Adrien Louis Jacques Leps

Name:

Country:

France

Rank:

Capitaine

Service:

French Air Service

Units:

N67; Spa81

Victories:

Born:

27 September 1893

Place of Birth:

Angers

Died:

Place of Death:

Leps joined the army on 9 October 1913. In 1915, he transferred to the French Air Service and served as an observer with Escadrille N67 until he was badly wounded on 9 July. Having recovered from his wounds by the summer of 1916, Leps completed flight training at Amberieu and received his Pilot's Brevet on 23 August 1916. In December, he joined Escadrille N81 (later Spa81) at the front and scored his first victory by downing a German two-seater. During 1918, Leps downed two more enemy aircraft and five balloons.

Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur

"Young officer, courageous and ardent. Already wounded and cited in orders, conducted himself brilliantly on 16 March 1917, downing, during the course of the same flight, two enemy planes, one of which fell in our lines." Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur citation, 30 March 1917

Victories

	Date	Time	Unit	Aircraft	Opponent	Location
1	16 Mar 1917	1500	N81		Two-seater	Burnhaupt-la-Hetrie
2	16 Mar 1917	1455	N81		Albatros C	Bernweiler-Ammerzweiler
u/c	05 May 1917				EA
3	27 Jun 1917		N81		Scout	N of Prosner
u/c	07 Jul 1917				EA
4	20 Aug 1917		N81		Two-seater ¹	Bois de Forges
5	10 Dec 1917		N81		Two-seater ²	N of Recicourt
6	06 Apr 1918		Spa81		EA
7	15 May 1918		Spa81		Balloon ³
8	22 May 1918		Spa81		Albatros ⁴	Lamotte-en-Santerre
9	23 May 1918		Spa81		Balloon ⁵	Villers Bretonneux
10	31 May 1918		Spa81		Balloon ⁵
11	06 Jun 1918		Spa81		Balloon ⁶	NW of Soissons
12	15 Jun 1918		Spa81		Balloon

1	Shared with Lt Marcel Hugues
2	Shared with Lt Marcel Hugues, Adj Andre Herbelin
3	Shared with Sgt Gabriel Guérin
4	Shared with Sgt Paul Santelli
5	Shared with MdL Pierre Cardon, Sgt Maurice Rouselle

Books

Over the Front: by Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey / Hardcover / Grub Street the Basement (May 1992)