelcke is honored as the father of the German fighter air force, and of air ...

, but managed to crash-land unhurt within the British lines.Shores ''et.al.'' (1990) He was soon back in the air, as on 22 October he drove down an

Albatros D.I The Albatros D.I was a German fighter aircraft used during World War I. Although its operational career was short, it was the first of the Albatros D types which equipped the bulk of the German and Austrian fighter squadrons ('' Jagdstaffeln'') f ...

"out of control" over

Irles Irles () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Irles is situated on the D163 road, some south of Arras, near the border with the département of the Pas-de-Calais. History Irles was the site ...

, and on 16 November he shared in the driving down of two Type C reconnaissance aircraft over Loupart Wood with Captain Hubert Jones and Lieutenants P. B. G. Hunt and H. G. Southon. The following day he drove down another solo over

Bucquoy Bucquoy () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. The grounds, property of the Lords of Bucquoy, became a county in 1666 by request of Charles II. Geography A farming village located 12 ...

. On the afternoon of 6 March 1917 in a dogfight east of Bapaume Mare-Montembault destroyed another Albatros D.I, but was then himself shot down by Adolf von Tutschek, crashed-landing behind the German lines, and was captured. While a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

, on 4 June 1917 he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

, and on 31 July was promoted to lieutenant in the North Somerset Yeomanry, with precedence from 1 June 1916.

Later life

Mare-Montembault was eventually released following the

armistice of 11 November 1918 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

, and was repatriated to England in January 1919, but on 10 April he relinquished his RAF commission "on account of ill-health contracted on active service". He remained a member of the Territorial Force Reserve post-war, being promoted to lieutenant on 15 November 1919. On 16 December 1919 he received a

mention in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

"for valuable services whilst in captivity".

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mare-Montembault, Maxmillian 1895 births 1953 deaths People from Croydon North Somerset Yeomanry officers Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I British World War I flying aces British World War I prisoners of war World War I prisoners of war held by Germany Recipients of the Military Cross