The memorial to the French Great War fighter ace Georges Guynemer at Poelcapelle, Belgium
The Guynemer memorial at Poelcapelle, Belgium Georges Guynemer was born in Paris on 24 December 1894 and by the time he was to die in air combat over Poelkapelle in 1917 he would have become France's most favoured Ace, a hero very much of his own time. Guynemer could not have been described as a model pupil at school but afterwards became interested in mechanics and fell in love with the idea of flying from the moment he saw his first aircraft. Remarkably, considering what he would achieve, Guynemer's slight build caused him to be rejected for service five times before he finally managed on 23 November 1914 to grab himself a place as a mechanic. Having managed to get into the service he then managed to get himself accepted for flying lessons winning his brevet (No 1832) in April 1915. He was promoted to Caporal at the same time. On 8th June 1915 he joined his first and only operational unit, Escadrille MS3. This would later change its title to Spa 3, as French units were numbered according to the aircraft they were using. The unit was part of the Cygognes - The Storks - and carried an emblem on their aircraft as can be seen on the monument here at Poelkapelle. His first aircraft was named Vieux Charles (Old Charles) and Guynemer stuck with it throughout all the planes he would fly. On the morning of 11 September 1917 Guynemer took of in company of Lieutenant Bozon-Verduraz to patrol the area around Langemark (The Battle for the Menin Road would take place on the 20th - Part of 3rd Ypres, Passchendaele). What happened seems to be a bit confusing. About 09:30 hours whilst flying at 4,000 metres over Poelkapelle, Guynemer spotted a German biplane and dove to take it out. As he was doing so eight German Albatros fighters arrived on the scene and made to intercept the Frenchmen. Bozon-Verduraz broke off realising that they were outnumbered and thought his squadron commander had as well. Returning to base there he found no sign of Guynemer.
Size: 3744px × 5616px
Location: Pelelcapelle, Belgium
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ace, belgium, fighter, french, georges, great, guynemer, memorial, poelcapelle, wa, war, world
