Sergent André Robert Lévy was a French World War I

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

credited with six aerial victories.''SPAD XII/XIII Aces of World War I'', p. 27.The Aerodrome websit

Retrieved on 5 May 2010.

Early life

André Robert Lévy was born in Paris, France, on 6 June 1893. He was mobilized for infantry duty at the start of World War I, on 2 September 1914.''Over The Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918 '', pp. 185–186.

Military service

André Robert Lévy transferred to aviation on 8 October 1916. He qualified as a pilot on 4 March 1917. He was initially assigned to fly a

Farman Farman Aviation Works () was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French nationalization and rational ...

for ''Escadrille 29''. However, he flew a

Sopwith Aviation Company The Sopwith Aviation Company was a British aircraft company that designed and manufactured aeroplanes mainly for the British Royal Naval Air Service, the Royal Flying Corps and later the Royal Air Force during the First World War, most famously ...

Sopwi 1.A2 for his first victory on 7 April 1917. On 16 May, he was then reassigned, to the only French air squadron on the Italian Front, ''Escadrille 561'', which was tasked with air defense of

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. Using a mixture of

Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars. History Beginnings Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...

and Spad fighters emblazoned with a dogs-head insignia, Lévy scored his second win on 21 June 1918, scored a double on 20 July, and became an ace on 5 August. On 16 September, he became a

balloon buster Balloon busters were military pilots known for destroying enemy observation balloons. These pilots were noted for their fearlessness, as balloons were stationary targets able to receive heavy defenses, from the ground and the air. Seventy-seven fl ...

, destroying an

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

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

and being shot down in the process. With the engine dead from a fuel line severed by anti-aircraft fire, Lévy purposely landed hard, bending the landing gear, and inverting his

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 Bé ...

. He was then taken away to prison camp in Mulbach. On his second attempt at escape, on 2 November, Lévy escaped through a mountainous wilderness smothered under 30 inches of snow. He made it back to his unit on 6 November 1918.

Later life

André Robert Lévy was released from military duty on 3 September 1919, with the rank of Sergeant. He died upon 12 March 1973.

Sources of information

References

* ''Over The Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918 ''. Norman Franks, Frank Bailey. Grub Street Publishing, 2008. * ''SPAD XII/XIII aces of World War I.'' Jon Guttman. Osprey Publishing, 2002. , . 1893 births 1973 deaths French World War I flying aces {{france-mil-bio-stub