Willy Omer François Jean Coppens de Houthulst

Name:

Country:

Belgium

Rank:

Major

Service:

Belgian Air Service

Escadrilles:

1ère, 4me, 6me, 9me

Victories:

Born:

06 July 1892

Place of Birth:

Watermaal-Bosvoorde, Belgium

Died:

21 December 1986

Place of Death:

Berchem, Belgium

Willy Omer François Jean Coppens de Houthulst joined the army in 1912 and served with the 2nd Grenadiers before he transferred to the Compagnie des Aviateurs in 1915. At his own expense, he and thirty nine other Belgians enrolled in a civilian flying school at Hendon, England. After additional training in France, Coppens began flying two-seaters in combat during 1916. The following year, he was assigned to single-seat fighters and soon became an expert at shooting down enemy observation balloons. After downing a balloon, Coppens would often perform aerial acrobatic displays above the enemy. On one occasion, the balloon he was attacking shot upward and Coppens actually landed his cobalt blue Hanriot HD.1 on top of it. Switching off his engine to protect the propeller, he waited until his aircraft slid off the top of the balloon, then restarted the engine and watched as the German balloon burst into flames and sank to the ground. On the morning of 14 October 1918, his days as a fighting pilot came to an end near Thourout in northwestern Belgium. Just as he began the attack that would culminate in his 37th victory, Coppens was hit in the left leg by an incendiary bullet. Despite a severed artery and intense pain, he shot down his target and managed to crash land within the safety of his own lines. His badly shattered leg had to be amputated. Nevertheless, Coppens set a parachute jump record in 1928, which he held until 1932, jumping from an altitude of about 19,700 feet. Before he retired from the army in 1940, Coppens served as a military attaché in France, Great Britain, Italy and Switzerland.

"You must take the war to the enemy. You must attack and go on attacking all the time." Willy Coppens

Victories

	Date	Time	Unit	Aircraft	Opponent	Location
1	25 Apr 1918	1220	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Scout	St. Joris
2	08 May 1918	0710	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Zarren
3	08 May 1918	0955	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Houthulst
4	15 May 1918	0807	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Houthulst
5	19 May 1918	0945	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Houthulst
6	05 Jun 1918	0640	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Houthulst
7	09 Jun 1918	0922	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Zonnebeke
8	10 Jun 1918	0747	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Ploegsteert
9	24 Jun 1918	0645	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Warneton
10	24 Jun 1918	0646	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Hannover CL	Ploegsteert
11	30 Jun 1918	0630	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Bovekerke
12	30 Jun 1918	0830	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Gheluvelt
13	30 Jun 1918	0834	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Passchendaele
14	14 Jul 1918	0930	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Passchendaele
15	16 Jul 1918	1855	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Bovekerke
16	19 Jul 1918	1920	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Ruyterhoek
17	20 Jul 1918	0557	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Houthulst
18	22 Jul 1918	0730	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Gheluwe
19	22 Jul 1918	0731	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Wervicq
20	22 Jul 1918	0734	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Comines
21	24 Jul 1918	1920	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Ruyterhoek
22	03 Aug 1918	0750	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Reutel
23	10 Aug 1918	0605	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Leffinge
24	10 Aug 1918	0625	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Ruyterhoek
25	10 Aug 1918	0745	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Leffinge
26	24 Aug 1918	1455	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Ploegsteert
27	24 Aug 1918	1457	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Warneton
28	03 Sep 1918	1102	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Tenbrielen
29	04 Sep 1918	0923	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Wercken
30	27 Sep 1918	1105	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Leffinge
31	27 Sep 1918	1106	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Leffinge
32	29 Sep 1918	1005	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Two-seater	Leffinge
33	02 Oct 1918	1520	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Leffinge
34	03 Oct 1918	0814	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Lendeleede
35	05 Oct 1918	0820	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Cruypenaerde
36	05 Oct 1918	0600	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Praatbos
37	14 Oct 1918	0605	9me	Hanriot HD.1	Balloon	Torhout

Books

Days on the Wing: Memoirs of Major the Chevalier Willy Coppens de Houthulst / Hardcover / Ayer Co Pub 1931
Above Flanders' Field: by Walter M. Pieters / Hardcover / Grub Street (May 1998)
Above the War Fronts: by Norman Franks, Russell Guest, Gregory Alegi / Hardcover / Grub Street (September 1997)