Heroic death of Guynemer.

[Jos]

"Les heros de l'air ne meurent pas"

by Lucien-Hector Jonas


Guynemer's death (small 2).jpg


Greetings,

Jos

[albapfalzd3]

On a serious note, was his wreckage and body ever recovered? I really don't know, so if this seems like a redundant or stupid question please just look away.

Roy

[Bulldog90]

According to Jon Gutman's Osprey book on Les Cigognes, Guynemers body was identified by a German sergeant at the crash site, but the party was driven back by an Allied barrage and lost forever.

I recently aquired the attached photo. The inscription says it was taken on Sept 9th, two days before his last flight.

Heres to you Georges, you were one of the best.

Bulldog 90

[Jos]

In OTF 2000 number 1 is an article by Lothair van Overbeke, titled Is Guynemer buried in Rumbeke?

Jos

[LegendaryLoewenhardt]

I find it more likely his body, along with his plane, was destroyed in the artillery barrage. This wasn't uncommon.

Airmen going down over No-Man's-Land, assuming they didn't blow up, were often destroyed by shelling or in the constant movement of the front. Some cases document soldiers using them for cover, in which case they were shot to pieces.

Who knows. He's nothing but a shadow and a skeleton now.

[PFFF]

Years ago in a WW I aviation history there was a photograph of Allied pilot beside tail rudder of plane of Lt. Kurt Wissemann of JAsta 3.
If Wissemann was shot down by RAF 56th Squadron-who made the claim?
Is "Rumbeke" a town?

[rammjaeger]

PFFF,

Please, read the available information on this Forum more careful before you are posting questions with the dubios touch of conspiracy theories.
W. claimed a SPAD fighter 17 days before he died in combat with 56th. He got confirmation after some days - long time before he died.

As well I find your question concerning Rumbeke a bit strange - Google can give you enough information about Rumbeke.

I start to get the feeling you are only liking to employ other people with your questions and statements - and that is not fun.

To the question: In fact it is possible that the Germans did burry Guynemer but did not like to make public statements about this fact. At least one German pilot claimed Guynemer was burried with full military honours but that is nearly impossible to check today.

[normanf]

Of interest - I was at the Guynemer memorial in Poelcapelle on Tuesday 11 Sept 2007, the 90th anniverary of his death and was surprised to find nothing to note the event, not a flower or a wreath. However, I discovered that there was to be a celebration at the memorial on the Saturday - the 15th. By then I was back in England. It would have been nice, however, if someone from the town had at least put something there on the 11th. Normanf

PS. When asked what further decorations he could possibly receive from his country, Guynemer is supposed to have replied - a wooden cross! Sadly that was denied him.

[TomVrille]

The account of Guynemer’s final patrol, as given in Guynemer – The Ace of Aces by Jacques Mortane, is worth recounting. According to Mortane, Capitaine Guynemer had been acting as squadron commander since 3 September (1917), following the serious wounding of Capitaine Heurtaux on 2 September. Between 3 September and 11 September, Guynemer is said to have logged a total of 14 hours and 20 minutes of flying time without result, owing to a series of engine ang gun malfunctions. The frustrations of these equipment failures, along with the pressures of an acting squadron commander’s administrative duties, presumably left him in a rather agitated state on the morning of 11 September. Despite continuing bad weather, he took off, accompanied only by Sous-Lieutenant Bozon-Verduraz, on a morning patrol. For some time, the patrol was uneventful, perhaps because the weather was keeping enemy air activity to a minimum. When an enemy two-seater finally appeared at low altitude, apparently lost in the clouds, both Guynemer and Bozon-Verduraz attacked. Guynemer is said to have suffered yet another gun stoppage, and repositioned himself for a second attack. Meanwhile, Bozon-Verduraz had broken off his attack to defend against a flight of hostile aircraft, thought to be coming to the aid of the two-seater. When the approaching flight turned away, Bozon-Veruraz returned to the location of the original attack, but found no trace of either Guynemer or the two-seater.

For some time, there was no indication of what might have happened to Guynemer, but all manner of rumors were circulating, generally hopeful that he might yet return. Then, on 6 October, the Berlin news review Die Woche published a photo of Guynemer’s identity card, confirming that he had in fact been fatally wounded. It was learned that he had fallen near the cemetery of Poelcapelle. Two soldiers had been present at the crash site, and testified that one wing of Guynemer’s Spad had been broken, and that the pilot was dead, with a bullet in the head and a broken leg.

The interpretations of the above details, and other aspects of Mortane’s account, are somewhat different from those from more recent research, but Mortane’s book was published in 1918, and provides a rare glimpse of what most people at that time believed to be the full story of a current event.

[Boss]

I know Guynemers body was identified by a German sergeant at the crash site, but the party was driven back by an Allied barrage and lost forever.
Guynemers will be alive in my life.