1. Georges Marie Ludovic Jules Guynemer was born in Paris to a wealthy and aristocratic family.
22 Facts About Georges Guynemer
1. 2.
Georges Guynemer's father was Paul Guynemer, a former officer of Saint-Cyr.
3.
Georges Guynemer's mother, Julie Noemi Doynel de Saint-Quentin, belonged to the old Norman nobility and was a descendant of Charles of Valois, founder of the royal house of Valois.
4.
Georges Guynemer was originally rejected five times for military service due to frailty, but was accepted for training as a mechanic in late 1914.
5.
Georges Guynemer remained in the same unit for his entire service.
6.
Georges Guynemer became an ace, with his fifth victory coming in February 1916, and was promoted to lieutenant in March.
7.
Georges Guynemer became influential enough to affect French fighter aircraft design.
8.
On 23 January 1917 Georges Guynemer scored a "double" credit of victories 26 and 27, first shooting down an Albatros C piloted by Captain Martin Korner, who was killed, followed by a Rumpler C I of Flieger-Abteilung 216 piloted by Lt.
9.
On 8 February 1917, flying a SPAD VII, Georges Guynemer became the first Allied pilot to shoot down a German Gotha bomber, his 31st victory.
10.
Georges Guynemer failed to return from a combat mission on 11 September 1917.
11.
At 09:25, near Poelkapelle, Georges Guynemer sighted a lone Rumpler, a German observation plane, and dove toward it.
12.
Georges Guynemer was confirmed missing in action by his squadron commander Major Brocard; it was officially announced in Paris by the French War Department on 25 September 1917.
13.
Georges Guynemer's machine dropped gently toward the Earth, and I lost track of it.
14.
Verduraz then returned to the place where he had left Georges Guynemer engaged with the German biplane, but Georges Guynemer had vanished.
15.
Information received by the Red Cross says Georges Guynemer was shot through the head north of Poelcapelle, on the Ypres front.
16.
Georges Guynemer's body was identified by a photograph on his pilot's license found in his pocket.
17.
Georges Guynemer had 54 victories at the time of his death.
18.
Georges Guynemer was lionized by the French press and became a national hero.
19.
Georges Guynemer was embarrassed by the attention, but his shyness only increased the public's appetite to know everything about him.
20.
Georges Guynemer's death was a profound shock to France; nevertheless, he remained an icon for the duration of the war.
21.
The Paris street rue Georges Guynemer is named after him as is a school in Compiegne, the Institution Georges Guynemer.
22.
The episode "The Last Flight" from season one of the American television series The Twilight Zone was loosely based on the disappearance of Georges Guynemer put to fictional speculation as to what happened to him.