Édouard Jean Bague (18791911) was a French aviator. A lieutenant in the
Algerian tirailleurs, he obtained his aviators's licence (number 337) from the
Aéro-Club de France
The Aéro-Club de France () is one of the oldest French aviators' associations still active. It was founded as the Aéro-Club on 20 October 1898 as a society 'to encourage aerial locomotion' by Ernest Archdeacon, Léon Serpollet, Henri de la ...
on 23 November 1910.
He resigned his commission early in 1911 to concentrate on aviation and, in particular, his plan to cross the Mediterranean by air. In the same year he published two books, ''Mes premières impressions d'aviateur'' and ''Nice-Gorgone en aéroplane'' under the name Édouard Bague.
[''Nice-Gorgone, en aéroplane'' Édouard Bague; Paris ; Nancy : Berger-Leurault, 1911.]
Career
In an initial attempt in March 1911, Bague planned to fly from
Antibes
Antibes (, , ; ) is a seaside city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in Southeastern France. It is located on the French Riviera between Cannes and Nice; its cape, the Cap d'Antibes, along with Cap Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Ca ...
to
Ajaccio
Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...
,
Corsica
Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
, from there to
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...
and then via
Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
to
Tunis
Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
.
On that occasion, due to a navigation error, he did not reach Ajaccio. Instead, after a flight which began at 7.30am and ended at 1.00pm, Bague landed on the small wooded
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
island of
Gorgona. His
Blériot monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...
was seriously damaged on landing, and Bague was injured.
[ The distance of over 200 km he covered on this occasion established a new record for a flight over the sea.]Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency ...
report, his escape from death on this occasion was considered "miraculous".Corsica
Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
(170 km)
* Calvi to Ajaccio
Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...
, Corsica (80 km)
* Ajaccio to Sassari
Sassari ( ; ; ; ) is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 120,497 inhabitants as of 2025, and a functional urban area of about 260,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island, it contains ...
, Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...
(150 km)
* Sassari to Cagliari
Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...
, Sardinia (200 km)
* Cagliari to Bizerta
Bizerte (, ) is the capital and largest city of Bizerte Governorate in northern Tunisia. It is the northernmost city in Africa, located north of the capital Tunis. It is also known as the last town to remain under French control after the re ...
, Tunisia
Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
(200 km)
* Bizerta to Tunis
Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
(80 km)[
]
Disappearance and search
His aircraft disappeared shortly after departing from Nice. It was reported that he embarked on the flight without a compass.[ A witness reported sighting an aircraft apparently in difficulty in the area through which Bague would have been expected to have been flying.][
Several French naval vessels undertook an extensive sea search for Bague; the Ministry of the Marine despatched the destroyer '' Arbalète'' and six ]torpedo boats
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
from Ajaccio and the destroyer '' Mousqueton'' and six torpedo boats from Toulon
Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department.
The Commune of Toulon h ...
.[
]
See also
*List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea
Nile Kinnick
Throughout history, people have mysteriously disappeared at sea. The following is a list of known individuals who have mysteriously vanished in open waters, and whose whereabouts remain unknown. In most ocean deaths, bodies are never r ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bague, Edouard Jean
1879 births
1910s missing person cases
1911 deaths
French aviation record holders
Missing aviators
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1911