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 ...

Paul Armand Petit (17 January 1890 – 18 September 1918) was a 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 ...

credited with seven aerial victories,The Aerodrome websit

Retrieved 26 August 2020 at least four of which were

observation balloon An observation balloon is a type of balloon that is employed as an aerial platform for intelligence gathering and artillery spotting. Use of observation balloons began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World War ...

s. He was killed when his

SPAD S.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 Bé ...

was shot down on 18 September 1918.

Biography

See also

Aerial victory standards of World War I Aerial may refer to: Music * ''Aerial'' (album), by Kate Bush * ''Aerials'' (song), from the album ''Toxicity'' by System of a Down Bands *Aerial (Canadian band) * Aerial (Scottish band) * Aerial (Swedish band) Performance art * Aerial sil ...

Paul Armand Petit was born in Paris on 17 January 1890.''Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918'', p. 204 He began his required military service on 8 October 1911 as an infantryman. When the First World War began, his regiment was called to the colors. He served in the ground forces until 15 April 1917, when he was sent to pilot's training. On 25 June, he graduated with his Military Pilot's Brevet. After advanced training, he was posted to '' Escadrille Spa.154'' on 15 September 1917. His first aerial victory, on 2 April 1918, was a lone-hand destruction of an '' Albatros''. He was promoted to

on 2 June 1918. He began a string of victories while flying in a "wolfpack" with such other squadron aces as

Michel Coiffard Michel Joseph Callixte Marie Coiffard (16 July 1892 – 29 October 1918) was one of the leading French flying aces of World War I. He was notable for his success as a balloon buster shooting down enemy observation balloons, which were usually hea ...

, Louis Prosper Gros, and

Jacques Ehrlich Sous Lieutenant Jacques Louis Ehrlich (1893-1953) was a French World War I flying ace credited with 19 aerial victories; he was one of the leading balloon busters of the war. Biography Jacques Louis Ehrlich was born in Paris on 25 October 1893.' ...

. The pack approach was especially effective against that most hazardous of aerial targets,

s. Beginning 30 June 1918, he helped in shooting down three of the German observation balloons, as well as 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 ...

. Then, on 18 September 1918, a German trap closed on the French attackers as they streaked away from a balloon they had set aflame near

Brimont Brimont () is a commune in the Marne department in northeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Marne department The following is a list of the 613 communes in the French department of Marne. The communes cooperate in the ...

. A '' Jagdstaffel 66'' formation of 11 Fokker D.VIIs dived on the Frenchmen's SPADs. At the same time, ground fire opened up on the French fighters. Caught between fires, Paul Petit fell, mortally wounded; Jacques Ehrlich also went down, into captivity.''Balloon Busting Aces of World War I'', pp. 15, 18

Honors and awards

* ''

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 ...

'': * ''

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

'' with six ''palmes'', an ''etoile de vermeil'', and an ''etoile de bronze''The Aerodrome website page for meda

Retrieved on 26 August 2020

End notes

References

* Norman Franks, Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank (1993). ''Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918''. London, UK: Grub Street Publishing. . * Jon Guttman (2005). ''Balloon-Busting Aces of World War 1 (Aircraft of the Aces)''. Oxford UK: Osprey Publishing. 1890 births 1918 deaths French World War I flying aces Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) French military personnel killed in World War I {{france-mil-bio-stub