Source: National Archives & Historic Records of France
Military • Historical Archive • 🇫🇷 France • 0 views

Georges Guynemer 🇫🇷

Georges Marie Ludovic Jules Guynemer (Known as "The Legendary Ace of Aces")
Legendary WWI Fighter Ace, National Hero of France, 54 Aerial Victories, Escadrille des Cigognes
Born Dec 24, 1894 🇫🇷 Paris, France
Passed Away Sep 11, 1917 Poelkapelle (West Flanders), Belgium
Lifespan 22 years old
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Notice / Correction
"Faire face (Face the enemy always; until one has given everything, one has given nothing)."

Archival Overview

Beloved French fighter ace and national hero of World War I who scored 54 aerial victories in his SPAD aircraft 'Vieux Charles' with the elite Escadrille des Cigognes before disappearing in the clouds of Flanders at age twenty-two.

Biographical Record

Initially rejected by military recruiters due to frail health and slender stature, Guynemer enlisted as a mechanic before earning his pilot wings in 1915. Joining the elite Escadrille N.3 (Storks Squadron), he displayed ferociously aggressive tactical audacity, shooting down dozens of German planes.

Surviving being shot down seven times, Guynemer captured the imagination of the French nation as a pure, chivalric knight of the skies. On September 11, 1917, he engaged a German two-seater over Poelkapelle, Belgium, and was shot down; his body and plane were never recovered, prompting the poetical eulogy: 'He flew so high he could not come down'.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
Poelkapelle Memorial (Symbolic inscription in the Panthéon)
Paris, France
GPS: 48.8464, 2.3461
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