Name: Georges Marie Ludovic Jules Guynemer Country: France Rank: Capitaine Service: French Air Service Units: Spa3 Victories: 53 Date Of Birth: December 24, 1894 Place of Birth: Paris Date Of Death: September 11, 1917 Place of Death: South of Poelcapelle, Belgium Memorial: Poelcapple, Belgium Guynemer was France's most popular ace. He entered the French Air Service in November of 1914 and served as a mechanic before receiving a Pilot's Brevet in April of 1915. Despite his frail physical appearance, he took part in more than 600 aerial combats and was shot down seven times and survived. An excellent marksman and highly skilled pilot, he was hailed as the French Ace of Aces. Guynemer received letters from women proposing marriage, requests from school children for his autograph and was often followed through the streets. One of the first pilots to receive a SPAD S.VII, he called his plane Vieux Charles (Old Charles). On May 25, 1917, he engaged and shot down four enemy aircraft with Old Charles in one day. Looking for ways to improve the performance of his aircraft, Guynemer armed a SPAD S.VII with a single-shot 37 mm canon that fired through a hollowed out propeller shaft. He called this impractical aircraft his Magic Machine. Despite the fumes that filled the cockpit and the recoil of the canon, during the summer of 1917 he shot down at least two enemy aircraft with his Magic Machine. On September 11, 1917, Guynemer was last seen attacking a two-seater Aviatik near Poelcapelle, northwest of Ypres. Almost a week later, it was publicly announced in a London paper that he was missing in action. Shortly thereafter, a German newspaper reported Guynemer had been shot down by Kurt Wissemann of Jasta 3. For many months, the French population refused to believe he was dead. Guynemer's body was never found. http://www.wwiaviation.com/aces/ace_Guynemer.shtml
Undoubtedly a hero who kept on flying despite indifferent physical health (he had had TB) and increasing mental stress. It is said that after he took off on his last flight, the other officers in his escadrille (Les Cigognes - the Storks)were so concerned about his mental state that they phoned the Brigadier and implored him to come and order him to rest from combat operations. The Brigadier came to the airfield to do just that but Guynemer never returned. French children were told he "had flown so high he couldn't come down". I took these photos of his memorial in Poelcappelle, near where he fell. Can anyone translate the inscription? - my French isn't much good but I get the gist of it.
