Georges Marie Ludovic Jules Guynemer

Name:

Country:

France

Rank:

Capitaine

Service:

French Air Service

Units:

MS3, N3, Spa3

Victories:

Born:

24 December 1894

Place of Birth:

Paris

Killed In Action:

11 September 1917

Place of Death:

South of Poelkapelle, Belgium

Memorial:

Poelkapelle, Belgium

Guynemer was France's most beloved ace. He entered the French Air Service in November 1914 and served as a mechanic before receiving a Pilot's Brevet in April 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 VII, he called his plane Vieux Charles (Old Charles). On 25 May 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 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 11 September 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.

Georges Guynemer — Knight of the Air
Bordeaux, Henry. Georges Guynemer, Knight of the Air. New York: New Haven Yale University Press, 1918

FRENCH AIR HERO'S FATE.

Amsterdam, Saturday.

The correspondent of the Kölnische Zeitung on the western front says that according to the Gazelle 'des Ardennes (which is under German control) the French airman Captain Guynemer was killed on September 11 about 800 yards east of the cemetery of Poelcapelle. A German sergeant found there a one-seater with a wing broken and the pilot dead from a bullet wound in the head, and on him an identity disc with the name "Georges Guynemer." — Reuter.

The Weekly Dispatch - Sunday, September 30, 1917

"I shall not survive." Georges Guynemer, 28 August 1917

". . . Indomitable tenacity, ferocious energy, sublime courage: animated by the most resolute faith in victory, he bequeaths to the French soldier an imperishable memory which will exalt the spirit of sacrifice." Memorial to Guynemer

"Not only the machine above me is better, but the man sitting in it can do more than I." Ernst Udet, describing an encounter with Guynemer in May 1917

"He was neither seen nor heard as he fell, his body and his machine were never found. Where has he gone? By what wings did he manage to glide into immortality? Nobody knows: nothing is known. He ascended and never came back, that is all. Perhaps our descendents will say: He flew so high that he could not come down again." L'Illustration, 6 October 1917

Médaille Militaire

"A pilot of great spirit and daring, willing to carry out the most perilous assignments. After a relentless chase he engaged a German aircraft in combat which ended with its bursting into flames and crashing." Médaille Militaire, 21 July 1915

Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur

"Pilot of great gallantry, a model of devotion to duty and courage. During the course of the past six months he has fulfilled two missions of a special nature requiring the highest spirit of self-sacrifice, and has engaged in thirteen aerial combats, of which two ended in the destruction in flames of the enemy aircraft." Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur citation, 24 December 1915

Officier de la Légion d'Honneur

"Officer of the elite, a fighting pilot as skilful as he is audacious, he has rendered brilliant service to his country, as much by the number of his victories, as by his daily keenness and ever-growing mastery. Heedless of danger he has become for the enemy, by the sureness of his methods and by the precision of his maneuvers, the most redoubtable adversary of all. On 25 May 1917, he accomplished one of his most brilliant exploits in downing, in one minute, two enemy planes and reporting in the same day two other victories. By all his exploits he contributes to the excitement, courage and enthusiasm of those who, in the trenches, are witnesses to his triumphs. Forty five planes downed, twenty citations, two wounds." Officier de la Légion d'Honneur citation, 11 June 1917

Victories

	Date	Time	Unit	Aircraft	Opponent	Location
1	19 Jul 1915	1425	MS 3		Aviatik C ¹	Septmonts
2	05 Dec 1915		N3		Aviatik C	Bois de Carre
3	08 Dec 1915	1035	N3		LVG C	Beauvraignes
4	14 Dec 1915		N3		Fokker E ²	SE of Noyon
5	03 Feb 1916	1110	N3		LVG C	Roye
6	03 Feb 1916	1140	N3		LVG C	Carreouisw-E of Roye
7	05 Feb 1916	1130	N3		LVG C	Herbecourt
8	12 Mar 1916		N3		LVG C	Ribécourt
9	22 Jun 1916		N3		LVG C ³	Rosières-en-Santere
10	16 Jul 1916		N3		LVG C	Barleux
11	28 Jul 1916		N3		LVG C	Gandau
12	03 Aug 1916		N3		EA ⁴	Barleux
13	17 Aug 1916		N3		Aviatik	Grancourt
14	18 Aug 1916		N3		Rumpler C	Bouchavesnes
15	04 Sep 1916	1825	N3	SPAD VII (S115)	Aviatik C.II	Hyencourt
16	15 Sep 1916	1125	N3		Rumpler C	St. Christ
17	23 Sep 1916	1120	N3		Fokker E	Erches
18	23 Sep 1916	1125	N3		Fokker E	Laucourt
19	10 Nov 1916	1215	N3		Albatros D	Nesles
20	10 Nov 1916	1225	N3		Albatros C	Morcourt
21	16 Nov 1916	1340	N3		Fokker E	Omiecourt-Pertain
22	22 Nov 1916	1445	N3		Halberstadt C.L	E of St. Christ
23	22 Nov 1916	1510	N3		Halberstadt	NE of Amiens
24	26 Dec 1916	0945	N3		Halberstadt C.L	E of Miséry
25	27 Dec 1916	1145	N3		Albatros	W of Péronne
26	23 Jan 1917	1045	N3		Albatros C	Maurepas
27	23 Jan 1917	1134	N3		Rumpler C	Chaulnes
28	24 Jan 1917	1140	N3		Rumpler C	Goyencourt
29	24 Jan 1917	1150	N3		Rumpler C	Lignieres
30	26 Jan 1917		N3		Albatros C	Montdidier
31	08 Feb 1917	1115	N3		Gotha G	Bouconville
32	16 Mar 1917	0908	N3		Albatros C ⁵	Serres
33	16 Mar 1917	0930	N3		Rumpler C	Hoeville
34	16 Mar 1917	1430	N3		Albatros C	Regneville-en-Haye
35	17 Mar 1917	1330	N3		EA	Atilloncourt
36	14 Apr 1917	1030	N3		Albatros	La Neuville
37	02 May 1917	1935	N3		Albatros	Courtemont
38	04 May 1917	1508	N3		Albatros C	Courtecon-Braye
39	25 May 1917	0830	N3		LVG C	NW of Corbeny
40	25 May 1917	0831	N3		Two-seater	Juvincourt
41	25 May 1917	1215	N3		DFW C	Courlandon
42	25 May 1917	1830	N3		Fokker	Gugnicourt
43	26 May 1917	1000	N3		Albatros	Conde-sur-Suippes
44	05 Jun 1917	1715	N3		Albatros C	Berry-au-Bac
45	05 Jun 1917	1730	N3		DFW C	Foret de Berru
46	06 Jul 1917	1055	N3		DFW C	Brimont
47	07 Jul 1917	1110	N3		Albatros	Villers Francheux
48	07 Jul 1917	1230	N3		DFW C	Moussy-sur-Aisne
49	27 Jul 1917		N3		Albatros	Westroosebeke
50	28 Jul 1917		N3		DFW C	Merkem
51	17 Aug 1917	0820	N3		Albatros C	Vladsloo
52	17 Aug 1917	0925	N3		DFW C	Foret d'Houthulst
53	20 Aug 1917		Spa3	SPAD XIII (S504)	DFW C	Poperinghe

1	Shared with Soldat Guerder
2	Shared with Adj Bucquet
3	Shared with Sgt Andre Chainat
4	Shared with Lt Alfred Heurtaux
5	Shared with Lt Raymond

Books

Captain Georges Guynemer: WWI Eagle of France: Walter A. Musciano / Hardcover / Hobby Helpers Pub 1963
Georges Guynemer: Knight of the Air: Henry Bordeaux / Ayer Co Pub 1972
Georges Guynemer: The Winged Sword of France: H.W. Cook / Hardcover / 1918
Guynemer: l'Ange de la mort: Jules Roy / Paperback / Albin Michel 2000)
Guynemer: The Ace of Aces: Jacques Mortane / Hardcover / NY: Moffat Yard 1918
Over the Front: by Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey / Hardcover / Grub Street the Basement (May 1992)