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Aviation History
1917
1917 - 1052.PDF
BY the disappearance of Guynemer, champion aviator of ; France, the Allies have suffered a great loss. He flew well, shot well, and devoted the whole of his energy and enthusiasm to the carrying out of his duties, and these points explain the phenomenal success of his all-too-brief career. I have v known him well since the early part of 1917. Whenever he ;•; had a few days' leave, or had occasion to come to Paris for ; a new Spad, or anything else connected with his military duties, he always stayed at the Hotel Edouard VII., which has been my home for several months this year, and in this way we spent a good deal of time together. In many little characteristics he reminded me of Gustave Hamel, but most of all in his extreme shyness and dislike of publicity, and it may be opportune, therefore, to place on record a few per- sonal impressions which may be of interest to those concerned ,** with British aviation. For some of the particulars relating to his early days I am indebted to Comte Alain de Ver- -.. gennes, an old schoolfellow, who has known Guynemer since he was seven years old. :- Georges Guynemer was born at Compiegne twenty-threeyears ago. His parents have a charming country estate there, and I have already recorded in " FLIGHT " some months ago the interesting fact that his mother is a niece ~. of Sir Walter Scott. Georges was the only son, and there are two daughters. The reference I noticed in one of the . leading London dailies to his " aged parents " is as stupid •' and untrue as the statement that he was educated at West- _•- minster—the latter perhaps arising -out of the fact that Hamel was an old Westminster boy. In his early days he developed a taste for higher mathe- " matics, but being of a delicate and highly-strung constitution, - . his studies had to be checked, and at the outbreak of the war *. he was still at school and preparing to enter the banking •". , profession. He at once endeavoured to enlist, but was repeatedly rejected on medical grounds, but his persistence eventually got him into the French Air Service as a mechanic. He had always been fond of mechanical affairs, and particu- larly of motor cycles and cars. Comte de Vergennes told me recently that only a few weeks ago it was arranged that he should drive Guynemer's car—a Hispano-Suiza—back to Paris from a certain aerodrome, after Guynemer had left by air for the front. Before starting the young pilot said to his friend, " Do you remember when I was a small boy - at school and implored you to let me drive one of your new . cars, and you refused, saying I was not strong enough ? And now you are driving one of mine ! " Guynemer's wonderful enthusiasm attracted considerable . attention, and it was not long before he secured permission to train as a pilot. I believe it was largely due to Jules Vedrines that he took his brevet on April 26th, 1915, after a very short course of training. His aptitude for the air was -obvious from the first, and those who were closely watching his career were in no way surprised when he brought down his first Boche victim six weeks later in the neighbourhood of Soissons. After that event he was given a fast single- seater fighting machine, and since that date all his exploits have been on this type—practically all on a Spad. By the end of 1916 he had twenty-two victories standing officially V to his credit. By this time both he and his machine were well known to the Germans, but in spite of being " marked " he continued to add constantly to the long list of his successes, only once being wounded, in March, 1916, while assisting in the defence of Verdun. His many exploits have been recorded from -•'-• time to time, and make thrilling reading. How he shot i down three enemy machines one day in the course of a fight J lasting only a -few minutes, how he destroyed four others OCTOBER II, 1917. in one day, and a score of other astonishing deeds of daring and skill, I will not attempt to describe now. I have heard whispers of jealousy among other French aviators, but from personal knowledge I am glad to be able to dispose of these slanders. The members of the famous Storks' Squadron were all proud of him, and many, in fact, owe their lives to Guynemer, who came to their rescue at critical moments and drove their attackers away or sent them crashing to earth. At the date of his disappearance on September nth, he had fifty-three victories to his credit, and it is reported that on the morning of his last flight he brought down two others. His collection of orders and medals was unequalled. His Croix de Guerre had so many " palms " added that it became almost too unwieldy to wear. Many Allied nations presented him with decorations, one of his last being our own Dis- tinguished Service Order, with which I happen to know he was particularly pleased. He made a special point of securing if possible some souvenir of each machine he destroyed, and these trophies—machine guns, instruments, engine parts, German flying caps, charts, and so on—now make a most imposing array on the main staircase of the house of his parents. He had another and more sensational collection of sou- venirs which I hope may be available for public inspection at some future date, and this collection consists of photo- graphs of his victims taken in the course of his fighting. He devised an ingenious form of camera which was auto- matically worked by the firing mechanism of his gun, taking a series of photographs at intervals of so many seconds. As a result he obtained some photographs of German aero- planes at the moment they were struck—fabric tearing off, parts flying, and sometimes flames just commencing to break out. Guynemer was always intensely patriotic. I have known many occasions when he would curtail his brief leave in Paris because the weather seemed favourable for aerial activity. What leave he had he devoted mainly to matters connected with aviation. He would replenish his kit, and then hasten away to see the latest motor or the latest aeronautical instru- ment. In fact, his whole existence was centred on his work. In military details he was studiously correct. He had a horror of publicity, and if he chanced to meet a friend while motoring through Paris he would usually exchange a few words, and then, noticing the little crowd of admirers who would quickly congregate—for of course Guynemer was well known by sight—he would hastily fix a rendezvous at his hotel or elsewhere and then disappear. Now there is very little doubt that he has disappeared for ever, but he leaves behind a record of brilliant work and self-sacrifice which in the history of aviation has no equal. He was really brave, for he had a delicate constitution and a vivid imagination, two items which would combine to give him a full appreciation of the dangers he faced, but he was quite content. He said early this year that if the war were over in six months he might hope to survive, but if it lasted longer he expected and was quite prepared to die fighting. He mentioned only a few weeks ago the case of a French pilot who was mortally wounded but managed by an almost superhuman effort to effect a landing behind the French lines before he died. Guynemer thought that was a mag- nificent thing, and said if it were at all possible he would do the same under similar circumstances, otherwise his friends might know, if he were missing, that he had been killed. His demise is a great loss to the Allies, but his remarkable career will continue to be an inspiration to his brother aviators, as it has been since his first brilliant victory. D. W. THORBURN. The Supremacy in the Air. SPEAKING in one of the bombed districts on October 2nd, Dr. Addison, said the output of aeroplanes was being increased at a gigantic rate :— " We have got the mastery of the submarine menace. We have done very well lately, and I am perfectly confident that before very long we shall achieve just as great supremacy in the air, whether over this country or over their own, as we have over the submarine menace. It is peculiarly hard that somehow or other this residential district should have been, the victims of these raids. I want to make two observations. The first is, that I am quite aware that people are inclined to blame the Government because of these matters, but the air is a very big place, and Sir Francis Lloyd will tell you of some of the problems to be overcome in defending the coast and London. I am sure you will all have patience with the military authorities working out a scheme for stopping these raids. Our airmen are brave enough to do anything. " This question of defence is a colossal business, and the object of the enemy is to disturb the civil population. They know very well that they are doing no military damage, but what they want to do is to destroy the nerve of the civil population. Their sole hope is the destruction of British nerve at home so that we shall be unable to hang on long enough to see the armies in the field secure victory. You may say that this is small comfort to those who are being bombed. I agree, but I am sure that you will hang on long enough to see victory through. The defence of the past week shows an immense advance in our defensive plan." Lieut.-General Sir Francis Lloyd, Director of the Defence of London, also addressed the meeting, and a resolution calling for reprisals, which was unanimously passed, Six Francis promised to forward to the right quarter.
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