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| Name: |
Jean Marie Dominique Navarre |
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| Country: |
France |
| Rank: |
Sous Lieutenant |
| Service: |
French Air Service |
| Units: |
MF8; MS12; N67 |
| Victories: |
12 |
| Born: |
08 August 1895 |
| Place of Birth: |
Jouy-en-Morin |
| Died: |
10 July 1919 |
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| Place of Death: |
Villacoublay |
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The son of a wealthy paper manufacturer, Navarre was the first French pilot to be officially declared an ace in an army dispatch. Assigned to MS12, he began the war by shooting at enemy aircraft with a rifle from his Morane-Saulnier L. On 1 April 1915, he scored his first victory in the Fismes sector, bringing down an Aviatik with three well placed shots. With his transfer to N67, Navarre began flying the Nieuport 11 and on 25 February 1916, he became the first French pilot to shoot down two enemy aircraft in a single day. He was also the first French fighting pilot to be cited in orders. Flying above the lines in a red "Bébé," Navarre was easily identified by the poilus in the trenches who witnessed several of his victories. A solitary hunter, he would attack from behind and below his opponent's aircraft, standing in the cockpit to fire his wing mounted machine gun. Shot down over the Argonne on 17 June 1916, Navarre suffered a head wound from which he never fully recovered. Following a two year stay at an asylum in Paris, he returned to the front but flew no more combat missions. In 1919, having been selected to fly a Morane-Saulnier through the Arc de Triomphe during a post-war celebration, Navarre was killed in a crash while training for the event.
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| Médaille Militaire |
| "Sergent pilot of Escadrille MS12 of remarkable skill and audacity. He has battled two enemy planes in one week, meeting them and attacking from a few meters in spite of the enemy observer's fire. He forced one of them to land behind our lines, allowing the pilot and observer, both of whom had been wounded by his observer's fire, to be taken prisoner." Médaille Militaire citation |
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| Légion d'Honneur |
| "Adjudant pilot of Escadrille MS12, remarkably adroit and devoted, he has had several aerial combats, one of which permitted the capture of two enemy officers and an enemy plane. He volunteers for all the delicate missions, and has executed special and particularly perilous missions with complete success." Légion d'Honneur citation |
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| Victories |
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Date |
Time |
Unit |
Aircraft |
Opponent |
Location |
| 1 |
01 Apr 1915 |
0625 |
MS12 |
1 |
Aviatik |
N of Fismes |
| 2 |
13 Apr 1915 |
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MS12 |
2 |
Aviatik |
St. Menehould |
| 3 |
26 Oct 1915 |
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MS12 |
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LVG C |
Jaulconne |
| 4 |
26 Feb 1916 |
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N67 |
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Fokker E.III |
Dieu |
| 5 |
26 Feb 1916 |
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N67 |
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Two-seater |
Maheulles |
| 6 |
02 Mar 1916 |
1130 |
N67 |
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Albatros C |
Douaumont-Fleury |
| 7 |
19 Mar 1916 |
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N67 |
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EA |
Vigneville |
| 8 |
03 Apr 1916 |
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N67 |
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EA |
Bois de Cumieres |
| 9 |
24 Apr 1916 |
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N67 |
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LVG C |
Vauquois |
| 10 |
19 May 1916 |
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N67 |
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Aviatik C 3 |
Chattancourt |
| 11 |
21 May 1916 |
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N67 |
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Two-seater |
Avocourt |
| 12 |
17 Jun 1916 |
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N67 |
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EA 4 |
Samogneux |
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| 1 |
Observer Lt Robert |
| 2 |
SharedGunner Soldat Girard |
| 3 |
Shared with S/Lt G Boillot |
| 4 |
Shared with S/Lt Georges Pelletier d'Oisy |
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| Books |
- Over the Front
- by Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey / Hardcover / Grub Street the Basement (May 1992)
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