Udet vs Guynemer

I heard a story of Ernst Udet vs Georges Guynemer where the fought it out 1 on 1 till Udets guns had jammed and was spared by Guynemer. Is this story of their encounter true?

[Reinout]

Yes it's true. It occurred somewhere in June or July 1917 I think. Guynemer already being the leading ace of France, while Udet had just scored his 6th victory. Udet later wrote that Guynemer matched every turn and outperformed him in the vertical as well. It was very chivalrous of Guynemer to let Udet go, though one can doubt the wisdom of it in view of Udet's later war record.

Kind regards,

Reinout

yep...pretty cool story. Read it for yourself in Ace of the Iron Cross (Udet's auto). I too believe it was very honorable that Guynemer broke off when he realized Udet was toast. Much the same as a 17th century sword fight.

I've read this before, but haven't read what they were flying? What was each pilot driving?

Sensei

[Barrett]

GG flew SPADs at that point; EU would almost certainly have been in a D.III.
There's a gladiatorial motto that aptly describes this sort of thing. Something like "The man I let live today may slay me tomorrow."
To quote one of my coauthors, "War is a full contact sport."

I believe that Guynemer should've shot Udet down, his chivalry cost the Allies 56 more aircraft, and God knows how many aviators lives! I guess it's all a matter of beliefs.
Nice guys always seem to finish last!
Regards,
Jim 'ACE' - Member of the Nuke 'Em Til They Glow Club!

[totoroman]

yeah, nice guys do finish last, in that sort of business (they can succeed elsewhere, if they know people and are well connected) ... I suppose, but Guynemer fought like a savage most of the time, and I can't think of another instant of chivarly demonstrated by the man, so perhaps you're right to suggest that it was an error in judgement on his part. Of course, it might be that old G had more respect for 'a skilled warrior' then we might have imagined... but consider that there were actually German pilots who chose not to shoot down damaged B17s because they could see the dismal state the crew and their plane was in... guess it's all a matter of individual judgement. yeah, you might be able to see the blood on the inside of a gun turret, but you can always keep in mind that the job of that guy is to bomb the snot out of your country, and he quite probably killed people anyway... but there you have it, an irrational, arbitrary, and human decision being made against the logic of war... I like to think that 'yeah, Guy made a bad choice, but even so -- I don't really hold it against the man, and I don't think you do either.'
still, if somebody put up that sort of fight against me I would think "D*mn! Can't let this guy get away, he's too D@mn good!"

It was true according to Udet. It seems that, while in Jasta 15 Udet ans his mates suffered great losses, and many were due to Guynemers attacks from the sun, a kind of hit and run tactic. Udet was near some balloons when a Spad Udet figuered was Guynemers attacked him. After a fierce fight Udets guns jammed when he had Guynemer in his sights. The french then waved and took off. Udet figuered it was chivalry of Guynemer and i think so too. Other opinions are speculation...