Edmond Thieffry (28 September 1892 – 11 April 1929) was a Belgian

First World War 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 ...

air

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

and aviation pioneer. He made, with Léopold Roger and Jef de Bruycker, the first successful flight between

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and Congo (then the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

First World War

Thieffry was born in

Etterbeek Etterbeek (French: ; Dutch: ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the municipalities of Auderghem, the City of Brussels, Ixelles, Schaerbeek, Wolu ...

, a municipality of

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, and went on to study law in Leuven (hence his nickname "The Flying Judge"). After qualifying he was conscripted into the Belgian Army, joining the 10th Regiment in 1913. At the start of the First World War he saw service as a staff

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accord ...

to General Leman, but was captured by the Germans. He escaped on a stolen motorcycle to the neutral territory of the Netherlands, where he was arrested by Dutch military police. Using his legal knowledge and Dutch language skills he managed to talk his way out of internment, and travelled to Antwerp to rejoin the Belgian army. In 1915, Thieffry joined the ''Compagnie des Ouvriers et Aérostiers'' —the Belgian Army Air Corps— and with some difficulty qualified as a pilot at

Étampes Étampes () is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southwest from the center of Paris (as the crow flies). Étampes is a sub-prefecture of the Essonne department. Étampes, together with the neighboring ...

. On 1 February 1916 he joined the 3rd Squadron as an observer for artillery, where he was appreciated for his exactitude and courage. He crash-landed so many aircraft that he was promptly assigned to a single-seat fighter squadron, as no one would fly with him. He was rapidly transferred to 5th Squadron (The Comets) under Captain Jules Dony based at De Panne in December 1916. His first confirmed victory was on 15 March 1917, flying a Nieuport 11. His second followed eight days later above

Gistel Gistel () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. Following local government boundary reforms in 1971 and 1977, the municipality has comprised not only Gistel, but also the towns of Moere, Snaaskerke and Ze ...

, and his third on 12 May above

Houthulst Houthulst (; vls, Oetulst, ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality consists of the sub-municipalities Houthulst, Jonkershove, Klerken and Merkem. On January 1, 2006, Houthulst had a total populatio ...

. His fourth was on 14 June—an

Albatros D.III The Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service ('' Luftstreitkräfte'') during World War I. A modified licence model was built by Oeffag for the Austro-Hungarian Air Service ( ''Luftfahrtruppen''). ...

above

Westende Westende is a town in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It lies on the Belgian coast, also called the Flemish coast. It used to be the far west (West-ende: Dutch for west-end) of the islan ...

. The 5th Squadron then relocated to Les Moëres, and was equipped with Nieuport 17s. Thieffry gained official status as an "ace" when he shot down two German fighters over Diksmuide on 3 July. In August he received the first SPAD VII fighter in the Belgian Air Force, bought by the Belgian prince. He gained three more victories with it. On 31 August his aircraft was badly damaged by two German Albatros D.V fighters, but he managed to land behind the Belgian lines. He continued to fight and he claimed his 10th and last confirmed kill on 10 October 1917. He also had five 'probable' kills. This placed him third on the list of Belgian aces, behind

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 ...

and André de Meulemeester. Shortly afterwards he was shot down and wounded by return fire from a German two-seater aircraft of ''FAA 227'' over

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It is the capital and large ...

on 23 February 1918. He spent the rest of the war as 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 w ...

in Germany. He tried to escape on 13 April 1918 but was caught ten days later.

Flight to Congo

At the end of the war Thieffry returned to Brussels by way of Switzerland, arriving home on 6 December 1918. He returned to his practice as a lawyer, but remained active in aviation, being one of the founders of

Sabena The ''Societé anonyme belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne'' (French; ), better known by the acronym Sabena or SABENA, was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its ba ...

in 1923. He then devised a plan to inaugurate an air link between Belgium and the Belgian Congo. At the start of 1925 he obtained permission from the government for this hazardous flight. Sabena supplied a

Handley Page W8 The Handley Page W.8, W.9 and W.10 were British two- and three-engine medium-range biplane airliners designed and built by Handley Page. The W.8 (also known as the H.P.18) was the company's first purpose-built civil airliner although it was ...

f, which Thieffry named " Princesse Marie-José", after getting the support of his friend King Albert. He left from Brussels (presumably from

Haren Airport Haren Airport or Evere Airfield is a former military airfield and civil airport in Brussels, Belgium. Located in Brussels' city section of Haren and adjacent municipality of Evere, it was established by the German Empire in 1914 and lasted until ...

as the present national airport would only be created in 1940 at

Melsbroek Melsbroek Air Base is a Belgian Air Component facility in Steenokkerzeel, northeast of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. It is located on the northern side of the same site as Brussels Airport, with which it shares runways and ground and air c ...

, its

Zaventem Zaventem () is a Belgian municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant. It is located in the Dijleland area, one of the three large recreational areas which together form the '' Groene Gordel'' ("Green Belt") around the Brussels-Capital Region ...

terminal dating from 1956) on 12 February 1925, with mechanic Joseph "Jef" de Bruycker and co-pilot Léopold Roger, heading for N'Dolo airfield at Leopoldville (now Kinshasa). Thieffry himself acted as navigator. The flight plan called for stops at

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, Oran, Colomb-Bechar,

Gao Gao , or Gawgaw/Kawkaw, is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an impor ...

, Fort-Lamy,

Bangui Bangui () (or Bangî in Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the capital and largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a French outpost in 1889 and named after its location on the northern bank of the Ubangi ...

and

Coquilhatville Mbandaka (, formerly known as Coquilhatville in French, or Coquilhatstad in Dutch) is a city on the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo located near the confluence of the Congo and Ruki rivers. It is the capital of Équateur Province ...

, and should have taken seven days. However strong adverse winds and a broken propeller meant that it took 51 days. Finally on 3 April, after 8,200 kilometres, they arrived at Leopoldville. The first air connection was made, and Thieffry returned to a hero's welcome in Belgium. He made two further attempts to reach Congo. The first on 9 March 1928 in an

ACAZ C.2 The ACAZ C.2, ''Ateliers de Construction Aeronautique de Zeebruge'', was a prototype Belgian biplane fighter aircraft built in the 1920s. Design and development Built entirely of Duralumin metal, it was an advanced design at the time of its firs ...

with Joseph Lang and Philippe Quersin, did not get any further than

Philippeville Philippeville (; wa, Flipveye) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. The Philippeville municipality includes the former municipalities of Fagnolle, Franchimont, Jamagne, Jamiolle, Merlemont, N ...

. The second on 26 June in a Stampe et Vertongen RSV.22-180,Hauet 1984, p. 18 again with Philippe Quersin, also failed, this time ending in a marsh at Clapier, near

Vauvert Vauvert (; oc, Vauverd) is a commune in the far south of the Gard department in southern France. It was known as ''Posquières'' in the Middle Ages. The commune comprises the town of Vauvert and the villages of Gallician and Montcalm.

. Thieffry then developed a plan to set up an internal air service in Congo. During his second test flight in Congo on 11 April 1929, flying Aviméta 92, Thieffry, with fellow flyer Gaston Julien, was killed in a crash close to Lake Tanganyika (only a mechanic survived). He was 36 years old. It would be another 10 years before a regular air service was established between Brussels and Kinshasa.

Awards

* Croix de Guerre (Belgium) 1914–1918 * Knight of the

Order of Leopold II The Order of Leopold II is an order of Belgium and is named in honor of King Leopold II. The decoration was established on 24 August 1900 by Leopold II as Sovereign of the Congo Free State and was in 1908, upon Congo being handed over to Belgium ...

* Knight of the

Order of Léopold The Order of Leopold ( nl, Leopoldsorde, french: Ordre de Léopold, ) is one of the three current Belgian national honorary orders of knighthood. It is the oldest and highest order of Belgium and is named in honour of its founder, King Leo ...

* Croix de Guerre with Palm (France) *

Silver Medal of Military Valor The Silver Medal of Military Valor ( it, Medaglia d'argento al valor militare) is an Italian medal for gallantry. Italian medals for valor were first instituted by Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia on 21 May 1793, with a gold medal, and, below it, ...

(Italy) * Victory Medal * Commemorative Medal of the 1914–1918 War * 7 Frontstreep (Front Line Stripes)

Memorials

* On 10 July 1932 a plaque dedicated to Thieffry was unveiled in Etterbeek. It shows the route of his flight to Leopoldville. A metro station ( Thieffry metro station) and a street (''Rue Aviateur Thieffry'' / ''Vlieger Thieffry Straat'') have also been named after him in Etterbeek.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * B. van der Klaauw, Armand van Ishoven & Peter van der Gaag, ''De geschiedenis van de Nederlandse en Belgische Luchtvaart'' (The History of Dutch and Belgian Aviation) Lekturama, 1982. * Norman Franks, ''Nieuport Aces of World War 1.'' Osprey Publishing, 2000. , . * * Thieffry, Edmond, ''En avion de Bruxelles au Congo Belge'', with a foreword by King Albert I, 1926. * Guttman, Jon, ''SPAD VII aces of World War I'', Oxford: Osprey Aviation, 2001,

External links