Lieutenant Colonel Théophile Henri Condemine, or Henri Théophile Condemine, was a French soldier and fighter pilot who began his military career during World War I. He became a

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 nine confirmed aerial victories, all against

observation balloons 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 I ...

. He also served during World War II.

Early life

Théophile Henri Condemine was born on 25 January 1895 in Champagnac-Fontaine.

World War I

Condemine joined the French military on a three-year enlistment on 10 February 1914, and was assigned to the cavalry. He was promoted to enlisted brigadier on 1 August 1914; on 26 April 1916, he was promoted again, to Maréchal-des-logis. On 3 December 1916, he was detached to infantry duty. While in this assignment, he was commissioned 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 19 ...

. On 29 July 1917, he was severely wounded in the face, but carried on despite a German artillery barrage. A month later, he was awarded the ''

Légion 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 ...

'' for this action.Franks (1992), p. 135 After healing, Condemine was transferred to aviation training at

Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...

, arriving the day before Christmas in 1917. On 10 March 1918, he was granted Military Pilot's Brevet Number 12102; two days later, he was sent to Pau for advanced training. Early on 22 August 1918, he arrived at Escadrille 154 to serve as a

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 Béc ...

pilot; at noon, he scored his first aerial victory, teaming with Paul Y. R. Waddington and Louis Prosper Gros to destroy a German observation balloon. On 7 September, he destroyed a balloon singlehanded. A week later, he teamed with

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 ...

to destroy a balloon over Gernicourt and another one at

Cormicy Cormicy () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Am ...

. The next day, Condemine, Coiffard, 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.' ...

downed three more balloons in two minutes. Condemine rounded out his career as a balloon buster with solo victories a week apart, on 3 and 10 October 1918, the last two wins for his squadron. On 28 October, he flew a protective escort for Coiffard after the latter's wounding during his final fatal mission.Guttman (2005), pp. 17-18.

Post-World War I

Condemine survived the war. He returned to service during World War II, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Endnotes

References

* ''Balloon-Busting Aces of World War 1: Issue 66 of Aircraft of the Aces''. Jon Guttman. Osprey Publishing, 2005. , 9781841768779.
Military record on French DoD website
*''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 Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Condemine, Theophile Henri 1895 births Year of death missing Knights of the Legion of Honour French World War I flying aces Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France)