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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Georges Guynemer, by Henry Bordeaux
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Georges Guynemer
+       Knight of the Air
+
+Author: Henry Bordeaux
+
+Translator: Louise Morgan Sill
+
+Release Date: April 4, 2006 [EBook #18117]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GEORGES GUYNEMER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Barbara Tozier, Graeme Mackreth and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+GEORGES GUYNEMER
+
+     _Published on the Fund
+     given to the Yale University Press in memory of_
+
+     ENSIGN CURTIS SEAMAN READ, U.S.N.R.F.
+
+     _of the Class of 1918, Yale College, killed in the
+     aviation service in France, February, 1918_
+
+[Illustration: GEORGES GUYNEMER, KNIGHT OF THE AIR]
+
+
+
+
+     HENRY BORDEAUX
+
+
+     GEORGES
+     GUYNEMER
+
+     KNIGHT OF THE AIR
+
+
+     TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH
+     By LOUISE MORGAN SILL
+
+     WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
+     THEODORE ROOSEVELT
+
+     NEW HAVEN
+     YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
+     NEW YORK: 280 MADISON AVENUE
+
+     MDCCCCXVIII
+
+
+
+
+     COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY
+     YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
+
+
+
+
+TABLE OF CONTENTS
+
+
+
+                                                          PAGE
+
+     Introduction                                           9
+
+     Prologue                                              13
+
+     CANTO I: CHILDHOOD
+
+       I. The Guynemers                                    21
+
+      II. Home and College                                 28
+
+     III. The Departure                                    52
+
+
+     CANTO II: LAUNCHED INTO SPACE
+
+       I. The First Victory                                65
+
+      II. From the Aisne to Verdun                         91
+
+     III. "La Terre a vu jadis errer des Paladins"        108
+
+      IV. On the Somme (June, 1916, to February, 1917)    125
+
+
+     CANTO III: AT THE ZENITH
+
+       I. On the 25th of May, 1917                        143
+
+      II. A Visit to Guynemer                             157
+
+     III. Guynemer in Camp                                163
+
+      IV. Guynemer at Home                                170
+
+       V. The Magic Machine                               182
+
+
+     CANTO IV: THE ASCENSION
+
+       I. The Battle of Flanders                          189
+
+      II. Omens                                           200
+
+     III. The Last Flight                                 210
+
+      IV. The Vigil                                       217
+
+       V. The Legend                                      225
+
+      VI. In the Panthéon                                 239
+
+
+     Envoi                                                242
+
+     Appendix: Genealogy of Georges Guynemer              251
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+     Georges Guynemer, Knight of the Air      _Frontispiece_
+       (From a wood block in three colors by Rudolph Ruzicka.)
+
+     The First Flight in a Blériot                        80
+
+     In the Air                                          120
+
+     Combat                                              176
+
+     "Going West"                                        208
+       (From charcoal drawings by W.A. Dwiggins.)
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+     _June 27th, 1918._
+
+My dear M. Bordeaux:
+
+I count the American people fortunate in reading any book of yours; I
+count them fortunate in reading any biography of that great hero of the
+air, Guynemer; and thrice over I count them fortunate to have such a
+book written by you on such a subject.
+
+You, sir, have for many years been writing books peculiarly fitted to
+instill into your countrymen the qualities which during the last
+forty-eight months have made France the wonder of the world. You have
+written with such power and charm, with such mastery of manner and of
+matter, that the lessons you taught have been learned unconsciously by
+your readers--and this is the only way in which most readers will learn
+lessons at all. The value of your teachings would be as great for my
+countrymen as for yours. You have held up as an ideal for men and for
+women, that high courage which shirks no danger, when the danger is the
+inevitable accompaniment of duty. You have preached the essential
+virtues, the duty to be both brave and tender, the duty of courage for
+the man and courage for the woman. You have inculcated stern horror of
+the baseness which finds expression in refusal to perform those
+essential duties without which not merely the usefulness, but the very
+existence, of any nation will come to an end.
+
+Under such conditions it is eminently appropriate that you should write
+the biography of that soldier-son of France whose splendid daring has
+made him stand as arch typical of the soul of the French people through
+these terrible four years. In this great war France has suffered more
+and has achieved more than any other power. To her more than to any
+other power, the final victory will be due. Civilization has in the
+past, for immemorial centuries, owed an incalculable debt to France; but
+for no single feat or achievement of the past does civilization owe as
+much to France as for what her sons and daughters have done in the world
+war now being waged by the free peoples against the powers of the Pit.
+
+Modern war makes terrible demands upon those who fight. To an infinitely
+greater degree than ever before the outcome depends upon long
+preparation in advance, and upon the skillful and unified use of the
+nation's entire social and industrial no less than military power. The
+work of the general staff is infinitely more important than any work of
+the kind in times past. The actual machinery of both is so vast,
+delicate, and complicated that years are needed to complete it. At all
+points we see the immense need of thorough organization and of making
+ready far in advance of the day of trial. But this does not mean that
+there is any less need than before of those qualities of endurance and
+hardihood, of daring and resolution, which in their sum make up the
+stern and enduring valor which ever has been and ever will be the mark
+of mighty victorious armies.
+
+The air service in particular is one of such peril that membership in it
+is of itself a high distinction. Physical address, high training, entire
+fearlessness, iron nerve, and fertile resourcefulness are needed in a
+combination and to a degree hitherto unparalleled in war. The ordinary
+air fighter is an extraordinary man; and the extraordinary air fighter
+stands as one in a million among his fellows. Guynemer was one of these.
+More than this. He was the foremost among all the extraordinary fighters
+of all the nations who in this war have made the skies their battle
+field. We are fortunate indeed in having you write his biography.
+
+     Very faithfully yours,
+     (Signed) Theodore Roosevelt.
+
+     M. Henry Bordeaux,
+     44 Rue du Ranelagh,
+     Paris, France.
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE
+
+
+" ... Guynemer has not come back."
+
+The news flew from one air escadrille to another, from the aviation
+camps to the troops, from the advance to the rear zones of the army; and
+a shock of pain passed from soul to soul in that vast army, and
+throughout all France, as if, among so many soldiers menaced with death,
+this one alone should have been immortal.
+
+History gives us examples of such universal grief, but only at the death
+of great leaders whose authority and importance intensified the general
+mourning for their loss. Thus, Troy without Hector was defenseless. When
+Gaston de Foix, Duke de Nemours, surnamed the Thunderbolt of Italy, died
+at the age of twenty-three after the victory of Ravenna, the French
+transalpine conquests were endangered. The bullet which struck Turenne
+at Saltzbach also menaced the work of Louis XIV. But Guynemer had
+nothing but his airplane, a speck in the immense spaces filled by the
+war. This young captain, though without an equal in the sky, conducted
+no battle on land. Why, then, did he alone have the power, like a great
+military chief, of leaving universal sadness behind him? A little child
+of France has given us the reason.
+
+Among the endless expressions of the nation's mourning, this letter was
+written by the school-mistress of a village in Franche-Comté,
+Mademoiselle S----, of Bouclans, to the mother of the aviator:
+
+     Madame, you have already received the sorrowful and grateful
+     sympathy of official France and of France as a nation; I am
+     venturing to send you the naïve and sincere homage of young France
+     as represented by our school children at Bouclans. Before receiving
+     from our chiefs the suggestion, of which we learn to-day, we had
+     already, on the 22nd of October, consecrated a day to the memory of
+     our hero Guynemer, your glorious son.
+
+     I send you enclosed an exercise by one of my pupils chosen at
+     random, for all of them are animated by the same sentiments. You
+     will see how the immortal glory of your son shines even in humble
+     villages, and that the admiration and gratitude which the children,
+     so far away in the country, feel for our greatest aviator, will be
+     piously and faithfully preserved in his memory.
+
+     May this sincere testimony to the sentiments of childhood be of
+     some comfort in your grief, to which I offer my most profound
+     respect.
+
+     The School-mistress of Bouclans,
+     C.S.
+
+And this is the exercise, written by Paul Bailly, aged eleven years and
+ten months:
+
+     Guynemer is the Roland of our epoch: like Roland he was very brave,
+     and like Roland he died for France. But his exploits are not a
+     legend like those of Roland, and in telling them just as they
+     happened we find them more beautiful than any we could imagine. To
+     do honor to him they are going to write his name in the Panthéon
+     among the other great names. His airplane has been placed in the
+     Invalides. In our school we consecrated a day to him. This morning
+     as soon as we reached the school we put his photograph up on the
+     wall; for our moral lesson we learned by heart his last mention in
+     the despatches; for our writing lesson we wrote his name, and he
+     was the subject for our theme; and finally, we had to draw an
+     airplane. We did not begin to think of him only after he was dead;
+     before he died, in our school, every time he brought down an
+     airplane we were proud and happy. But when we heard that he was
+     dead, we were as sad as if one of our own family had died.
+
+     Roland was the example for all the knights in history. Guynemer
+     should be the example for Frenchmen now, and each one will try to
+     imitate him and will remember him as we have remembered Roland. I,
+     especially, I shall never forget him, for I shall remember that he
+     died for France, like my dear Papa.
+
+This little French boy's description of Guynemer is true and, limited as
+it is, sufficient: Guynemer is the modern Roland, with the same
+redoubtable youth and fiery soul. He is the last of the knights-errant,
+the first of the new knights of the air. His short life needs only
+accurate telling to appear like a legend. The void he left is so great
+because every household had adopted him. Each one shared in his
+victories, and all have written his name among their own dead.
+
+Guynemer's glory, to have so ravished the minds of children, must have
+been both simple and perfect, and as his biographer I cannot dream of
+equaling the young Paul Bailly. But I shall not take his hero from him.
+Guynemer's life falls naturally into the legendary rhythm, and the
+simple and exact truth resembles a fairy tale.
+
+The writers of antiquity have mourned in touching accents the loss of
+young men cut down in the flower of their youth. "The city," sighs
+Pericles, "has lost its light, the year has lost its spring." Theocritus
+and Ovid in turn lament the short life of Adonis, whose blood was
+changed into flowers. And in Virgil the father of the gods, whom Pallas
+supplicates before facing Turnus, warns him not to confound the beauty
+of life with its length:
+
+     Stat sua cuique dies; breve et irreparabile tempus
+     Omnibus est vitae; sed famam extendere factis,
+     Hoc virtutis opus. . .
+
+"The days of man are numbered, and his life-time short and
+irrecoverable; but to increase his renown by the quality of his acts,
+this is the work of virtue...."[1]
+
+[Footnote 1: _Æneid_, Book 10, Garnier ed.]
+
+
+_Famam extendere factis_: no fabulous personage of antiquity made more
+haste than Guynemer to multiply the exploits that increased his glory.
+But the enumeration of these would not furnish a key to his life, nor
+explain either that secret power he possessed or the fascination he
+exerted. "It is not always the most brilliant actions which best expose
+the virtues or vices of men. Some trifle, some insignificant word or
+jest, often displays the character better than bloody combats, pitched
+battles, or the taking of cities. Also, as portrait painters try to
+reproduce the features and expression of their subjects, as the most
+obvious presentment of their characters, and without troubling about the
+other parts of the body, so we may be allowed to concentrate our study
+upon the distinctive signs of the soul...."[2]
+
+[Footnote 2: Plutarch, _Life of Alexander_.]
+
+I, then, shall especially seek out these "distinctive signs of the
+soul."
+
+Guynemer's family has confided to me his letters, his notebooks of
+flights, and many precious stories of his childhood, his youth, and his
+victories. I have seen him in camps, like the Cid Campeador, who made
+"the swarm of singing victories fly, with wings outspread, above his
+tents." I have had the good fortune to see him bring down an enemy
+airplane, which fell in flames on the bank of the river Vesle. I have
+met him in his father's house at Compiègne, which was his Bivar. Almost
+immediately after his disappearance I passed two night-watches--as if we
+sat beside his body--with his comrades, talking of nothing but him:
+troubled night-watches in which we had to change our shelter, for
+Dunkirk and the aviation field were bombarded by moonlight. In this way
+I was enabled to gather much scattered evidence, which will help,
+perhaps, to make clear his career. But I fear--and offer my excuses for
+this--to disappoint professional members of the aviation corps, who will
+find neither technical details nor the competence of the specialist.
+One of his comrades of the air,--and I hope it may be one of his rivals
+in glory,--should give us an account of Guynemer in action. The
+biography which I have attempted to write seeks the soul for its object
+rather than the motor: and the soul, too, has its wings.
+
+France consented to love herself in Guynemer, something which she is not
+always willing to do. It happens sometimes that she turns away from her
+own efforts and sacrifices to admire and celebrate those of others, and
+that she displays her own defects and wounds in a way which exaggerates
+them. She sometimes appears to be divided against herself; but this man,
+young as he was, had reconciled her to herself. She smiled at his youth
+and his prodigious deeds of valor. He made peace within her; and she
+knew this, when she had lost him, by the outbreak of her grief. As on
+the first day of the war, France found herself once more united; and
+this love sprang from her recognition in Guynemer of her own impulses,
+her own generous ardor, her own blood whose course has not been retarded
+by many long centuries.
+
+Since the outbreak of war there are few homes in France which have not
+been in mourning. But these fathers and mothers, these wives and
+children, when they read this book, will not say: "What is Guynemer to
+us? Nobody speaks of _our_ dead." Their dead were, generally, infantry
+soldiers whom it was impossible for them to help, whose life they only
+knew by hearsay, and whose place of burial they sometimes do not know.
+So many obscure soldiers have never been commemorated, who gave, like
+Guynemer, their hearts and their lives, who lived through the worst days
+of misery, of mud and horror, and upon whom not the least ray of glory
+has ever descended! The infantry soldier is the pariah of the war, and
+has a right to be sensitive. The heaviest weight of suffering caused by
+war has fallen upon him. Nevertheless, he had adopted Guynemer, and this
+was not the least of the conqueror's conquests. The infantryman had not
+been jealous of Guynemer; he had felt his fascination, and instinctively
+he divined a fraternal Guynemer. When the French official dispatches
+reported the marvelous feats of the aviation corps, the infantry soldier
+smiled scornfully in his mole's-hole:
+
+"Them again! Everlastingly them! And what about US?"
+
+But when Guynemer added another exploit to his account, the trenches
+exulted, and counted over again all his feats.
+
+He himself, from his height, looked down in the most friendly way upon
+these troglodytes who followed him with their eyes. One day when
+somebody reproached him with running useless risks in aërial acrobatic
+turns, he replied simply:
+
+"After certain victories it is quite impossible not to pirouette a bit,
+one is so happy!"
+
+This is the spirit of youth. "They jest and play with death as they
+played in school only yesterday at recreation."[3] But Guynemer
+immediately added:
+
+"It gives so much pleasure to the poilus watching us down there."[4]
+
+[Footnote 3: Henri Lavedan (_L'Illustration_ of October 6, 1917).]
+
+[Footnote 4: Pierre l'Ermite (_La Croix_ of October 7, 1917).]
+
+The sky-juggler was working for his brother the infantryman. As the
+singing lark lifts the peasant's head, bent over his furrow, so the
+conquering airplane, with its overturnings, its "loopings," its close
+veerings, its spirals, its tail spins, its "zooms," its dives, all its
+tricks of flight, amuses for a while the sad laborers in the trenches.
+
+May my readers, when they have finished this little book, composed
+according to the rules of the boy, Paul Bailly, lift their heads and
+seek in the sky whither he carried, so often and so high, the tricolor
+of France, an invisible and immortal Guynemer!
+
+
+
+
+CANTO I
+
+CHILDHOOD
+
+
+I. THE GUYNEMERS
+
+In his book on Chivalry, the good Léon Gautier, beginning with the
+knight in his cradle and wishing to surround him immediately with a
+supernatural atmosphere, interprets in his own fashion the sleeping baby
+smiling at the angels. "According to a curious legend, the origin of
+which has not as yet been clearly discovered," he explains, "the child
+during its slumber hears 'music,' the incomparable music made by the
+movement of the stars in their spheres. Yes, that which the most
+illustrious scholars have only been able to suspect the existence of is
+distinctly heard by these ears scarcely opened as yet, and ravishes
+them. A charming fable, giving to innocence more power than to proud
+science."[5]
+
+[Footnote 5: _La Chevalerie_, by Léon Gautier. A. Walter ed. 1895.]
+
+The biographer of Guynemer would like to be able to say that our new
+knight also heard in his cradle the music of the stars, since he was to
+be summoned to approach them. But it can be said, at least, that during
+his early years he saw the shadowy train of all the heroes of French
+history, from Charlemagne to Napoleon.
+
+Georges Marie Ludovic Jules Guynemer was born in Paris one Christmas
+Eve, December 24, 1894. He saw then, and always, the faces of three
+women, his mother and his two elder sisters, standing guard over his
+happiness. His father, an officer (Junior Class '80, Saint-Cyr), had
+resigned in 1890. An ardent scholar, he became a member of the
+Historical Society of Compiègne, and while examining the charters of the
+_Cartulaire de royallieu_, or writing a monograph on the _Seigneurie
+d'Offémont_, he verified family documents of the genealogy of his
+family. Above all, it was he in reality who educated his son.
+
+Guynemer is a very old French name. In the _Chanson de Roland_ one
+Guinemer, uncle of Ganelon, helped Roland to mount at his departure. A
+Guinemer appears in _Gaydon_ (the knight of the jay), which describes
+the sorrowful return of Charlemagne to Aix-la-Chapelle after the drama
+of Roncevaux; and a Guillemer figures in _Fier-à-Bras_, in which
+Charlemagne and the twelve peers conquer Spain. This Guillemer l'Escot
+is made prisoner along with Oliver, Bérart de Montdidier, Auberi de
+Bourgoyne, and Geoffroy l'Angevin.
+
+In the eleventh century the family of Guynemer left Flanders for
+Brittany. When the French Revolution began, there were still Guynemers
+in Brittany,[6] but the greatgrandfather of our hero, Bernard, was
+living in Paris in reduced circumstances, giving lessons in law. Under
+the Empire he was later to be appointed President of the Tribunal at
+Mayence, the chief town in the country of Mont Tonnerre. Falling into
+disfavor after 1815, he was only President of the Tribunal of Gannat.
+
+[Footnote 6: There are still Guynemers there. M. Etienne Dupont, Judge
+in the Civil Court of Saint-Malo, sent me an extract from an _aveu
+collectif_ of the "Leftenancy of Tinténiac de Guinemer des Rabines." The
+Guynemers, in more recent times, have left traces in the county of
+Saint-Malo, where Mgr. Guynemer de la Hélandière inaugurated, in
+September, 1869, the Tour Saint-Joseph, house of the Little Sisters of
+the Poor in Saint-Pern.]
+
+Here, thanks to an unusual circumstance, oral tradition takes the place
+of writings, charters, and puzzling trifles. One of the four sons of
+Bernard Guynemer, Auguste, lived to be ninety-three, retaining all his
+faculties. Toward the end he resembled Voltaire, not only in face, but
+in his irony and skepticism. He had all sorts of memories of the
+Revolution, the Empire, and the Restoration, of which he told
+extraordinary anecdotes. His longevity was owing to his having been
+discharged from military service at the conscription. Two of his three
+brothers died before maturity: one, Alphonse, infantry officer, was
+killed at Vilna in 1812, and the other, Jules, naval officer, died in
+1802 as the result of wounds received at Trafalgar. The last son,
+Achille, whom we shall presently refer to again, was to perpetuate the
+family name.
+
+Auguste Guynemer remembered very vividly the day when he faced down
+Robespierre. He was at that time eight years old, and the mistress of
+his school had been arrested. He came to the school as usual and found
+there were no classes. Where was his teacher? he asked. At the
+Revolutionary Tribunal. Where was the Revolutionary Tribunal? Jestingly
+they told him where to find it, and he went straight to the place,
+entered, and asked back the captive. The audience looked at the little
+boy with amazement, while the judges joked and laughed at him. But
+without being discomposed, he explained the purpose of his visit. The
+incident put Robespierre in good humor, and he told the child that his
+teacher had not taught him anything. Immediately, as a proof of the
+contrary, the youngster began to recite his lessons. Robespierre was so
+delighted that, in the midst of general laughter, he lifted up the boy
+and kissed him. The prisoner was restored to him, and the school
+reopened.
+
+However, of the four sons of the President of Mayence, the youngest
+only, Achille, was destined to preserve the family line. Born in 1792, a
+volunteer soldier at the age of fifteen, his military career was
+interrupted by the fall of the Empire. He died in Paris, in the rue
+Rossini, in 1866. Edmond About, who had known his son at Saverne, wrote
+the following biographical notice:
+
+     A child of fifteen years enlisted as a Volunteer in 1806. Junot
+     found him intelligent, made him his secretary, and took him to
+     Spain. The young man won his epaulettes under Colonel Hugo in 1811.
+     He was made prisoner on the capitulation of Guadalajara in 1812,
+     but escaped with two of his comrades whom he saved at the peril of
+     his own life. Love, or pity, led a young Spanish girl to aid in
+     this heroic episode, and for several days the legend threatened to
+     become a romance. But the young soldier reappeared in 1813 at the
+     passage of the Bidassoa, where he was promoted lieutenant in the
+     4th Hussars, and was given the Cross by the Emperor, who seldom
+     awarded it. The return of the Bourbons suddenly interrupted this
+     career, so well begun. The young cavalry officer then undertook the
+     business of maritime insurance, earning honorably a large fortune,
+     which he spent with truly military generosity, strewing his road
+     with good deeds. He continued working up to the very threshold of
+     death, for he resigned only a month ago, and it was yesterday,
+     Thursday, that we laid him in his tomb at the age of seventy-five.
+
+     His name was Achille Guynemer. His family is related to the Benoist
+     d'Azy, the Dupré de Saint-Maur, the Cochin, de Songis, du Trémoul
+     and Vasselin families, who have left memories of many exemplary
+     legal careers passed in Paris. His son, who wept yesterday as a
+     child weeps before the tomb of such a father, is the new
+     Sub-Prefect of Saverne, the young and laborious administrator who,
+     from the beginning, won our gratitude and friendship.
+
+The story of the escape from Spain contributes another page to the
+family traditions. The young Spanish girl had sent the prisoner a silken
+cord concealed in a pie. A fourth companion in captivity was
+unfortunately too large to pass through the vent-hole of the prison, and
+was shot by the English. It was August 31, 1813, after the passage of
+the Bidassoa, that Lieutenant Achille Guynemer was decorated with the
+Cross of the Legion of Honor. He was then twenty-one years of age. His
+greatgrandson, who resembled the portraits of Achille (especially a
+drawing done in 1807), at least in the proud carriage of the head, was
+to receive the Cross at an even earlier age.
+
+There were other epic souvenirs which awakened Georges Guynemer's
+curiosity in childhood. He was shown the sword and snuffbox of General
+Count de Songis, brother of his paternal grandmother. This sword of
+honor had been presented to the general by the Convention when he was
+merely a captain of artillery, for having saved the cannon of the
+fortress at Valenciennes,--though it is quite true that Dumouriez, for
+the same deed, wished to have him hanged. The snuffbox was given him by
+the Emperor for having commanded the passage of the Rhine during the Ulm
+campaign.
+
+Achille Guynemer had two sons. The elder, Amédée, a graduate of the
+École polytechnique, died at the age of thirty and left no children. The
+second, Auguste, was Sub-Prefect of Saverne under the Second Empire;
+and, resigning this office after the war of 1870, he became
+Vice-President of the society for the protection of Alsatians and
+Lorrainers, the President of which was the Count d'Haussonville. He had
+married a young Scottish lady, Miss Lyon, whose family included the
+Earls of Strathmore, among whose titles were those of Glamis and Cawdor
+mentioned by Shakespeare in "Macbeth."
+
+As we have already seen, only one of the four sons of the President of
+Mayence--the hero of the Bidassoa--had left descendants. His son is M.
+Paul Guynemer, former officer and historian of the _Cartulaire de
+Royallieu_ and of the _Seigneurie d'Offémont_, whose only son was the
+aviator. The race whose history is lost far back in the _Chanson de
+Roland_ and the Crusades, which settled in Flanders, and then in
+Brittany, but became, as soon as it left the provinces for the capital,
+nomadic, changing its base at will from the garrison of the officer to
+that of the official, seems to have narrowed and refined its stock and
+condensed all the power of its past, all its hopes for the future, in
+one last offshoot.
+
+There are some plants, like the aloe, which bear but one flower, and
+sometimes only at the end of a hundred years. They prepare their sap,
+which has waited so long, and then from the heart of the plant issues a
+long straight stem, like a tree whose regular branches look like forged
+iron. At the top of this stem opens a marvelous flower, which is moist
+and seems to drop tears upon the leaves, inviting them to share its
+grief for the doom it awaits. When the flower is withered, the miracle
+is never renewed.
+
+Guynemer is the flower of an old French family. Like so many other
+heroes, like so many peasants who, in this Great War, have been the
+wheat of the nation, his own acts have proved his nobility. But the
+fairy sent to preside at his birth laid in his cradle certain gilded
+pages of the finest history in the world: Roland, the Crusades, Brittany
+and Duguesclin, the Empire, and Alsace.
+
+
+II. HOME AND COLLEGE
+
+One of the generals best loved by the French troops, General de M----, a
+learned talker and charming moralist, who always seemed in his
+conversation to wander through the history of France, like a sorcerer in
+a forest, weaving and multiplying his spells, once recited to me the
+short prayer he had composed for grace to enable him to rear his
+children in the best way:
+
+     "Monseigneur Saint Louis, Messire Duguesclin, Messire Bayard, help
+     me to make my sons brave and truthful."
+
+So was Georges Guynemer reared, in the cult of truth, and taught that to
+deceive is to lower oneself. Even in his infancy he was already as proud
+as any personage. His early years were protected by the gentle and
+delicate care of his mother and his two sisters, who hung adoringly over
+him and were fascinated by his strange black eyes. What was to become of
+a child whose gaze was difficult to endure, and whose health was so
+fragile, for when only a few months old he had almost died of infantile
+enteritis. His parents had been obliged to carry him hastily to
+Switzerland, and then to Hyères, and to keep him in an atmosphere like
+that of a hothouse. Petted and spoiled, tended by women, like Achilles
+at Scyros among the daughters of Lycomedes, would he not bear all his
+life the stamp of too softening an education? Too pretty and too frail,
+with his curls and his dainty little frock, he had an _air de
+princesse_. His father felt that a mistake was being made, and that this
+excess of tenderness must be promptly ended. He took the child on his
+knees; a scene as trifling as it was decisive was about to be enacted:
+
+"I almost feel like taking you with me, where I am going."
+
+"Where are you going, father?"
+
+"There, where I am going, there are only men."
+
+"I want to go with you."
+
+The father seemed to hesitate, and then to decide:
+
+"After all, too early is better than too late. Put on your hat. I shall
+take you." He took him to the hairdresser.
+
+"I am going to have my hair cut. How do you feel about it?"
+
+"I want to do like men."
+
+The child was set upon a stool where, in the white combing-cloth, with
+his curly hair, he resembled an angel done by an Italian Primitive. For
+an instant the father thought himself a barbarian, and the barber
+hesitated, scissors in air, as before a crime. They exchanged glances;
+then the father stiffened and gave the order. The beautiful curls fell.
+
+But now it became necessary to return home; and when his mother saw him,
+she wept.
+
+"I am a man," the child announced, peremptorily.
+
+He was indeed to be a man, but he was to remain for a long time also a
+mischievous boy--nearly, in fact, until the end.
+
+When he was six or seven years old he began to study with the teacher of
+his sisters, which was convenient and agreeable, but meant the addition
+of another petticoat. The fineness of his feelings, his fear of having
+wounded any comrade, which were later to inspire him in so many touching
+actions, were the result of this feminine education. His walks with his
+father, who already gave him much attention, brought about useful
+reactions. Compiègne is rich in the history of the past: kings were
+crowned there, and kings died there. The Abbey of Saint Cornille
+sheltered, perhaps, the holy winding-sheet of Christ. Treaties were
+signed at Compiègne, and there magnificent fêtes were given by Louis
+XIV, Louis XV, Napoleon I, and Napoleon III. And even in 1901 the child
+met Czar Nicholas and Czarina Alexandra, who were staying there. So, the
+palace and the forest spoke to him of a past which his father could
+explain. And on the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville he was much interested in
+the bronze statue of the young girl, bearing a banner.
+
+"Who is it?"
+
+"Jeanne d'Arc."
+
+Georges Guynemer's parents renounced the woman teacher, and in order to
+keep him near them, entered him as a day scholar at the lyceum of
+Compiègne. Here the child worked very little. M. Paul Guynemer, having
+been educated at Stanislas College, in Paris, wished his son also to go
+there. Georges was then twelve years old.
+
+"In a photograph of the pupils of the Fifth (green) Class," wrote a
+journalist in the _Journal des Débats_, who had had the curiosity to
+investigate Georges' college days, "may be seen a restless-looking
+little boy, thinner and paler than the others, whose round black eyes
+seem to shine with a somber brilliance. These eyes, which, eight or ten
+years later, were to hunt and pursue so many enemy airplanes, are
+passionately self-willed. The same temperament is evident in a snapshot
+of this same period, in which Georges is seen playing at war. The
+college registers of this year tell us that he had a clear, active,
+well-balanced mind, but that he was thoughtless, mischief-making,
+disorderly, careless; that he did not work, and was undisciplined,
+though without any malice; that he was very proud, and 'ambitious to
+attain first rank': a valuable guide in understanding the character of
+one who became 'the ace of aces.' In fact, at the end of the year young
+Guynemer received the first prize for Latin translation, the first prize
+for arithmetic, and four honorable mentions."
+
+The author of the _Débats_ article, who is a scholar, recalls Michelet's
+_mot_: "The Frenchman is that naughty child characterized by the good
+mother of Duguesclin as 'the one who is always fighting the others....'"
+But the best portrait of Guynemer as a child I find in the unpublished
+notes of Abbé Chesnais, who was division prefect at Stanislas College
+during the four years which Guynemer passed there. The Abbé Chesnais had
+divined this impassioned nature, and watched it with troubled sympathy.
+
+"His eyes vividly expressed the headstrong, fighting nature of the boy,"
+he says of his pupil. "He did not care for quiet games, but was devoted
+to those requiring skill, agility, and force. He had a decided
+preference for a game highly popular among the younger classes--_la
+petite guerre_. The class was divided into two armies, each commanded by
+a general chosen by the pupils themselves, and having officers of all
+ranks under his orders. Each soldier wore on his left arm a movable
+brassard. The object of the battle was the capture of the flag, which
+was set up on a wall, a tree, a column, or any place dominating the
+courtyard. The soldier from whom his brassard was taken was considered
+dead.
+
+"Guynemer, who was somewhat weak and sickly, always remained a private
+soldier. His comrades, appreciating the value of having a general with
+sufficient muscular strength to maintain his authority, never dreamed of
+placing him at their head. The muscle, which he lacked, was a necessity.
+But when a choice of soldiers had to be made, he was always counted
+among the best, and his name called among the first. Although he had not
+much strength, he had agility, cleverness, a quick eye, caution, and a
+talent for strategy. He played his game himself, not liking to receive
+any suggestions from his chiefs, intending to follow his own ideas. The
+battle once begun, he invariably attacked the strongest enemy and
+pursued those comrades who occupied the highest rank. With the marvelous
+suppleness of a cat, he climbed trees, flung himself to the ground,
+crept along barriers, slipped between the legs of his adversaries, and
+bounded triumphantly off with a number of brassards. It was a great joy
+to him to bring the trophies of his struggles to his general. With
+radiant face, and with his two hands resting on his legs, he looked
+mockingly at his adversaries who had been surprised by his cleverness.
+His superiority over his comrades was especially apparent in the battles
+they fought in the woods of Bellevue.[7] There the field was larger, and
+there was a greater variety of chances for surprising the enemy. He hid
+himself under the dead leaves, lay close to the branches of trees, and
+crept along brooks and ravines. It was often he who was selected to find
+a place of vantage for the flag. But he was never willing to act as its
+guardian, for he feared nothing so much as inactivity, preferring to
+chase his comrades through the woods. The short journey to the Bellevue
+woods was passed in the elaboration of various plans, and arguing about
+those of his friends; he always wanted to have the last word. The return
+journey was enlivened by biting criticism, which often ended in a
+quarrel."[8]
+
+[Footnote 7: The country house of Stanislas College is at Bellevue.
+[Translator's note.]]
+
+[Footnote 8: Unpublished notes by Abbé Chesnais.]
+
+This is an astonishing portrait, in which nearly all the characteristics
+of the future Guynemer, Guynemer the fighter, are apparent. He does not
+care to command, he likes too well to give battle, and is already the
+knight of single combats. His method is personal, and he means to
+follow his own ideas. He attacks the strongest; neither size nor number
+stops him. His suppleness and skill are unequaled. He lacks the muscle
+for a good gymnast, and at the parallel bars, or the fixed bar, he is
+the despair of his instructors. How will he supply this deficiency?
+Simply by the power of his will. All physical games do not require
+physical strength, and he became an excellent shot and fencer. Furious
+at his own weakness, he outdid the strong, and, like Diomede and Ajax,
+brought back his trophies laughing. A college courtyard was not
+sufficient for him: he needed the Bellevue woods, while he waited to
+have all space, all the sky, at his disposal. So the warlike infancy of
+a Guynemer is like that of a Roland, a Duguesclin, a Bayard,--all are
+ardent hearts with indomitable energy, upright souls developing early,
+whose passion it was only necessary to control.
+
+The youth of Guynemer was like his childhood. As a student of higher
+mathematics his combative tendencies were not at all changed. "At
+recreation he was very fond of roller-skating, which in his case gave
+rise to many disputes and much pugilism. Having no respect for boys who
+would not play, he would skate into the midst of their group, pushing
+them about, seizing their arms and forcing them to waltz round and round
+with him like weather-cocks. Then he would be off at his highest speed,
+pursued by his victims. Blows were exchanged, which did not prevent him
+from repeating the same thing a few seconds later. At the end of
+recreation, with his hair disordered, his clothes covered with dust,
+his face and hands muddy, Guynemer was exhausted. But the strongest of
+his comrades could not frighten him; on the contrary, he attacked these
+by preference. The masters were often obliged to intervene and separate
+the combatants. Guynemer would then straighten up like a cock, his eyes
+sparkling and obtruding, and, unable to do more, would crush his
+adversary with piquant and sometimes cutting words uttered in a dry,
+railing voice."[9]
+
+[Footnote 9: Unpublished notes by Abbé Chesnais.]
+
+
+Talking, however, was not his forte, and his nervousness made him
+sputter. His speech was vibrant, trenchant, like hammerstrokes, and he
+said things to which there was no answer. He had a horror of discussion:
+he was already all action.
+
+This violence and frenzied action would have driven him to the most
+unreasonable and dangerous audacity if they had not been counterbalanced
+by his sense of honor. "He was one of those," wrote a comrade of
+Guynemer's, M. Jean Constantin, now lieutenant of artillery, "for whom
+honor is sacred, and must not be disregarded under any pretext; and in
+his life, in his relations with his comrades, his candor and loyalty
+were only equaled by his goodness. Often, in the midst of our games,
+some dispute arose. Where are the friends who have never had a dispute?
+Sometimes we were both so obstinate that we fought, but after that he
+was willing to renounce the privilege of the last word. He never could
+have endured bringing trouble upon his fellow-students. He never
+hesitated to admit a fault; and, what is much better, once when one of
+his comrades, who was a good student, had inadvertently made a foolish
+mistake which might have lowered his marks, I saw Georges accuse himself
+and take the punishment in his place. His comrade never knew anything
+about it, for Georges did that sort of thing almost clandestinely, and
+with the simplicity and modesty which were always the great charm of his
+character."
+
+This sense of honor he had drawn in with his mother's milk; and his
+father had developed it in him. Everything about him indicated pride:
+the upright carriage of his head, the glance of his black eyes which
+seemed to pierce the objects he looked at. He loved the Stanislas
+uniform which his father had worn before him, and which had been worn by
+Gouraud and Baratier, whose fame was then increasing, and Rostand, then
+in all the new glory of _Cyrano_ and _L'Aiglon_. He had an exact
+appreciation of his own dignity. Though he listened attentively in
+class, he would never ask for information or advice from his classmates.
+He hated to be trifled with, and made it understood that he intended to
+be respected. Never in all his life did he have a low thought. If he
+ever varied from the nobleness which was natural to him, silence was
+sometimes sufficient to bring him to himself.
+
+With a mobile face, full of contrasts, he was sometimes the roguish boy
+who made the whole class shake with laughter, and involved it in a
+whirlwind of games and tricks, and at others the serious, thoughtful
+pupil, who was considered to be self-absorbed, distant, and not inclined
+to reveal himself to anybody. The fierce soldier of the _petite guerre_
+was also a formidable adversary at checkers. Here, however, he became
+patient, only moving his pieces after long reflection. None of the
+students could beat him, and no one could take him by surprise. If he
+was beaten by a professor, he never rested until he had had his revenge.
+His power of will was far beyond his years, but it needed to be relaxed.
+To study and win to the head of his class was nothing for his lively
+intelligence, but his health was always delicate. He would appear
+wrapped in cloaks, comforters, waterproof coats, and then vanish into
+the infirmary. This boy who did not fear blows, bruises, or falls, was
+compelled to avoid draughts and to diet. Nobody ever heard him complain,
+nor was any one ever to do so. Often he had to give up work for whole
+months at a time; and in his baccalaureate year he was stopped by a
+return of the infantile enteritis. "Three months of rest," the doctor
+ordered at Christmas. "You will do your rhetoric over again next year,"
+said his father, who came to take him home. "Not at all," said the boy;
+"the boys shall not get ahead of me"--a childish boast which passed
+unnoticed. At the end of three months of rest and pleasant walks around
+Compiègne, the child remarked: "The three months are up, and I mean to
+present myself in July." "You haven't time; it is impossible." He
+insisted. So they discovered, at Compiègne, the Pierre d'Ailly school,
+in a building which since then has been ruined by a shell. It was his
+idea to attend these classes as a day scholar, just for the pleasure of
+it. He promised to continue to take care of himself at home. And in the
+month of July, at the age of fifteen, he took his bachelor degree, with
+mention.
+
+But the bow cannot long remain bent, and hence certain diversions of
+his, ending sometimes in storms, but not caused by any ill-will on his
+part, for it was repugnant to him to give others pain. The following
+autumn he returned to Stanislas College, and resumed his school
+exploits.
+
+"Vexed to find that a place had been reserved for him near the
+professor, under the certainly justified pretext that he was too much
+inclined to talk," again writes Abbé Chesnais, "he was resolved to talk
+all the same, whenever he pleased. With the aid of pins, pens, wires and
+boxes, he soon set up a telephone which put him into communication with
+the boy whose desk was farthest away. He possessed tools necessary for
+any of his tricks, and his desk was a veritable bazaar: copybooks,
+books, pen-holders and paper were mixed pell-mell with the most unlikely
+objects, such as fragments of fencing foils, drugs, chemical products,
+oil, grease, bolts, skate wheels, and tablets of chocolate. In one
+corner, carefully concealed, were some glass tubes which awaited a
+favorable moment for projecting against the ceiling a ball of chewed
+paper. Attached to this ball, a paper personage cut out of a copybook
+cover danced feverishly in space. When this grotesque figurine became
+quiet, another paper ball, shot with great skill, renewed the dancing
+to the great satisfaction of the young marksman. Airplanes made of paper
+were also hidden in this desk, awaiting the propitious hour for
+launching them; and the professor's desk sometimes served as their
+landing place.... Everything, indeed, was to be found there, but in such
+disorder that the owner himself could never find them. Who has not seen
+him hunting for a missing exercise in a copybook full of scraps of
+paper? It is time to go to class; with his head hidden in his desk, he
+turns over all its contents in great haste, upsetting a badly closed
+ink-bottle over his books and copybooks. The master calls him to order,
+and he rushes out well behind all the rest of the boys.
+
+"He was not one of those ill-intentioned boys whose sole idea is to
+disturb the class and hinder the work of his comrades. Nor was he a
+ringleader. He acted entirely on his own account, and for his own
+satisfaction. His practical jokes never lasted long, and did not
+interrupt the work of others. His upright, frank and honest nature
+always led him to acknowledge his own acts when the master attributed
+them by mistake to the wrong boys. He never allowed any comrade to take
+his punishment for him, but he knew very well how to extricate himself
+from the greatest difficulties. His candor often won him some
+indulgence. If he happened to be punished by a timorous master, he
+assumed a terrible facial expression and tried to frighten him. But
+when, on the contrary, he found himself in the presence of a man of
+energy, he pleaded extenuating circumstances, and persevered until he
+obtained the least possible punishment. He never resented the infliction
+of just punishment, but suffered very much when punished in public. On
+the day when the class marks were read aloud, if he suspected that his
+own were to be bad, he took refuge in the infirmary to avoid the shame
+of public exposure. Honor, for him, was not a vain word.
+
+"He was very sensitive to reproaches. He was an admirer of courage,
+audacity, anything generous. Who at Stanislas does not remember his
+proud and haughty attitude when a master vexed him in presence of his
+classmates, or interfered to end a quarrel in which his own self-respect
+was at stake? All his nerves were stretched; his body stiffened, and he
+stood as straight as a steel rod, his arms pressed against his legs, his
+fists tightly closed, his head held high and rigid, and his face as
+yellow as ivory, with its smooth forehead, and his compressed lips
+cutting two deep lines around his mouth; his eyes, fixed like two black
+balls, seemed to start from the sockets, shooting fire. He looked as if
+he were about to destroy his adversary with lightning, but in reality he
+retained the most imperturbable sang-froid. He stood like a marble
+statue, but it was easy to divine the storm raging within...."[10]
+
+[Footnote 10: Unpublished notes by Abbé Chesnais.]
+
+His tendency, after taking his bachelor's degree, was towards science;
+he was ambitious to enter the École polytechnique, and joined the
+special mathematics class. Even when very young he had shown particular
+aptitude for mechanics, and a gift for invention which we have seen
+exercised in his practical jokes as a student. When he was only four or
+five years old he constructed a bed out of paper, which he raised by
+means of cords and pulleys.
+
+"He passed whole hours," says his Stanislas classmate, Lieutenant
+Constantin, "in trying to solve a mathematical problem, or studying some
+question which had interested him, without knowing what went on around
+him; but as soon as he had solved his problem, or learned something new,
+he was satisfied and returned to the present. He was particularly
+interested in everything connected with the sciences. His greatest
+pleasure was to make experiments in physics or chemistry: he tried
+everything which his imagination suggested. Once he happened to produce
+a detonating mixture which made a formidable explosion, but nothing was
+broken except a few windows."
+
+His choice of reading revealed the same tendency. He was not fond of
+reading, and only liked books of adventure which were food for his
+warlike sentiments and his ideas of honor and honesty. He preferred the
+works of Major Driant, and re-read them even during his mathematical
+year. Returning from a walk one Thursday evening, he knocked on the
+prefect's door to ask for a book. He wanted _La Guerre fatale_, _La
+Guerre de Demain_, _L'Aviateur du Pacifique_, etc. "But you have already
+read them." "That does not matter." Did he really re-read them? His
+dreams were always the same, and his eyes looked into the future.
+
+Somebody, however, was to exert over this impressionable, mobile, almost
+too ardent nature, an influence which was to determine its direction.
+His father had advised him to choose his friends with care, and not
+yield himself to the first comer. He was not only incapable of doing
+that, but equally incapable of yielding himself to anybody. Do we really
+choose our friends in early life? We only know our friends by finding
+them in our lives when we need them. They are there, but we have not
+sought them. A similarity of taste, of sensibility, of ambitions draw us
+to them, and they have been our friends a long time already before we
+perceive that they are not merely comrades. Thus Jean Krebs became the
+constant companion of Georges Guynemer. The father of Jean Krebs is that
+Colonel Krebs whose name is connected with the first progress made in
+aërostation and aviation. He was then director of the Panhard factories,
+and his two sons were students at Stanislas. Jean, the elder, was
+Guynemer's classmate. He was a silent, self-centered, thoughtful
+student, calm in speech and facial expression, never speaking one word
+louder than another, and the farthest possible removed from anything
+noisy or agitated. Georges broke in upon his solitude and attached
+himself to him, while Krebs endured, smiled, and accepted, and they
+became allies. It was Krebs, for the time, who was the authority, the
+one who had prestige and wore the halo. Why, he knew what an automobile
+was, and one Sunday he took his friend Georges to Ivry and taught him
+how to drive. He taught him every technical thing he knew. Georges
+launched with all his energy into this new career, and soon became
+acquainted with every motor in existence. During the school promenades,
+if the column of pupils walked up or down the Champs Elysées, he told
+them the names of passing automobiles: "That's a Lorraine. There is a
+Panhard. This one has so many horsepower," etc. Woe to any who ventured
+to contradict him. He looked the insolent one up and down, and crushed
+him with a word.
+
+He was overjoyed when the college organized Thursday afternoon visits to
+factories. He chose his companions in advance, sometimes compelling them
+to give up a game of tennis. Krebs was one of them. For Georges the
+visits to the Puteaux and Dion-Bouton factories were a feast of which he
+was often to speak later. He went, not as a sightseer, but as a
+connoisseur. He could not bring himself to remain with the engineer who
+showed the party through the works. He required more liberty, more time
+to investigate everything for himself, to see and touch everything. The
+smallest detail interested him; he questioned the workmen, asking them
+the use of some screw, and a thousand other things. The visit was too
+soon over for him; and when his comrades had already left, and the
+division prefect was calling the roll to make sure of all his boys,
+Guynemer as usual was missing, and was discovered standing in ecstasy
+before a machine which some workmen were engaged in setting up.
+
+"The opening weeks of the automobile and aviation exhibition were a
+period of comparative tranquillity for his masters, as Guynemer was no
+longer the same restless, nervous, mischievous boy, being too anxious to
+retain his privileges for the promenades. He was always one of those who
+haunted the prefect when the hour for departure drew near. He was
+impatient to know where they were to go: 'Where are we going?... Shall
+you take us to the Grand Palais? (The Automobile and Aviation
+Exhibition).... Wouldn't you be a brick!...' When they arrived, he was
+not one of those many curious people who circulate aimlessly around the
+stands with their hands in their pockets, without reaping anything but
+fatigue, like a cyclist on a circular track. His plans were all made in
+advance, and he knew where the stand was which he meant to visit. He
+went directly there, where his ardor and his free and easy behavior drew
+upon him the admonitions of the proprietor. But nothing stopped him, and
+he continued to touch everything, furnishing explanations to his
+companions. When he returned to the college his pockets bulged with
+prospectuses, catalogues, and selected brochures, which he carefully
+added to the heterogeneous contents of his desk."[11]
+
+[Footnote 11: Unpublished notes by Abbé Chesnais.]
+
+Jean Krebs crystallized Georges Guynemer's vocation. He developed and
+specialized his taste for mechanics, separating it from vague
+abstractions and guiding it towards material realities and the wider
+experiences these procure. He deserves to be mentioned in any biography
+of Guynemer, and before passing on, it is proper that his premature loss
+should be cited and deplored. Highly esteemed as an aviator during the
+war, he made the best use of his substantial and reliable faculties in
+the work of observation. Airplane chasing did not attract him, but he
+knew how to use his eyes. He was killed in a landing accident at a time
+almost coincident with the disappearance of Guynemer. One of his
+escadrille mates described him thus: "With remarkable intelligence, and
+a perfectly even disposition, his chiefs valued him for his sang-froid,
+his quick eye, his exact knowledge of the services he was able to
+perform. Every time a mission was intrusted to him, everybody was sure
+that he would accomplish it, no matter what conditions he had to meet.
+He often had to face enemy airplanes better armed than his own, and in
+the course of a flight had been wounded in the thigh by an exploding
+shell. Nevertheless he had continued to fly, only returning considerably
+later when his task was done. His death has left a great void in this
+escadrille. Men like him are difficult to replace...."
+
+Thus the immoderate Guynemer had for his first friend a comrade who knew
+exactly his own limits. Guynemer could save Jean Krebs from his excess
+of literal honesty by showing him the enchantment of his own ecstasies,
+but Jean Krebs furnished the motor for Guynemer's ambitious young wings.
+Without the technical lessons of Jean Krebs, could Guynemer later have
+got into the aviation field at Pau, and won so easily his diploma as
+pilot? Would he have applied himself so closely to the study of his
+tools and the perfecting of his machine?
+
+The war was to make them both aviators, and both of them fell from the
+sky, one in the fullness of glory, the other almost obscure. When they
+talked together on school outings, or as they walked along beside the
+walls of Stanislas, had they ever foreseen this destiny? Certainly not
+Jean Krebs, with his positive spirit; he only saw ahead the École
+polytechnique, and thought of nothing but preparation for that. But
+Guynemer? In his very precious notes, Abbé Chesnais shows us the boy
+constructing a little airplane of cloth, the motor of which was a bundle
+of elastics. "At the next recreation hour, he went up to the dormitory,
+opened a window, launched his machine, and presided over its evolutions
+above the heads of his comrades." But these were only the games of an
+ingenious collegian. The worthy priest, who was division prefect, and
+watched the boy with a profound knowledge of psychology, never received
+any confidence from him regarding his vocation.
+
+Aviation, whose first timid essays began in 1906, progressed rapidly.
+After Santos Dumont, who on November 22, 1906, covered 220 meters while
+volplaning, a group of inventors--Blériot, Delagrange, Farman,
+Wright--perfected light motors. In 1909 Blériot crossed the Channel,
+Paulhan won the height record at 1380 meters, and Farman the distance
+record over a course of 232 kilometers. A visionary, Viscomte Melchior
+de Vogué, had already foreseen the prodigious development of air-travel.
+All the young people of the time longed to fly. Guynemer, studying the
+new invention with his customary energy, could hardly do otherwise than
+share the general infatuation. His comrades, like himself, dreamed of
+parts of airplanes and their construction. But the idea of Lieutenant
+Constantin is different: "When an airplane flew over the quarter,
+Guynemer followed it with his eyes, and continued to gaze at the sky for
+some time after its disappearance. His desk contained a whole collection
+of volumes and photographs concerning aviation. He had resolved to go up
+some day in an airplane, and as he was excessively self-willed he tried
+to bring this about by every means in his power. 'Don't you know anybody
+who could take me up some Sunday?' Of whom has he not asked this
+question? But at college it was not at all easy, and it was during
+vacation that he succeeded in carrying out his project. If I am not
+mistaken, his first ascension was at the aërodrome of Compiègne. At that
+time the comfortable cockpits of the modern airplanes were unknown, and
+the passenger was obliged to place himself as best he could behind the
+pilot and cling to him by putting his arms around him in order not to
+fall, so that it was a relief to come down again!..."
+
+The noticeable sentence in these notes is the first one: _When an
+airplane flew over the quarter, he followed it with his eyes, and
+continued to gaze at the sky for some time after its disappearance._ If
+Jean Krebs had survived, he could perhaps enlighten us still further;
+but, even to this reasonable friend, could Guynemer have revealed what
+was still confused to himself? Jean Constantin only saw him once in a
+reverie; and Guynemer must have kept silent about his resolutions.
+
+Soon afterwards, as Guynemer was obliged once more to renounce his
+studies--and this was the year in which he was preparing for the
+Polytechnique--his father left him with his grandmother in Paris, to
+rest. During this time he went to lectures on the social sciences,
+finally completing his education, which was strictly French, not one day
+having been passed with any foreign teacher. After this he traveled with
+his mother and sisters, leading the life of the well-to-do young man who
+has plenty of time in which to plan his future. Was he thinking of his
+future at all? The question occurred to his father who, worried at the
+thought of his son's idleness, recalled him and interrogated him as to
+his ideas of a future career, fully expecting to receive one of those
+undecided answers so often given by young men under similar
+circumstances. But Georges replied, as if it were the most natural thing
+in the world, and no other could ever have been considered:
+
+"Aviator."
+
+This reply was surprising. What could have led him to a determination
+apparently so sudden?
+
+"That is not a career," he was told. "Aviation is still only a sport.
+You travel in the air as a motorist rides on the highways. And after
+passing a few years devoted to pleasure, you hire yourself to some
+constructor. No, a thousand times no!"
+
+Then he said to his father what he had never said to anybody, and what
+his comrade Constantin had merely suspected:
+
+"That is my sole passion. One morning in the courtyard at Stanislas I
+saw an airplane flying. I don't know what happened to me: I felt an
+emotion so profound that it was almost religious. You must believe me
+when I ask your permission to be an aviator."
+
+"You don't know what an airplane is. You never saw one except from
+below."
+
+"You are mistaken; I went up in one at Corbeaulieu."
+
+Corbeaulieu was an aërodrome near Compiègne; and these words were spoken
+a very few months before the war.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Many years before Georges Guynemer was a student at Stanislas, a
+professor, who was also destined to become famous, taught rhetoric
+there. His name was Frédéric Ozanam. He too had been a precocious child,
+prematurely sure of his vocation for literature. When only fifteen he
+had composed in Latin verse an epitaph in honor of Gaston de Foix, dead
+at Ravenna. This epitaph, if two words are changed--_Hispanae_ into
+_hostilis_, and _Gaston_ into _Georges_--describes perfectly the short
+and admirable career of Guynemer. Even the palms are included:
+
+     Fortunate heros! moriendo in saecula vives.
+     Eia, agite, o socii, manibus profundite flores,
+     Lilia per tumulum, violamque rosamque recentem
+     Spargite; victricis armis superaddite lauros,
+     Et tumulo tales mucrone inscribite voces:
+     Hic jacet hostilis gentis timor et decus omne
+         Gallorum, Georgius, conditus ante diem:
+     Credidit hunc Lachesis juvenem dum cerneret annos,
+         Sed palmas numerans credidit esse senem.[12]
+
+It is a paraphrase of the reply of the gods to the young Pallas, in
+Virgil.
+
+[Footnote 12:
+Fortunate hero! thou diest, but thou shalt live forever!
+Come, my companions! strew flowers
+And lilies over the tomb! violets and young roses
+Scatter; heap up laurels upon his arms,
+And on the stone write with the point of your sword:
+Here lieth one who was the terror of the enemy, and the glory
+Of the French, George, taken before his time.
+Lachesis from his face thought him a boy,
+But counting his victories she thought him full of years.]
+
+
+This young Frédéric Ozanam died in the full vigor of manhood before
+having attained his fortieth year, of a malady which had already
+foretold his death. At that time he seemed to have achieved perfect
+happiness; it was the supreme moment when everything succeeds, when the
+difficult years are almost forgotten, and the road mounts easily upward.
+He had in his wife a perfect companion, and his daughter was a lovable
+young girl. His reputation was growing; he was soon to be received by
+the Academy, and fortune and fame were already achieved. And then death
+called him. Truly the hour was badly chosen--but when is it chosen at
+the will of mortals? Ozanam tried to win pity from death. In his private
+journal he notes death's approach, concerning which he was never
+deceived; and he asks Heaven for a respite. To propitiate it, he offers
+a part of his life, the most brilliant part; he is willing to renounce
+honors, fame, and fortune, and will consent to live humbly and be
+forgotten, like the poor for whom he founded the _Conférences de
+Saint-Vincent de Paul_, and whom he so often visited in their wretched
+lodgings; but let him at least dwell a little longer in his home, that
+he may see his daughter grow up, and pass a few years more with the
+companion of his choice. Finally, he is impassioned by his Faith, he no
+longer reasons with Heaven, but says: "Take all according to Thy wish,
+take all, take myself. Thy will be done...."
+
+Rarely has the drama of acceptance of the Divine Will been more freely
+developed. Now, in the drama which was to impassion Guynemer even to
+complete sacrifice, it is not the vocation of aviator that we should
+remark, but the absolute will to serve. Abbé Chesnais, who does not
+attach primary importance to the vocation, has understood this well. At
+the end of his notes he reminds us that Guynemer was a believer who
+accomplished his religious exercises regularly, without ostentation and
+without weakness. "How many times he has stopped me at night," he
+writes, "as I passed near his bed! He wanted a quiet conscience, without
+reproach. His usual frivolity left him at the door of the chapel. He
+believed in the presence of God in this holy place and respected it....
+His Christian sentiments were to be a sustaining power in his aërial
+battles, and he would fight with the more ardor if his conscience were
+at peace with his God...."
+
+These words of Abbé Chesnais explain the true vocation of Guynemer: "The
+chances of war brought out marvelously the qualities contained in such a
+frail body. In the beginning did he think of becoming a pilot? Perhaps.
+But what he wanted above everything was to fulfil his duty as a
+Frenchman. He wanted to be a soldier; he was ashamed of himself, he
+said, in the first days of September, 1914: 'If I have to sleep in the
+bottom of an automobile truck, I want to go to the front. I will go.'"
+
+He was to go; but neither love of aviation nor love of fame had anything
+to do with his departure, as they were to have nothing to do with his
+final fate.
+
+
+III. THE DEPARTURE
+
+In the month of July, 1914, Georges Guynemer was with his family at the
+Villa Delphine, Biarritz, in the northern part of the Anglet beach. This
+beach is blond with sunshine, but is refreshed by the ocean breezes. One
+can be deliciously idle there. This beach is besides an excellent
+landing-place for airplanes, because of the welcome of its soft sand.
+Georges Guynemer never left the Anglet beach, and every time an airplane
+descended he was there to receive it. He was the aviation sentry. But at
+this period airplanes were rare. Guynemer had his own thoughts, and
+tenacity was one of his dominant traits; he was already one of those who
+never renounce. The bathers who passed this everlasting idler never
+suspected that he was obstinately developing one single plan, and
+hanging his whole future upon it.
+
+Meanwhile the horizon of Europe darkened. Ever since the assassination
+of the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, at Sarajevo, electricity had
+accumulated in the air, and the storm was ready to burst. To this young
+man, the Archduke and the European horizon were things of nothing. The
+sea-air was healthful, and he searched the heavens for invisible
+airplanes. The conversations in progress all around him were full of
+anxiety; he had no time to listen to them. The eyes of the women began
+to be full of pain; he did not notice the eyes of women. On the second
+of August the order for mobilization was posted. It was war!
+
+Then Guynemer rid himself of his dream, as if it were something unreal,
+and broke off brusquely all his plans for the future. He was entirely
+possessed by another idea, which made his eyes snap fire, and wrinkled
+his forehead. He rushed to his father and without taking breath
+announced:
+
+"I am going to enlist."
+
+"You are lucky."
+
+"Well, then, you authorize me...."
+
+"I envy you."
+
+He had feared to be met with some parental objection on account of the
+uncertain health which had so often thwarted him, and had postponed his
+preparation for the École Polytechnique. Now he felt reassured. Next day
+he was at Bayonne, getting through all the necessary formalities. He was
+medically examined--and postponed. The doctors found him too tall, too
+thin--no physiological defect, but a child's body in need of being
+developed and strengthened. In vain he supplicated them; they were
+pitiless. He returned home grieved, humiliated, and furious. The Villa
+Delphine was to know some very uncomfortable days. His family understood
+his determination and began to have fears for him. And he returned to
+the charge, and attacked his father with insistence, as if his father
+were all-powerful and could, if he would, compel them to accept his
+son's services for _la Patrie_.
+
+"If you would help me, I should not be put off."
+
+"But how?"
+
+"A former officer has connections in the army. You could speak for me."
+
+"Very well, I will."
+
+M. Guynemer, in his turn, went to Bayonne. From that date, indeed from
+the first day of war, he had promised himself never to set obstacles in
+the way of his son's military service, but to favor it upon all
+occasions. He kept his word, as we shall see later, at whatever cost to
+himself. The recruiting major listened to his request. It was the hour
+of quick enthusiasms, and he had already sustained many assaults and
+resisted many importunities.
+
+"Monsieur," he now said, "you may well believe that I accept all who can
+serve. I speak to you as a former officer: does your conscience assure
+you that your son is fit to carry a knapsack and be a foot-soldier?"
+
+"I could not say that he is."
+
+"Would he make a cavalryman?"
+
+"He can't ride on account of his former enteritis."
+
+"Then you see how it is; it's proper to postpone him. Build him up, and
+later on he'll be taken. The war is not finished."
+
+As Georges had been present at this interview, he now saw himself
+refused a second time. He returned with his father to Biarritz, pale,
+silent, unhappy, and altogether in such a state of anger and bitterness
+that his face was altered. Nothing consoled him, nothing amused him. On
+those magnificent August days the sea was a waste of sunshine, and the
+beach was an invitation to enjoy the soft summer hours; but he did not
+go to the beach, and he scorned the sea. His anxious parents wondered
+if, for the sake of his health, it would not be easier to see him
+depart. As for them, it was their fate to suffer in every way.
+
+Ever since the mobilization, Georges Guynemer had had only one thought:
+to serve--to serve, no matter where, no matter how, no matter in what
+branch of the service, but to leave, to go to the front, and not stay
+there at Biarritz like those foreigners who had not left, or like those
+useless old men and children who were now all that remained of the male
+population.
+
+Many trains had carried off the first recruits, trains decorated with
+flowers and filled with songs. The sons of France had come running from
+her farthest provinces, and a unanimous impulse precipitated them upon
+the assaulted frontier. But this impulse was perfectly controlled. The
+songs the men sang were serious and almost sacred. The nation was living
+through one of her greatest hours, and knew it. With one motion she
+regained her national unity, and renewed once more her youth.
+
+Meanwhile the news that sifted in, little by little, caused intense
+anguish--anguish, not doubt. The government had left Paris to establish
+itself at Bordeaux. The capital was menaced. The enemy had entered
+Compiègne. Compiègne was no longer ours. The Joan of Arc on the _place_
+of the Hôtel de Ville had _pickelhauben_ on her men-at-arms. And then
+the victory of the Marne lifted the weight that oppressed every heart.
+At the Villa Delphine news came that Compiègne was saved. Meanwhile
+trains left carrying troops to reinforce the combatants. And Georges
+Guynemer had to live through all these departures, suffering and
+rebelling until he had a horror of himself. His comrades and friends
+were gone, or had asked permission to go. His two first cousins, his
+mother's nephews, Guy and René de Saint Quentin, had gone; one, a
+sergeant, was killed at the Battle of the Marne, the other, councilor to
+the Embassy at Constantinople, returning in haste when war was declared,
+had taken his place as lieutenant of reserves, and had been twice
+wounded at the Marne, by a ball in the shoulder and a shrapnel bullet in
+the thigh. Was it possible for him to stay there alone when the whole
+of France had risen?
+
+In the _Chanson d'Aspremont_, which is one of our most captivating
+_chansons de geste_, Charlemagne is leaving for Italy with his army, and
+passes by Laon. In the donjon five children, one of whom is his nephew
+Roland, are imprisoned under the care of Turpin. The Emperor, who knows
+them well, has had them locked up for fear they would join his troops.
+But when they hear the ivory horns sounding and the horses neighing,
+they are determined to escape. They try to cajole the porter, but he is
+adamant and incorruptible. This faithful servitor is immediately well
+beaten. They take away his keys, pass over his body, and are soon out of
+the prison. But their adventures are only beginning. To procure
+themselves horses they attack and unhorse five Bretons, and to get arms
+they repeat the same process. They are so successful that they manage to
+join the Emperor's army before it has crossed the Alps. Will our new
+Roland allow himself to be outdistanced by these terrible children of
+former ages? It is not the army with its ivory horns that he has heard
+departing, but the whole marching nation, fighting to live and endure,
+and to enable honor and justice and right to live and endure with her.
+
+So we find Guynemer once more on the Anglet beach, sad and discomfited.
+An airplane capsizes on the sand. What does he care about an
+airplane--don't they know that his old passion and dream are dead? Since
+August 2 he has not given them a thought. However, he begins a
+conversation with the pilot, who is a sergeant. And all at once a new
+idea takes possession of him; the old passion revives again under
+another form; the dream rises once more.
+
+"How can one enlist in the aviation corps?"
+
+"Arrange it with the captain; go to Pau."
+
+Georges runs at once to the Villa Delphine. His parents no longer
+recognize the step and the face of the preceding days; he looks like
+their son again; he is saved.
+
+"Father, I want to go to Pau to-morrow."
+
+"Why this trip to Pau?"
+
+"To enlist in the aviation corps. Before the war you wouldn't hear of my
+being an aviator, but in war aviation is no longer a sport."
+
+"In war--yes, it is certainly quite another thing."
+
+Next day he reached Pau, where Captain Bernard-Thierry was in command of
+the aviation camp. He forced his way through Captain Bernard-Thierry's
+door, over the expostulations of the sentries. He explained his case and
+pleaded his cause with such fire in his eyes that the officer was dazed
+and fascinated. From the tones of the captain's voice, when he referred
+to the two successive rejections, Guynemer knew he had made an
+impression. As he had done at Stanislas when he wanted to soften some
+punishment inflicted by his master, so now he brought every argument to
+bear, one after another; but with how much more ardor he made this plea,
+for his future was at stake! He bewitched his hearer. And then suddenly
+he became a child again, imploring and ready to cry.
+
+"Captain, help me--employ me--employ me at anything, no matter what. Let
+me clean those airplanes over there. You are my last resource. It must
+be through you that I can do something at last in the war."
+
+The captain reflected gravely. He felt the power hidden in this fragile
+body. He could not rebuff a suppliant like this one.
+
+"I can take you as student mechanician."
+
+"That's it, that's it; I understand automobiles."
+
+Guynemer exulted, as Jean Krebs' technical lessons flashed already into
+his mind; they would be of great help in his work. The officer gave him
+a letter to the recruiting officer at Bayonne, and he went back there
+for the third time. This time his name was entered, he was taken, and he
+signed a voluntary engagement. This was on November 21, 1914. There was
+no need for him to explain to the family what had occurred when he
+returned to the Villa Delphine: he was beaming.
+
+"You are going?" said his mother and sisters.
+
+"Surely."
+
+Next day he made his _début_ at the aviation camp at Pau as student
+mechanician. He had entered the army by the back door, but he had got
+in. The future knight of the air was now the humblest of grooms. "I do
+not ask any favors for him," his father wrote to the captain. "All I ask
+is that he may perform any services he is capable of." He had to be
+tried and proved deserving, to pass through all the minor ranks before
+being worthy to wear the _casque sacré_. The petted child of Compiègne
+and the Villa Delphine had the most severe of apprenticeships. He slept
+on the floor, and was employed in the dirtiest work about camp, cleaned
+cylinders and carried cans of petroleum. In this _milieu_ he heard words
+and theories which dumbfounded him, not knowing then that men frequently
+do not mean all that they say. On November 26, he wrote Abbé Chesnais:
+"I have the pleasure of informing you that after two postponements
+during a vain effort to enlist, I have at last succeeded. _Time and
+patience_ ... I am writing you in the mess, while two comrades are
+elaborating social theories...."
+
+Would he be able to endure this workman's existence? His parents were
+not without anxiety. They hesitated to leave Biarritz and return to
+their home in Compiègne in the rue Saint-Lazare, on the edge of the
+forest. But, so far from being injured by manual labor, the child
+constantly grew stronger. In his case spirit had always triumphed over
+matter, and compelled it to obedience on every occasion. So now he
+followed his own object with indomitable energy. He took an airplane to
+pieces before mounting in it, and learned to know it in every detail.
+
+His preparation for the École Polytechnique assured him a brilliant
+superiority in his present surroundings. He could explain the laws of
+mechanics, and tell his wonderstruck comrades what is meant by the
+resultant of several forces and the equilibrium of forces, giving them
+unexpected notions about kinematics and dynamics.[13] From the
+laboratory or industrial experiments then being made, he acquired, on
+his part, a knowledge of the resisting power of the materials used in
+aviation: wood, steel, steel wires, aluminum and its composites, copper,
+copper alloys and tissues. He saw things made--those famous wings that
+were one day to carry him up into the blue--with their longitudinal
+spars of ash or hickory, their ribs of light wood, their interior
+bracing of piano wire, their other bracing wires, and their wing
+covering. He saw the workmen prepare all the material for mortise and
+tenon work, saw them attach the tension wires, fit in the ends of poles,
+and finally connect together all the parts of an airplane,--wings,
+rudders, motor, landing frame, body. As a painter grinds his colors
+before making use of them, so Guynemer's prelude to his future flights
+was to touch with his hands--those long white hands of the rich student,
+now tanned and callous, often coated with soot or grease, and worthy to
+be the hands of a laborer--every piece, every bolt and screw of these
+machines which were to release him from his voluntary servitude.
+
+[Footnote 13: See _Étude raisonnée de l'aéroplane_, by Jules Bordeaux,
+formerly student at École Polytechnique (Gauthier-Billars, edition
+1912).]
+
+One of his future comrades, _sous-lieutenant_ Marcel Viallet (who one
+day had the honor of bringing down two German airplanes in ten minutes
+with seven bullets), thus describes him at the Pau school: "I had
+already had my attention drawn to this 'little girl' dressed in a
+private's uniform whom one met in the camp, his hands covered with
+castor oil, his face all stains, his clothes torn. I do not know what he
+did in the workshop, but he certainly did not add to its brilliance by
+his appearance. We saw him all the time hanging around the 'zincs.' His
+highly interested little face amused us. When we landed, he watched us
+with such admiration and envy! He asked us endless questions and
+constantly wanted explanations. Without seeming to do so, he was
+learning. For a reply to some question about the art of flying, he would
+have run to the other end of the camp to get us a few drops of gasoline
+for our tanks...."[14]
+
+[Footnote 14: _Le Petit Parisien_, September 27, 1917.]
+
+He was learning, and when he saw his way clear, he wanted to begin
+flying. New Year's Day arrived--that sad New Year's Day of the first
+year of the war. What gifts would he ask of his father? He would ask for
+help to win his diploma as pilot. "Don't you know somebody in your class
+at Saint-Cyr who could help me?" He always associated his father with
+every step he took in advance. The child had no fear of creating a
+conflict between his father's love for him and the service due to
+France: he knew very well that he would never receive from his father
+any counsel against his honor, and without pity he compelled him to
+facilitate his son's progress toward mortal danger. Certain former
+classmates of M. Guynemer's at Saint-Cyr had, in fact, reached the rank
+of general, and the influence of one of them hastened Guynemer's
+promotion from student mechanician to student pilot (January 26, 1915).
+
+On this same date, Guynemer, soldier of the 2d Class, began his first
+journal of flights. The first page is as follows:
+
+     _Wednesday_, January 27: Doing camp chores.
+     _Thursday_,     "    28: ib.
+     _Friday_,       "    29: Lecture and camp chores.
+     _Saturday_,     "    30: Lecture at the Blériot
+                                     aërodrome.
+     _Sunday_,       "    31: ib.
+                                     aërodrome.
+     _Monday_,   February  1: Went out twenty minutes
+                                     on Blériot "roller."
+
+The Blériot "roller," called the Penguin because of its abbreviated
+wings, and which did not leave the ground, was followed on Wednesday,
+February 17, by a three-cylinder 25 H.P. Blériot, which rose only thirty
+or forty meters. These were the first ascensions before launching into
+space. Then came a six-cylinder Blériot, and ascensions became more
+numerous. Finally, on Wednesday, March 10, the journal records two
+flights of twenty minutes each on a Blériot six-cylinder 50 H.P., one at
+a height of 600 meters, the other at 800, with tacking and volplaning
+descents. This time the child sailed into the sky. Guynemer's first
+flight, then, was on March 10, 1915.
+
+This journal, with its fifty pages, ends on July 28, 1916, with the
+following statement:
+
+     _Friday_, July 28.--Round at the front. Attacked a group of four
+     enemy airplanes and forced down one of them. Attacked a second
+     group of four airplanes, which immediately dispersed. Chased one of
+     the airplanes and fired about 250 cartridges: the Boche dived, and
+     seemed to be hit. When I shot the last cartridges from the Vickers,
+     one blade of the screw was perforated with bullet-holes, the
+     dislocated motor struck the machine violently and seriously injured
+     it. Volplaned down to the aërodrome of Chipilly without accident.
+
+A marginal note states that the aëroplane which "seemed to be hit" was
+brought down, and that the English staff confirmed its fall. This
+victory of July 28, 1916, on the Somme, was Guynemer's eleventh; and at
+that time he had flown altogether 348 hours, 25 minutes. This journal of
+fifty pages enables us to measure the distance covered.
+
+Impassioned young people! You who in every department of achievement
+desire to win the trophies of a Guynemer, never forget that your
+progress on the path to glory begins with "doing chores."
+
+
+
+
+CANTO II
+
+LAUNCHED INTO SPACE
+
+
+I. THE FIRST VICTORY
+
+The apprentice pilot, then, left the ground for the first time at the
+Pau school on February 17, 1915, in a three-cylinder Blériot. But these
+were only short leaps, though sufficiently audacious ones. His monitor
+accused him of breakneck recklessness: "Too much confidence, madness,
+fantastical humor." That same evening he wrote describing his
+impressions to his father: "Before departure, a bit worried; in the air,
+wildly amusing. When the machine slid or oscillated I was not at all
+troubled, it even seemed funny.... Well, it diverted me immensely, but
+it was lucky that _Maman_ was not there.... I don't think I have
+achieved a reputation for prudence. I hope everything will go well; I
+shall soon know...."
+
+During February he made many experimental flights, and finally, on March
+10, 1915, went up 600 meters. This won him next day a diploma from the
+Aëro Club, and the day following he wrote to his sister Odette this hymn
+of joy--not long, but unique in his correspondence: "Uninterrupted
+descent, volplaning for 800 meters. Superb view (sunset)...."
+
+"Superb view (sunset)": in the hundred and fifty or two hundred letters
+addressed to his family, I believe this is the only landscape. Slightly
+later, but infrequently, the new aviator gave a few details of
+observation, the accuracy of which lent them some picturesqueness; but
+in this letter he yielded to the intoxication of the air, he enjoyed
+flying as if it were his right. He experienced that sensation of
+lightness and freedom which accompanies the separation from earth, the
+pleasure of cleaving the wind, of controlling his machine, of seeing,
+breathing, thinking differently from the way he saw and thought and
+breathed on the land, of being born, in fact, into a new and solitary
+life in an enlarged world. As he ascended, men suddenly diminished in
+size. The earth looked as if some giant hand had smoothed its surface,
+diversified only by moving shadows, while the outlines of objects became
+stronger, so that they seemed to be cut in relief.
+
+The land was marked by geometrical lines, showing man's labor and its
+regularity, an immense parti-colored checker-board traversed by the
+lines of highroads and rivers, and containing islands which were forests
+and towns and cities. Was it the chain of the Pyrenees covered with snow
+which, breaking this uniformity, wrested a cry of admiration from the
+aviator? What shades of gold and purple were shed over the scene by the
+setting sun? His half-sentence is like a confession of love for the joy
+of living, violently torn from him, and the only avowal this blunt
+Roland would allow himself.
+
+For the nature of his correspondence is somewhat surprising. Read
+superficially, it must seem extremely monotonous; but when better
+understood, it indicates the writer's sense of oppression, of
+hallucination, of being bewitched. From that moment Guynemer had only
+one object, and from its pursuit he never once desisted. Or, if he did
+desist for a brief interval, it was only to see his parents, who were
+part of his life, and whom he associated with his work. His
+correspondence with them is full of his airplanes, his flights, and then
+his enemy-chasing. His letters have no beginning and no ending, but
+plunge at once into action. He himself was nothing but action. Only
+that? the reader will ask. Action was his reason for existing, his
+heart, his soul--action in which his whole being fastened on his prey.
+
+A long and minutiose training goes to the making of a good pilot. But
+the impatient Guynemer had patience for everything, and the self-willed
+Stanislas student became the hardest working of apprentices. His
+scientific knowledge furnished him with a method, and after his first
+long flights his progress was very rapid. But he wanted to master all
+the principles of aviation. As student mechanician he had seen airplanes
+built. He intended to make himself veritably part of the machine which
+should be intrusted to him. Each of his senses was to receive the
+education which, little by little, would make it an instrument capable
+of registering facts and effecting security. His eyes--those piercing
+eyes which were to excel in raking the heavens and perceiving the first
+trace of an enemy at incalculable distances--though they could only
+register his motion in relation to the earth and not the air, could, at
+all events, inform him of the slightest deviations from the horizontal
+in the three dimensions: namely, straightness of direction, lateral and
+longitudinal horizontality, and accurately appreciate angular
+variations. When the motor slowed up or stopped, his ear would interpret
+the sound made by the wind on the piano wires, the tension wires, the
+struts and canvas; while his touch, still more sure, would know by the
+degree of resistance of the controlling elements the speed action of the
+machine, and his skillful hands would prepare the work of death. "In the
+case of the bird," says the _Manual_, by M. Maurice Percheron, "its
+feathers connect its organs of stability with the brain; while the
+experienced aviator has his controlling elements which produce the
+movement he wishes, and inform him of the disturbing motions of the
+wind." But with Guynemer the movements he wanted were never brought
+about as the result of reflex nervous action. At no time, even in the
+greatest danger, did he ever cease to govern every maneuver of his
+machine by his own thought. His rapidity of conception and decision was
+astounding, but was never mere instinct. As pilot, as hunter, as
+warrior, Guynemer invariably controlled his airplane and his gun with
+his brain. This is why his apprenticeship was so important, and why he
+himself attached so much importance to it--by instinct, in this case.
+His nerves were always strained, but he worked out his results. Behind
+every action was the power of his will, that power which had forced his
+entrance into the army, and itself closed the doors behind him, a
+prisoner of his own vocation.
+
+He familiarized himself with all the levers of the engine and every part
+of the controlling elements. When the obligatory exercises were
+finished, and his comrades were resting and idling, he remounted the
+airplane, as a child gets onto his rocking-horse, and took the levers
+again into his hands. When he went up, he watched for the exact instant
+for quitting the ground and sought the easiest line of ascension; during
+flights, he was careful about his position, avoiding too much diving, or
+nosing-up, maintaining a horizontal movement, making sure of his lateral
+and longitudinal equilibrium, familiarizing himself with winds, and
+adapting his motions to every sort of rocking. When he came down, and
+the earth seemed to leap up at him, he noted the angle and swiftness of
+the descent and found the right height at which to slow down. Although
+his first efforts had been so clever that his monitors were convinced
+for a long time that he had already been a pilot, yet it is not so much
+his talent that we should admire as his determination. He was more
+successful than others because he wore himself out during the whole of
+his short life in trying to do better--to do better in order to serve
+better. He worked more than any one else; when he was not satisfied with
+himself he began all over again, and sought the cause of his errors.
+There are many other pilots as gifted as Guynemer, but he possessed an
+energy which was extraordinary, and in this respect excelled all the
+rest.
+
+And there were no limits to the exercise of this energy. He gave his own
+body to complete so to speak, the airplane,--a centaur of the air. The
+wind that whistled through his tension wires and canvas made his own
+body vibrate like the piano wires. His body was so sensitive that it,
+too, seemed to obey the rudder. Nothing that concerned his voyages was
+either unknown or negligible to him. He verified all his
+instruments--the map-holder, the compass, the altimeter, the tachometer,
+the speedometer--with searching care. Before every flight he himself
+made sure that his machine was in perfect condition. When it was brought
+out of the hangar he looked it over as they look over race-horses, and
+never forgot this task. How would it be when he should have his own
+airplane?
+
+At Pau he increased the number of his flights, and changed airplanes,
+leaving the Blériot Gnome for the Morane. His altitudes at this time
+varied from 500 to 600 meters. Going, on March 21, to the Avord school,
+he went up on the 28th to a height of 1500 meters, and on April 1 to
+2600. His flights became longer, and lasted one hour, then an hour and a
+half. The spiral descent from a height of 500 meters, with the motor
+switched off, triangular voyages, the test of altitude and that of
+duration of flight, which were necessary for his military diploma, soon
+became nothing more to him than sport. In May nearly every day he
+piloted one passenger on an M.S.P. (Morane-Saunier-Parasol). During all
+this period his record-book registers only one breakdown. Finally, on
+May 25, he was sent to the general Aviation Reserves, and on the 31st
+made two flights in a Nieuport with a passenger. This was the end of his
+apprenticeship, and on June 8 Corporal Georges Guynemer was designated
+as member of Escadrille M.S.3, which he joined next day at Vauciennes.
+
+This M.S.3 was the future N.3, the "Ciogognes" or Storks Escadrille. It
+was already commanded by Captain Brocard, under whose orders it was
+destined to become illustrious. Védrines belonged to it.
+_Sous-lieutenant de cavalerie_ Deullin joined it almost simultaneously
+with Guynemer, whose friend he soon became. Later, little by little,
+came Heurtaux, de la Tour, Dorme, Auger, Raymond, etc., all the famous
+valiant knights of the escadrille, like the peers of France who followed
+Roland over the Spanish roads. This aviation camp was at Vauciennes,
+near Villers-Cotterets, in the Valois country with its beautiful
+forests, its chateaux, its fertile meadows, and its delicate outlines
+made shadowy by the humid vapor rising from ponds or woods. "Complete
+calm," wrote Guynemer on June 9, "not one sound of any kind; one might
+think oneself in the Midi, except that the inhabitants have seen the
+beast at close range, and know how to appreciate us.... Védrines is very
+friendly and has given me excellent advice. He has recommended me to his
+'_mecanos_,' who are the real type of the clever Parisian, inventive,
+lively and good humored...." Next day he gives some details of his
+billet, and adds: "I have had a _mitrailleuse_ support mounted on my
+machine, and now I am ready for the hunt.... Yesterday at five o'clock I
+darted around above the house at 1700 or 2000 meters. Did you see me? I
+forced my motor for five minutes in hopes that you would hear me." He
+had recently parted from his family, and a happy chance had brought him
+to fight over the very lines that protected his own home. The front of
+the Sixth Army to which he was attached, extending from Ribécourt beyond
+the forest of Laigue, passed in front of Railly and Tracy-le-Val,
+hollowed itself before the enemy salient of Moulin-sous-Touvent,
+straightened itself again near Autrèches and Nouvron-Vingré, covered
+Soissons, whose very outskirts were menaced, was obliged to turn back on
+the left bank of the Aisne where the enemy took, in January, 1915, the
+bridge-head at Condé, and Vailly and Chavonne, and crossed the river
+again at Soupir which belonged to us. Laon, La Fère, Coucy-le-Château,
+Chauny, Noyon, Ham, and Péronne were the objects of his reconnoitering
+flights.
+
+War acts more poignantly, more directly upon a soldier whose own home is
+immediately behind him. If the front were pierced in the sector which
+had been intrusted to him, his own people would be exposed. So he
+becomes their sentinel. Under such conditions, _la Patrie_ is no longer
+merely the historic soil of the French people, the sacred ground every
+parcel of which is responsible for all the rest, but also the beloved
+home of infancy, the home of parents, and, for this collegian of
+yesterday, the scene of charming walks and delightful vacations. He has
+but just now left the paternal mansion; and, not yet accustomed to the
+separation, he visits it by the roads of the air, the only ones which he
+is now free to travel. He does not take advantage of his proximity to
+Compiègne to go ring the familiar door-bell, because he is a soldier and
+respects orders; but, on returning from his rounds, he does not hesitate
+to turn aside a bit in order to pass over his home, indulging up there
+in the sky in all sorts of acrobatic caprioles to attract attention and
+prolong the interview. What lover was ever more ingenious and madder in
+his rendezvous?
+
+Throughout all his correspondence he recalls his air visits. "You must
+have seen my head, for I never took my eyes off the house...." Or, after
+an aërial somersault that filled all those down below with terror: "I am
+wretched to know that my veering the other day frightened _maman_ so
+much, but I did it so as to see the house without having to lean over
+the side of the machine, which is unpleasant on account of the wind...."
+Or sometimes he threw down a paper which was picked up in Count Foy's
+park: "Everything is all right." He thought he was reassuring his
+parents about his safety; but their state of mind can be conceived when
+they beheld, exactly over their heads, an airplane engaged apparently in
+performing a dance, while through their binoculars they could see the
+tiny black speck of a head which looked over its side. He had indeed a
+singular fashion of reassuring them!
+
+Meanwhile, at Vauciennes the newcomer was being tested. At first he was
+thought to look rather sickly and weak, to be somewhat reserved and
+distant, and too well dressed, with a "young-ladyish" air. He was known
+to be already an expert pilot, capable of making tail spins after barely
+three months' experience. But still the men felt some uncertainty about
+this youngster whom they dared not trifle with on account of his eyes,
+"out of which fire and spirit flowed like a torrent."[15] Later on they
+were to know him better.
+
+[Footnote 15: Saint-Simon.]
+
+A legend was current as to the large quantity of "wood broken" by
+Guynemer in his early days with the escadrille. This is radically
+untrue, and his notebook contradicts it. From the very first day the
+_débutant_ fulfilled the promise of his apprentice days. After one or
+two trial flights, he left for a scouting expedition on Sunday, June 13,
+above the enemy lines, and there met three German airplanes. On the 14th
+he described what he had seen in a letter to his father.--His
+correspondence still included some description at that time, the earth
+still held his attention; but it was soon to lose interest for
+him.--"The appearance of Tracy and Quennevières," he wrote, "is simply
+unbelievable: ruins, an inextricable entanglement of trenches almost
+touching one another, the soil turned over by the shells, the holes of
+which one sees by thousands. One wonders how there could be a single
+living man there. Only a few trees of a wood are left standing, the
+others beaten down by the "_marmites_,"[16] and everywhere may be seen
+the yellow color of the literally plowed-up earth. It seems incredible
+that all these details can be seen from a height of over 3000 meters. I
+could see to a distance of 60 or 70 kilometers, and never lost sight of
+Compiègne. Saint-Quentin, Péronne, etc., were as distinct as if I were
+there...."
+
+[Footnote 16: Shells.]
+
+Next day, the 14th, another reconnaissance, of which the itinerary was
+Coucy, Laon, La Fère, Tergnier, Appily, Vic-sur-Aisne. Not a cannon shot
+disturbed these first two expeditions. But danger lurked under this
+apparent security, and on the 15th he was saluted by shells, dropping
+quite near. It was his "baptism by fire," and only inspired this
+sentence _à la Duguesclin_: "No impression, except satisfied curiosity."
+
+The following days were passed in a perfect tempest, and he only
+laughed. The new Roland, the bold and marvelous knight, is already
+revealed in the letters to be given below. On the 16th he departed on
+his rounds, carrying, as observer, Lieutenant de Lavalette. His airplane
+was hit by a shell projectile in the right wing. On the 17th his machine
+returned with eight wounds, two in the right wing, four in the body, and
+in addition one strut and one longitudinal spar hit. On the 18th he
+returned from a reconnaissance with Lieutenant Colcomb during which his
+machine had been hit in the right wing, the rudder, and the body. But
+his notebook only contains statements of facts, and we have to turn to
+his correspondence for more details.
+
+"Decidedly," he wrote on June 17 to his sister Odette, "the Boches have
+quite a special affection for me, and the parts of my '_coucou_' serve
+me for a calendar. Yesterday we flew over Chauny, Tergnier, Laon, Coucy,
+Soissons. Up to Chauny my observer had counted 243 shells; Coucy shot
+500 to 600; my observer estimated 1000 shots in all. All we heard was a
+rolling sound, and then the shells burst everywhere, below us, above, in
+front, behind, on the right and on the left, for we descended to take
+some photographs of a place which they did not want us to see. We could
+hear the shell-fragments whistling past; there was one that, after
+piercing the wing, passed within the radius of the propeller without
+touching it, and then to within fifty centimeters of my face; another
+entered by the same hole but stayed there, and I will send it to you.
+Fragments also struck the rudder, and one the body." (His journal
+mentions more.) "My observer, who has been an observer from the
+beginning, says that he never saw a cannonade like that one, and that he
+was glad to get back again. At one moment a bomb-head of 105
+millimeters, which we knew by its shape and the color of its explosion,
+fell on us and just grazed us. In fact, we often see enormous shells
+exploding. It is very curious. On our return we met Captain Gerard, and
+my observer told him that I had astounding nerve; _zim, boum boum!_ He
+said he knew it.... I will send you a photograph of my '_coucou_' with
+its nine bruises: it is superb."
+
+The next day, June 18, it was his mother who received his confidences.
+The enemy had bombarded Villers-Cotterets with a long-distance gun which
+had to be discovered. On this occasion he took Lieutenant Colcomb as
+observer: "At Coucy, terribly accurate cannonade: _toc, toc_, two
+projectiles in the right wing, one within a meter of me; we went on with
+our observations in the same place. Suddenly a formidable crash: a shell
+burst 8 to 10 meters under the machine. Result: three holes, one strut
+and one spar spoiled. We went on for five minutes longer observing the
+same spot, always encircled, naturally. Returning, the shooting was less
+accurate. On landing, my observer congratulated me for not having moved
+or zig-zagged, which would have bothered his observation. We had, in
+fact, only made very slight and very slow changes of altitude, speed,
+and direction. Compliments from him mean something, for nobody has
+better nerve. In the evening Captain Gerard, in command of army
+aviation, called me and said: 'You are a nervy pilot, all right; you
+won't spoil our reputation by lack of pluck--quite the contrary. For a
+beginner!--' and he asked me how long I had been a corporal. _Y a bon._
+My '_coucou_' is superb, with its parts all dated in red. You can see
+them all, for those underneath spread up over the sides. In the air I
+showed each hole in the wing, as it was hit, to the passenger, and he
+was enchanted, too. It's a thrilling sport. It is a bore, though, when
+they burst over our heads, because I cannot see them, though I can hear.
+The observer has to give me information in that case. Just now, _le roi
+n'est pas mon cousin_...."
+
+Lieutenant, now Captain, Colcomb, has completed this account. During the
+entire period of his observation, the pilot, in fact, did not make any
+maneuver or in any way shake the machine in order to dodge the firing.
+He simply sent the airplane a bit higher and calmly lowered it again
+over the spot to be photographed, as if he were master of the air. The
+following dialogue occurred:
+
+_The Observer_: "I have finished; we can go back."
+
+_The Pilot_: "Lieutenant, do me the favor of photographing for me the
+projectiles falling around us."
+
+Children have always had a passion for pictures; and the pictures were
+taken.
+
+The chasers and bombardiers in the history of aviation have attracted
+public attention to the detriment of their comrades, the observers,
+whose admirable services will become better known in time. It is by them
+that the battle field is exposed, and the preparations and ruses of the
+enemy balked: they are the eyes of the commanders, and also the friends
+of the troops. On April 29, 1916, Lieutenant Robbe flew over the
+trenches of the Mort-Homme at 200 meters, and brought back a detailed
+exposition of the entanglement of the lines. A year later, in nearly the
+same place, Lieutenant Pierre Guilland, observer on board a biplane of
+the Moroccan division, was forced down by three enemy airplanes just at
+the moment when his division, whose progress he was following in order
+to report it, started its attack on the Corbeaux Woods east of the
+Mort-Homme, on August 20, 1917. He fell on the first advancing lines and
+was picked up, unconscious and mortally wounded, by an artillery officer
+who proceeded to carry out the aviator's mission. When the latter
+reopened his eyes--for only a short while--he asked: "Where am
+I?"--"North of Chattancourt, west of Cumières."--"Has the attack
+succeeded?"--"Every object has been attained."--"Ah! that's good, that's
+good." ... He made them repeat the news to him. He was dying, but his
+division was victorious.
+
+Near Frise, Lieutenant Sains, who had been obliged to land on July 1,
+1916, was rescued by the French army on July 4, after having hidden
+himself for three days in a shell-hole to avoid surrendering, his pilot,
+Quartermaster de Kyspotter, having been killed.
+
+During the battle of the Aisne in April, 1917, Lieutenant Godillot,
+whose pilot had also been killed, slid along the plane, sat on the knees
+of the dead pilot, and brought the machine back into the French lines.
+And Captain Méry, Lieutenant Viguier, Lieutenant de Saint-Séverin, and
+Fressagues, Floret, de Niort, and Major Challe, Lieutenant Boudereau,
+Captain Roeckel, and Adjutant Fonck--who was to become famous as a
+chaser--how many of these élite observers furthered the destruction
+wrought by the artillery, and aided the progress of the infantry!
+
+On October 24, 1916, as the fog cleared away, I saw the airplane of the
+Guyot de Salins division fly over Fort Douaumont just at the moment when
+Major Nicolai's marines entered there.[17] The airplane had descended so
+low into the mist that it seemed as if magnetically drawn down by the
+earth, and the observer, leaning over the edge, was clapping his hands
+to applaud the triumph of his comrades. The latter saw his gesture, even
+though they could not hear the applause, and cheered him--a spontaneous
+exchange of soldierly confidence and affection between the sky and the
+earth.
+
+[Footnote 17: See _Les Captifs délivrés_.]
+
+Almost exactly one year later, on October 23, 1917, I saw the airplane
+of the same division hovering over the Fort of the Malmaison just as the
+Giraud battalion of the 4th Zouaves Regiment took possession of it. At
+dawn it came to observe and note the site of the commanding officer's
+post, and to read the optical signals announcing our success. At each
+visit it seemed like the moving star of old, now guiding the new
+shepherds, the guardians of our dear human flocks--not over the stable
+where a God was born, but over the ruins where victory was born.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: THE FIRST FLIGHT IN A BLÉRIOT]
+
+Later on Captain Colcomb spoke of Guynemer as "the most sublime military
+figure I have ever been permitted to behold, one of the finest and
+most generous souls I have ever known." Guynemer was not satisfied to be
+merely calm and systematically immovable, and to display sang-froid,
+though to an extraordinary degree. He amused himself by counting the
+holes in his wings, and pointing them out to the observer. He was
+furious when the explosions occurred outside his range of vision,
+because he was not resigned to missing anything. He seemed to juggle
+with the shrapnel. And after landing, he rushed off to his escadrille
+chief, Captain Brocard, took him by the arm, and never left him until he
+had drawn him almost by force to his machine, compelling him to put his
+fingers into the wounds, exulting meanwhile and fairly bounding with
+joy. Captain, now Major Brocard, felt quite sure of him from that time,
+and referred to him later in these words: "Very young: his extraordinary
+self-confidence and natural qualities will very soon make him an
+excellent pilot...."
+
+His curiosity, indeed, was satisfied; and to whom would he confide all
+the risks that he ran? His mother and his sisters, the hearts which were
+the most troubled about him, and whose peace and happiness he had
+carried off into the air. He never dreamed of the torment he caused
+them, and which they knew how to conceal from him. Even the idea of such
+a thing never occurred to him. As they loved him, they loved him just as
+he was, in the raw. He was too young to dissimulate, too young to spare
+them. He knew nothing either of lies or of pity. He never thought that
+any one could suffer anguish about a son or a brother when this son and
+brother was himself supremely happy in his vocation. He was naïvely
+cruel.
+
+But the rounds and reconnaissances were not to hold him long; and he
+already scented other adventures. He had scented the odor of the beast,
+and he had his airplane furnished with a support for a machine-gun. That
+particular airplane, it is true, came to an untimely end in a ditch, but
+was already condemned by its body-frame, which was rotten with bullet
+holes. That was the only "wood" Guynemer "broke" during his early
+flights.
+
+But his next airplane was also armed, and in the young pilot could
+already be plainly seen that taste for enemy-chasing which was to
+bewitch and take possession of him. Though after this time he certainly
+carried over the lines Lieutenant de Lavalette, Lieutenant Colcomb and
+Captain Siméon, and always with equal calm, yet he aspired to other
+flights, further away from earth. Lieutenant de Beauchamp--the future
+Captain de Beauchamp, who was to die so soon after his audacious raids
+on Essen and Munich--divined what was hidden in this thin boy who was in
+such breathless haste to get on. He would not allow Corporal Guynemer to
+address him as lieutenant, feeling so surely his equality, and to-morrow
+perhaps his mastery. On July 6, 1915, he sent him a little guide for
+aviators in a few lines: "Be cautious. Look well at what is happening
+around you before acting. Invoke Saint Benoît every morning. But above
+all, write in letters of fire in your memory: _In aviation, everything
+not useful should be avoided._" Oh, of course! The "little girl" laughed
+at the advice as he laughed at the tempest. He had an admiration for
+Beauchamp, but when did a Roland ever listen to an Oliver? One day he
+went up in a wind of over 25 meters, and even by nosing-up a bit he
+could hardly make any progress. With the wind behind him he made over
+200 kilometers. Then he landed. Védrines addressed a few warning remarks
+to him, and he was thought to be calmed. But off he went again before
+the frightened spectators. He would always do too much, and nothing
+could restrain him.
+
+The importance of the development of aviation in the war had been
+foreseen neither by the Germans nor ourselves. If before the beginning
+of the campaign the military chiefs had understood all the services
+which would be rendered by aërial strategic scouting, the regulation of
+artillery fire would not have still been in an experimental stage. No
+one knew the help which was to be derived from aërial photography. The
+air duel was regarded simply as a possible incident that might occur
+during a patrol or a reconnaissance, and in view of which the observer
+or mechanician armed himself with a gun or an automatic pistol.
+Airplanes armed with machine-guns were very exceptional, and at the end
+of 1914 there were only thirty. The Germans used them generally before
+we did; but it was the French aviators, nevertheless, who forced the
+Germans to fight in the air. I had the opportunity in October, 1914, to
+see, from a hill on the Aisne, one of these first airplane combats,
+which ended by the enemy falling on the outskirts of the village of
+Muizon on the left bank of the Vesle. The French champion bore the fine
+name of Franc, and piloted a Voisin. At that date it was not unusual to
+pick up messages dropped within our lines by enemy pilots, substantially
+to this effect: "Useless for us to fight each other; there are enough
+risks without that...."
+
+Meanwhile, strategic reconnaissance was perfected as the line of the
+front became firmly established, and more and more importance was
+accorded to the search for objectives. Remarkable results were attained
+by air photography from December, 1914; and after January, 1915, the
+regulation of artillery fire by wireless telegraphy was in general
+practice. It was necessary to protect the airplanes attached to army
+corps, and to clean up the air for their free circulation. This rôle
+devolved upon the most rapid airplanes, which were then the
+Morane-Saunier-Parasols, and in the spring of 1915 these formed the
+first _escadrilles de chasse_, one for each army. Garros, already
+popular before the war for having been the first air-pilot to cross the
+Mediterranean, from Saint-Raphael to Bizerto, forced down a large
+Aviatik above Dixmude in April, 1915. A few days later a motor breakdown
+compelled him to land at Ingelminster, north of Courtrai, and he was
+made prisoner.[18] The aviators, like the knights of ancient times,
+sent one another challenges. Sergeant David--who was killed shortly
+after--having been obliged to refuse to fight an enemy airplane because
+his machine-gun jammed, dropped a challenge to the latter on the German
+aërodrome, and waited at the place, on the day and hour fixed, at
+Vauquois (noon, in June, 1915, above the German lines), but his
+adversary never came to the rendezvous.
+
+[Footnote 18: The romantic circumstances under which he escaped in
+February, 1918, are well known.]
+
+The Maurice Farman and Caudron airplanes were used for observation. The
+Voisin machines, strong but slower, were more especially utilized for
+bombardments, which began to be carried out by organized expeditions.
+The famous raids on the Ludwigshafen factories and the Karlsruhe railway
+station occurred in June, 1915. It was at the battle of Artois (May and
+June, 1915) that aviation for the first time constituted a branch of the
+army; and the work was chiefly done by the escadrilles belonging to the
+army corps, which rendered very considerable services as scouts and in
+aërial photography and destructive fire. But as an enemy chaser, the
+airplane was still regarded with much distrust and incredulity. Some
+said it was useless; was it not sufficient that the airplanes of the
+army corps and those for bombardments could defend themselves? Others of
+less extreme opinions thought it should be limited to the part of
+protector. This opposition was overcome by the sudden development of the
+German enemy-chasing airplanes after July, 1915, subsequent to our raids
+on Ludwigshafen and Karlsruhe, which aroused furious anger in Germany.
+
+In the beginning the belligerent nations had collected the most
+heterogeneous group of all the airplane models then available. But the
+methodical Germans, without delay, supplied their constructors with
+definite types of machines in order to make their escadrilles
+harmonious. At that time they used monoplanes for reconnaissances,
+without any special arrangement for carrying arms, and incapable of
+carrying heavy weights; and biplanes for observation, unarmed, and
+possessing only a makeshift contrivance for launching bombs. The
+machines of both these series were two-seated, with the passenger in
+front. These were Albatros, Aviatiks, Eulers, Rumplers, and Gothas.
+Early in 1915 appeared the Fokkers, which were one-seated, and new
+two-seated machines, Aviatiks or Albatros, which were more rapid, with
+the passenger at the rear, and furnished with a revolving turret for the
+machine-gun. The German troops engaged in aërostation, aviation,
+automobile and railway service were grouped as communication troops
+(_Verkehrstruppen_), under the direction of the General Inspection of
+Military Communications. It was not until the autumn of 1916 that the
+aërostation, aviation, and aërial defense troops were made independent
+and, under the title of _Luftstreitkräfte_ (aërial combatant forces),
+took their position in the order of battle between the pioneers and the
+communication troops. But early in the summer of 1915 the progress
+realized in aviation resulted in its forming a separate branch of the
+army, with campaign and enemy-chasing escadrilles.
+
+Guynemer was now on the straight road toward aërial combat. Most of our
+pilots were still chasing enemy airplanes with one passenger armed with
+a simple musketoon. More circumspect than the others, Guynemer had his
+airplane armed with a machine-gun. Meanwhile the staff was preparing to
+reorganize the army escadrilles. The bold Pégoud had several times
+fought with too enterprising Fokkers or Aviatiks; Captain Brocard had
+forced down one of them in flames over Soissons; and the latest recruit
+of the escadrille, this youngster of a Guynemer, was burning to have his
+own Boche.
+
+The first entries in his notebook of flights for July, 1915, record
+expeditions without result, in company with Adjutant Hatin, Lieutenant
+de Ruppiere, in the region of Noyon, Roye, Ham, and Coucy-le-Château. On
+the 10th, the _chasseurs_ put to flight three Albatros, while a more
+rapid Fokker attempted an attack, but turned back having tried a shot at
+their machine-gun. On the 16th Guynemer and Hatin dropped bombs on the
+Chauny railway station; during the bombardment an Aviatik attacked them,
+they stood his fire, replying as well as they could with their
+musketoon, and returned to camp uninjured. Adjutant Hatin was decorated
+with the Military Medal. As Hatin was a _gourmet_, Guynemer went that
+same evening to Le Bourget to fetch two bottles of Rhine wine to
+celebrate this family fête. At Le Bourget he tried the new Nieuport
+machine, which was the hope of the fighting airplanes. Finally, on July
+19--memorable date--his journal records Guynemer's first victory:
+
+"Started with Guerder after a Boche reported at Couvres and caught up
+with him over Pierrefonds. Shot one belt, machine-gun jammed, then
+unjammed. The Boche fled and landed in the direction of Laon. At Coucy
+we turned back and saw an Aviatik going toward Soissons at about 3200
+meters up. We followed him, and as soon as he was within our lines we
+dived and placed ourselves about 50 meters under and behind him at the
+left. At our first salvo, the Aviatik lurched, and we saw a part of the
+machine crack. He replied with a rifle shot, one ball hitting a wing,
+another grazing Guerder's hand and head. At our last shot the pilot sank
+down on the body-frame, the observer raised his arms, and the Aviatik
+fell straight downward in flames, between the trenches...."
+
+This flight began at 3700 meters in the air, and lasted ten minutes, the
+two combatants being separated by a distance of 50 and sometimes 20
+meters. The statement of fact is characteristic of Guynemer. An
+unforgettable sight had been imprinted on his eyes: the pilot sinking
+down in his cock-pit, the arms of the observer beating the air, the
+burning airplane sinking. Such were to be his future landscape sketches,
+done in the sky. The wings of the bird of prey were unfurled definitely
+in space.
+
+The two fighting airmen had left Vauciennes at two o'clock in the
+afternoon, and at quarter-past three they landed, conquerors, at
+Carrière l'Evêque. From their opposing camps the infantry had followed
+the fight with their eyes. The Germans, made furious by defeat,
+cannonaded the landing-place. Georges, who was too thin for his clothes,
+and whose leather pantaloons lined with sheepskin, which he wore over
+his breeches, slipped and impeded his walking, sat down under the
+exploding shells and calmly took them off. Then he placed the machine in
+a position of greater safety, but broke the propeller on a pile of hay.
+During this time a crowd had come running and now surrounded the
+victors. Artillery officers escorted them off, sentinels saluted them, a
+colonel offered them champagne. Guerder was taken first into the
+commanding officer's post, and on being questioned about the maneuver
+that won the victory excused himself with modesty:
+
+"That was the pilot's affair."
+
+Guynemer, who had stolen in, was willing to talk.
+
+"Who is this?" asked the colonel.
+
+"That's the pilot."
+
+"You? How old are you?"
+
+"Twenty."
+
+"And the gunner?"
+
+"Twenty-two."
+
+"The deuce! There are nothing but children left to do the fighting."
+
+So, passed along in this manner from staff to staff, they finally landed
+at Compiègne, conducted by Captain Siméon. No happiness was complete for
+Guynemer if his home was not associated with it.
+
+"He will get the Military Medal," declared Captain Siméon, "because he
+wanted his Boche and went after him."
+
+Words of a true chief who knew his men. Always to go after what he
+wanted was the basic characteristic of Guynemer. And now various details
+concerning the combat came one by one to light. Guerder had been half
+out of the machine to have the machine-gun ready to hand. When the gun
+jammed, Georges yelled to his comrade how to release it. Guerder, who
+had picked up his rifle, laid it down, executed the maneuver indicated
+by Guynemer, and resumed his machine-gun fire. This episode lasted two
+minutes during which Georges maintained the airplane under the Aviatik,
+unwilling to change his position, as he saw that a recoil would expose
+them to the Boche's gun.
+
+Meanwhile Védrines came in search of the victor, and piloted the machine
+back to head-quarters, with Guynemer on board seated on the body and
+quivering with joy.
+
+With this very first victory Guynemer sealed his friendship with the
+infantry, whom his youthful audacity had comforted in their trenches. He
+received the following letter, dated July 20, 1915:
+
+     Lieutenant-colonel Maillard, commanding the 238th Infantry, to
+     Corporal Pilot Guynemer and Mechanician Guerder of Escadrille M.S.
+     3, at Vauciennes.
+
+     The Lieutenant-colonel,
+     The Officers,
+     The whole Regiment,
+
+
+     Having witnessed the aërial attack you made upon a German Aviatik
+     over their trenches, spontaneously applauded your victory which
+     terminated in the vertical fall of your adversary. They offer you
+     their warmest congratulations, and share the joy you must have felt
+     in achieving so brilliant a success. Maillard.
+
+On July 21 the Military Medal was given to the two victors, Guynemer's
+being accompanied by the following mention: "Corporal Guynemer: a pilot
+full of spirit and audacity, volunteering for the most dangerous
+missions. After a hot pursuit, gave battle to a German airplane, which
+ended in the burning and destruction of the latter." The decoration was
+bestowed on August 4 at Vauciennes by General Dubois, then in command of
+the Sixth Army, and in presence of his father, who had been sent for.
+Then Guynemer paid for his newly won glory by a few days of fever.
+
+
+II. FROM THE AISNE TO VERDUN
+
+Guynemer's first victory occurred on July 19, 1915, and for his second
+he had to wait nearly six months. This was not because he had not been
+on the watch. He would have been glad to mount a Nieuport, but, after
+all, he had had his Boche, and at that time the exploit was exceptional:
+he had to be patient, and give his comrades a chance to do the same.
+
+When finally he obtained the longed-for Nieuport, he flew sixteen hours
+in five days, and naturally went to parade himself over Compiègne.
+Without this dedication to his home, the machine would never be
+consecrated.
+
+When the overwork incident to such a life forced him to take a little
+repose, he wandered back to his home like a soul in pain. It was in vain
+that his parents and his two sisters--whom he called his "kids" as if he
+were their elder--exhausted their ingenuity to amuse him. This home he
+loved so much, which he left so recently, and returned to so happily,
+bringing with him his young fame, no longer sufficed him. Though he was
+so comfortable there, yet on clear days the house stifled him. On such
+days he seemed like a school child caught in some fault: a little more
+and he would have condemned himself. Then his sister Yvonne, who had
+understood the situation, made a bargain with him.
+
+"What is it you miss here at home?"
+
+"Something you cannot give me. Or rather, yes, you can give it to me.
+Promise me you will."
+
+"Surely, if it will make you happy."
+
+"I shall be the happiest of men."
+
+"Then it's granted in advance."
+
+"Very well, this is it: every morning you must examine the weather. If
+it is bad, you will let me sleep."
+
+"And if it is fine?"
+
+"If it is fine, you will wake me up."
+
+His sister was afraid to ask more, as she guessed how he would use a
+fine day. As she was silent, he pretended to pout with that cajoling
+manner he could assume, and which fascinated everybody.
+
+"You won't do it? I could not stay home: _c'est plus fort que moi_."
+
+"But, I promise."
+
+And to keep him at home until he should be cured, more or less, the
+young girl opened her window every morning and inspected the sky,
+secretly hoping to find it thickly covered with clouds.
+
+"Clouds, waiting over there, motionless, on the edge of the horizon,
+what are you waiting for? Will you stand idle and let me awaken my
+brother, who is resting?"
+
+The clouds being indifferent, the sleeper had to be awakened. He dressed
+hastily, with a smile at the transparent sky, and soon reached
+Vauciennes by automobile, where he called for his machine, mounted,
+ascended, flew, hunted the enemy, and returned to Compiègne for
+luncheon.
+
+"And you can leave us like that?" remonstrated his mother. "Why, this is
+your holiday."
+
+"Yes, the effort to leave is all the greater."
+
+"Well?--"
+
+"I like the effort, _Maman_."
+
+His Antigone forced herself to keep her bargain with him. The sun never
+shone above the forest in vain, but nevertheless she detested the sun.
+What a strange Romeo this boy would have made! Without the least doubt
+he would have charged Juliet to wake him to go to battle, and would
+never have forgiven her for confounding the lark and the nightingale.
+
+On his return to the aviation camp, in the absence of his own
+longed-for victories, he took pleasure in describing those of others. He
+knew nothing of rivalry or envy. He wrote his sister Odette the
+following description of a combat waged by Captain Brocard, who
+surprised a Boche from the rear, approached him to within fifteen meters
+without being seen, and, just at the moment when the enemy pilot turned
+round his head, sent him seven cartridges from his machine-gun: "Result:
+one ball in the ear, and another through the middle of his chest. You
+can imagine whether the fall of the machine was instantaneous or not.
+There was nothing left of the pilot but one chin, one ear, one mouth, a
+torso and material enough to reconstitute two arms. As to the "_coucou_"
+(burned), nothing was left but the motor and a few bits of iron. The
+passenger was emptied out during the fall...." It cannot be said that he
+had much consideration for the nerves of young girls. He treated them as
+if they were warriors who could understand everything relating to
+battles. He wrote with the same freedom that Shakespeare's characters
+use in speech.
+
+Until the middle of September he piloted two-seated airplanes, carrying
+one passenger, either as observer or combatant. At last he went up in
+his one-seated Nieuport, reveling in the intoxication of being alone,
+that intoxication well known to lovers of the mountains and the air. Is
+it the sensation of liberty, the freedom from all the usual material
+bonds, the feeling of coming into possession of these deserts of space
+or ice where the traveler covers leagues without meeting anybody, the
+forgetfulness of all that interferes with one's own personal object?
+Such solitaries do not easily accommodate themselves to company which
+seems to them to encroach upon their domain, and steal a part of their
+enjoyment. Guynemer never enjoyed anything so much as these lonely
+rounds in which he took possession of the whole sky, and woe to the
+enemy who ventured into this immensity, which was now his park.
+
+On September 29, and October 1, 1915, he was sent on special missions.
+These special missions were generally confided to Védrines, who had
+accomplished seven. The time is not yet ripe for a revelation of their
+details, but they were particularly dangerous, for it was necessary to
+land in occupied territory and return. Guynemer's first mission required
+three hours' flying. He ascended in a storm, just as the countermand
+arrived owing to the unfavorable weather. When he descended, volplaning,
+at daybreak, with slackened, noiseless motor, and landed on our invaded
+territory, his heart beat fast. Some peasants going to their work in the
+fields saw him as he ascended again, and recognizing the tricolor,
+showed much surprise, and then extended their hands to him. This mission
+won for Sergeant Guynemer--he had been promoted sergeant shortly
+before--his second mention: "Has proved his courage, energy and
+sang-froid by accomplishing, as a volunteer, an important and difficult
+special mission in stormy weather."--"This palm is worth while," he
+wrote in a letter to his parents, "for the mission was hard." On his way
+back an English aviator shot at him, but on recognizing him signaled
+elaborate excuses.
+
+Some rather exciting reconnaissances with Captain Siméon--one day over
+Saint-Quentin they were attacked by a Fokker and, their machine-gun
+refusing to work, they were subjected to two hundred shots from the
+enemy at 100 meters, then at 50 meters, so that they were obliged to
+dive into a cloud, with one tire gone--and a few bombardments of railway
+stations and goods depots did not assuage his fever for the chase.
+Nothing sufficed him but to explore and rake the heavens. On November 6,
+3000 meters above Chaulnes, he waged an epic combat with an L.V.G.
+(_Luft-Verkehr-Gesellschaft_), 150 H.P. Having succeeded in placing
+himself three meters under his enemy, he almost laughed with the surety
+he felt of forcing him down, when his machine-gun jammed. He immediately
+banked, but he was so near the enemy that the machines interlocked.
+Would he fall? A bit of his canvas was torn off, but the airplane held
+its own. As he drew away he saw the enormous enemy machine-gun aimed at
+him. A bullet grazed his head. He dived under the Boche, who retreated.
+"All the same," Guynemer added gaily, "if I ever get into a terrible
+financial fix and have to become a cab-driver, I shall have memories
+which are far from ordinary: a tire exploding at 3400 meters, an
+interlocking at 3000 meters. That rotten Boche only owed his life to a
+spring being slightly out of order, as was shown by the autopsy on the
+machine-gun. For my eighth combat, this was decidedly annoying...."
+
+It was annoying, but what could be done? Nothing, in fact, but return to
+one's apprenticeship. He was perfectly satisfied with his work as a
+pilot, but it was necessary to avoid these too frequent jammings which
+saved the enemy. At Stanislas College Guynemer was known as an excellent
+shot. He began to practice again with his rifle, and with the
+machine-gun; above all, he carefully examined every part of this
+delicate weapon, taking it apart and putting it together, and increasing
+his practice. He became a gunsmith. And there lies the secret of his
+genius: he never gave up anything, nor ever acknowledged himself beaten.
+If he failed, he began all over again, but after having sought the cause
+of his failure in order to remedy it. When he was asked one day to
+choose a device for himself, he adopted this, which completely expresses
+his character: _Faire face_. He always faced everything, not only the
+enemy, but every object which opposed his progress. His determination
+compelled success. In the career of Guynemer nothing was left to chance,
+and everything won by effort, pursuit, and implacable will.
+
+On Sunday, December 5, 1915, as he was making his rounds in the
+Compiègne region, he saw two airplanes more than 3000 meters above
+Chauny. As the higher one flew over Bailly he sprang upon it and
+attacked it: at 50 meters, fifteen shots from his machine-gun; at 20
+meters, thirty shots. The German fell in a tail spin, north of Bailly
+over against the Bois Carré. Guynemer was sure he had forced him down;
+but the other airplane was still there. He tacked in order to chase and
+attack him, but in vain, for his second adversary had fled. And when he
+tried to discover the spot where the first must have fallen, he failed
+to find it. This was really too much: was he going to lose his prey?
+Suddenly he had an idea. He landed in a field near Compiègne. It was
+Sunday, and just noon, and he knew that his parents would be coming home
+from mass. He watched for them, and as soon as he perceived his father
+rushed to him:
+
+"Father, I have lost my Boche."
+
+"You have lost your Boche?"
+
+"Yes, an airplane that I have forced down. I must return to my
+escadrille, but I don't want to lose him."
+
+"What can I do?"
+
+"Why, look for him and find him. He ought to be near Bailly, towards the
+Bois Carré."
+
+And he vanished, leaving to his father the task of finding the lost
+airplane as a partridge is found in a field of lucerne. The military
+authority kindly lent its aid, and in fact the body of the German pilot
+was discovered on the edge of the Bois Carré, where it was buried.
+
+This victory was ratified, but a few days later the authorities, failing
+to find the necessary material proof, refused to give Guynemer credit
+for it. Ah, the regulations refuse the hunter this game? Guynemer,
+turning very red, declared: "It doesn't matter, I will get another." He
+was always wanting another; and in fact he got one four days later, on
+December 8. This is the report in his notebook: "Discovering the
+strategic line Royne-Nesle. While descending, saw a German airplane
+high, and far within its own lines. As it passed the lines at
+Beuvraigne, I cut off its retreat and chased it. I caught up to it in
+five minutes, and fired forty-seven shots from my Lewis from a point 20
+meters behind and under it. The enemy airplane, an L.V.G. 165 H.P.
+probably, dived, caught fire, turned over, and, carried along by the
+west wind, fell on its back at Beuvraigne. The passenger fell out at
+Bus, the pilot at Tilloloy...."
+
+When the victor landed at Beuvraigne near his victim, the artillerymen
+belonging to a nearby battery of 95 mm. guns (47th battery of the 31st
+regiment of artillery), and who were already crowding around the enemy's
+body, rushed upon and surrounded Guynemer. But the commander, Captain
+Allain Launay, mustered his men, ordered a salute to Guynemer, made a
+speech to his command, and said: "We shall now fire a volley in honor of
+Sergeant Guynemer." The salvo demolished a small house where some Boches
+had taken refuge. Through the binoculars they could be seen to scatter
+when the first shell struck their shelter.
+
+"They owe that to me, too!" cried the enthusiastic urchin.
+
+Meanwhile Captain Allain Launay had patiently ripped the captain's
+stripes from his cap, and when he had finished handed them to Guynemer:
+
+"Promise me to wear them when you are appointed captain."
+
+This victory was not questioned, and there was even some discussion
+about making this youngster a Knight of the Legion of Honor. But even
+when he had been promoted sergeant there had been some objection, owing
+to his youth. "Nevertheless," Guynemer had observed angrily, "I am not
+too young to be hit by the enemy's shells." This time another objection
+arose: If he receives the "cross" for this victory, what can be given
+him for succeeding ones? The proud little Roland rebelled, revolted,
+rose up like a cock on its spurs. He did not see that everybody already
+foresaw his destiny. He would have his "cross," he would have it, and he
+would not wait long for it, either. He would know how to wring it out of
+them.
+
+Six days later, December 14, with his comrade, the sober and calm
+Bucquet, he attacked two Fokkers, one of which was dashed to pieces in
+its fall, while the other damaged his own machine. A letter to his
+father described the combat in his own brief and direct manner, without
+a superfluous word: "Combat with two Fokkers. The first, trapped, and
+his passenger killed, dived upon me without having seen me. Result: 35
+bullets at close quarters and '_couic_' [his finish]! The fall was seen
+by four other airplanes (3 plus 1 makes 4, and perhaps that will win me
+the 'cross'). Then combat with the second Fokker, a one-seated machine
+shooting through the propeller, as rapid and easily handled as mine. We
+fought at ten meters, both turning vertically to try to get behind.
+
+"My spring was slack: compelled to shoot with one hand above my head, I
+was handicapped; I was able to shoot twenty-one times in ten seconds.
+Once we almost telescoped, and I jumped over him--his head must have
+passed within fifty centimeters of my wheels. That disgusted him; he
+went away and let me go. I came back with an intake pipe burst, one
+rocker torn away: the splinters had made a number of holes in my
+over-coat and two notches in the propeller. There were three more in one
+wheel, in the body-frame (injuring a cable), and in the rudder."
+
+All these accounts of the chase, cruel and clear, seem to breathe a
+savage joy and the pride of triumph. The sight of a burning airplane, of
+an enemy sinking down, intoxicated him. Even the remains of his enemies
+were dear to him, like treasures won by his young strength. The
+shoulder-straps and decorations worn by his adversary who fell at
+Tilloloy were given over to him; and Achilles before the trophies of
+Hector was not more arrogant. These combats in the sky, more than nine
+thousand feet above the earth, in which the two antagonists are isolated
+in a duel to the death, scarcely to be seen from the land, alone in
+empty space, in which every second lost, every shot lost, may cause
+defeat--and what a defeat! falling, burning, into the abyss beneath--in
+which they fight sometimes so near together, with short, unsteady
+thrusts, that they see each other like knights in the lists, while the
+machines graze and clash together like shields, so that fragments of
+them fall down like the feathers of birds of prey fighting beak to
+beak--these combats which require the simultaneous handling of the
+controlling elements and of the machine-gun, and in which speed is a
+weapon, why should they not change these young men, these children, into
+demi-gods? Hercules, Achilles, Roland, the Cid--where shall we find
+outside of mythology or the epics any prototypes for the wild and
+furious Guynemer?
+
+On the day of his coming of age, December 24, 1915--earlier than his
+ancestor under the Empire--he received the Cross of the Legion of Honor,
+with this mention: "Pilot of great value, model of devotion and courage.
+Has fulfilled in the past six months two special missions requiring the
+finest spirit of sacrifice, and has waged thirteen aërial combats, two
+of which ended in the enemy airplanes falling in flames." This mention
+was already behindhand, having been based upon the report dated December
+8. To the two victories therein mentioned should be added those of the
+5th and the 14th of December. Decorated at the age of twenty-one, the
+enlisted mechanician of Pau continued to progress at breakneck speed.
+The red ribbon, the yellow ribbon and green War Medal with four palms,
+are very becoming to a young man's black coat. Georges Guynemer never
+despised these baubles, nor in any way concealed the pleasure they
+afforded him. He knew how high one has to climb to pick them. And he
+was eager for more and more, not because of vanity, but for what they
+signified.
+
+On the 3d and 5th of February, 1916, new combats took place, always in
+the region of Roy and Chaulnes. On February 3 he met three enemies
+within forty minutes, on the same round: "Attacked at 11.10 an L.V.G.,
+which replied with its machine-gun. Fired 47 shots at 100 meters; the
+enemy airplane dived swiftly down to its own lines, smoking. Lost to
+view at 500 meters from the ground. At 11.40 attacked an L.V.G. (with
+Parabellum) from behind, at 20 meters; it tacked and dived spirally,
+pursued neck to neck at 1300 meters. It fell three kilometers from its
+lines. I rose again and lost sight of it. (This airplane had wings of
+the usual yellow color, its body was blue like the N., and its outlines
+seemed similar to that of the _monococques_.) At 11.50 attacked an
+L.V.G., which immediately dived into the clouds and disappeared. Landed
+at Amiens." He cleared the sky of every Boche: one fallen and two put to
+flight is not a bad record. He always attacked. With his accurate eyes
+he tracked out the enemy in the mystery of space, and placing himself
+higher, tried to surprise him. On the 5th, near Frise, he closed the
+road to another L.V.G. which was returning to its lines, attacked it
+from above in front, tacked over it, reached its rear, and overwhelmed
+it like a thunder-clap. The Boche fell in flames between Assevillers and
+Herbécourt. One more victory, and this one had the honor of appearing
+in the official _communiqué_. Sometimes he got back with his machine and
+his clothes riddled with bullet-holes. He carried fire and massacre up
+into the sky. And all this was nothing as yet but the exercise of a
+knight-errant in his infancy. This became evident later when he had
+acquired complete mastery of his work.
+
+February, 1916--the month in which began the longest, the most stubborn
+and cruel, and perhaps the most significant battle of the Great War. In
+this month began Verdun, and the menacing German advance on the right of
+the Meuse (February 21-26), to the wood of Haumont, the wood of the
+Caures and Herbebois, then to Samogneux, the wood of the Fosses, the Le
+Chaume wood and Ornes, and finally, on February 25, the attack on
+Louvemont and Douaumont. The escadrilles, little by little, headed in
+the same direction, and Guynemer was about to leave the Sixth Army. He
+would dart no more above the paternal mansion, announcing his victories
+by his caracoles in the air; nor watch over his own household during his
+patrol of the region beyond Compiègne, over Noyon, Chauny, Coucy, and
+Tracy-le-Val. The cord which still linked him with his infancy and youth
+was now to be strained, and on March 11 the Storks Escadrille received
+orders to depart next day, and to fly to the Verdun region.
+
+The development of the German fighting airplanes had constantly
+progressed during 1915. Now, early in 1916, they appeared at Verdun,
+more homogeneous and better trained, and in possession of a series of
+new machines: small, one-seated biplanes (Albatros, Halberstadt, new
+Fokker, and Ago), with a fixed motor of 165-175 H.P. (Mercédès, and more
+rarely Benz and Argus), and two stationary machine-guns firing through
+the propeller. These chasing escadrilles (_Jagdstaffeln_) are
+essentially fighting units. Each _Jagdstaffel_ comprises eighteen
+airplanes, and sometimes twenty-two, four of which are reserves. These
+airplanes do not generally travel alone, at least when they have to
+leave their lines, but fly in groups (_Ketten_) of five each, one of
+them serving as guide (_Kettenfuhrer_), and conducted by the most
+experienced pilot, regardless of rank. German aviation tactics seek more
+and more to avoid solitary combat and replace it by squadron fighting,
+or to surprise an isolated enemy by a squadron, like an attack of
+sparrow-hawks upon an eagle.
+
+Ever since the establishment of our first autonomous group of fighting
+airplanes, which figured in the Artois offensives in May, 1915, but
+which did not take the offensive (having their cantonments in the
+barriers and limiting themselves to keeping off the enemy and cruising
+above our lines and often behind them), our fighting airplanes gradually
+overcame prejudice. They were not, it is true, so promptly brought to
+perfection as our army corps airplanes, which proved so useful in the
+Champagne campaign of September, 1915; but it was admitted that the
+aërial combat should not be regarded as a result of mere chance, but as
+inevitable, and that it constituted, first, a protection, and
+afterwards an effective obstruction to an enemy forbidden to make raids
+in our aërial domain. The next German offensive--against Verdun--had
+been foreseen. In consequence, the staff had organized a safety service
+to avoid all surprise by the enemy, to meet attacks, and prepare the way
+for the reinforcing troops. But the violence of the Verdun offensive
+exceeded all expectations.
+
+Our escadrilles had done their duty as scouts before the attack. After
+it began, they were overwhelmed and numerically unable to perform all
+the aërial missions required. The fighting enemy escadrilles, with their
+new series of machines and their improvements, won for a few days the
+complete mastery of the air. Our own airplanes were forced off the
+battle-field, and driven from their landing-places by cannon. Meanwhile
+the Verdun battle was changing its character. General Pétain, who took
+command on February 26, restored the order which had been compromised by
+the bending of the front, and established the new front against which
+the Germans hurled their forces. It was also necessary for him to
+reconquer the mastery of the air. He asked for and obtained a rapid
+concentration of all the available escadrilles, and demanded of them
+vigorous offensive tactics. To economize and coördinate strength, all
+the fighting escadrilles at Verdun were grouped under the sole command
+of Major de Rose. They operated by patrols, sometimes following very
+distant itineraries, and attacking all the airplanes they met. In a
+short time we regained our air supremacy, and our airplanes which were
+engaged in regulating artillery fire and in taking aërial photographs
+could work in safety. Their protection was assured by raids even into
+the German lines.
+
+The Storks Escadrille, then, flew in the direction of Verdun. In the
+course of the voyage, Guynemer brought down his eighth airplane, which
+fell vertically in flames. This was a good augury. Hardly had he arrived
+on March 15 when he began to explore the battle-field with his
+conqueror's eyes. The enemy at that time still thought himself master,
+and dared to venture within the French lines. Guynemer chased, over
+Revigny, a group of five airplanes, drove another out of Argonne, and
+while returning met two others, almost face to face. He engaged the
+first one, tacking under it and firing from a distance of ten meters.
+But the adversary answered his fire, and Guynemer's machine was hit: the
+right-hand rear longitudinal spar was cut, the cable injured, the right
+forward strut also cut, and the wind-shield shattered. The airman
+himself was wounded in the face by fragments of aluminum and iron, one
+lodging in the jaw, from which it could never be extracted, one in the
+right cheek, one in the left eyelid, miraculously leaving the eye
+unhurt, while smaller fragments peppered him generally, causing
+hemorrhages which clogged his mask and made it adhere to the flesh. In
+addition, he had two bullets in his left arm. Though blinded by blood,
+he did not lose his sang-froid, and hastily dived, while the second
+airplane continued firing, and a third, furnished with a turret, which
+had come to the rescue of its comrades, descended after him and fired
+down upon his machine. Nevertheless, he had escaped by his maneuver, and
+in spite of his injuries made a good landing at Brocourt. On the 14th he
+was evacuated to Paris, to the Japanese ambulance in the Hotel Astoria,
+and with despair in his soul was obliged to let his comrades fight their
+battle of Verdun without his help.
+
+
+III. "LA TERRE A VU JADIS ERRER DES PALADINS...."[19]
+
+At Verdun our aërial as well as our land forces underwent sudden and
+almost prodigious reverses. Within a few days the Storks Escadrille had
+been decimated: its chief, Captain Brocard, had been wounded in the face
+by a bullet and compelled to land; Lieutenant Perretti had been killed,
+Lieutenant Deullin wounded, Guynemer wounded and nearly all its best
+pilots put _hors de combat_. The lost air-mastery was only regained by
+the tenacity of Major de Rose, Chief of Aviation of the Second Army, and
+by a rapid reconcentration of forces.
+
+[Footnote 19: "Once knightly heroes wandered over earth...."]
+
+Major de Rose ordered enemy-chasing, and electrified and inspired his
+escadrilles. The part he played during those terrible Verdun months can
+never be sufficiently praised. Guynemer's comrades held the sky under
+fire, as their brothers, the infantrymen, held the shifting ground
+which protected the ancient citadel. Chaput brought down seven
+airplanes, Nungesser six, and a drachen, Navarre four, Lenoir four,
+Auger and Pelletier d'Oisy three, Puple, Chainat, and Lesort two. The
+observation airplanes rivaled the fighting machines, often defending
+themselves, and not infrequently forcing down their assailants in
+flames. Twice Sergeant Fedoroff rid himself in this manner of
+troublesome adversaries. But other pilots deserve to be mentioned,
+pilots such as Stribick and Houtt, Captain Vuillemin, Lieutenant de
+Laage, Sergeants de Ridder, Viallet and Buisse, and such observers as
+Lieutenant Liebmann, who was killed, and Mutel, Naudeau, Campion,
+Moulines, Dumas, Robbe, Travers, _sous-lieutenant_ Boillot, Captain
+Verdurand--admirable squadron chief--and Major Roisin, expert in
+bombardments. The lists of names are always too short, but these, at
+least, should be loudly acclaimed.
+
+Meanwhile the battle of Verdun shattered trees, knocked down walls,
+annihilated villages, hollowed out the earth, dug up the plains,
+distorted the hills, and renewed once more that chaos of the third day,
+according to Genesis, on which the Creator separated the waters from the
+earth. Almost the entire French army filed through this extraordinary
+epic battle, and Guynemer, wounded and weeping with rage, was not there.
+
+But there was another period in the Great War in which the grouping of
+our fighting escadrilles and their employment in offensive movements
+gave us triumphant superiority in the aërial struggle, and this was the
+battle of the Somme, particularly during its first three months--a
+splendid and heroic time when our airmen sprang up in the sky, spreading
+panic and fear, like the knights-errant of _La Légende des siècles_.
+Victor Hugo's verses seem to describe them and their vertiginous rounds
+rather than the too slow horsemen of old:
+
+     La terre a vu jadis errer des paladins;
+     Ils flamboyaient ainsi que des éclairs soudains,
+     Puis s'évanouissaient, laissant sur les visages
+     La crainte, et la lueur de leurs brusques passages...
+     Les noms de quelques-uns jusqu'à nous sont venus....
+     Ils surgissaient du Sud ou du Septentrion,
+     Portant sur leur écu l'hydre ou l'alérion,
+     Couverts des noirs oiseaux du taillis héraldique,
+     Marchant seuls au sentier que le devoir indique,
+     Ajoutant au bruit sourd de leur pas solennel
+     La vague obscurité d'un voyage éternel,
+     Ayant franchi les flots, les monts, les bois horribles,
+     Ils venaient de si loin qu'ils en étaient terribles,
+     Et ces grands chevaliers mêlaient à leurs blasons
+     Toute l'immensité des sombres horizons....
+
+These new knights-errant who wandered above the desolate plains of the
+Somme, no longer on earth but in the sky, mounted on winged steeds, who
+started up with a "heavy sound" from south or north, will be immortal
+like those of the ancient epics. It will be said that it was Dorme or
+Heurtaux, or Nungesser, Deullin, Sauvage, Tarascon, Chainat, or it was
+Guynemer, who accomplished such and such an exploit. The Germans,
+without knowing their names, recognized them, not by their armor and
+their sword-thrust, but by their machines, their maneuvers and methods.
+Almost invariably their enemies desperately avoided a fight with them,
+retreating far within their own lines, where, even then, they were not
+sure of safety. Those who accepted their gage of battle seldom returned.
+The enemy aviation camps from Ham to Péronne watched anxiously for the
+return of their champions who dared to fight over the French lines. None
+of them cared to fly alone, and even in groups they appeared timid. In
+patrols of four, five, and six, sometimes more, they flew beyond their
+own lines with the utmost caution, fearful at the least alarm, and
+anxiously examining the wide and empty sky where these mysterious
+knights mounted guard and might at any moment let loose a storm. But in
+the course of these prodigious first three months of the battle of the
+Somme, our French chasing-patrols not infrequently flew to and fro for
+two hours over German aviation camps, forcing down all those who
+attempted to rise, and succeeding in spreading terror and consternation
+in the enemy's lines.
+
+The Franco-British offensive began on July 1, 1916, on the flat lands
+lying along both banks of the Somme River. The general plan of these
+operations had been agreed upon in the preceding December. The battle of
+Verdun had not prevented its execution which, on the contrary, was
+expected to relieve Verdun. The attack was made on a front of 40
+kilometers between Gommécourt on the north and Vermandovillers on the
+south of the river. From the beginning the French penetrated the enemy's
+first lines, the 20th Corps took the village of Curlu and held the
+Favière wood, while the 1st Colonial Corps and one division of the 35th
+Corps passed the Fay ravine and took possession of Bacquincourt,
+Dompierre and Bussus. On the third, this successful advance continued
+into the second lines. Within just a few days General Fayolle's army had
+taken 10,000 prisoners, 75 cannon, and several hundred machine-guns. But
+the Germans, who were concentrated in the Péronne region, with strong
+positions like Maurepas, Combles, and Cléry, and, further in the rear,
+Bouchavesnes and Sailly-Saillisel on the right bank, and Estrées,
+Belloy-en-Santerre, Barleux, Albaincourt and Pressoire on the left bank,
+made such desperate resistance that the struggle was prolonged into
+mid-winter. The German retreat in March, 1917, to the famous Hindenburg
+line was the strategic result of this terrible battle, the tactics of
+which were continuously successful and the connection between the
+different arms brought to perfection, while the infantry made an
+unsurpassed record for suffering and endurance and will power in such
+combats as Maurepas (August 12), Cléry (September 3), Bouchavesnes
+(September 12)--where, when evening came, the enemy was definitely
+broken--and the taking of Berny-en-Santerre, of Deniécourt, of
+Vermandovillers (September 13) on the left bank, and on the right bank
+the entry into Combles (surrounded on September 26), the advance on
+Sailly-Saillisel and the stubborn defense of this ruined village whose
+château and central district had already been occupied on October 15,
+and in which a few houses resisted until November 12. Then, there was
+the fight for the Chaulnes wood, and La Maisonnette and Ablaincourt and
+Pressoire; and everywhere it was the same as at Verdun: the woods were
+razed to the ground, villages disappeared into the soil, and the earth
+was so plowed and crushed and martyred that it was nothing but one
+immense wound.
+
+Now, the air forces had had their part in the victory. Obliged, as they
+were at Verdun, to resist the numerical superiority of the enemy, they
+had thrown off the tyranny of atmospheric conditions and accepted and
+fulfilled diverse missions in all kinds of weather. Verdun had hardened
+them, as it had "burned the blood" of the infantry who had never known a
+worse hell than that one. But as our operations now took the initiative,
+the aviation corps was able to prepare its material more effectively, to
+organize its aërodromes and concentrate its forces beforehand. Its
+advantage was evident from the first day of the Somme offensive, not
+only in mechanical power, but in a method which coördinated and
+increased its efforts under a single command. Though this arm of the
+service was in continuous evolution, more subject than any other to the
+modifications of the war, and the most susceptible of all to progress
+and improvement, it had nevertheless finished its trial stages and
+acquired full development as connecting agent for all the other arms,
+whom it supplied with information. Serving at first for strategic
+reconnaissance, and then almost exclusively for regulating artillery
+fire, the aërial forces now performed complex and efficient service for
+every branch of the army. By means of aërial photography they furnished
+exact knowledge of the ground and of the enemy's defenses, thus
+preceding the execution of military operations. They regulated artillery
+fire, followed the program laid down for the destruction of the enemy,
+and supplied such information as was necessary to set the time for the
+attack. They then accompanied the infantry in the attack, observed its
+progress, located the conquered positions, revealed the situation of the
+enemy's new lines, betrayed his defensive works, and announced his
+reinforcements and his counter-attacks. They were the conducting wire
+between the command, the artillery, and the troops, and everybody felt
+them to be sure and faithful allies, for they were able to see and know,
+to speak and warn. But the air forces, during all their useful missions,
+were themselves in need of protection, and there must be no enemy
+airplanes about if they were to make their observations in security. But
+how to rid them of these enemies, and render the latter incapable of
+harm? Here the air cavalry, the airplanes built for distant scouting and
+combats, intervened. The safety of observation machines could only be
+insured by long-distance protection, that is to say, by aërial patrols
+taking the offensive, not by a solitary guard, too often disappointing,
+and ineffective against a resolute adversary. Their safety near to the
+army could be guaranteed only by carrying the aërial struggle over into
+the enemy's lines and preventing all raids upon our own. The groups
+belonging to our fighting escadrilles on both banks of the Somme
+achieved this result.
+
+The one-seated Nieuport, rapid, easily managed, with high ascensional
+speed, and capable, by its solid construction and air-piercing power, of
+diving from a height upon an enemy and falling upon him like a bird of
+prey, was then the chasing airplane _par excellence_, and remained so
+until the appearance of the terrible Spad, which made its _début_ in the
+course of the Somme campaign, Guynemer and Corporal Sauvage piloting the
+first two of these machines in early September, 1916. They were armed
+with machine-guns, firing forward, and invariably connected with the
+direction of the machine's motion. The Spad is an extraordinary
+instrument of attack, but its defense lies only in its capacity for
+rapid displacement and the swiftness of its evolutions. Its rear is
+badly exposed: its field of visibility is very limited at the sides, and
+objects can be seen only above and below,--below, minus the dead angle
+of the motor and the cock-pit. The pilot can easily lose sight of the
+airplanes in his own group or that of the enemy, so that if he is alone,
+he is in danger of being surprised. On the other hand, one condition of
+his own victory is to surprise the enemy, especially if he attacks a
+two-seated machine whose range of fire is much broader, or if he does
+not hesitate to choose his victim from among a group. The Spad pilot
+makes use of the sun, of fog, of clouds. He flies high in order to hold
+the advantage of being able to pounce down upon his enemy while the
+enemy approaches prudently, timidly, suspecting no danger.
+
+The battle of the Somme was the most favorable for solitary airplanes,
+or airplanes coupled like hunting-dogs. Since then methods have changed,
+and the future belongs to fighting escadrilles or groups of machines.
+But at that time the one-seated airplane was king of the air. One of
+them was enough to intimidate enemy airplanes engaged in regulating
+artillery fire and in short-distance scouting, making them hesitate to
+leave their lines, and to frighten barrier patrols of two or even four
+two-seated airplanes, in spite of their shooting superiority, into
+turning back and disbanding. The one-seated enemy machines never
+ventured out except in groups, and even with the advantage of two
+against one refused to fight. So the one-seated French machine was
+obliged to fly alone, for if it was accompanied by patrols, the enemy
+fled and there was no one to attack; whereas, when free to maneuver at
+will, the solitary pilot could plan ruses, hide himself in the light or
+in the clouds, take advantage of the enemy's blind sides, and carry out
+sudden destructive attacks which are impossible for groups. Our airmen
+never speak of the Somme without a smile of satisfaction: they have
+retained heroic memories of that campaign. Afterwards, the Germans
+drilled their one-seated or two-seated patrols, trained them in
+resistance to isolated attacks, and taught them in turn how to attack
+the solitary machine which had ventured out beyond its own lines. We
+were obliged to alter our tactics and adopt group formation. But the
+strongest types of our enemy-chasing pilots were revealed or developed
+during the battle of the Somme.
+
+Moreover, our aviators at that time were incomparable; and in citing the
+most illustrious among them one risks injustice to their companions
+whose opportunities were less fortunate and whose exploits were less
+brilliant but not less useful. The cavalry, artillery, and infantry were
+drawn upon for recruits for the aviation branch of the army, and it
+appeared a difficult undertaking to fuse such different elements; but as
+all shared the same life and the same dangers, had similar tastes, and a
+passion for attaining the same result, and as their officers were
+necessarily recruited from among themselves, and chosen for services
+rendered, an atmosphere of _camaraderie_ and friendly rivalry was
+created. A great novelist said that the origin of our friendships dates
+"from those hours at the beginning of life when we dream of the future
+in company with some comrade with the same ideals as our own, a chosen
+brother."[20] What difference does it make, then, if they depart in
+company for glory or for death? These young men gave themselves with the
+same willingness to the same service, a service full of constant
+danger. They were not gathered together by chance, but by their vocation
+and by selection, and they spoke the same language. For them, friendship
+easily became rivalry in courage and energy, and a school of mutual
+esteem, in which each strove to outdo the other. Friendship kept them
+alert, drove away inertia and weakness, and they became confident and
+generous, so that each rejoiced in the success of the others. In the
+mountains, on the sea, in every place where men feel most acutely their
+own fragility, such friendship is not rare; but war brings it to
+perfection.
+
+[Footnote 20: Paul Bourget, _Une Idylle tragique_.]
+
+The patrols of the Storks Escadrille, in the beginning of the Somme
+campaign, consisted of a single airplane, or airplanes in couples.
+Guynemer, whom everybody called "the kid," always took Heurtaux with him
+when he carried a passenger; for Heurtaux, as blond as Guynemer was
+brown, thin and slender, very delicate and young, seemed to give
+Guynemer the rights of an elder. Heurtaux was the Oliver of this Roland.
+In character and energy they were the same. Dorme used to take Deullin
+with him, or de la Tour. Or the choice was made alternately. This was
+the quartet of whom the enemy had cause to beware, and woe to the Boche
+who met any one of them! There was at that time at Bapaume a group of
+five one-seated German machines which never maneuvered singly. If they
+perceived a pair of Nieuports, they immediately tacked about and fled in
+haste. But if one of our chasers was cruising alone, the whole group
+attacked him. Heurtaux, attacked in this way, had been compelled to dive
+and land, and on his return had to submit to the jests of Guynemer, for
+at that age friendship is roughish. "Go there yourself," advised
+Heurtaux, "and you will see." Next day Guynemer went alone, but in his
+turn was forced down. After these two trials, which might have ended in
+disaster--but knights must amuse themselves--the five one-seated planes
+at Bapaume were methodically but promptly beaten down.
+
+Friendship demands equality between souls. If one has to protect the
+other, if one is manifestly superior, it is no longer friendship. In the
+Storks Escadrille friendship reigned in peace in the midst of war, so
+surely did each take his turn in surpassing the others. Which one was,
+finally, to be the greatest, not because of the number of his mentions,
+nor his renown or public fame, but according to the testimony of his
+comrades--the surest and most clearsighted of testimony--for no one can
+deceive his peers? Would it be the cold and calm Dorme, who went to
+battle as a fisher goes to his nets, who never spoke of his exploits,
+and whose heart, under this modest, gentle, kind exterior, was filled
+with hatred for the invader who occupied his own countryside, Briey, and
+for six months had held in custody and ill-treated his parents? In the
+Somme battle alone his official victories numbered seventeen, but the
+enemy could recount many others, doubtless, for this silent,
+well-balanced young man possessed quite improbable audacity. He would
+fly more than fifteen or twenty kilometers above the German lines,
+perfectly tranquil under the showers of shells which rose from the
+earth. At such a distance within their lines the Boche airplanes thought
+themselves safe when, suddenly, _du Sud ou du Septentrion_, appeared
+this knightly hero. And he would return smilingly, as fresh as when he
+had started out. It was only with difficulty that a very brief statement
+could then be extracted from him. His machine would be inspected, and
+not a trace of any fragment found; he might have been a tourist
+returning from a promenade. In more than a hundred combats his airplane
+received only three very small wounds. His cleverness in handling his
+machine was incredible: his close veering, his twistings and turnings,
+made it impossible for the adversary to shoot. He also knew how to quit
+the combat in time, if his own maneuvers had not succeeded. He seemed
+invulnerable. But later, much later, while he was fighting on the Aisne
+in May, 1917, Dorme, who had penetrated far within the enemy's lines,
+never came back.
+
+[Illustration: IN THE AIR]
+
+Was Heurtaux the greatest, whose method was as delicate as himself--a
+virtuoso of the air, clever, supple and quickwitted, whose hand and eye
+equaled his thought in rapidity? Was it Deullin, skilled in approach,
+and prompt as the tempest? Or the long-enduring, robust, admirable
+_sous-lieutenant_ Nungessor, or Sergeant Sauvage, or Adjutant Tarascon?
+Was it Captain Ménard, or Sangloer, or de la Tour? But the reader knows
+very well that it was Guynemer. Why was it Guynemer, according to the
+testimony of all his rivals? History and the epic have coupled many
+names of friends, like Achilles and Patroclus, Orestes and Pylades,
+Nisus and Euryalus, Roland and Oliver. In these friendships, one is
+always surpassed by the other, but not in intelligence, nor courage nor
+nobility of character. For generosity, or wisdom of council, one might
+even prefer a Patroclus to an Achilles, an Oliver to a Roland. In what,
+then, lies the superiority? That is the secret of temperament, the
+secret of genius, the interior flame which burns the brightest, and
+whose appearances cause astonishment and almost terror, as if some
+mystery were divulged.
+
+It is certain that Georges Guynemer was a mechanician and a gunsmith. He
+knew his machine and his machine-gun, and how to make them do their
+utmost. But there were others who knew the same. Dorme and Heurtaux were
+perhaps more skillful in maneuvering than he. (It was interesting to
+watch Guynemer when he was preparing to mount his Nieuport. First the
+bird was brought out of the shed; then he minutely examined and fingered
+it. This tall thin young man, with his amber-colored skin, his long oval
+face and thin nose, his mouth with its corners falling slightly, a very
+slight moustache, and crow-black hair tossed backward, would have
+resembled a Moorish chief had he been more impassive. But his features
+constantly showed his changing thoughts, and this play of expression
+gave grace and freshness to his face. Sometimes it seemed strained and
+hardened, and a vertical wrinkle appeared on his forehead above the
+nose. His eyes--the unforgettable eyes of Guynemer--round like agates,
+black and burning with a brilliance impossible to endure, for which
+there is only one expression sufficiently strong, that of Saint-Simon
+concerning some personage of the court of Louis XIV: "The glances of his
+eyes were like blows"--pierced the sky like arrows, when his practiced
+ear had heard the harsh hum of an enemy motor. In advance he condemned
+the audacious adversary to death, seeming from a distance to draw him
+into the abyss, like a sorcerer.)
+
+After examining his machine he put on his fur-lined _combinaison_ over
+his black coat, and his head-covering, the _passe-montagne_, fitting
+tightly over his hair, and framing the oval of his face, and over this
+his leather helmet. Plutarch spoke of the terrible expression of
+Alexander when he went to battle. Guynemer's face, when he rose for a
+flight, was appalling.
+
+What did he do in the air? His flight journals and statements tell the
+story. On each page, a hundred times in succession, and several times on
+a page, his flight notebooks contain the short sentences which seem to
+bound from the paper, like a dog showing its teeth: "I attack ... I
+attack ... I attack...." At long intervals, as if ashamed, appears the
+phrase: "I am attacked." On the Somme more than twenty victories were
+credited to him, and to these should be added, as in the case of Dorme,
+others taking place at too great distances to receive confirmation. In
+the first month of the Somme battle, on September 13, 1916, the Storks
+Escadrille, Captain Brocard, was mentioned before the army: "Has shown
+unequaled energy and devotion to duty in the operations of Verdun and
+the Somme, waging, from March 19 to August 19, 1916, 338 combats,
+bringing down 36 airplanes, 3 drachen, and compelling 36 other badly
+damaged airplanes to land." Captain Brocard dedicated this mention to
+Lieutenant Guynemer, writing under it: "To Lieutenant Guynemer, my
+oldest pilot, and most brilliant Stork. Souvenir of gratitude and
+warmest friendship." And all the pilots of the escadrille, in turn, came
+to sign it. His comrades had often seen what he did in the air.
+
+When Guynemer came back and landed, what a spectacle! Although a victor,
+his face was not appeased. It was never to be appeased. He never was
+satisfied, never waged enough battles, never burned or destroyed enough
+enemies. When he landed he was still under the influence of nervous
+effort, and seemed as if electrified by the fluid still passing through
+his frame. However, his machine bore traces of the struggle: four
+bullets in the wing, the body, and the elevator. And he himself was
+grazed by the missiles, his _combinaison_ scratched and the end of his
+glove torn. By what miracle had he escaped?--He had passed through
+encircling death as a man leaps through a hoop.
+
+His method was one of the wildest temerity and impetuosity, and can be
+recommended to nobody. The number and strength of the enemy, so far from
+repelling, attracted him. He flew to vertiginous heights, and taking his
+place in the sunshine, watched and waited. In an attack he did not make
+use of the aërial acrobatic maneuvers with which, however, he was
+perfectly familiar. He struck without delay,--what is known in fencing
+as the cut direct. Without trying to maintain his machine within his
+adversary's dead angles, he fell on him as a stone falls. He shot as
+near to the enemy as he could, at the risk of being shot first himself,
+and even of interlocking their machines, though in that respect the
+sureness of his maneuvering sufficed to disengage him. If he failed to
+take the enemy by surprise, he did not quit the combat as prudence
+exacted; but returned to the charge, refusing to unhook his clutch from
+the enemy airplane, and held him, and wanted him, and got him.
+
+His passion for flying never diminished. On rainy days, when it was
+unreasonable and useless to attempt to fly, he wandered around the sheds
+where the winged horses took their repose. He could not resist it: he
+entered, and mounted his own machine, settling himself in his cock-pit
+and handling the controls, holding mysterious conferences with his
+faithful steed.
+
+In the air, he had a higher power of resistance than the most robust
+men. This frail, sickly Guynemer, twice refused by the army because of
+feebleness of constitution, never gave up. In proportion as the
+requirements of aviation became more severe, as the higher altitudes
+reached made it more exhausting, Guynemer seemed to prolong his flights
+to the point where overwork and nervous depression compelled him to go
+away and take a little rest--which made him suffer still more. And
+suddenly, before he had taken the necessary repose, he threw it off like
+ballast, and returning to camp, reappeared in the air, like the falcon
+in the legend of Saint Julien the Hospitaller: "The bold bird rose
+straight in the air like an arrow, and there could be seen two spots of
+unequal size which turned and joined, and then disappeared in the
+heights of heaven. The falcon soon descended, tearing some bird to
+pieces, and returned to his perch on the gauntlet, with his wings
+quivering."[21] Thus the victorious Guynemer came back, quivering, to
+the aviation field. Truly, a god possessed him.
+
+[Footnote 21: Flaubert.]
+
+Apart from all that, he was just a boy, simple, gay, tender, and
+charming.
+
+
+IV. ON THE SOMME (JUNE, 1916, TO FEBRUARY, 1917)
+
+Georges Guynemer, then, was wounded on March 15, 1916, at Verdun. On
+April 26, he arrived again at the front, with his arm half-cured and the
+wounds scarcely healed. He had escaped from the doctors and nurses.
+Between times, he had been promoted _sous-lieutenant_. But he had to be
+sent back, to his bandages and massage.
+
+He returned to Compiègne. The bargain he had made with his sister Yvonne
+was continued, and when the weather was clear he went to Vauciennes,
+where his machine awaited him. The first time he met an airplane after
+his fall and his wound, he experienced a quite natural but very painful
+sensation. Would he hesitate? Was he no longer the stubborn Guynemer?
+The Boche shot, but he did not reply. The Boche used up all his
+machine-gun belt, and the combat was broken off. Was it to be believed?
+What had happened?
+
+Guynemer returned to his home. In the spring dawn comes very soon, and
+he had left so early that it was still morning. Was his sister awake? He
+waited, but waiting was not his forte. So he opened the door again, and
+his childish face appeared in the strip of light that filtered through.
+This time the sleeper saw him.
+
+"Already back? Go back to bed. It is too early."
+
+"Is it really so early?"
+
+Her sisterly tenderness divined that he had something to tell her,
+something important, and that it would be necessary to help him to tell
+it. "Come in," she said.
+
+He opened the blinds and sat down at the foot of the bed.
+
+"What scouting have you done this morning?"
+
+But he was following his own thoughts: "The men had warned me that under
+those circumstances one receives a very disagreeable impression."
+
+"Under what circumstances?"
+
+"When one goes up again after having been wounded, and meets a Boche. As
+long as you have not been wounded you think nothing can happen to you.
+When I saw that Boche this morning I felt something quite new. Then...."
+
+He stopped and laughed, as if he had played some schoolboy joke.
+
+"Then, what did you do?"
+
+"Well, I made up my mind to submit to his shots. Calmly."
+
+"Without replying?"
+
+"Surely: I ordered myself not to shoot. That is the way one masters
+one's nerves, little sister. Mine are entirely mastered: I am now
+absolutely in control. The Boche presented me with five hundred shots
+while I maneuvered. They were necessary. I am perfectly satisfied."
+
+She looked at him, sitting at the foot of the bed with his head resting
+against the post. Her eyes were wet and she kept silent. The silence
+continued.
+
+Finally she said softly, "You have done well, Georges."
+
+But he was asleep.
+
+Later, referring to this meeting in which he offered himself to the
+enemy's fire, he said gravely:
+
+"That was the decisive moment of my life. If I had not set things right
+then and there, I was done for...."
+
+When he reappeared at his escadrille's head-quarters on May 18, quite
+cheerful but with a set face and flaming eyes, no one dared discuss his
+cure with him.
+
+The Storks returned for a few days to the Oise region, and once more the
+contented pilot of a Nieuport flew over the country from Péronne to
+Roye. He had not lost the least particle of his determination; quite the
+reverse. One day (May 22) he searched the air desperately for three
+hours, and though he finally discovered a two-seated enemy machine over
+Noyon, he was obliged to give over the combat for lack of gasoline in
+his motor.
+
+Meanwhile they were preparing the Somme battle; the escadrilles
+familiarized themselves with their ground, and new machines were tried.
+The enemy, who suspected our preparations, sent out long-distance
+scouting airplanes. Near Amiens, above Villers-Bretonneux, Guynemer,
+making his rounds with Sergeant Chainat, attacked one of these groups on
+June 22, isolated one of the airplanes and, maneuvering with his
+comrade, set it afire. That was, I believe, his ninth. This combat took
+place at a height of 4200 meters. The advantage went more and more to
+the pilot who mounted highest.
+
+After July 1 there was a combat almost every day. Would Guynemer be put
+out of action from the beginning, as at Verdun? Returning on the 6th,
+after having put to flight an L.V.G., he surprised another Boche
+airplane which was diving down on one of our artillery-regulating
+machines. He immediately drew the enemy's attention to himself; but the
+enemy (Guynemer pays him this homage in his flight notebook) was keen
+and supple. His well-aimed shots passed through the propeller of the
+Nieuport and cut two cables in the right cell. Guynemer was obliged to
+land. He was forced down eight times during his flying career, once
+under fantastic conditions. He passed through every form of danger
+without ever losing the self-possession, the quickness of eye, and
+rapidity of decision which his passion for conquest had developed.
+
+What battles he fought in the air! On July 9 his journal notes a combat
+of five against five; on the 10th a combat of three against seven, in
+which Guynemer disengaged Deullin, who was followed by an Aviatik at a
+distance of a hundred meters. On the 11th, at 10 o'clock, he attacked an
+L.V.G. and cut its cable; the enemy dived but appeared to be in control
+of the machine. A few moments later he and Deullin attacked an Aviatik
+and an L.V.G., Guynemer damaging the Aviatik, and Deullin forcing down
+the L.V.G.; and before returning to their base, the two comrades
+attacked a group of seven machines and dispersed them. On the 16th
+Guynemer forced down, with Heurtaux, an L.V.G., which fell with its
+wheels in the air. After a short absence, during which he got a more
+powerful machine for his own use, he began on the 25th a repetition of
+his former program. On the 26th he waged five combats with enemy groups
+consisting of from five to eleven airplanes. On the 27th he fought three
+L.V.G.'s, and then groups of from three to ten machines. On the 28th he
+successively attacked two airplanes within their own lines, then a
+drachen which was obliged to land, then a group of four airplanes one of
+which was forced down, and then a second group of four which were
+dispersed, Guynemer pursuing one of the fugitives and bringing him down.
+One blade of his own propeller was riddled with bullets, and he was
+compelled to land. Such was his work for three days, taken at random
+from the notebook.
+
+Open his journal at any page, and it reads the same. On August 7
+Guynemer got back with seven shell fragments in his machine: he had been
+cannonaded from the ground while in chase of four enemy airplanes. On
+the same day he started off again, piloting Heurtaux, who attacked the
+German trenches north of Cléry and fired on some machine-guns. From its
+place up in the air the airplane encouraged the infantry, and shared in
+their assaults. The recital of events became, however, more and more
+brief: the fighting pilot had not time enough to write details; nobody
+had any time in the Storks Escadrille, constantly engaged as it was in
+its triumphant flights. We must turn then to Guynemer's letters--strange
+letters, indeed, which contain nothing, absolutely nothing about the
+war, or the battle of the Somme, or about anything else except _his_ war
+and _his_ battle. The earth-world no longer existed for him: the earth
+was a place which received the dead and the vanquished. So this is the
+way in which he wrote his two sisters, then sojourning in Switzerland
+(Fritz meaning any enemy airplane):
+
+     Dear Kids,
+
+     Some sport: the 17, attacked a Fritz, three shots and gun jammed;
+     Fritz tumbled. The 18th, _idem_, but in two shots: two Fritzes in
+     five shots, record.
+
+     Day before yesterday, attacked Fritz at 4.30 at ten meters: killed
+     the passenger and perhaps the rest, prevented from seeing what
+     happened by a fight at half-past four: the Boche ran.
+
+     At 7.40 attacked an Aviatik, carried away by the impetus, passed it
+     at fifty centimeters; passenger "_couic_" (killed), the machine
+     fell and was got under control again at fifty meters above the
+     ground.
+
+     At 7.35, attacked an L.V.G.; at fifteen meters; just ready to
+     shoot, when a bullet in my fingers made me let go the trigger;
+     reservoir burst, good landing two kilometers from the trenches
+     between two shell-holes. Inventory of the "taxi": one bullet right
+     in the face of my Vickers; one perforative bullet in the motor; the
+     steel stone had gone clear through it as well as the oil reservoir,
+     the gasoline tank, the cartridge chest, my glove ... where it
+     stayed in the index finger: result, about as if my finger had been
+     slightly pinched in a door; not even skinned, only the top of the
+     nail slightly blackened. At the time I thought two fingers had been
+     shot. To continue the inventory: one bullet in the reservoir, in
+     the direction of my left lung, having passed through four
+     millimeters of copper and had the good sense to stop, but one
+     wonders why.
+
+     One bullet in the edge of the back of my seat, one in the rudder,
+     and a dozen in the wings. They knocked the "taxi" to pieces with a
+     hatchet at two o'clock in the morning, under shell-fire. On
+     landing, received 86 shots of 105, 130 and 150, for nothing. They
+     will pay the bill.
+
+     For a beginning, La Tour has his fourth mention.
+
+     A hug for each of you.
+
+     Georges.
+
+     P.S.--It could not be said now that I am not strong; I stop steel
+     bullets with the end of my finger.
+
+Is this a letter? At first, it is a bulletin of victory: two airplanes
+for five bullets, plus one passenger "_couic_." Then it becomes a
+recital of the golden legend--the golden legend of aviation: he stops
+the enemy's bullets with his fingers; Roland would write in that style
+to the beautiful Aude: "Met three Saracens, Durandal cleft two, the
+third tried to settle the affair with his bow, but the arrow broke on
+the cord." Young Paul Bailly was right: "The exploits of Guynemer are
+not a legend, like those of Roland; in telling them just as they
+happened we find them more beautiful than any we could invent." That is
+why it is better to let Guynemer himself relate them. He says only what
+is necessary, but the right accent is there, the rapidity and the
+"_couic_." The following letter is dated September 15, 1916.
+
+
+     _From the same to the same_
+
+     Some sport.
+
+     On the 16th, in a group of six, four of them squeezed at 25 meters.
+
+     In four days, six combats at 25 meters: filled a few Boches with
+     holes, but they did not seem to tumble down, though some were hard
+     hit all the same; then five boxing rounds up between 5100 and 5300
+     (altitude). To-day five combats, four of them at less than 25
+     meters, and the fifth at 50 meters. In the first, gun jammed at 50
+     meters. In the second, at 5200, the Boche in his excitement lost
+     his wings, and descended on his aërodrome in a wingless coach; his
+     ears must be humming (16th). The third was a nose-to-nose combat
+     with a fighting Aviatik. Too much impetus: I failed to hammer him
+     hollow. In the fourth, same joke with an L.V.G. in a group of
+     three: I failed to hammer him, I lurched: _pan_, a bullet near my
+     head. In the fifth, I cleaned up the passenger (that is the third
+     this week), then knocked up the pilot very badly at 10
+     meters,--completely disabled, he landed evidently with great
+     difficulty, and he must be in hospital....
+
+Three lines to describe a victory, the sixteenth. And what boarding of
+the adversary, from above and from below! He springs upon the enemy, but
+fails to go through him. Both speeds combined, he does not make much
+less than 400 kilometers an hour when he dives on him. The meeting and
+shooting hardly last one second, after which the combat continues, with
+other maneuvers. Some savant should calculate the time allowed for sight
+and thought in fighting such duels!
+
+This was the period of the great series of combats on the Somme. The
+Storks Escadrille, which was the first to arrive, waged battle
+uninterruptedly for eight months. Other escadrilles came to the rescue.
+Altogether they were divided into two groups, one under the command of
+Major Féquant, the other under that of Captain Brocard, appointed chief
+of battalion. It becomes impossible to enumerate all Guynemer's
+victories, and we can merely emphasize the days on which he surpassed
+himself. September 28 was a remarkable day, on which he brought down two
+enemies and had a fall from a height of 3000 meters. Little Paul Bailly
+would hardly have believed that; he would have said it was surely a
+legend, the golden legend of aviation. Nevertheless, here is Guynemer's
+statement, countersigned by the escadrille commandant:
+
+"_Saturday, September 23._--Two combats near Eterpigny. At 11.20 forced
+down a Boche in flames near Aches; at 11.21 forced a Boche to land,
+damaged, near Carrépuy; at 11.25 forced down a Boche in flames near
+Roye. At 11.30, was forced down myself by a French shell, and smashed my
+machine near Fescamps...."
+
+These combats occurred between Péronne and Montdidier. To his father he
+wrote with more precision, but in his usual elliptical style.
+
+"_September 22_: Asphyxiated a Fokker in 30 seconds, tumbled down
+disabled.
+
+"_September 23_: 11.20.--A Boche in flames within our lines.
+
+"11.21.--A Boche disabled, passenger killed.
+
+"11.25.--A Boche in flames 400 meters from the lines.
+
+"11.25 and a half.--A 75 blew up my water reservoir, and all the linen
+of the left upper plane, hence a superb tail spin. Succeeded in changing
+it into a glide. Fell to ground at speed of 160 or 180 kilometers:
+everything broken like matches, then the 'taxi' rebounded, turned around
+at 45 degrees, and came back, head down, planting itself in the ground
+40 meters away like a post; they could not budge it. Nothing was left
+but the body, which was intact: the Spad is strong; with any other
+machine I should now be thinner than this sheet of paper. I fell 100
+meters from the battery that had demolished me; they had not aimed at
+me, but they brought me down all the same, which they had no difficulty
+in recognizing; the shell struck me hard some time before exploding. The
+Boche fell close by Major Constantin's post. I picked up the pieces."
+
+The group which he had attacked was composed of five airplanes, flying
+in _échelon_, three above, two below. The two which flew lowest were
+assaulted by one of our escadrilles, and the pilots, seeing a machine
+fall in flames, thought at first it was their own victory. "It was my
+first one, falling from the upper story," Guynemer explained drolly, in
+his Stanislas-student manner. With his "_terrible oiseau_" he had waged
+battle with the three pilots "of the upper story," and had forced them
+down one after the other. "The first one," he said, "had a half-burned
+card in his pocket which had certainly been given him that same morning,
+judging by the date, which read in German: 'I think you are very
+successful in aviation.' I have his photograph with his Gretchen. What
+German heads! He wore the same decorations as that one who fell in the
+Bus wood...." Is this not Achilles setting his foot on Hector and
+taking possession of his trophies? Guynemer's heart was stone to his
+enemies. He saw in them the wrongs done to France, the invasion of our
+country, the destruction of our towns and villages, our desolation, and
+our dead, so many of our dead whose deserted homes weep for them. His
+was not to give pity, but to do justice. And in doing justice, when an
+adversary whom he had forced down was wounded, he brought him help with
+all his native generosity.
+
+For him, thirty seconds had separated the Capitol from the Tarpeian
+Rock. After his triple victory came his incredible fall, unheard of,
+fantastic, from a height of 3000 meters, the Spad falling at the highest
+speed down to earth, and rebounding and planting itself in the ground
+like a picket. "I was completely stupefied for twenty-four hours, but
+have escaped with merely immense fatigue (especially where I wear my
+looping-the-loop straps, which saved my life), and a gash in my knee
+presented to me by my magneto. During that 3000-meter tumble I was
+planning the best way to hit the ground (I had the choice of sauces): I
+found the way, but there were still 95 out of 100 chances for the wooden
+cross. _Enfin_, all right!" And this postscript followed: "Sixth time I
+have been brought down: record!"
+
+Lieutenant V.F., of the Dragon Escadrille, colliding with a comrade's
+airplane at a height of 3000 meters, had a similar fall onto the
+Avocourt wood, and was similarly astounded to find himself whole. He
+had continued maneuvering during the five or six minutes of the descent.
+"Soon," he wrote, "the trees of the Hesse forest came in sight; in fact,
+they seemed to approach at a dizzy rate of speed. I switched off so as
+not to catch fire, and a few meters before reaching the trees I nosed up
+my machine with all my strength so that it would fall flat. There was a
+terrible shock! One tree higher than the rest broke my right wings, and
+made me turn as if I were on a pivot. I closed my eyes. There was a
+second shock, less violent than I could have hoped: the machine fell on
+its nose like a stone, at the foot of the tree which had stopped me. I
+unfastened my belt which, luckily, had not broken, and let myself slip
+onto the ground, amazed not to be suffering intense agony. The only bad
+effects were that my head was heavy, and blood was flowing through my
+mask. I breathed, coughed, and shook my arms and legs, and was
+dumbfounded to find that all my faculties functioned normally...."
+Guynemer did not tell us so much; but, as a mathematician, he calculated
+his chances. He too had switched off, and with the greatest sang-froid
+superintended, so to speak, his fall. Its result was no less magical.
+
+The infantrymen had observed this rainfall of airplanes. The French
+plane reached the earth just before its pilot's last victim fell also,
+in flames. The soldiers pitied the poor victor, who had not, as they
+thought, survived his conquest! They rushed to his aid, expecting to
+pick him up crushed to atoms. But Guynemer stood up without aid. He
+seemed like a ghost; but he was standing, he was alive, and the excited
+soldiers took possession of him and carried him off in triumph. A
+division general approached, and immediately commanded a military salute
+for the victor, saying to Guynemer:
+
+"You will review the troops with me."
+
+Guynemer did not know how to review troops, and would have liked to go.
+He was suffering cruelly from his knee:
+
+"I happen to be wounded, General."
+
+"Wounded, you! It's impossible. When a man falls from the sky without
+being broken, he is a magician, no doubt of that. You cannot be wounded.
+However, lean upon me."
+
+And holding him up, almost indeed carrying him, he walked with the young
+_sous-lieutenant_ in front of the troops. From the neighboring trenches
+rose the sound of singing, first half-suppressed, and then swelling into
+a formidable roar: the _Marseillaise_. The song had sprung spontaneously
+to the men's lips.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Cerebral commotion required Guynemer to rest for a few days. But on
+October 5 he started off again. The month of October on the Somme was
+marked by an improvement in German aviation, their numbers being
+considerably reinforced and supplied with new tactics. Guynemer defied
+the new tactics of numbers, and in one day, October 17, attacked a group
+of three one-seated planes, and another group of five. A second time he
+made a sortie, and attacked a two-seated plane which was aided by five
+one-seated machines. On another occasion, November 9, he waged six
+battles with one-seated and two-seated machines, all of which made their
+escape, one after another, by diving. Still this was not enough, and he
+set forth again and attacked a group of one Albatros and four one-seated
+planes. "Hard fight," says the journal, "the enemy has the advantage."
+He broke off this combat, but only to engage in another with an Albatros
+which had surprised Lieutenant Deullin at 50 meters. On the following
+day, November 10, he added two more items to his list (making his
+nineteenth and twentieth): his first victim, at whom he had shot fifteen
+times from a distance less than ten meters, fell in flames south of
+Nesle; the other, a two-seated Albatros, 220 H.P. Mercédès, protected by
+three one-seated machines, fell and was crushed to pieces in the
+Morcourt ravine. This double stroke he repeated on the twenty-second of
+the same month (making his twenty-second and twenty-third), and again on
+January 23, 1917 (his twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh), and still again
+the next day, the twenty-fourth (his twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth
+victories). In addition, here is one of his letters with a statement of
+the results of three chasing days. There are no longer headings or
+endings to his letters; he makes a direct attack, as he does in the
+air.
+
+     26-1-'17
+
+     _January_ 24, 1917.--Fell on a group of five Boches at 2300. I
+     brought them back, with drums beating, at 800 meters (one wire stay
+     cut, one escape pot broken). At the end of the boxing-round, 400
+     meters above Roye, I succeeded in getting behind a one-seated
+     machine of the group. My motor stopped; obliged to pump and let the
+     Boche go.
+
+     11.45.--Attacked a Fritz, let him go at 800 meters, my motor
+     spattered, but the Boche landed, head down, near Goyancourt. I only
+     count him as damaged.
+
+     At this instant, I see a Boche cannonaded at 2400, hence at 11.50 a
+     boxing round necessary with a little Rumpler armed with two
+     machine-guns. The pilot got a bullet in his lung; the passenger,
+     who fired at me, got one in his knee. The two reservoirs were hit,
+     and the whole machine took fire and tumbled down at Lignières,
+     within our lines. I landed alongside; in starting in again one
+     wheel was broken in the plowed frozen earth. In taking away the
+     "taxi" the park people completely demolished it for me. It was
+     rushed to Paris for repairs.
+
+     25.--I watch the others fly, and fume.
+
+     26.--Bucquet loaned me his "taxi." No view-finder; only a
+     wretchedly bad (oh, how bad!) sight-line.
+
+     At 12 o'clock.--Saw a Boche at 3800; took the lift.--Arrived at the
+     sun.--In turning, was caught in an eddy-wind, rotten tail
+     spin.--While coming down again I saw the Boche aiming at me 200
+     meters away; sent him ten shots: gun jammed; but the Boche seemed
+     excited and dived with his motor in full blast straight south. Off
+     we go! But I took care not to get too near so that he would not see
+     that my gun was out of action. The altimeter tumbled: 1600
+     Estrées-Saint-Denis came in sight. I maneuvered my Boche as well as
+     I could. Suddenly he righted himself and departed in the direction
+     of Rheims, banging away at me.
+
+     I tried bluffing; I rose 500 meters and let myself fall on him like
+     a pebble. When I began to think my bluff had not succeeded, he
+     seemed impressed and began to descend again. I placed myself at a
+     distance of 10 meters, but every time I showed my nose the
+     passenger aimed at me. The road to Compiègne: 1000 ... 800 meters.
+     When I showed my nose, the passenger, standing, stopped aiming and
+     made a sign that he gave himself up. All right! I saw under his
+     belly that four shells had struck the mark. 400 meters: the Boche
+     slowed up his "_moulin_" (motor). 200 meters, 20 meters. I let him
+     go and watched him land. At 100 meters I circled and found I was
+     over an aërodrome. But, having no more cartridges, I could not
+     prevent them from setting fire to their "taxi," a magnificent 200
+     H.P. Albatros. When I saw they had been surrounded, I landed and
+     showed the Boches my broken machine-gun. Sensation. They had fired
+     at me two hundred times: my bullets, before the breakdown, had gone
+     through their altimeter and their tachometer, which had caused
+     their excitement. The pilot said that an airplane had been forced
+     down two days before at Goyancourt: passenger killed, pilot wounded
+     in legs--had to have one amputated above the knee. I hope this
+     original confirmation will be accepted, which will make 30.
+
+Thirty victories, twenty or twenty-one of which occurred on the Somme:
+such is the schedule of these extraordinary flights. The last one
+surpassed all the rest. He fought unarmed, with nothing but his machine,
+like a knight who, with sword broken, manages his horse and brings his
+adversary to bay. What a scene it was when the German pilot and
+passenger, prisoners, became aware that Guynemer's machine-gun had been
+out of action! Once more he had imposed his will upon others, and his
+power of domination had fascinated his enemies.
+
+In the beginning of February, 1917, the Storks Escadrille left the Somme
+after six months' fighting, and flew into Lorraine.
+
+
+
+
+CANTO III
+
+AT THE ZENITH
+
+
+I. ON THE 25TH OF MAY, 1917
+
+The destiny of a Guynemer is to surpass himself. Part of his power,
+however, must lie in the perfection of his weapons. Why could he not
+forge them himself? In him, the mechanician and the gunsmith were
+impatient to serve the pilot and the fighter. Nothing in the science of
+aviation was unknown to him, and Guynemer in the factory was always the
+same Guynemer. He worked with the same nervous tension when he
+overhauled his machine-guns to avoid the too frequent and too
+troublesome jamming, or when he improved the arrangement of the
+instruments and tools in his airplane in accordance with his superior
+practical experience, as when he chased an enemy. He wanted to compel
+the obedience of matter, as he compelled the enemy to surrender.
+
+In the Somme campaign he had forced down two airplanes in a single day,
+and then four in two days. In Lorraine he was to do even better. At that
+time, the beginning of 1917, the German aërial forces were very active
+in Lorraine, but the city of Nancy paid no attention to them. In 1914
+Nancy had seen the invading army broken against the mountain of Saint
+Genevieve and the Grand Couronné; she had withstood a bombardment by
+gigantic shells and visits from air squadrons, and all without losing
+her good humor and her animation. She was one of those cities on the
+front who are accustomed to danger, and who find in it an inspiration
+for courage, for commerce, and even for pleasure which does not belong
+to cities behind the lines. Sometimes people who were dining on the
+Place Stanislas left their tables to watch some fine battle in the air,
+after which they resumed their seats and their appetites, merely
+replacing Rhenish by Moselle wines. Nevertheless, the frequency of
+raids, and the destruction caused by bombs, began to make the existence
+of both native and visiting Nancyites decidedly unpleasant. The Storks
+Escadrille, which arrived in February, very promptly punished these
+aërial brigands, by a police policy both rapid and severe. The enemy
+airplanes which flew over Nancy were vigorously chased, and less than a
+month later the framework of a good dozen of them, arranged in an
+orderly manner around the statue of Stanislas Leczinski, reassured the
+population and served as an interesting spectacle for the visitor who
+could no longer have the pleasure of admiring, behind Lamour's gates,
+the two monumental fountains consecrated to Neptune and Amphitrite, by
+Guibal, and which were then covered by coarse sacks of earth.
+
+Guynemer had contributed his share of these _spolia opima_. On March 16
+he alone had forced down three Boches, and a fourth on the 17th. Three
+victories in one day constituted a novel exploit. Navarre had achieved a
+double victory on February 26, 1916, at Verdun, and Guynemer had the
+same success on the Somme; in this campaign Nungesser had burned a
+drachen and two airplanes in one morning; but three airplanes destroyed
+in one day had never been seen before.
+
+On that same evening Guynemer wrote to his family, and I transcribe the
+letter just as it is, with neither heading nor final formula. The King
+of Spain, in _Ruy Blas_, talks of the weather before he tells of the six
+wolves he has killed; but the new Cid fought in all weathers and speaks
+of nothing but his chase:
+
+     9 o'clock.--Rose from the ground on hearing shell explosions.
+     Forced down in flames a two-seated Albatros at 9.08.
+
+     9.20.--Attacked with Deuillin a group of three one-seated Albatros,
+     famous on the Lorraine front. At 9.26 I brought one down almost
+     intact: pilot wounded, Lieutenant von Hausen, nephew of the
+     general. And Deullin brought down another in flames at the same
+     time. About 9 o'clock Dorme and Auger had attacked and grilled a
+     two-seated plane. These four Boches were in a quadrilateral, the
+     sides of which measured five kilometers, four and a half
+     kilometers, three kilometers and three kilometers. Those who were
+     in the middle need not have bothered themselves, but they were
+     completely distracted.
+
+     14.30.--Forced down a two-seated Albatros in flames.
+
+     Three Boches within our lines for my day's work.... Ouf! G.G.
+
+Guynemer, who had been promoted lieutenant in February and was to be
+made captain in March, treated this Lieutenant von Hausen humanely and
+courteously as soon as he had landed. In all his mentions up to that
+time Guynemer had been described as a "brilliant chasing pilot"; he was
+now mentioned as an "incomparable chasing pilot."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Early in April the Storks left Lorraine and went to make their nests on
+a plateau on the left bank of the Aisne, back of Fismes. New events were
+in preparation. After the German retreat to the Hindenburg line, the
+French army in connection with the English army--which was to attack
+Vimy cliffs (April 9-10, 1917)--was about to undertake that vast
+offensive operation which, from Soissons to Auberive in Champagne, was
+to roll like an ocean wave over the slopes of the Chemin des Dames, the
+hills of Sapigneul and Brimont, and the Moronvillers mountain. Hearts
+were filled with hope, and the men were inspired by a sacred joy. Their
+sufferings and their wounds did not prevent the hearts of the soldiers
+in that spring of 1917 from flowering in sublime sacrifices for the
+cause of liberty.
+
+As at the battle of the Somme, so at the battle of the Aisne our aërial
+escadrilles were in close touch with the general staff and the other
+arms of the service. Their success was no doubt dependent upon the
+quality of the airplanes, and the factory output, and limited by the
+enemy's power in the air. But though they were unable to achieve the
+mastery of the air from the very first, they continued obstinately to
+increase their force, and little by little their successes increased.
+They had to oppose an enemy who had just accomplished an immense
+improvement in his aviation corps.
+
+In September, 1916, the German staff, profiting by the lessons of the
+Somme campaign during which its aviation forces had been so terribly
+scourged, resolved upon an almost complete reorganization of its
+aëronautical service. Hindenburg's program arranged for a rehandling of
+both the direction and the technical services. A decree dating from
+November, 1916, announced the separation from the other services of the
+Air Fight Forces (_Luftstreitkräfte_), which were to be placed under a
+staff officer, the _Kommandeur der Luftstreitkräfte_. This new
+_Kommandeur_, who was to superintend the building of the machines as
+well as the training of the pilots, was Lieutenant General von Hoeppner,
+with Lieutenant Colonel Tjomsen as an assistant. The squadrons,
+numbering more than 270, were divided into bombing, chasing, patrolling
+and field escadrilles, these last being intrusted with scouting,
+photographing, and artillery work, in constant touch with the infantry.
+Most of these novelties were servilely copied from French aviation. The
+Germans had borrowed the details of _liaison_ service, as well as those
+for the regulation of artillery fire, from the French regulations. The
+commander of the aëronautical section of the Fifth German Army (Verdun)
+said in a report that "a conscientious aviator was the only reliable
+informant in action." And his supreme chief, the Kronprinz, commenting
+upon this sentence, drew the following conclusions: "All this shows once
+more that through methodical use of Infantry Aviation, the command can
+be kept informed of developments through the whole battle. But the
+necessary condition for fruitful work in the field lies in a previous
+training carried on with the infantry, machine-guns, artillery, and
+_liaison_ units. The task of the Infantry Flyer is apt to become more
+difficult as the weather grows worse, and ground more deeply plowed up,
+the enemy more pressing, or our own troops yielding ground. When all
+these unfavorable circumstances are united, the Infantry Aviator can
+only be effective if he has perfect training. So he must be in constant
+contact with the other services, and the Infantry must know him
+personally. At a pinch he ought to make himself understood by the
+troops, even without any of the usual signals."
+
+But these airplanes, while doing this special work, must be protected by
+patrolling escadrilles. The best protection is afforded by the chasing
+units, fitted to spread terror and death far afield, or to stop enemy
+escadrilles bound on a similar errand. Here again, copying the French
+services, Germany strengthened her chasing escadrilles during the whole
+winter of 1916-1917, and by the following spring she possessed no less
+than forty. Before the war she had given her attention almost
+exclusively to heavy airplanes. French types were plagiarized: as the
+Morane had been altered into the Fokker, the Nieuport became an
+Albatros. Their one-seated 160 H.P. Albatros, with a Benz or Mercédès
+fixed engine and two Maxim guns shooting through the propeller, was
+henceforth the typical chasing machine. However, the powerful two-engine
+Gothas (520 H.P.) and the Friedrichshafen and A.E.G. (450 H.P.) soon
+made their appearance in bombing escadrilles.
+
+At the same time, the defensive attitude adopted at the beginning of the
+Somme campaign was repudiated. The order of the day became strong
+concentration, likely to secure, at least in one sector, decided
+superiority in the air, even if other sectors must be left destitute or
+battle shirked. The flying men were never to be over-worked, so as to be
+fresh in an emergency. The subordination of aviation to the other
+services was evidently an inspiration from the French regulation saying:
+"The aviation forces shall be always ready to attack, but in perfect
+subordination to the orders of the commanding officers."
+
+In spite of this _readiness to attack_, the enemy recommended prudence
+in scouting and patrolling work. The airman was not to engage in a fight
+without special orders. He seldom cruises by himself, and most often is
+one of five. To one Boelcke, fond of high altitudes and given to
+pouncing falconlike on his prey, like Guynemer, there are scores of
+Richtofens who, under careful protection from other airplanes, circle
+round and round trying to attract the enemy, and unexpectedly getting
+behind him by a spiral or a loop. It should be said here that the German
+controlling boards take the pilot's word concerning the number of his
+victories instead of requiring, as the French do, the evidence of eye
+witnesses. The high figures generously allowed to a Richtofen or a
+Werner Voss are less creditable than the strictly controlled record of a
+Guynemer, a Nungesser, or a Dorme.
+
+The enemy expected in April, 1917, a massive attack from the French air
+forces in the Aisne, and had taken measures to evade it. An order from
+the staff of the Seventh Army says that all flying units shall be given
+the alarm whenever a large number of French airplanes are sighted. The
+German machines must return to camp at once, refusing combat except on
+equal terms; and balloons must be lowered, or even pulled down to the
+ground. If, on the contrary, the German machines took the offensive, the
+order was that, at the hour determined upon, all available machines must
+rise together to a low altitude, and divide into two distinct fleets,
+the chasing units flying above the rest. These two fleets must then make
+for the point of attack, gaining height as they go, and must engage the
+enemy above the lines with the utmost energy, never giving up the
+pursuit until they reach the French lines, when the danger from
+anti-aircraft batteries becomes too great.
+
+From this it is evident that the preference of German Aviation for
+taking the offensive was not sufficient to induce it to offer battle
+above the enemy lines, and the tendency of the staff was to group
+squadrons into overpowering masses. The French had preceded their
+opponents in the way of technical progress, but the Germans made up for
+the inferiority, as usual, by method and system. The French were
+unrivaled for technical improvements, and the training of their pilots.
+Their new machine, the Spad, was a first-rate instrument, superior in
+strength, speed, and ease of control to the best Albatros, and the
+Germans knew that this inferiority must be obviated. All modern battles
+are thus preceded by technical rivalry. The preparation in factories,
+week after week, and month after month, ultimately results in living
+machinery which the staff uses as it pleases.
+
+Living machinery it is, but it is in appearance only that it seems to be
+independent of man. A battle is a collective work, to which each
+participant, from the General-in-chief to the road-mender behind the
+lines, brings his contribution. Colossal though the whole seems, perfect
+as the enormous machine seems to be, it would not work if there were not
+behind it a weak man made of poor flesh. A humble gunner, the anonymous
+defenders of a trench, a pilot who purges the air of the hostile
+presence, an observer who secures information in good time, some poor
+soldier who has no idea that his individual action was connected with
+the great drama, has occasionally brought about wonderful results--as a
+stone falling into a pool makes its presence felt to the remotest banks.
+
+Amidst the fighters on the Aisne, Guynemer was at his post in the
+Storks Escadrille. "All right! (sic) they tumble down," he wrote
+laconically to his family. There were indeed some five tumbling down: on
+May 25 he had surpassed all that had been done so far in aërial fights,
+bringing down four German machines in that one day. His notebook states
+the fact briefly:
+
+     8.30.--Downed a two-seater, which lost a wing as it fell and was
+     smashed on the trees 1200 meters NNE. of Corbeny.
+
+     8.31.--Another two-seater downed, in flames, above
+     Juvincourt.--With Captain Auger, forced another two-seater to dive
+     down to 600 meters, one kilometer from our lines.
+
+     Downed a D.F.W.[22] in flames above Courlandon.
+
+     Downed a two-seater in flames between Guignicourt and
+     Condé-sur-Suippes. Dispersed with Captain Auger a squadron of six
+     one-seaters.
+
+[Footnote 22: The D.F.W. (_Deutsche Flugzeug Werke_) is a scouting
+machine provided with two machine-guns, one shooting through the
+propeller, the other mounted on a turret aft. It is thirty-nine feet
+across the wings, and twenty-four in length. One Benz six-cylinder
+engine of 200/225 H.P. Its speed at an altitude of 3000 meters supposed
+to be 150 kilometers an hour. One of these machines has been on view at
+the Invalides since July, 1917.]
+
+
+Now, his Excellency, Lieutenant General von Hoeppner, _Kommandeur der
+Luftstreitkräfte_, being interviewed two days later by newspaper men he
+had summoned for the purpose, told them and through them told Germany
+and, if possible, the whole world, that the German airplanes and the
+German airmen were unrivaled. "As for the French aviators," he went on
+to say remarkably apropos, "they only engage our men when they are sure
+of victory. When they have doubts about their own superiority, they
+prefer to desist rather than take any risks." This solemn lie the
+newspaper men repeated at once in their issues of May 28.
+
+A few months later one of these same reporters, reverting to the subject
+of French aviation, took Guynemer himself to task in the _Badische
+Presse_ for August 8, 1917, as follows: "The airman you see flying so
+high is the famous Guynemer. He is the rival of the most daring German
+aviators, an _as_, as the French call their champions. He is undoubtedly
+to be reckoned with, for he handles his machine with absolute mastery,
+and he is an excellent shot. But he only accepts an air fight when every
+chance is on his side. He flies above the German lines at altitudes
+between 6000 and 7000 meters, quite out of range of our anti-aircraft
+artillery. He cannot make any observations, for from that height he sees
+nothing clearly, not even troops on the march. He is exclusively a
+chasing flyer bent on destroying our own machines. He has been often
+successful, though he cannot be compared to our own Richtofen. He is
+very prudent; always flying, as I said above, at an altitude of at least
+6000 meters, he waits till an airplane rises from the German lines or
+appears on its way home. Then he pounces upon it as a falcon might, and
+opens fire with his machine-gun. When he only wounds the pilot, or if
+our airman seems to show fight, Guynemer flies back to his own lines at
+the incredible speed of 250 kilometers an hour, which his very powerful
+machine makes possible. He never accepts a fair fight. Every man chases
+as he can."
+
+"Every man chases as he can." Quite so. To revert to that 25th of May,
+the "very prudent" Guynemer, on his morning patrol, met three German
+airplanes flying towards the French lines. They were two-seaters, less
+nimble, no doubt, than one-seaters, but provided with so much more
+dangerous arms. Naturally he could not think of attacking them, "not
+feeling sure of victory," and "always avoiding a risky contest!" Yet he
+pounced upon his three opponents, who promptly turned back. However, he
+overtook one, began making evolutions around him, succeeded in getting
+slightly below him, fired, and with his first volley succeeded in
+bringing him down in flames north of Corbeny (northeast of Craonne).
+
+The danger for a one-seater is to be surprised from behind. Just as
+Guynemer veered round, he saw another machine flying after him. He again
+fired upwards, and the airplane fell in flames, like the first, only a
+few seconds having elapsed between the two fights. Guynemer then
+returned to camp.
+
+But he was excited by these two fights; his nerves were strained and his
+will was tense. He soon started again. Towards noon a German machine
+appeared above the camp itself. How had it been able to get there? This
+is what the airmen down below were asking themselves. It was useless to
+chase it, for it would take any of them longer to rise than the German
+to escape. So they had to content themselves with looking up, some of
+them searching the sky with binoculars. Everybody was back except
+Guynemer, when somebody suddenly cried:
+
+"Here comes Guynemer!"
+
+"Then the Boche is done for."
+
+Guynemer, in fact, was coming down upon his prey like lightning, and the
+instant he was behind and slightly beneath him, he fired. Only one shot
+from the machine-gun was heard, but the enemy airplane was already
+spinning down, its engine going full speed, and was dashed into the
+earth at Courlandon near Fismes. The pilot had been shot through the
+head.
+
+In the afternoon the very prudent Guynemer started for the third time,
+and towards seven o'clock, above the Guignicourt market gardens (that is
+to say, in the enemy lines), he brought down another machine in flames.
+
+"Very prudent" is the last epithet one could have expected to see in
+connection with the name of Guynemer. For he rarely came home without
+bullet-holes in his wings or even in his clothes. The Boche, being the
+Boche, had shown his usual respect for truth and generosity towards an
+adversary.
+
+Guynemer, when returning to camp after a victory, generally announced
+his success by making his engine work to some tune. This time the
+cadence was the tune of the _Lampions_. All the neighboring airplane
+sheds understood, also the cantonments, parks, depots, dugouts, field
+hospitals and railway stations; in a word, all the communities scattered
+behind the lines of an army. This time the motor was singing so
+insistently that everybody, with faces upturned, concluded that their
+Guynemer had been "getting them."
+
+In fact, the news was already spreading like wildfire, as news has the
+mysterious capacity for doing. No, it was not simply one airplane he had
+set ablaze; it was two, one above Corbeny, the other above Juvincourt.
+And people had hardly realized the wonderful fact before the third
+machine was seen falling in flames near Fismes. It was seen by hundreds
+of men who thought it was about to fall upon them, and ran for shelter.
+Meanwhile, Guynemer's engine was singing.
+
+And for the fourth time it was heard again at twilight. Could it be
+possible? Had Guynemer really succeeded four times? Four machines
+brought down in one day by one pilot was what no infantryman, gunner,
+pioneer, territorial, Anamite or Senegalese had ever seen. And from the
+stations, field hospitals, dugouts, depots, parks and cantonments, while
+the setting sun lingered in the sky on this May evening, whoever handled
+a shovel, a pickaxe or a rifle, whoever laid down rails, unloaded
+trucks, piled up cases, or broke stones on the road, whoever dressed
+wounds, gave medicine or carried dead men, whoever worked, rested, ate
+or drank--whoever was alive, in a word--stepped out, ran, jostled
+along, arrived at the camp, got helterskelter over the fences, broke
+into the sheds, searched the airplanes, and called to the mechanicians
+in their wild desire to see Guynemer. There they were, a whole town of
+them, knocking at every door and peeping into every tent.
+
+Somebody said: "Guynemer is asleep."
+
+Whereupon, without a word of protest, without a sound, the crowd
+streamed out and scattered in the darkening fields, threading its way
+back to the quiet dells behind the lines.
+
+So ended the day of the greatest aërial victory.
+
+
+II. A VISIT TO GUYNEMER
+
+_Sunday, June 3, 1917._ To-day, the first Sunday of June, the women from
+the neighboring villages came to visit the camp. Nobody is allowed to
+enter, but from the road you can see the machines start or land. The day
+was glorious, and the broad sun transfiguring these French landscapes,
+with their elongated valleys, their wooded ranges of hills, and
+generally harmonious lines suggested Greece, and one looked around for
+the colonnades of temples.
+
+Beyond the rolling country rose the Aisne cliffs, where the fighting was
+incessant, though its roar was scarcely perceived.
+
+Why had these villages been attracted to this particular camp? Because
+they knew that here, in default of Greek temples, were young gods. They
+wanted to see Guynemer.
+
+The news had flown on rapid wings from hamlet to hamlet, from farm to
+farm, of what had happened on the 25th, and on the next day Guynemer had
+been almost equally successful.
+
+Several aviators had already landed, men with famous names, but the
+public cannot be expected to remember them all. Finally an airplane
+descended in graceful spirals, landing softly and rolling along close to
+the railings.
+
+"_Guynemer!_"
+
+But the pilot, unconscious of the worshiping crowd, took off his helmet,
+disclosed a frowning face, and began discontentedly to examine his gun.
+Twice that day it had jammed, saving two Germans. Guynemer was like the
+painters of old who, by grinding their colors themselves, insured the
+duration of their works. He resented not being able to make all his
+weapons himself, his engine, his Vickers, and his bullets. At length he
+seemed willing to leave his machine, and pulled off his heavy war
+accouterment, which revealed a tall, flexible young man. As he rapidly
+approached his tent, his every motion watched by the onlookers, a
+private turned on him a small camera, with a beseeching--
+
+"You'll permit me, _mon capitaine_?"
+
+"Yes, but quick."
+
+He was cross and impatient, and as he stopped he noticed all the eyes of
+the women watching him ecstatically. He made a despairing gesture. His
+frown deepened, his figure stiffened, and the snapshot was another
+failure.
+
+Hardly any of his portraits are like him. Does the fact that he was tall
+and spare, almost beardless, with an amber-colored, oval face and a
+regular profile, and raven-hair brushed backwards, give any idea of the
+force that was in him? If his eyes, dark with golden reflections, could
+have been painted, they might no doubt have given a more accurate notion
+of him: his capacity for surveying all space, and his prompt decision,
+were visible in them, as well as his carefulness and his courage. Their
+glance was so direct, almost brutal, that it could be felt, so to speak,
+physically; and yet it could suddenly express a cheerful, boyish nature,
+or disclose his close attention to the technical problems which
+everlastingly engrossed his mind.
+
+Guynemer was very different from Navarre, with his powerful profile and
+broad chest like an eagle in repose, and different from Nungesser, the
+Nungesser before his wounds had so devastated his body that a medical
+board wanted to declare him unfit, a decision which he heroically
+resisted, adding to his thirty victories another triumph over physical
+disability. Guynemer differed from them mentally, too, possessing
+neither their instinct nor their intuitiveness. These he replaced with
+scientific accuracy based on study, by a passion for flying, by method
+allied to fervor, by violent logic. His power was nervous and almost
+electric. The vicinity of danger drew sparks from him.
+
+His most daring exploits were prepared by meditation beforehand, and he
+never indulged in recklessness without having pondered and calculated.
+His action was so swift that it might seem instinctive, but under
+appearances the reasoning element was always present.
+
+It was now late, but he was willing to talk to us about that wonderful
+25th of May, for he had no objection to talking about his enemy-chasing;
+on the contrary, he would tell us details with the same amusement as if
+he related lucky plays at poker, and with the same knowing ways. There
+was not the least shade of affectation or of posing in his narrative,
+but he talked with the simplicity of a child. He told us that his third
+encounter had been the most enjoyable. He was coming back to lunch, had
+seen the impudent German soaring above the camp, had fired, and the man
+had gone down dead. After this exceedingly brief account he laughed as
+usual, a fresh laugh like a girl's, and his eyes closed. He said he was
+sleepy; he had been out twice, and before he went again he wanted a
+little rest.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I remember how bustling the camp looked! It was half-past six, and the
+weather was wonderful, with not a cloud in the sky, for some floating
+white flakes in the blue could not be called clouds. But these white
+flakes began to multiply; they were, in fact, an enemy patrol, which had
+succeeded in crossing the lines and was now above us. We counted two,
+three, four machines, which the sparks of our exploding shells promptly
+surrounded, while three French Spads rose at full speed to meet them.
+
+As we stood watching and wondering if the enemy would accept the fight,
+Guynemer suddenly appeared. He had been called, and now he and his
+comrades, Captain Auger and Lieutenant Raymond, came running to their
+machines. I watched Guynemer as he was being put into his leather suit.
+His whole soul was in his eyes, which glared at one moving point in
+space as if they themselves could shoot. Three of the German machines
+had already turned back, but the remaining one went on, insolently
+counting on his own power and speed. I shall never forget Guynemer, his
+face lifted, his eyes illuminated as if hypnotized by this point in
+space, his figure upright and stiffened like an arrow waiting to be
+released by the bow. Before pulling down his helmet he gave the order:
+
+"Straight at him."
+
+The engines snorted and snored, the propellers began to move, the
+machines rolled along, and suddenly were seen climbing almost
+vertically. Up above the fight was beginning, and it seemed as if the
+three starting airplanes could never reach in time the altitude of four
+or five thousand meters at which it was taking place.
+
+The attacking Spad was obviously trying to get its opponent within
+firing range, but the German was a first-rate pilot and dodged without
+losing height, banking, looping, taking advantage of the Frenchman's
+dead angles, and striving to get him under his machine-gun. Round and
+round the two airplanes circled, when suddenly the German bolted in the
+direction of the Aisne cliffs. But the Spad partly caught up with him
+and the aërial circling began anew, while two other Spads appeared--a
+pack after a deer. The German cleverly took advantage now of the sun,
+now of the evening vapors, but he was within range, and the tack-tack of
+a machine-gun was heard. Guynemer and the other two were coming nearer,
+when the Spad dropped beneath its adversary and fired upwards. The
+German plunged, and we expected would sink, but he righted himself and
+was off in an instant. However, this was Guynemer's chance: three shots,
+not more, from his gun, and the German airplane crashed down somewhere
+near Muizon, on the banks of the Vesle.[23]
+
+[Footnote 23: This victory was not put down to Guynemer's account,
+because another airman had shot first--which gives an idea of the French
+controlling board's severity.]
+
+One after another, the victorious birds came back to cover from every
+part of the violet and rosy sky. But joy over their success must show
+itself, and they indulged in all the fanciful caprioles of acrobatic
+aviation, spinning down in quick spirals, turning somersaults, looping
+or plunging in a glorious sky-dance. Last of these young gods, Guynemer
+landed after one final circle, and took off his helmet, offering to the
+setting sun his illuminated face, still full of the spirit of battle.
+
+
+III. GUYNEMER IN CAMP
+
+On the Somme Guynemer was one of the great French champions; on the
+Aisne he became their king. No enemy could resist him, and his daring
+appeared without bounds. On May 27 he attacked alone a squadron of six
+two-seaters above Auberive at an altitude of 5000 meters, and compelled
+them to go down to an altitude of 3600 meters. Before landing, he
+pounced on another group of eight, scattering them and bringing down
+one, completely smashed, with its fuselage linen in rags, among the
+shell-holes in a field. He was like the Cid Campeador, to whom the Sheik
+Jabias said:
+
+     ...Vous éclatiez, avec des rayons jusqu'aux cieux,
+     Dans une préséance éblouissante aux yeux;
+     Vous marchiez, entouré d'un ordre de bataille;
+     Aucun sommet n'était trop haut pour votre taille,
+     Et vous étiez un fils d'une telle fierté
+     Que les aigles volaient tous de votre côté....
+
+His feats exceeded all hopes, and his appearance in the sky fairly
+frightened the enemy. On June 5, after bringing down an Albatros east of
+Berry-au-Bac, he chased to the east of Rheims a D.F.W., which had
+previously been attacked by other Spads. "My nose was right on him,"
+says Guynemer's notebook, "when my machine-gun jammed. But just then the
+observer raised his hands. I beckoned to him several times to veer
+towards our lines, but noticing that he was making straight for his own,
+I went back to my gun, which now worked, and fired a volley of fifteen
+(at 2200 altitude). Immediately the machine upset, throwing the observer
+overboard, and sank on Berru forest." However, Guynemer's day's work was
+not done to his satisfaction after these two victories (his forty-fourth
+and forty-fifth): he attacked a group of three, and later on a group of
+four, and came back with bullets in his machine.
+
+Meanwhile he had been made, on June 11, 1917, an Officer of the Legion
+of Honor with the following citation:
+
+     A remarkable officer, a daring and dexterous chaser. Has been of
+     exceptional service to the country both by the number of his
+     victories and by the daily example of his never-flagging courage
+     and constantly increasing mastery. Careless of danger, he has
+     become, by the infallibility of his methods, the most formidable
+     opponent of German flyers. On May 25 achieved unparalleled success,
+     bringing down two machines in one minute, and two more in the
+     course of the same day. By these exploits has contributed to
+     maintaining the courage and enthusiasm of the men who, from the
+     trenches, have witnessed his triumphs. Forty-five machines brought
+     down; twenty citations; twice wounded.
+
+This document, eloquent and accurate and tracing facts to their causes,
+praises in Guynemer at the same time will-power, courage, and the
+contagion of example. Guynemer loved the last sentence, because it
+associated with his fights their daily witnesses, the infantrymen in the
+trenches.
+
+The badge of an Officer in the Legion of Honor was given to him at the
+aviation camp on July 5 by General Franchet d'Esperey, in command of the
+Northern Armies. But this solemn ceremony had not prevented Guynemer
+from flying twice, the first time for two hours, the second flight one
+hour, on a new machine from which he expected wonders. He attacked three
+D.F.W.'s, and had to land with five bullets in his engine and radiator.
+
+His new decoration was given him at four o'clock on a beautiful summer
+afternoon. Guynemer's comrades were present, of course, and as pleased
+as if the function had concerned themselves. The 11th Company of the 82d
+Regiment of Infantry took its station opposite the imposing row of
+squadron machines, sixty in number, which stood there like race horses
+as if to take part in the fête. Guynemer's well-known airplane, the
+_Vieux-Charles_, was the fifth to the left, its master having required
+its presence, though it had been injured that very day. In front of the
+aviation and regimental flags the young aviator stood by himself in his
+black _vareuse_, looking slight and pale, but upright, with eyes
+sparkling. At a little distance a few civilians--his own people, whom
+the general had invited--watched the proceedings.
+
+General Franchet d'Esperey appeared, a robust, energetic man, and the
+following scene, described by one of the trench papers--the _Brise
+d'entonnoirs_ of the 82d Infantry--took place: "The general stopped
+before the young hero and eyed him with evident pleasure; then he
+proclaimed him a gallant soldier, touched his two shoulders with his
+sword, as they did to champions of past ages, pinned the _rosette_ on
+his coat, and embraced him. Then to the stirring tune of
+'_Sambre-et-Meuse_' the band and the soldiers marched in front of the
+new officer who, the ceremony now being over, joined his relatives some
+distance away."
+
+General d'Esperey, looking over Guynemer's _Vieux-Charles_, noticed the
+damaged parts.
+
+"How comes it that your foot was not injured?" he asked, pointing to one
+of the bullet-holes.
+
+"I had just removed it, _mon général_," said Guynemer, with his usual
+simplicity.
+
+None of the airmen with whom Guynemer shared his joy ever forgot that
+afternoon of July 5, 1917. The summer sun, the serene beauty of the
+hills bordering the Aisne, the distant bass of the battle, lent to the
+scene an enchanting but solemn interest. Tragic memories were in the
+minds of all the bystanders, and great names were on their lips--the
+names of retiring, noble, hard-working Dorme, reported missing on May
+25, and of Captain Lecour-Grandmaison, creator of the three-seaters,
+who, on one of these machines, brought down five Germans, but was killed
+in a combat on May 10 and brought back to camp dead by a surviving
+comrade. Guynemer's red _rosette_ meant glory to the great chasers, to
+wounded Heurtaux, to Ménard and Deullin, to Auger, Fonck, Jailler,
+Guérin, Baudouin, and all their comrades! And it meant glory to the
+pilots and observers who, always together in the discharge of duty, are
+not infrequently together in meeting death: to Lieutenant Fressagues,
+pilot, and sous-lieutenant Bouvard, observer, who once fought seven
+Germans and managed to bring one down; to Lieutenant Floret and
+Lieutenant Homo, who, placed in similar circumstances, set two machines
+on fire; to Lieutenant Viguier who, on April 18, had the pluck to come
+down to twenty-five meters above the enemy's lines and calmly make his
+observations; and to so many others who did their duty with the same
+daring, intelligence, and conscientiousness, to the hundreds of more
+humble airmen who, while the infantry says the sanguinary mass, throw
+down from above, like the chorister boys in the _corpus Christi_
+procession, the red roses of epics!
+
+The whole Storks Escadrille had received from General Duchêne the
+following _citation_: "Escadrille No. 3. Commander: Captain Heurtaux. A
+brilliant chasing escadrille which for the past two years has fought in
+every sector of the front with wonderful spirit and admirable
+self-sacrifice. The squadron has just taken part in the Lorraine and
+Champagne operations, and during this period its members have destroyed
+fifty-three German machines which, added to others previously brought
+down, makes a total of one hundred and twenty-eight certainly
+demolished, and one hundred and thirty-two partly disabled."
+
+This battle on the Aisne, with its famous climax at the Chemin des
+Dames, began to slacken in July; and it was decided that the chasing
+squadrons, including the Storks, should be transferred to one of the
+British sectors where another offensive was being prepared. But before
+leaving the Fismes or Rheims district, Guynemer was active. He had not
+been given his new rank in the Legion of Honor to be idle: that was not
+his way. On the contrary, his habit was to show, after receiving a
+distinction as well as before, that he was worthy of it. On July 6 he
+engaged five two-seaters, and brought down one in flames. The next day
+his notebook records two more victories:
+
+"Attacked with Adjutant Bozon-Verduraz, four Albatros one-seaters, above
+Brimont. Downed one in flames north of Villers-Franqueux, in our own
+lines. Attacked a D.F.W. which spun down in our lines at Moussy."
+
+These victories, his forty-sixth, forty-seventh, and forty-eighth, were
+his farewell to the Aisne. But these excessive exertions brought on
+nervous fatigue. The escadrille had only just reached its new station,
+when Guynemer had to go into hospital, whence he wrote his father on
+July 18 as follows:
+
+     Dear Father:
+
+     Knocked out again. Hospital. But this time I'm flourishing. No more
+     wooden barracks, but a farmhouse right in the fields. I have a room
+     all to myself. Quite correct: I downed three Fritzes, one ablaze,
+     and the next day again great sport: mistook four Boches for
+     Frenchmen. At first fought three of them, then one alone at 3200 to
+     800 meters. He took fire. They will have to wait till the earth
+     dries so they can dig him out. An hour later a two-seater turned up
+     at 5500. He blundered, and fell straight down on a 75, which died
+     of the shock. But so did the passenger. The pilot was simply a bit
+     excited, for which he couldn't be blamed. His machine had not
+     plunged, but came down slowly, with its nose twirling, and I got
+     his two guns intact....
+
+     The _toubib_ (doctor) says I shall be on my feet in three or four
+     days. Don't see many Boches just now, but that won't last. I read
+     in a newspaper that I had been mobbed in a friendly manner in
+     Paris. I must be ubiquitous without knowing it. Modern science
+     brings about marvels, modern journalism also.
+
+     Raymond has two strings (officer's stripes) and the cross of the
+     Legion. Please congratulate him.
+
+     Good night, father.
+
+     Georges.
+
+     P.S. I, who get seasick over nothing at all, have just been out to
+     sea for the first time. The water was very rough, especially for a
+     little motor-boat, but I smiled serenely through it all. Wasn't I
+     proud!...
+
+In fact, some newspaper had announced that Guynemer would carry the
+aviation flag in the Parade of the Fourteenth of July in Paris, and this
+was enough to persuade the crowd that some other airman was Guynemer.
+Indeed, there had been talk of sending him to Paris on that solemn
+occasion, but he had declined. He loved glory, but hated show, and he
+had followed his squadron to Flanders, where he had taken to his bed.
+
+The foregoing letter bears Guynemer's mark unmistakably. The son of rich
+parents rejoicing over having a room to himself, after having renounced
+all comfort from the very first day of his enlistment, and willing to
+begin as _garçon d'aérodrome_; the joke about the German airplane sunk
+so deep in the wet ground that it would have to be dug out, and the
+surprise of the pilot; the delight over Raymond's promotion; the amusing
+allusion to sea-sickness by the man who had no equal in air navigation,
+are all characteristic details.
+
+Sheik Jabias thus sums up his impressions after visiting the Cid in his
+camp:
+
+     Vous dominiez tout, grand, sans chef, sans joug, sans digue,
+     Absolu, lance au poing, panache, au front....
+
+And that Cid had never fought up in the air.
+
+
+IV. GUYNEMER IN HIS FATHER'S HOUSE
+
+To quote him once more, Sheik Jabias, after being dazzled by the Cid in
+his camp, is supposed to see him in his father's castle at Bivar, doing
+more humble work.
+
+     ...Que s'est-il donc passé? Quel est cet équipage?
+     J'arrive, et je vous trouve en veste, comme un page,
+     Dehors, bras nus, nu-tête, et si petit garçon
+     Que vous avez en main l'auge et le caveçon,
+     Et faisant ce qu'il sied aux écuyers de faire,
+     --Cheick, dit le Cid, je suis maintenant chez mon père.
+
+Those who never saw Guynemer at his father's at Compiègne cannot know
+him well. Of course, even in camp he was the best of comrades, full of
+his work, but always ready to enjoy somebody else's success, and
+speaking about his own as if it were billiards or bridge. His renown
+had not intoxicated him, and he would have been quite unconscious of it
+had he not sometimes felt that unresponsiveness on the part of others
+which is the price of glory: anything like jealousy hurt him as if it
+had been his first discovery of evil. In Kipling's _Jungle Book_,
+Mowgli, the man cub, noticing that the Jungle hates him, feels his eyes
+and is frightened at finding them wet. "What is this, Bagheera?" he asks
+of his friend the panther. "Oh, nothing; only tears," answers Bagheera,
+who had lived among men.
+
+One who, on occasion, told Guynemer _not to mind_ knows how deep was his
+sensitiveness, not to the presence of real hostility, which he
+fortunately never encountered, but even to an obscure germ of jealousy.
+The moment he felt this he shrank into himself. His native exuberance
+only displayed itself under the influence of sympathy.
+
+Friendship among airmen is manly and almost rough, not caring for
+formulas or appearances, but proving itself by deeds. To these men the
+games of war are astonishingly like school games, and are spoken of as
+if they were nothing else. When a comrade has not come back, and dinner
+has to begin without him, no show of sorrow is tolerated: only these
+young men's hearts feel the absence of a friend, and the casual visitor,
+not knowing, might take them for sporting men, lively and jolly.
+
+Guynemer was living his life in perfect confidence, feeling no personal
+ambition, not inclined to enjoy honors more than work, ignoring all
+affectation or attitudinizing, never politic, and naturally unconscious
+of his own simplicity. Yet he loved and adored what we call glory, and
+would tell anybody of his successes, even of his decorations, with a
+childlike certitude that these things must delight others as much as
+himself. His French honors were of course his great pride, but he highly
+appreciated those which he had received from allied governments, too:
+the Distinguished Service order, the Cross of St. George, the Cross of
+Leopold, the Belgian war medal, Serbian and Montenegrin orders, etc. All
+these ribbons made a bright show, and although he generally wore only
+the _rosette_ of the Legion of Honor, he would sometimes deck himself
+out in them all, or carry them in his pocket and occasionally empty them
+out on a table, as at school he used to tumble out the untidy contents
+of his desk in search of his task.
+
+When he went to Paris to see to his machines, he first secured a room at
+the Hôtel Edouard VII, and immediately posted to the Buc works. When he
+had time he would invite himself to dinner at the house of his
+schoolmate at the Collège Stanislas, Lieutenant Constantin. "Every time
+he came," this officer writes, "some new exploit or a new decoration had
+been added to his list. He never wore all his medals, his 'village-band
+banner,' as he amusingly called them; but when people asked to see them,
+he immediately searched his pockets and produced the whole disorderly
+lot. When he became officer in the Legion, he appeared at my mother's
+quite radiant, so that she asked him the reason of this unusual joy.
+'Regardez bien, madame, there is something new.' The new thing which my
+mother discovered was a tiny _rosette_ ornamenting his red ribbon."
+
+This _rosette_ was so very small that nobody noticed it, and Guynemer
+felt that he must complain to the shopman at the Palais Royal who had
+sold it to him.
+
+"Give me a larger one, a huge one," he said; "nobody sees this."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The tradesman spread a number of _rosettes_ on his counter, but Guynemer
+only took back again the one of which he had complained, and went out
+laughing as if the whole thing had been a good joke.
+
+His officer's stripes gave him as much pleasure as his decorations.
+Every time he was promoted, he wanted his stripes sewn on, not in a day
+or an hour, or even five minutes, but immediately. He received his
+captain's commission the same day he had been given the Distinguished
+Service order, and he promptly went to see his friend, Captain de la
+Tour, who was wounded in the hospital at Nancy. This officer had lost
+three brothers in action, and loved Guynemer as if he had been another
+younger brother. Indeed, Guynemer said later that La Tour loved him more
+than any other did.
+
+"Don't you see any change in me?" Guynemer asked.
+
+"No, you're just as usual."
+
+"No, there's a change!"
+
+"Oh, I see; you mean your English order; it does look well."
+
+"There's something else. Look closer."
+
+La Tour at last discovered the three stripes on the cap and sleeves.
+
+"What! Are you a captain?"
+
+"Yes, a captain," and Guynemer laughed his boyish laugh.--This kid a
+captain! So I am not an impressive captain, then? I haven't run risks
+enough to be a captain, probably!--His laugh said all this.
+
+Lieutenant Constantin also says in his notes: "Guynemer disliked walking
+about Paris, because people recognized him. When he saw them turn to
+look at him, he would grumble at the curse of having a face that was
+public property. So he preferred waiting for evening, and then drove his
+little white car up the Champs Elysées to the Bois. He enjoyed this
+peaceful recreation thoroughly, and forgot the excitement of his life at
+the front. Memories of our boyhood days came back to him, and he dwelt
+on them with delight: 'Do you remember one day in _seconde_ when we
+quarreled and fought like madmen? You made such a mark on my arm that it
+is there yet.' He did not mind, but I was ashamed of having been such a
+young brute. Another day, in May, 1917, coming home on leave I met
+Georges just as he stepped out of his hotel, and as I had just been
+mentioned in dispatches I told him about it. Immediately he dragged me
+into a shop, bought a _croix de guerre_, pinned it on my _vareuse_, and
+hugged me before everybody."
+
+Guynemer had a genius for graciousness, and his imagination was
+inexhaustible when he wished to please, but his temper was hot and
+quick. One day he had left his motor at the door of the hotel, and some
+practical joker thought it clever to leave a note in the car with this
+inscription in large letters: AVIATORS TO THE FRONT! Guynemer did not
+take the joke at all, and was boiling with rage.
+
+His complete freedom from conceit has often been remarked. At a luncheon
+given in his honor by the well-known deputy, Captain Lasies, he would
+not say a word about himself, but extolled his comrades until somebody
+said: "You are really modesty itself."
+
+Whereupon another guest asked: "Could you imagine him bragging?"
+
+Guynemer was delighted, and when the party broke up he went out with the
+gentleman who had said this and thanked him warmly. "Don't you see how
+little they understand? I don't say I am modest, but if I weren't I
+would be a fool, and I should not like to be that. I know quite well
+that just now some of us are getting so much admiration and so many
+honors that one may get more than one's share. Whereas the men in the
+trenches--how different it is with them!"[24]
+
+[Footnote 24: _Journal des Débats_ for September 26, 1917.]
+
+But it was inevitable that he should be lionized. People came to him
+with albums and pictures. He wrote to his father that a Madame de B.
+wanted something, just one sentence, in an album which was to be sold in
+America. "I am to be alongside the Generalissimo. What on earth can I
+write?"
+
+An American lady who was also a guest at the Hôtel Edouard VII wanted to
+have at any price some souvenir of the young hero. She ordered her maid
+to bring away an old glove of Guynemer's which was lying on a chest of
+drawers, and replace it by a magnificent bouquet. "This lady put me in a
+nice dilemma," Guynemer explained, "as it was Sunday and there was no
+way of getting any more gloves."[25]
+
+[Footnote 25: Anecdote related in the _Figaro_ for September 29, 1917.]
+
+He had no affectation, least of all the kind that pretends to be
+ignorant of one's own popularity; but surely he cared little for
+popularity. Here again he puts us in mind of a medieval poem. In
+_Gilbert de Metz_, one of our oldest epics, the daughter of Anséis is
+described seated at the window, "fresh, slim, and white as a lily" when
+two knights, Garin and his cousin Gilbert, happen to ride near. "Look
+up, cousin Gilbert," says Garin, "look. By our lady, what a handsome
+dame!" "Oh," answers Gilbert, "what a handsome creature my steed is! I
+never saw anything so lovely as this maiden with her fair skin and dark
+eyes. I never knew any steed that could compare with mine." And so on,
+while Gilbert still refuses to look up at the beautiful daughter of
+Anséis. Also in _Girard de Viane_, Charlemagne, holding his court at
+the palace of Vienne, has just placed the hand of the lovely Aude in
+that of his nephew Roland. Both the girl and the great soldier are
+silent and blushing while the date of the wedding is being discussed,
+when a messenger suddenly rushes in: "The Saracens are in France! War!
+war!" shout the bystanders. Then without a word Roland drops the white
+hand of the girl, springs to arms, and is gone. So Guynemer would have
+praised his Nieuport or his Spad as Gilbert praised his steed, and
+_belle Aude_ herself could not have kept him away from the fight.
+
+[Illustration: COMBAT]
+
+One day his father felt doubts about the capacity of such a young man to
+resist the intoxication of so much flattery from men and women.
+
+"Don't worry," Guynemer answered, "I am watching my nerves as an acrobat
+watches his muscles. I have chosen my own mission, and I must fulfil
+it."
+
+After his death, one of his friends, the one who spoke to him last, told
+me: "He used to put aside heaps of flattering letters which he did not
+even read. 'Read them if you like,' he said to me, and I destroyed them.
+He only read letters from children, schoolboys and soldiers."
+
+In _L'Aiglon_ Prokesch brings the mail to the Prince Imperial, and
+handing him letters from women, he says:
+
+                            Voilà
+     Ce que c'est d'avoir l'auréole fatale.
+
+As soon as Prokesch begins to read them, the Prince stops him with the
+words: "_Je déchire_." Even when a woman whom he has nicknamed "Little
+Spring"--"because the water sleeping in her eyes or purling in her voice
+has often cooled his fever"--announces her departure, hoping he may
+detain her, he lets her go, whispering again like a refrain, "_Je
+déchire_."
+
+Did Guynemer deal with hearts as he dealt with the besieging letters, or
+as the falcon of St. Jean l'Hospitalier dealt with birds?--No "Little
+Spring," had her voice been ever so rill-like, could have detained him
+when a sunny morning invited him skywards.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Safe from the admiring public, Guynemer would relax and breathe freely
+with his people at Compiègne, where he became once more a lively, noisy,
+indulged, but coaxing and charming boy, except when absorbed in work,
+from which nothing could distract him. He spent hours in pasting and
+classifying the snapshots he took of his enemies just before pulling the
+trigger of his machine-gun and bringing them down. One of his greatest
+pleasures when on leave was to arrange and show these photographs.
+
+His eyes, which saw everything, were keen to detect the least changes in
+the arrangement of his home, even when mere knickknacks had been moved
+about. At each visit he found the house ornamented with some new trophy
+of his exploits. He was delighted to find that a miniature barkentine,
+which he had built with corks, paper, and thread when he was seven years
+old, still stood on his mother's mantelpiece. Even at that age his
+powers of observation had been evident, and he had forgotten no detail
+of sails or rigging.
+
+He had taken again so naturally his old place in the family circle that
+his mother forgot once and called the tall, famous young man by his old
+familiar name, "_Bébé_." She quickly corrected herself, but he said:
+
+"I am always that to you, Mother."
+
+"I was happier when you were little," she observed.
+
+"I hope you are not vexed with me, Mother."
+
+"Vexed for what?"
+
+"For having grown up."
+
+He was naturally full of the one subject that interested him, airplanes
+and chasing, and he would go round the house collecting audiences.
+Strange bits of narration could be overheard from different rooms as he
+held forth:
+
+"Then I _embusqued_ myself became a slacker...."
+
+"What!"
+
+"Oh! I _embusqued_ myself behind a cloud."
+
+Or, "The light dazzled me, so I hid the sun with my wing."
+
+He never forgot his sisters' birthdays, but he could not always give
+them the present he preferred. "Sorry I could not present you with a
+Boche."
+
+He was hardly different when his mother received company: he was never
+seen to play the great man. Only on one subject he always and instantly
+became serious, namely, when the future was mentioned. "Do not let us
+make any plans," he would say.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A page from one of my own notebooks will help to show Guynemer as I used
+to see him in his home.
+
+     _Wednesday, June 27, 1917._--Compiègne. Called on the Guynemers. He
+     is fascination itself with his "goddess on the clouds" gait--as if
+     he remembered when walking that he could also fly--with his
+     incomparable eyes, his perpetual movement, his interior
+     electricity, his admixture of elegance and ardor, and with that
+     impulse of his whole being towards one object which suggests the
+     antique runner, even when he is for an instant in repose. His
+     parents and sisters do not miss a single gesture, a single motion
+     he makes. They drink in his every word, and his life seems to
+     absorb them. His laugh echoes in their souls. They believe in him,
+     are sure of him, sure of his future, and that all will be well.
+     Noticing this certitude, whether real or assumed, I could not help
+     stealing a glance at the frail god of aviation, made like the
+     delicate statuettes that we dread breaking. He talks passionately,
+     as usual, of his aërial fights. But just now one thought seems to
+     supersede every other. He is expecting a new machine, a magic
+     machine which he planned long ago, found difficult to get built,
+     and with which he must do more damage than ever.
+
+     Then he showed us his photographs with the white blotches of
+     bursting shells, or the gray wings of German airplanes. One of
+     these is seen as it falls in flames, the pilot falling, too, some
+     distance away from it. Thus the victim was registered, and the
+     memory of it made him happy.
+
+     I swallowed a question I was going to ask: What about
+     yourself--some day? because he looked so full of life that the
+     notion of death could never present itself to him. But he seemed to
+     have read my thoughts, for he said:
+
+     "You have plenty of time in the air, except when you fight, and
+     then you have no time at all. I've been brought down six times, and
+     I always had plenty of time to realize what was happening." And he
+     laughed his clear, boyish laugh.
+
+     As a matter of fact, he has been incredibly lucky. In one fight he
+     was hit three times, and each time the bullet was deadened by some
+     unexpected obstacle.
+
+     Finally I was shown photographs of himself, chronologically
+     arranged. Needless to say, it was not he who showed them. There was
+     the half-nude baby, with eyes already sparkling and eager, then the
+     schoolboy with the fine carriage of the head, then the lad fresh
+     from school with a singularly calm expression, and well filled-out
+     cheeks. A little later the expression appeared more mature and
+     tense, though still ingenuous. Later again there was a decidedly
+     stern look, with the face less oval and thinner. The rough fingers
+     of war had chiseled this face, and sharpened and strengthened it. I
+     looked from the picture to him, and I realized that, compared to
+     his former pictures, his expression had now indeed acquired
+     something terrible. But just then he laughed, and the laughter
+     conjured away all phantasies.
+
+
+V. THE MAGIC MACHINE
+
+As a tiny boy who had invented an enchanted bed for his sisters' dolls,
+as a boy who, at Collège Stanislas, had rigged up a telephone to send
+messages to the last forms in the schoolroom, or manufactured miniature
+airplanes, as a recruit who, at Pau, had gladly accepted the work of
+cleaning, burnishing, and overhauling engines, Guynemer had always shown
+a passion for mechanics. Becoming a pilot, and later on a chaser, he
+exhibited in the study and perfecting of his airplanes the same
+enthusiasm and perseverance as in his flights. He was everlastingly
+calling for swifter or more powerful machines, and not only strove to
+communicate his own fervor to technicians, but went into minute details,
+suggested improvements, and whenever he had a chance visited the
+workshops and assisted at trials. Such trials are sometimes dangerous.
+One of his friends, Edouard de Layens, was killed in this kind of
+accident, and Guynemer was enraged that a gallant airman should perish
+otherwise than in battle. He was in reality an inventor, though this
+statement may cause surprise, and though it may not be wise at present
+to bear it out by facts.
+
+Every part of his machine or of his gun was familiar to him. He had
+handled them all, taking them apart and putting them together again.
+There are practical improvements in modern airplanes which would not be
+there had it not been for him. And there is a "Guynemer visor."
+
+Confidence and authoritativeness had not come to him along with glory,
+for from the first he talked as one engrossed by his ideas, and it is
+because he was thus engrossed that he found persuasive words to bring
+others round to his views. But, naturally enough, he had not at first
+the prestige which he possessed when he became Captain Guynemer, had
+high rank in the Legion of Honor, and enjoyed world-wide fame. In his
+'prentice days when, in workshops or in the presence of well-known
+builders, he would make confident statements, inveigh against errors, or
+demand modifications, people thought him flippant and saucy. Once
+somebody called him a raw lad. The answer came with crushing rapidity:
+"When you blunder, raw lads like myself pay for your mistakes."
+
+It must be admitted that, like most people brought up with wealth, he
+was apt to be unduly impatient. Delays or objections irritated him. He
+wanted to force his will upon Time, which never admits compulsion, and
+tried to over-ride obstacles. His peculiar fascination gradually won its
+way even in workshops, and his appearance there was greeted with
+acclamation, not only because the men were curious to see him, but
+because they were in sympathy with him and had put his ideas to a
+successful test. The workmen liked to see him sit in a half-finished
+machine, and explain in his short, decisive style what he wanted and
+what was sure to give superiority to French aviation. The men stopped
+work, came round, and listened eagerly. This, too, was a triumph for
+him. What he told them on such occasions he had probably whispered to
+himself many times before when, on rainy days, he would sit in his
+airplane under the hangar, and think and talk to himself, while
+strangers wondered if he was not crazy.
+
+However, he had made friends with well-known engineers, especially Major
+Garnier of Puteaux and M. Béchereau of the Spad works. These two,
+instead of dismissing him as a snappish airman continually at variance
+with the builder, took his inventions seriously and strove to meet his
+requirements. When M. Béchereau, after long delays, was at last
+decorated for his eminent services, the Secretary of Aëronautics, M.
+Daniel Vincent, came to the works and was going to place the medal and
+red ribbon on the engineer's breast, when he saw Guynemer standing near.
+He graciously handed the medal over to the airman, saying:
+
+"Give M Béchereau his decoration; it is only fair you should."
+
+In September, 1916, Guynemer had tried at the front one of the first two
+Spads. On the 8th he wrote to M. Béchereau: "Well, the Spad has had her
+_baptême du feu_. The others were six: an Aviatik at 2800, an L.V.G. at
+2900, and four Rumplers jostling one another with barely 25 meters in
+between at 3000 meters. When the four saw me coming (at 1800 on the
+speedometer) they no doubt took me for a meteorite and funked, and when
+they got over it and back to their shooting (fine popping, though) it
+was too late. My gun never jammed once." Here he went into
+technicalities about his new machine-gun, but further on reverted to the
+Spad: "She loops wonderfully. Her spin is a bit lazy and irregular, but
+deliciously soft." The letter concludes with many suggestions for minor
+improvements.
+
+His correspondence with M. Béchereau was entirely devoted to a study of
+airplanes: he never wandered from the subject. Thus he collaborated with
+the engineer by constantly communicating to him the results of his
+experience. His machine-gun was the great difficulty. "Yesterday," he
+wrote on October 21, 1916, "five Boches, three of them above our lines,
+came within ten meters of the muzzle of my gun, and impossible to shoot.
+Four days ago I had to let two others get away. Sickening.... The
+weather is wonderful. Perhaps the gun will work now." In fact, a few
+days later he wrote exultingly, having discovered that the jamming was
+due to cold and having found an ingenious remedy.
+
+     _November 4, 1916._ Day before yesterday I bagged a Fokker
+     one-seater biplane. It was two meters off, but as it tumbled into a
+     group of our Nieuports, the controlling board would not give the
+     victory to anybody. Yesterday got an Aviatik ten meters off;
+     passenger shot dead by the first bullet; the plane, all in rags,
+     went down in slow spirals and must have been knocked flat somewhere
+     near Berlincourt. Heurtaux, who had seen it beginning to fall,
+     brought one down himself ten minutes later, like a regular ball.
+
+On November 18 next, after going into particulars concerning his engine
+which he wanted made stronger, he told M. Béchereau of his 21st and 22d
+victories:
+
+     As for the 21st, it was a one-seater I murdered as it twirled in
+     elegant spirals down to its own landing ground. No. 22 was a 220
+     H.P., one of three above our lines. I came upon it unawares in a
+     somersault. Passenger stood up, but fell down again in his seat
+     before even setting his gun going. I put some two hundred or two
+     hundred and fifty bullets into him twenty meters away from me. He
+     had taken an invariable angle of 45° on the first volley. When I
+     let him go, Adjutant Bucquet took him in hand--which would have
+     helped if he hadn't already been as full of holes as a strainer. He
+     kept his angle of 45° till about 500 meters, when he adopted the
+     vertical, and blazed up on crashing to the ground....
+
+The Spad ravished him. It was the heyday of wonderful flights on the
+Somme. Yet he wanted something even better; but before pestering M.
+Béchereau he began with an inspiring narrative.
+
+     _December 28, 1916._ I can't grumble; yet yesterday I missed my
+     camera badly. I had a high-class round with an Albatros, a fine,
+     clever fellow, between two and ten meters away from me. We only
+     exchanged fifteen shots, and he snapped my right fore-cable--just a
+     few threads still held--while I shot him in the small of his back.
+     A fine spill! (No. 25).
+
+     Now, to speak of serious things, I must tell you that the Spad 150
+     H.P. is not much ahead of the Halberstadt. The latter is not
+     faster, I admit, but it climbs so much more quickly that it
+     amounts to the same thing. However, our latest model knocks them
+     all out....
+
+The letter adds only some recommendations as to the necessity for more
+speed and a better propeller.
+
+But much more important improvements were already filling his mind. He
+had conceived plans for a magic airplane that would simply annihilate
+the enemy, and as he would doggedly carry on a fight, so he ruminated,
+begged, and urged until his idea was realized. But he was forced to
+practice exhausting perseverance, and on several occasions the lack of
+comprehension or sympathy which he encountered infuriated him. Yet he
+never gave up. It was not his way in a workshop, any more than in the
+air; and when, after some ten months' struggling, trying, and frequent
+beginning over again, he saw himself at last in possession of the
+wonderful machine, he rejoiced as a warrior may after forging his own
+weapons.
+
+In January, 1917, he wrote to M. Béchereau urging him to make all
+dispatch: "Spring will soon be here, and the Germans are working like
+niggers. If we go to sleep, it will be '_couic_' for us." Henceforth his
+correspondence, sometimes rather dictatorial, with the engineer was
+entirely devoted to the magic airplane,--its size, controls, wing-tips,
+tank, weight, etc. The margins of his letters were covered with
+drawings, and every detail was minutely discussed. In February he wrote
+to his father as if he had been a builder: "My machine surpasses all
+expectations, and will soon be at work. In Paris I go to bed early and
+rise ditto, spending all day at Spad's. I have no other thought or
+occupation. It is a fixed idea, and if it goes on I shall become a
+perfect idiot. When peace is signed, let nobody dare to mention a weapon
+of any kind in my presence for six months."
+
+He thought himself within reach of his goal; but unexpected obstacles
+would come in his way, and it was not till July 5, 1917--the same day on
+which he received the _rosette_ of the Legion of Honor from General
+Franchet d'Esperey at the Aisne Aviation Camp--that he could at last try
+the long-dreamed-of, long-hoped-for airplane. But in a fight against
+three D.F.W.'s, the splendid new machine got riddled with bullets, he
+had to land, and everything had to be begun over again. But Guynemer was
+not afraid of beginning over again, and in fact he was to give the
+airplane another chance in Flanders, and to see all his expectations
+fulfilled. The 49th, 50th, 51st and 52d victories of Guynemer were due
+to the magic airplane.
+
+He managed to impose his will on matter, and on those who adapt it to
+the warlike conceptions of man, as he imposed it on the enemy. Then,
+spreading out his wings on high, he might well think himself
+invincible.
+
+
+
+
+CANTO IV
+
+THE ASCENSION
+
+
+I. THE BATTLE OF FLANDERS
+
+After the battle on the Aisne Georges Guynemer was ordered to Flanders,
+but he had to take to his bed as soon as he arrived (July, 1917) and
+only left the hospital on the 20th. He then repaired to the new aviation
+camp outside Dunkirk, which at that time consisted of a few rows of
+tents near the seaside. He was to take part in the contemplated
+offensive, on his own magic airplane--which he brought from Fismes on
+the 23d--for the Storks Escadrille had been incorporated into a fighting
+unit under Major Brocard. No disease could be an obstacle to a Guynemer
+when an offensive was in preparation. In fact, all the Storks were on
+the spot: Captain Heurtaux, now recovered from his wound received in
+Champagne in April, was in command, and Captain Auger (soon to be
+killed), Lieutenant Raymond, Lieutenant Deullin, Lieutenant Lagache and
+_sous-lieutenant_ Bucquet were there; while Fonck and Verduraz,
+newcomers to the squadron but not by any means unknown, Adjutants
+Guillaumat, Henin, and Petit-Dariel, Sergeants Gaillard and Moulines,
+Corporals de Marcy, Dubonnet, and Risacher, completed the staff. As
+early as June 24 Guynemer had soared again.
+
+In order to realize the importance of this new battle of Flanders which,
+begun on July 31, was to rage till the following winter, it may not be
+out of place to quote a German appreciation. In an issue of the _Lokal
+Anzeiger_, published at the end of September, 1917, after two months'
+uninterrupted fighting, Doctor Wegener wrote as follows:
+
+     How can anybody talk of anything but this battle of Flanders? Is it
+     possible that some people actually grow hot over the
+     parliamentarization, or the loan, or the cost of butter, or the
+     rumors of peace, while every heart and every eye ought to be fixed
+     on these places where soldiers are doing wonderful deeds! This
+     battle is the most formidable that has yet been fought. It was
+     supposed to be ended, but here it is, blazing afresh and promising
+     a tremendous conflagration. The Englishman goes on with his usual
+     doggedness, and the last bombardment has excelled in horrible
+     intensity all that has been known so far. Even before the signal
+     for storming, the English were drunk with victory, so gigantic was
+     their artillery, so dreadful their guns, so intense their
+     firing....
+
+These lines help us to realize how keen was the anxiety caused in
+Germany by the new offensive coming so soon after the battles of
+Champagne in April. But the lyricism of Dr. Wegener stood in the way of
+his own judgment, and prevented him from seeing that the battle on the
+Marne which drove the enemy back, the battle on the Yser which brought
+him to a standstill, and the battle round Verdun which effectually wore
+him out, were each in succession the greatest of the war. The second
+battle of Flanders ought rather to be compared to the battle on the
+Somme, the real consequences of which were not completely visible till
+the German recoil on the Siegfried line took place in March, 1917. While
+the first battle of Flanders had closed the gates of Dunkirk and Calais
+against the Germans, and marked the end of their invasion, the second
+one drove a wedge at Ypres into the German strength, made formidable by
+three years' daily efforts, secured the Flemish heights, pushed the
+enemy back into the bog land, and threatened Bruges. In the first
+battle, the French under Foch had been supported by the English under
+Marshal French; this time the English, who were the protagonists, under
+Plumer (Second Army) and Gough (Fifth Army), were supported by the First
+French Army under General Anthoine.
+
+It was as late as June that General Anthoine's soldiers had taken their
+stand to the left of the British armies, and after the tremendous fights
+along the Chemin des Dames and Moronvillers in April, it might well be
+believed that they were tired. They had borne the burden from the very
+first; they had been on the Marne and the Yser in 1914, at the
+numberless and costly offensives of 1915 in Artois, Champagne, Lorraine
+and Alsace; and in 1916, after the Verdun epic, they had had to fight on
+the Somme. Indeed, they had only ceased repelling the enemy's attacks in
+order to attack in their turn. Among the Allies, they represented
+invincible determination, as well as a perfected military method. Those
+troops arriving on June 15, on ground they had never seen before, might
+well have been anxious for a respite; yet on July 31 they were in the
+fighting line with the British. Two days before the attack they crossed
+the Yser canal by twenty-nine bridges without losing one man, and showed
+an intelligence and spirit which added to their ascendancy over the
+enemy and increased the prestige of the French army. And while Marshal
+Haig was finding such an exceptional second in General Anthoine, Pétain,
+now commander-in-chief, was aiding the British offensive by attacking
+the Germans at other points on the front: on August 20 the Second Army
+under Guillaumat was victorious on the Meuse, near Verdun, while the
+Sixth Army under Maistre was preparing for the Malmaison offensive which
+on October 23 secured for the French the whole length of the Chemin des
+Dames to the river Ailette.
+
+General Anthoine had had less than six weeks in which to see what he
+could do with the ground, organize the lines of communication, and post
+his batteries and infantry. But he had no idea of delaying the British
+offensive, and on the appointed day he was ready. The line of attack for
+the three armies was some 20 kilometers long, namely, from the
+Ypres-Menin road to the confluence of the Yperlée and Martje-Vaert, the
+French holding the section between Drie Grachten and Boesinghe. It had
+been settled that the offensive should be conducted methodically, that
+its objective should be limited, and that it might be interrupted and
+resumed as often as should seem advisable. The troops were engaged on
+the 31st of July, and the first rush carried the French onward a
+distance of 3 kilometers, not only to Steenstraete, which was the
+objective, but further on to Bixchoote and the Korteker Tavern. The
+British on their side had advanced 1500 yards over heavily fortified or
+wooded ground, and their new line lay along Pilkem, Saint-Julien,
+Frezenberg, Hooge, Sanctuary Wood, Hollebeke and Basse-Ville. Stormy
+weather on the first of August, and German counter-attacks on
+Saint-Julien, prevented an immediate continuation of the offensive, but
+on August 16 a fresh advance took the French as far as Saint-Jansbeck,
+while they seized the bridge-head of Drie Grachten. General Anthoine had
+been so careful in his artillery preparation that one of the attacking
+battalions had not a single casualty, and no soldier was even wounded.
+The French then had to wait until the English had advanced in their turn
+to the range of hillocks between Becelaere and Poelcapelle (September 20
+and 26), but the brilliant British successes on those two dates were
+making another collective operation possible; and this operation took
+place on October 9, and gave the French possession of the outskirts of
+Houthulst forest, while the British fought on till they captured the
+Passchendaele hills.
+
+Every great battle is now preceded and accompanied by a battle in the
+air, because if chasing or bombarding squadrons did not police the air
+before an attack, no photographs of the enemy's lines could be taken;
+and if they did not afford protection for the observers while the troops
+are engaged, the batteries would shoot and the infantry progress
+blindly. It is not surprising, therefore, that the enemy, who could not
+be deceived as to the importance of the French and British preparations
+in Flanders, had as early as mid-June brought additional airplanes and
+"sausages," and throughout July terrible contests took place in the air.
+Sometimes these engagements were duels, oftener they were fought by
+strong squadrons, and on July 13 units consisting of as many as thirty
+machines were seen on either side, the Germans losing fifteen airplanes,
+and sixteen more going home in a more or less damaged condition.
+
+While in hospital, Guynemer had heard of these tremendous encounters,
+and wondered if the enchanting cruises he used to make by himself or
+with just one companion must be things of the past. Was he to be
+involved in the new tactics and to become a mere unit in a group, or a
+chief with the responsibility of collective maneuvers? The air knight
+was incredulous; he thought of his magic airplane and could not persuade
+himself that, whatever the number of his opponents, he could not single
+one out for his thunder-clap attack.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Meanwhile the artillery preparation had begun, towards the fifteenth of
+July, and the earth was quaking to the thundering front at a distance
+of 50 kilometers. These are flat regions, and there would be no beauty
+in them if the light radiating from the vapors rising from the fields or
+the sea did not lend brilliance and relief to the yellow stone villages,
+the straggling woods or copses, the well-to-do farms, the low hedges, or
+the tall calvaries at the crossroads.
+
+Guynemer was in splendid condition. His indisposition of the previous
+month had been caused by his refusing to sleep at Dunkirk, as the others
+did, until their new quarters were ready. He wanted to be near his
+machine the moment there was light enough to see by, and slept in some
+unfinished hangar or under canvas in order not to miss any enterprising
+German who might take advantage of the dusk to sneak over the lines, spy
+on our preparations, or bombard our rear. He had paid for his imprudence
+by a severe cold. But now, comfortable-looking wooden houses stood along
+the shore, and Guynemer was himself again.
+
+On July 27, while patrolling with Lieutenant Deullin, his chum of Somme
+and of Aisne days--in fact, his friend of much older times--he brought
+down in flames, between Langemarck and Roulers, a very powerful
+Albatros, apparently a 220 H.P. of the latest model. This fell far
+within the enemy lines, but enthusiastic British soldiers witnessed the
+scene. Guynemer had chosen this Albatros for his victim among eight
+other machines, and had pulverized it at a distance of a few yards.
+
+This victory was his forty-ninth. He secured his fiftieth the very next
+day, bringing down a D.F.W. in flames over Westrobeke, the enemy showing
+fight, for Guynemer's magic airplane was hit in the tail, in one of the
+longitudinal spars, the exhaust pipe, and the hood, and had to be
+repaired. This day of glory was also one of mourning for the Storks.
+Captain Auger who, trusting his star after seven triumphs, had gone
+scouting alone, was shot in the head, and, after mustering energy enough
+to bring his machine back to the landing-ground, died almost
+immediately.
+
+Fifty machines destroyed! This had been Guynemer's dream. The apparently
+inaccessible figure had gradually seemed a possibility. Finally it had
+become a fact. Fifty machines down, without taking into account those
+which fell too far from the official observers, or those which had been
+only disabled, or those which had brought home sometimes a pilot,
+sometimes a passenger, dead in their seats. What would Guynemer do now?
+Was he not tired of hunting, killing, or destroying in the high regions
+of the atmosphere? Did he not feel the exhaustion consequent on the
+nervous strain of unlimited effort? Could he be entirely deaf to voices
+which advised him to rest, now that he was a captain, an officer in the
+Legion of Honor, and, at barely twenty-two, could hardly hope for more
+distinction? On the other hand, he had shown in his unceasing effort
+towards an absolutely perfect machine a genius for mechanics which might
+profitably be given play elsewhere. The occasion was not far to seek,
+for he had to take his damaged airplane back to the works; and what
+with this interruption and the precarious state of his health--for he
+had left the hospital too soon--he might reasonably have applied for
+leave. Nor was this all. The adoption of the new tactics of fighting in
+numbers might change the nature of his action: he might become the
+commanding officer of a unit, run less risk, indulge his temerity only
+once in a while, and yet make himself useful by infusing his own spirit
+into aspiring pilots.
+
+Slowly all these ideas occurred, if not to him, at all events to his
+friends. Guynemer has slain his fifty--they must have thought--Guynemer
+can now rest. What would it matter if some envious people should make
+remarks? "It is a pleasure worthy of a king," Alexander once said after
+Antisthenes, "to hear evil spoken of one while one is doing good." But
+Guynemer never knew this royal enjoyment; he never even suspected that
+well-wishers were plotting for his safety. He took his machine to the
+works, supervised the repairs with his customary attention, and by
+August 15 he was back again at his sport in Flanders.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Meanwhile his comrades had added to their laurels. Auger was dead, it is
+true; but Captain Derode, Adjutant Fonck--a perfect Aymerillot, the
+smallest and youngest of these knights-errant, Heurtaux, Deullin (both
+wounded, and the latter now risen to a captaincy), Lieutenant Gorgeus
+and Corporal Collins--all had done well. Besides them many, too many,
+bombarding aviators ought to be mentioned, but we must limit ourselves
+to those who are now laid low in Flemish graveyards: Lieutenant Mulard,
+Sergeant Thabaud-Deshoulières, _sous-lieutenant_ Bailliotz,
+_sous-lieutenant_ Pelletier, who saved his airplane if he could not save
+his own life, and was heard saying to himself before expiring: "For
+France--I am happy...."; finally Lieutenant Ravarra, and Sergeant
+Delaunay, who had specialized in night attacks and disappeared without
+ever being heard of again.
+
+Guynemer had reported at the camp on August 15. On the seventeenth, at
+9.20 o'clock, he brought down a two-seated Albatros which fell in flames
+at Wladsloo, and five minutes later a D.F.W. which collapsed, also in
+flames, south of Dixmude. This double execution avenged the death of
+Captain Auger and of another Stork, Sergeant Cornet, killed the day
+before. On the eighteenth, Guynemer poured a broadside, at close
+quarters, into a two-seated machine above Staden; and on the twentieth,
+flying this time on his old _Vieux-Charles_, he destroyed a D.F.W. in a
+quick fight above Poperinghe. This meant three undoubted victories in
+four days under circumstances which the number of enemy machines and the
+high altitude made more difficult than they had ever been. The weather
+during this month of August was constantly stormy, and the Germans were
+taking every precaution to avoid surprise; but Guynemer was quick as
+lightning, took advantage of the shortest lulls, and baffled German
+prudence.
+
+The British or Belgian airmen of the neighborhood called on him, and he
+liked to return their politeness. He loved to talk about his methods,
+especially his shooting methods, for flying to him was only the means of
+shooting, and once he defined his airplane as a flying machine-gun.
+Captain Galliot, a specialist in gunsmithery, who overheard this remark,
+also heard him say to the Minister of Aviation, M. Daniel Vincent, who
+was inspecting the camp at Buc: "It is not by clever flying that you get
+rid of a Boche, but by hard and sharp shooting."
+
+It is not surprising, therefore, that he began his day's work by
+overhauling his machine-gun, cartridges, and visor. He did not mind
+trusting his mechanicians where his airplane and motor were concerned,
+but his weapon and ammunition were his own special care. He regarded as
+an axiom the well-known maxim of big-game hunters, that "it is not
+enough to hit, but you must shoot down your enemy with lightning
+rapidity if you do not wish to perish with him...."[26]
+
+[Footnote 26: _Guynemer tireur de combat_ (_Guerre aérienne_ for October
+18, 1917, special number consecrated to Guynemer).]
+
+Of his machine itself Guynemer made a terrible weapon, and he soon
+passed his fiftieth victory. On August 20 his record numbered
+fifty-three, and he was in as good condition as on the Somme. On the
+24th he was on his way to Paris, planning not only to have his airplane
+repaired, but to point out to the Buc engineers an improvement he had
+just devised.
+
+
+II. OMENS
+
+"Oh, yes, the dog always manages to get what he wants," Guynemer's
+father had once said to him with a sad smile, when Georges, regardless
+of his two previous failures, insisted at Biarritz upon enlisting.
+
+"The dog? what dog?" Guynemer had answered, not seeing an apologue in
+his father's words.
+
+"The dog waiting at the door till somebody lets him in. His one thought
+is to get in while the people's minds are not concentrated on keeping
+him out. So he is sure to succeed in the end."
+
+It is the same thing with our destiny, waiting till we open the door of
+our life. Vainly do we try to keep the door tightly shut against it: we
+cannot think of it all the time, and every now and then we fall into
+trustfulness, and thus its hour inevitably comes, and from the opening
+door it beckons to us. "What we call fatalism," M. Bergson says, "is
+only the revenge of nature on man's will when the mind puts too much
+strain upon the flesh or acts as if it did not exist. Orpheus, it is
+true, charmed the rivers, trees and rocks away from their places with
+his lyre, but the Maenades tore him to pieces in his turn."
+
+We cannot say that the Guynemer who flew in Flanders was not the same
+Guynemer who had flown over the Somme, Lorraine or Aisne battle-fields.
+Indeed, his mastery was increasing with each fresh encounter, and with
+his daring he cared little whether the enemy was gaining in numbers or
+inventing unsuspected tactics. His victories of August 17 and 20 showed
+him at his boldest best. Yet his comrades noticed that his nerves seemed
+overstrained. He was not content with flying oftener and longer than the
+others in quest of his game, but fretted if his Boche did not appear
+precisely when he wanted him. When an enemy did not turn up where he was
+expected, he made up his mind to seek him where he himself was not
+expected, and he became accustomed to scouting farther and farther away
+into dangerous zones. Was he tired of holding the door tight against
+destiny, or feeling sure that destiny could not look in? Did it not
+occur to him that his hour, whether near or not, was marked down?
+
+Indeed, it is certain that the thought not only presented itself to him
+sometimes, but was familiar. "At our last meeting," writes his
+school-fellow of Stanislas days, Lieutenant Constantin, "I had been
+struck by his melancholy expression, and yet he had just been victorious
+for the forty-seventh time. 'I have been too lucky,' he said to me, 'and
+I feel as if I must pay for it.' 'Nonsense,' I replied, 'I am absolutely
+certain that nothing will happen to you.' He smiled as if he did not
+believe me, but I knew that he was haunted by the idea, and avoided
+everything that might uselessly consume a particle of his energy or
+disturb his sang-froid, which he intended to devote entirely to Boche
+hunting."[27]
+
+[Footnote 27: Unpublished notes by J. Constantin.]
+
+When had he ceased to think himself invincible? The reader no doubt
+remembers how he recovered from his wound at Verdun, and the shock it
+might have left, merely by flying and offering himself to the enemy's
+fire with the firm resolve not to return it. Eight times he had been
+brought down, and each time with full and prolonged consciousness of
+what was happening. On many occasions he had come back to camp with
+bullets in his machine, or in his combination. Yet these narrow escapes
+never reacted on his imagination, damped his spirit, or diminished his
+_furia_. But had he thought himself invincible? He believed in his star,
+no doubt, but he knew he was only a man. One of his most intimate
+friends, his rival in glory, the nearest to him since the loss of Dorme,
+the one who was the Oliver to this Roland, once received this confidence
+from Guynemer: "One of the fellows told me that when he starts up he
+only thinks of the fighting before him; he found that sufficiently
+absorbing; but I told him that when the men start my motor I always make
+a sign to the fellows standing around. 'Yes, I have seen it,' he
+answered; 'the handshake of the airman. It means _au revoir_.' But maybe
+it is farewell I am inwardly saying," Guynemer added, and laughed, for
+the boy in him was never far from the man.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Towards the end of July, while he was in Paris seeing to the repairs for
+his machine after bringing down his fiftieth enemy, he had gone to
+Compiègne for a short visit. His father, knowing his technical ability
+and his interest in all mechanical improvements, and on the other hand
+noticing a nervousness in his manner, dared for the first time to hint
+timidly and allusively at the possibility of his being useful in some
+other field.
+
+"Couldn't you be of service with respect to making engines, etc.?"
+
+But he was embarrassed by his son's look of questioning surprise. Every
+time Guynemer had used his father's influence in the army, it had been
+to bring himself nearer to danger.
+
+"No man has the right to get away from the front as long as the war
+lasts," he said. "I see very well what you are thinking, but you know
+that self-sacrifice is never wasted. Don't let us talk any more about
+it...."
+
+On Tuesday, August 28, Guynemer, having been obliged to come to Paris
+again for repairs to his airplane, went to Saint-Pierre de Chaillot. It
+was not exceptional for him to visit this old church; he loved to
+prepare himself there for his battle. One of the officiating priests has
+written since his death of "his faith and the transparency of his
+soul."[28] The Chaillot parishioners knew him well, but pretended not to
+notice him, and he thought himself one in a crowd. After seeing the
+priest in the confessional, he usually enjoyed another little chat in
+the sacristy, and although he was no man for long prayers and
+meditations, he expressed his thoughts on such occasions in heartfelt
+and serious language.
+
+[Footnote 28: _La Croix_, October 7, 1917, article by Pierre l'Ermite.]
+
+"My fate is sealed," he once said in his playful, authoritative way; "I
+cannot escape it." And remembering his not very far away Latin, he
+added: "_Hodie mihi, cras tibi_...."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Early in September he made up his mind to go back to Flanders, although
+his airplane was not yet entirely repaired. The day before leaving he
+was standing at the door of the Hôtel Edouard VII when one of his
+schoolmates at the Collège Stanislas, Lieutenant Jacquemin, appeared.
+"He took me to his room," this officer relates, "and we talked for more
+than an hour about schooldays. I asked him whether he had some special
+dodge to be so successful." "None whatever," he said, "but you remember
+I took a prize for shooting at Stanislas. I shoot straight, and have
+absolute confidence in my machine." He showed me his numberless
+decorations, and was just as simple and full of good fellowship as he
+was at Stanislas. It was evident that his head had not been in the least
+turned by his success; he only talked more and enjoyed describing his
+fights. He told me, too, that in spite of opposition from airplane
+builders he had secured a long-contemplated improvement; and that he had
+had a special camera made for him with which he could photograph a
+machine as it fell. His parting words were: "I hope to fly to-morrow,
+but don't expect to see my name any more in the _communiqués_. That's
+all over: I have bagged my fifty Boches."
+
+Were not these strange words, if indeed Guynemer attached any meaning to
+them? At all events, they expressed his innermost longing, which was to
+go on flying, even if he should fly for nothing.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Before reporting at Dunkirk, Guynemer spent September 2, 3, and 4 with
+his people at Compiègne. Never was he more fascinatingly affectionate,
+boyish, and bright than during those three days. But he seemed agitated.
+"Let us make plans," he said repeatedly, in spite of his old aversion to
+castle-building. His plans that day were for the amusement of his
+sisters. He reminded the younger, Yvonne, that he had quarreled once
+with her. It was at Biarritz, when he wanted her to make a _novena_
+(nine days' special prayers) that he might not be rejected by the
+recruiting board again; his sister did not like to promise, and he had
+threatened to sulk forever, which he had proceeded to do--for five
+minutes.
+
+His mother and sisters thought him more enchanting than ever, but his
+father felt that he was overstrained, and realized that his almost
+morbid notion of his duty as a chaser who could no longer wait for his
+chance but wanted to force a victory, was the result of fatigue. M.
+Guynemer no longer hesitated to speak, adding that the period of rest he
+advised was in the very interest of his son's service. "You need
+strengthening; you have done too much. If you should go on, you would be
+in great danger of falling below yourself, or not really being
+yourself."
+
+"Father, war is nothing else. One must pull on, even if the rope should
+threaten to snap."
+
+It was the first time that M. Guynemer had given undisguised advice, and
+he urged his point.
+
+"Why not stop awhile? Your record is pretty good; you might form younger
+pilots, and in time go back to your squadron."
+
+"Yes, and people would say that, hoping for no more distinctions, I have
+given up fighting."
+
+"What does it matter? Let people talk, and when you reappear in better
+condition they will understand. You know I never gave you a word of
+advice which the whole world could not hear. I always helped you, and
+you always found the most disinterested approval here in your home. But
+you will admit that human strength has its limits."
+
+"Yes," Georges interposed, "a limit which we must endeavor to leave
+behind. We have given nothing as long as we have not given everything."
+
+M. Guynemer said no more. He felt that he had probed his son's soul to
+the depths, and his pride in his hero did not diminish his sorrow. When
+they parted he concealed his anguish, but he watched the boy, thinking
+he would never see him again. His wife and daughters, too, stood on the
+threshold oppressed by the same feelings, trying to suppress their
+anxiety and finding no words to veil it.
+
+In the Iliad, Hector, after breaking into the Greek camp like a dark
+whirlwind unexpectedly sweeping the land, and which the gods alone could
+stop, returns to Troy and stopping at the Scæan gates waits for
+Achilles, who he knows must be wild to avenge Patroclus. Old Priam sees
+his son's danger, and beseeches him not to seek his antagonist. Hecuba
+joins her tears to his supplications. But tears and entreaties avail
+little, and Hector, turning a deaf ear to his parents, walks out to meet
+Achilles, as he thinks, but indeed to meet his own fate.
+
+On September 4, Guynemer was at the flying field of Saint-Pol-sur-Mer
+near Dunkirk. His old friend, Captain Heurtaux, so long Commander of the
+Storks, was not there; he had been wounded the day before by an
+explosive bullet, and the English had picked up and evacuated him.
+Heurtaux possessed infinite tact, and had not infrequently succeeded in
+influencing the rebellious Guynemer; but nobody was there to replace
+him. September 5 was a day of extraordinary activity for Guynemer. His
+magic airplane was still at the works, where he had complained of not
+having another in reserve; and not being able to wait for it, he sent
+for his old machine and immediately attacked a D.F.W. at close quarters,
+as usual; but the Boche was saved by the jamming of both of Guynemer's
+guns, and the aviator had to get back to his landing-ground. Furious at
+this failure, he promptly soared up again and attacked a chain of five
+one-seated planes, hitting two, which however managed to protect each
+other and escape. After two hours and a half, Guynemer went home again,
+overhauled his guns, found a trigger out of order, and for the third
+time went up again, scouring the sky for two more hours, indignant to
+see nothing but prudent Germans keeping far out of his reach. So, he had
+flown five hours and a half in that one day. What nerves could stand
+such a strain? But Guynemer, seeking victory, cared little for strain or
+nerves. Everything seemed to go against him: Heurtaux away, his best
+machine not available, his machine-guns out of order, and Germans
+refusing his challenge. No wonder if he fretted himself into increased
+irritation.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Guynemer liked Lieutenant Raymond, and every now and then flew with him.
+This officer being on leave, Guynemer on September 8 asked another
+favorite comrade, _sous-lieutenant_ Bozon-Verduraz, to accompany him.
+The day was sullen, and a thick fog soon parted the two aviators, who
+lost their way and only managed to get clear of the fog when
+Bozon-Verduraz was over Nieuport and Guynemer over Ostend.
+
+September 9 was a Sunday, and Guynemer over-slept and had to be roused
+by a friend.
+
+"Aren't you coming to mass?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+The two officers went to mass at Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, and the weather
+having grown worse Guynemer did not fly; but instead of enjoying the
+enforced rest, he resented it as a personal wrong. Next day he flew
+three times, and was unlucky again every time. On his first flight, on
+his two-gun machine, he found that the water-pump control did not work,
+and had to land on a Belgian aërodrome, where he was welcomed and
+asked to sit for his photograph. The picture shows a worried, tense,
+disquieting countenance under the mask ready to be pulled down. After
+frightening the enemy so long, Guynemer was now frightening his friends.
+
+[Illustration: "GOING WEST"]
+
+The photograph taken, Guynemer flew back to camp. The best for him,
+under the circumstances, would have been to wait. Was he not hourly to
+hear that he might go to the Buc works for his machine? And what was the
+use of flying on an unsatisfactory airplane? But Guynemer was not in
+Flanders to wait. He wanted his quarry, and he wanted to set an example
+to and galvanize his men, and even the infantry. So, Deullin being
+absent, Guynemer borrowed his machine, and at last discovered a chain of
+German flyers, whom he attacked regardless of their number. But four
+bullets hit his machine and one damaged the air-pump, an accident which
+not only compelled him to land but to return by motor to the aërodrome.
+Once more, instead of listening to the whisper of wisdom, he started, on
+Lieutenant Lagache's machine; and this time the annoyance was the
+gasoline spurting over the loose top of the carburetor. The oil caught
+fire, and Guynemer had to give in, having failed three times, and having
+been in the air five hours and a half on unsatisfactory airplanes. No
+wonder if, with the weather, the machines, and circumstances generally
+against him, he felt tired and nervous. He had never done so much with
+such poor results. But his will, his will cannot accept what is forced
+upon him, and we may be sure that he will not acknowledge himself
+beaten.
+
+
+III. THE LAST FLIGHT
+
+On Tuesday, September 11, the weather was once more uncertain. But
+morning fogs by the seaside do not last, and the sun soon began to
+shine. Guynemer had had a restless night after his failures, and had
+brooded, as irritable people do, over the very things that made him
+fretful. Chasing without his new airplane--the enchanting machine which
+he had borne in his mind so many months, as a women bears her child, and
+which at last he had felt soaring under him--was no pleasure. He missed
+it so much that the feeling became an obsession, until he made up his
+mind to leave for Buc before the day was over. Indeed, he would have
+done so sooner had he not been haunted by the idea that he must first
+bring down his Boche. But since the Boche did not seem to be willing....
+Now he is resolved, and more calm; he will go to Paris this very
+evening. He has only to while away the time till the train is due. The
+prospect in itself is quieting, and besides Major du Peuty, one of the
+chiefs of Aviation at Headquarters, and Major Brocard, recently
+appointed attaché to the Minister of Aëronautics, were coming down by
+the early train. They were sure to arrive at the camp between nine and
+ten, and a conversation with them could not but be instructive and
+illuminating; so, better wait for them.
+
+But, in spite of these tranquillizing thoughts, Guynemer was restless,
+and his face showed the sallow color which always foreboded his physical
+relapses. His mind was not really made up, and he would come and go,
+strolling from his tent to the sheds and from the sheds to his tent. He
+was not cross, only nervous. Suddenly he went back to the shed and
+examined his _Vieux-Charles_. Why, the machine was not so bad after all;
+the motor and guns had been repaired, and yesterday's accident was not
+likely to happen again. If so, why not fly? In the absence of Heurtaux,
+Guynemer was in command, and once more the necessity of setting a good
+example forced itself upon him. Several flyers had started on scouting
+work already; the fog was quickly lifting, the day would soon be
+resplendent, and the notion of duty too quickly dazzled him, like the
+sun. For duty had always been his motive power; he had always
+anticipated it, from the day when he was fighting to enlist at Biarritz
+to this 11th of September, 1917. It was neither the passion for glory
+nor the craze to be an aviator which had caused him to join, but his
+longing to be of use; and in the same way his last flights were made in
+obedience to his will to serve.
+
+All at once he was really resolved. _Sous-lieutenant_ Bozon-Verduraz was
+requested to accompany him, and the mechanicians wheeled the machines
+out. One of his comrades asked with assumed negligence: "Aren't you
+going to wait till Major du Peuty and Major Brocard arrive?" Guynemer's
+only answer was to wave towards the sky then freeing itself from its
+veils of fog as he himself was shaking off his hesitancy, and his friend
+felt that he must not be urgent. Everybody of late had noticed his
+nervousness, and Guynemer knew it and resented it; tact was more
+necessary than ever with him. Let it be remembered that he was the pet,
+almost the spoiled child, of his service, and that it had never been
+easy to approach him.
+
+Meanwhile, the two majors, who had been met at the station, were told of
+his nervous condition, and hurried to speak to him. They expected to
+reach the camp by nine o'clock, and would send for him at once. But
+Guynemer and Bozon-Verduraz had started at twenty-five minutes past
+eight.
+
+They had left the sea behind them, flying south-east. They had reached
+the lines, following them over Bixchoote and the Korteker Tavern which
+the French troops had taken on July 31, over the Bixchoote-Langemarck
+road, and finally over Langemarck itself, captured by the British on
+August 16. Trenches, sections of broken roads, familiar to them from
+above, crossed and recrossed each other under them, and they descried to
+the north of Langemarck road the railway, or what used to be the
+railway, between Ypres and Thourout and the Saint-Julien-Poelkapelle
+road. No German patrol appeared above the French or British lines, which
+Guynemer and his companion lost sight of above the Maison Blanche, and
+they followed on to the German lines over the faint vestiges of
+Poelkapelle.
+
+Guynemer's keen, long-practiced eye then saw a two-seated enemy airplane
+flying alone lower down than himself, and a signal was made to attract
+Bozon-Verduraz' notice. A fight was certain, and this fight was the one
+which Fate had long decided on.
+
+The attack on a two-seater flying over its own lines, and consequently
+enjoying unrestricted freedom of movement, is known to be a ticklish
+affair, as the pilot can shoot through the propeller and the passenger
+in his turret rakes the whole field of vision with the exception of two
+angles, one in front, the other behind him under the fuselage and tail.
+Facing the enemy and shooting directly at him, whether upwards or
+downwards, was Guynemer's method; but it is not easy on account of the
+varying speeds of the two machines, and because the pilot as well as the
+passenger is sheltered by the engine. So it is best to get behind and a
+little lower than the tail of the enemy plane.
+
+Guynemer had frequently used this maneuver, but he preferred a front
+attack, thinking that if he should fail he could easily resort to the
+other, either by turning or by a quick tail spin. So he tried to get
+between the sun and the enemy; but as ill-luck would have it, the sky
+clouded over, and Guynemer had to dive down to his opponent's level, so
+as to show him only the thin edges of the planes, hardly visible. But by
+this time the German had noticed him, and was endeavoring to get his
+range. Prudence advised zigzagging, for a cool-headed gunner has every
+chance of hitting a straight-flying airplane; the enemy ought to be
+made to shift his aim by quick tacking, and the attack should be made
+from above with a full volley, with the possibility of dodging back in
+case the enemy is not brought down at once. But Guynemer, regardless of
+rules and stratagems, merely fell on his enemy like a cannon ball. He
+might have said, like Alexander refusing to take advantage of the dark
+against Darius, that he did not want to steal victory. He only counted
+on his lightning-like manner of charging, which had won him so many
+victories, and on his marksmanship. But he missed the German, who
+proceeded to tail spin, and was missed again by Bozon-Verduraz, who
+awaited him below.
+
+What ought Guynemer to do? Desist, no doubt. But, having been imprudent
+in his direct attack, he was imprudent again on his new tack, and his
+usual obstinacy, made worse by irritation, counseled him to a dangerous
+course. As he dived lower and lower in hopes of being able to wheel
+around and have another shot, Bozon-Verduraz spied a chain of eight
+German one-seaters above the British lines. It was agreed between him
+and his chief that on such occasions he should offer himself to the
+newcomers, allure, entice, and throw them off the track, giving Guynemer
+time to achieve his fifty-fourth success, after which he should fly
+round again to where the fight was going on. He had no anxiety about
+Guynemer, with whom he had frequently attacked enemy squadrons of five,
+six, or even ten or twelve one-seaters. The two-seater might, no doubt,
+be more dangerous, and Guynemer had recently seemed nervous and below
+par; but in a fight his presence of mind, infallibility of movement, and
+quickness of eye were sure to come back, and the two-seater could hardly
+escape its doom.
+
+The last image imprinted on the eyes of Bozon-Verduraz was of Guynemer
+and the German both spinning down, Guynemer in search of a chance to
+shoot, the other hoping to be helped from down below. Then
+Bozon-Verduraz had flown in the direction of the eight one-seaters, and
+the group had fallen apart, chasing him. In time the eight machines
+became mere specks in the illimitable sky, and Bozon-Verduraz, seeing he
+had achieved his object, flew back to where his chief was no doubt
+waiting for him. But there was nobody in the empty space. Could it be
+that the German had escaped? With deadly anguish oppressing him, the
+airman descended nearer the ground to get a closer view. Down below
+there was nothing, no sign, none of the bustle which always follows the
+falling of an airplane. Feeling reassured, he climbed again and began to
+circle round and round, expecting his comrade. Guynemer was coming back,
+could not but come back, and the cause of his delay was probably the
+excitement of the chase. He was so reckless! Like Dorme--who one fine
+morning in May, on the Aisne, went out and was never heard of
+afterwards--he was not afraid of traveling long distances over enemy
+country. He must come back. It is impossible he should not come back;
+he was beyond the reach of common accidents, invincible, immortal! This
+was a certitude, the very faith of the Storks, a tenet which never was
+questioned. The notion of Guynemer falling to a German seemed hardly
+short of sacrilege.
+
+So Bozon-Verduraz waited on, making up his mind to wait as long as
+necessary. But an hour passed, and nobody appeared. Then the airman
+broadened his circles and searched farther out, without, however,
+swerving from the rallying-point. He searched the air like Nisus the
+forest in his quest of Euryalus, and his mind began to misgive him.
+
+After two hours he was still waiting, alone, noticing with dismay that
+his oil was running low. One more circle! How slack the engine sounded
+to him! One more circle! Now it was impossible to wait any more: he must
+go back alone.
+
+On landing, his first word was to ask about Guynemer.
+
+"Not back yet!"
+
+Bozon-Verduraz knew it. He knew that Guynemer had been taken away from
+him.
+
+The telephone and the wireless sent their appeals around, airplanes
+started on anxious cruises. Hour followed hour, and evening came, one of
+those late summer evenings during which the horizon wears the tints of
+flowers; the shadows deepened, and no news came of Guynemer. From
+neighboring camps French, British, or Belgian comrades arrived, anxious
+for news. Everywhere the latest birds had come home, and one hardly
+dared ask the airmen any question.
+
+But the daily routine had to be dispatched, as if there were no mourning
+in the camp. All the young men there were used to death, and to sporting
+with it; they did not like to show their sorrow; but it was deep in
+them, sullen and fierce.
+
+At dinner a heavy melancholy weighed upon them. Guynemer's seat was
+empty, and no one dreamed of taking it. One officer tried to dispel the
+cloud by suggesting hypotheses. Guynemer was lucky, had always been;
+probably he was alive, a prisoner.
+
+Guynemer a prisoner!... He had said one day with a laugh, "The Boches
+will never get me alive," but his laugh was terrible. No, Guynemer could
+not have been taken prisoner. Where was he, then?
+
+On the squadron log, _sous-lieutenant_ Bozon-Verduraz wrote that evening
+as follows:
+
+     _Tuesday, September 11, 1917._ Patrolled. Captain Guynemer started
+     at 8.25 with _sous-lieutenant_ Bozon-Verduraz. Found missing after
+     an engagement with a biplane above Poelkapelle (Belgium).
+
+That was all.
+
+
+IV. THE VIGIL
+
+Before Guynemer, other knights of the air, other aces, had been reported
+missing or had perished--some like Captain Le Cour Grandmaison or
+Captain Auger in our lines, others like Sergeant Sauvage and
+_sous-lieutenant_ Dorme in the enemy's. In fact, he would be the
+thirteenth on the list if the title of ace is reserved for aviators to
+whom the controlling board has given its visé for five undoubted
+victories. These were the names:
+
+     Captain Le Cour Grandmaison         5 victories
+     Sergeant Hauss                      5  "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Delorme           5  "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Pégoud            6  "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Languedoc         7  "
+     Captain Auger                       7  "
+     Captain Doumer                      7  "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Rochefort         7  "
+     Sergeant Sauvage                    8  "
+     Captain Matton                      9  "
+     Adjutant Lenoir                    11  "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Dorme            23  "
+
+Would Guynemer's friends now have to add: Captain Guynemer, 53? Nobody
+dared to do so, yet nobody now dared hope.
+
+A poet of genius, who even before the war had been an aviator, Gabriele
+d'Annunzio, has described in his novel, _Forse che si forse che no_, the
+friendship of two young men, Paolo Tarsis and Giulio Cambasio, whose
+mutual affection, arising from a similar longing to conquer the sky, has
+grown in the perils they dare together. If this book had been written
+later, war would have intensified its meaning. Instead of dying in a
+fight, Cambasio is killed in a contest for altitude between Bergamo and
+the Lake of Garda. As Achilles watched beside the dead body of
+Patroclus, so Tarsis would not leave to another the guarding of his lost
+friend:
+
+"In tearless grief Paolo Tarsis kept vigil through the short summer
+night. So it had broken asunder the richest bough on the tree of his
+life; the most generous part of himself ruined. For him the beauty of
+war had diminished, now that he was no longer to see, burning in those
+dead eyes, the fervor of effort, the security of confidence, the
+rapidity of resolution. He was no longer to taste the two purest joys of
+a manly heart: steadiness of eye in attack, and the pride of watching
+over a beloved peer."
+
+_For him the beauty of war had diminished_.... War already so long, so
+exhausting and cruel, and laden with sorrow! Will war appear in its
+horrid nakedness, now that those who invested it with glory disappear,
+now, above all, when the king of these heroes, the dazzling young man
+whose luminous task was known to the whole army, is no more? Is not his
+loss the loss of something akin to life? For a Guynemer is like the
+nation's flag: if the soldiers' eyes miss the waving colors, they may
+wander to the wretchedness of daily routine, and morbidly feed on blood
+and death. This is what the loss of a Guynemer might mean.
+
+But can a Guynemer be quite lost?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, _September_, 1917
+     (From the author's diary)
+
+     Visited the Storks Escadrille.
+
+The flying field occupies a vast space, for it is common to the French
+and the British. A dam protecting the landing-ground screens it from
+the sea. But from the second floor of a little house which the bombs
+have left standing, you can see its moving expanse of a delicate, I
+might say timid blue, dotted with home-coming boats. The evening is
+placid and fine, with a reddish haze blurring the horizon.
+
+Opposite the sheds, with their swelling canvas walls, a row of airplanes
+is standing before being rolled in for the night. The mechanicians feel
+them with careful hands, examining the engines, propellers, and wings.
+The pilots are standing around, still in their leather suits, their
+helmets in their hands. In brief sentences they sum up their day's
+experiences.
+
+Mechanically I look among them for the one whom the eye invariably
+sought first. I recalled his slight figure, his amber complexion, and
+dark, wonderful eyes, and his quick descriptive gestures. I remembered
+his ringing, boyish laugh, as he said:
+
+"And then, '_couic_'...."
+
+He was life itself. He got out of his seat panting but radiant,
+quivering, as it were, like the bow-string when it has sent its shaft,
+and full of the sacred drunkenness of a young god.
+
+Ten days had passed since his disappearance. Nothing more was known than
+on that eleventh of September when Bozon-Verduraz came back alone.
+German prisoners belonging to aviation had not heard that he was
+reported missing. Yet it was inconceivable that such a piece of news
+should not have been circulated; and, in fact, yesterday a message
+dropped by a German airplane on the British lines, concerning several
+English aviators killed or in hospital, was completed by a note saying
+that Captain Guynemer had been brought down at Poelkapelle on September
+10, at 8 A.M. But could this message be credited? Both the day
+and hour it stated were wrong. On September 10 at 8 A.M.
+Guynemer was alive, and even the next day he had not left the camp at
+the hour mentioned. An English newspaper had announced his
+disappearance, and perhaps the enemy was merely using the information.
+The mystery remained unsolved.
+
+As we were discussing these particulars, the last airplanes were
+landing, one after another, and Guynemer's companions offered their
+reasons for hoping, or rather believing; but none seemed convinced by
+his own arguments. Their inner conviction must be that their young chief
+is dead; and besides, what is death, what is life, to devoting one's all
+to France?
+
+Captain d'Harcourt had succeeded Major Brocard pro tem as commandant of
+the unit. He was a very slim, very elegant young man, with the grace and
+courtesy of the _ancien régime_ which his name evoked, and the
+perfection of his manners and gentleness seemed to lend convincing power
+to all he said. Guynemer being missing and Heurtaux wounded, the Storks
+were now commanded by Lieutenant Raymond. He belonged to the cavalry, a
+tall, thin man, with the sharp face and heroic bearing of Don Quixote, a
+kindly man with a roughness of manner and a quick, picturesque way of
+expressing himself. Deullin was there, too, one of Guynemer's oldest and
+most devoted friends. Last of all descended from the high regions
+_sous-lieutenant_ Bozon-Verduraz, a rather heavy man with a serious
+face, and more maturity than belonged to his years, an unassuming young
+man with a hatred for exaggeration and a deep respect for the truth.
+
+Once more he went through every detail of the fatal day for me, each
+particular anticipating the dread issue. But in spite of this narrative,
+full of the idea of death, I could not think of Guynemer as dead and
+lying somewhere under the ground held by the enemy. It was impossible
+for me not to conjure up Guynemer alive and even full of life, Guynemer
+chasing the enemy with strained terrible eyes, Guynemer of the
+superhuman will, the Guynemer who never gave up,--in short, a Guynemer
+whom death could not vanquish.
+
+A wonderful atmosphere men breathe here, for it relieves death of its
+horror. One officer, Raymond, I think, said in a careless manner:
+
+"Guynemer's fate will be ours, of course."
+
+Somebody protested: "The country needs men like you."
+
+To which Deullin answered: "Why does it? There will be others after us,
+and the life we lead...."
+
+But Captain d'Harcourt broke in gaily: "Come on; dinner's ready--and
+with this bright moon and clear sky we are sure to get bombed."
+
+Bombed, indeed, we were, and pretty severely, but in convenient time,
+for we had just drunk our coffee. A few minutes before, the practiced
+ear of one of us had caught the sound of the _bimoulins_, the bi-motor
+German airplanes, and soon they were near. We gained the sheltering
+trench. But the night was so entrancingly pure, with the moon riding
+like an airship in the deep space, that it seemed to promise peace and
+invited us to enjoy the spectacle. We climbed upon the parapet and
+listened to the breathing of the sea, accompanying with its bass the
+music of the motors. There were still a few straggling reddish vapors
+over the luminous landscape, and the stars seemed dim. But other stars
+took their place, those of the French _Voisins_ returning from some
+bombing expedition, their lights dotting the sky like a moving
+constellation, while at intervals a rocket shot from one or the other
+who was anxious not to miss the landing-ground. Over Dunkirk, eight or
+ten searchlights stretched out their long white arms, thrusting and
+raking to and fro after the enemy machines. Suddenly one of these
+appeared, dazzled by the revealing light, as a moth in the circle of a
+lamp; our batteries began firing, and we could see the quick sparks of
+their shells all around it. Flashing bullets, too, drew zebra-like
+stripes across the sky, and with the cannonade and the rumbling of the
+airplanes we heard the lament of the Dunkirk sirens announcing the
+dreaded arrival of the huge 380 shells upon the town, where here and
+there fires broke out. Meanwhile the German airplanes got rid of their
+bombs all around us, and we could feel the ground tremble.
+
+The Storks looked on with the indifference of habit, thinking of their
+beds and awaiting the end. One of them, a weather prophet, said:
+
+"It will be a good day to-morrow; we can start early."
+
+As I spun towards Dunkirk in the motor, these young men and their
+speeches were in my mind, and I seemed to hear them speaking of their
+absent companion without any depression, with hardly any sorrow. They
+thought of him when they were successful, referred to him as a model,
+found an incentive in his memory,--that was all. Their grief over his
+loss was virile and invigorating.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After watching his friend's body through the night, the hero of
+d'Annunzio goes to the aërodrome where the next trials for altitude are
+to take place. He cannot think of robbing the dead man of his victory.
+As he rises into the upper regions of the air he feels a soothing
+influence and an increase of power: the dead man himself pilots his
+machine, wields the controls, and helps him higher, ever higher up in
+divine intoxication.
+
+In the same way the warlike power of Guynemer's companions is not
+diminished. Guynemer is still with them, accompanying each one, and
+instilling into them the passionate longing to do more and more for
+France.
+
+
+V. THE LEGEND
+
+In seaside graveyards, the stone crosses above the empty tombs say only,
+after the name, "Lost at sea." I remember also seeing in the churchyards
+of the Vale of Chamonix similar inscriptions: "Lost on Mont-Blanc." As
+the mountains and the sea sometimes refuse to give up their victims, so
+the air seems to have kept Guynemer.
+
+"He was neither seen nor heard as he fell," M. Henri Lavedan wrote at
+the beginning of October; his body and his machine were never found.
+Where has he gone? By what wings did he manage thus to glide into
+immortality? Nobody knows: nothing is known. He ascended and never came
+back, that is all. Perhaps our descendants will say: "He flew so high
+that he could not come down again."[29]
+
+[Footnote 29: _L'Illustration_, October 6, 1917.]
+
+I remember a strange line read in some Miscellany in my youth and never
+forgotten, though the rest of the poem has vanished from memory:
+
+     Un jet d'eau qui montait n'est pas redescendu.
+
+Does this not embody the upspringing force of Guynemer's brilliant
+youth?
+
+Throughout France some sort of miracle was expected: Guynemer must
+reappear--if a prisoner he must escape, if dead he must come to life.
+His father said he would go on believing even to the extreme limits of
+improbability. The journalist who signs his letters from the front to
+_Le Temps_ with the pseudonym d'Entraygues recalled a passage from
+Balzac in which some peasants at work on a haystack call to the postman
+on the road: "What's the news?" "Nothing, no news. Oh! I beg your
+pardon, people say that Napoleon has died at St. Helena." Work stops at
+once, and the peasants look at one another in silence. But one fellow
+standing on the rick says: "Napoleon dead! psha! it's plain those people
+don't know him!" The journalist added that he heard a speech of the same
+kind in the bush-region of Aveyron. A passenger on the motor-bus read in
+a newspaper the news of Guynemer's death; everybody seemed dismayed. The
+chauffeur alone smiled skeptically as he examined the spark plugs of his
+engine. When he had done, he pulled down the hood, put away his
+spectacles, carefully wiped his dirty hands on a cloth still dirtier,
+and planting himself in front of the passenger said: "Very well. I tell
+you that the man who is to down Guynemer is still an apprentice. Do you
+understand?..."
+
+The credulity of the poor people of France with regard to their hero was
+most touching. When the death of Guynemer had to be admitted, there was
+deep mourning, from Paris to the remote villages where news travels
+slowly, but is long pondered upon. Guynemer had been brought down from a
+height of 700 meters, northeast of Poelkapelle cemetery, in the Ypres
+sector. A German noncommissioned officer and two soldiers had
+immediately gone to where the machine was lying. One of the wings of the
+machine was broken; the airman had been shot through the head, and his
+leg and shoulder had been broken in the fall; but his face was
+untouched, and he had been identified at once by the photograph on his
+pilot's diploma. A military funeral had been given to him.
+
+Nevertheless, it seemed as if Guynemer's fate still remained somewhat
+obscure. The German War Office published a list of French machines
+fallen in the German lines, with the official indications by which they
+had been recognized. Now, the number of the _Vieux-Charles_ did not
+appear on any of these lists, although having only one wing broken the
+number ought to have been plainly visible. Who were the noncommissioned
+officer and the two soldiers? Finally, on October 4, 1917, the British
+took Poelkapelle, but the enemy counter-attacked, and there was furious
+fighting. On the 9th the village was completely occupied by the British,
+and they searched for Guynemer's grave. No trace of it could be found in
+either the military or the village graveyard.
+
+In fact, the Germans had to acknowledge in an official document that
+both the body and the airplane of Guynemer had disappeared. On November
+8, 1917, the German Foreign Office replied as follows to a question
+asked by the Spanish Ambassador:
+
+     Captain Guynemer fell in the course of an air fight on September 11
+     at ten A.M. close to the honor graveyard No. 2 south of
+     Poelkapelle. A surgeon found that he had been shot through the
+     head, and that the forefinger of his left hand had been shot off by
+     a bullet. The body could neither be buried nor removed, as the
+     place had been since the previous day under constant and heavy
+     fire, and during the following days it was impossible to approach
+     it. The sector authorities communicate that the shelling had plowed
+     up the entire district, and that no trace could be found on
+     September 12 of either the body or the machine. Fresh inquiries,
+     which were made in order to answer the question of the Spanish
+     Embassy, were also fruitless, as the place where Captain Guynemer
+     fell is now in the possession of the British.
+
+     The German airmen express their regret at having been unable to
+     render the last honors to a valiant enemy.
+
+     It should be added that investigation in this case was only made
+     with the greatest difficulty, as the enemy was constantly
+     attacking, fresh troops were frequently brought in or relieved, and
+     eye witnesses had either been killed or wounded, or transferred.
+     Our troops being continually engaged have not been in a position to
+     give the aforesaid information sooner.
+
+So there had been no military funeral, and Guynemer had accepted nothing
+from his enemies, not even a wooden cross. The battle he had so often
+fought in the air had continued around his body; the Allied guns had
+kept the Germans away from it. So nobody can say where lies what was
+left of Guynemer: and no hand had touched him. Dead though he was, he
+escaped. He who was life and movement itself, could not accept the
+immobility of the tomb.
+
+German applause, like that with which the Greeks welcomed the dead body
+of Hector, did not fail to welcome Guynemer's end. At the end of three
+weeks a coarse and discourteous paean was sung in the _Woche_. In its
+issue of October 6, this paper devoted to Guynemer, under the title
+"Most Successful French Aviator Killed," an article whose lying
+cowardice is enough to disgrace a newspaper, and which ought to be
+preserved to shame it. A reproduction of Guynemer's diploma was given
+with the article, which ran as follows:
+
+     Captain Guynemer enjoyed high reputation in the French army, as he
+     professed having brought down more than fifty airplanes, but many
+     of these were proved to have got back to their camps, though
+     damaged it is true. The French, in order to make all verification
+     on our side impossible, have given up stating, in the past few
+     months, the place or date of their so-called victories. Certain
+     French aviators, taken prisoner by our troops, have described his
+     method thus: sometimes, when in command of his squadron, he left it
+     to his men to attack, and when he had ascertained which of his
+     opponents was the weakest, he attacked that one in turn. Sometimes
+     he would fly alone at very great altitudes, for hours, above his
+     own lines, and when he saw one of our machines separated from the
+     others would pounce upon it unawares. If his first onset failed, he
+     would desist at once, not liking fights of long duration, in the
+     course of which real gallantry must be displayed.[30]
+
+[Footnote 30: Der Erfolgreichste Französische Kampfflieger Gefallen.
+Kapitän Guynemer genoss grossen Ruhm im französischen Heere, da er 50
+Flugzeuge abgeschossen haben wollte. Von diesen ist jedoch
+nachgewiesenermassen eine grosse Zahl, wenn auch beschädigt, in ihre
+Flughäfen zurückgekert. Um deutscherseits eine Nachprüfung unmöglich zu
+machen, wurden in den letzten Monaten Ort und Datum seiner angeblichen
+Luftsiege nicht mehr angegeben. Ueber seine Kampfmethode haben gefangene
+französische Flieger berichtet: Entweder liess er, als Geschwaderführer
+fliegend, seine Kameraden zuerst angreifen un stürzle sich dann erst auf
+den schwächsten Gegner; oder er flog stundenlang in grössten Höhe,
+allein hinter der französischen Front und stürzte sich von oben herab
+überraschend auf einzeln fliegende deutsche Beobachtungsflugzeuge. Hatte
+Guynemer beim ersten Verstoss keinen Erfolg, so brach er das Gefecht
+sofort ab; auf den länger dauernden, wahrhaft muterprobenden Kurvenkampf
+liess er sich nicht gern ein.--Extract from the _Woche_ of October 6,
+1917.]
+
+This is the filth the German paper was not ashamed to print. Repulsive
+though it is, I must analyze some of its details. An enemy's abuse
+reveals his own character. So this German denied the fifty-three
+victories of Guynemer, all controlled, and with such severity that in
+his case, as in that of Dorme, he was not credited with fully a third of
+his distant triumphs, too far away to be officially recognized; so this
+German also vilified Guynemer's fighting methods, Guynemer the
+foolhardy, the wildly, madly foolhardy, whose machines and clothes were
+everlastingly riddled with bullets, who fought at such close quarters
+that he was constantly in danger of collisions--this Guynemer the German
+journalist makes out to be a prudent and timid airman, shirking fight
+and making use of his comrades. What sort of story had the German who
+brought him down told? Was it not obvious that if Guynemer had engaged
+him at 4000 meters, and had been killed at 700, that he must have
+prolonged the struggle, and prolonged it above the enemy's lines?
+Finally, the German journalist had the unutterable meanness and infamy
+to saddle on imprisoned French aviators this slander of their comrade,
+insinuated rather than boldly expressed. After all, this document is
+invaluable, and ought to be framed and preserved. How Guynemer would
+have laughed over it, and how youthfully ringing and honest the laugh
+would have sounded! Villiers de l'Isle Adam, remembering the Hegelian
+philosophy, once wrote: "The man who insults you only insults the idea
+he has formed of you, that is to say, himself."
+
+As a whole army (the Sixth) marched on May 25 towards that hill of the
+Aisne valley where Guynemer had brought down four German machines, and
+acclaimed his triumph, so the whole French nation would take part in
+mourning him.
+
+At the funeral service held at Saint Antony's Compiègne, the Bishop of
+Beauvais, Monseigneur Le Senne, spoke, taking for his text the Psalm in
+which David laments the death of Saul and his sons slain _on the
+summits_, and says that this calamity must be kept secret lest the
+Philistines and their daughters should rejoice over it. This service was
+attended by General Débeney, staff major-general, representing the
+generalissimo, and by all the surviving members of the Storks
+Escadrille, with their former chief, Major Brocard. His successor,
+Captain Heurtaux, whose unexpected appearance startled the
+congregation--he seemed so pale and thin on his crutches--had left the
+hospital for this ceremony, and looked so ill that people were surprised
+that he had the strength to stand.
+
+A few hours before the service took place, Major Garibaldi, sent by
+General Anthoine, commander of the army to which Guynemer belonged, had
+brought to the Guynemer family the twenty-sixth citation of their hero,
+the famous document which all French schoolboys have since learned by
+heart and which was as follows:
+
+     Fallen on the field of honor on September 11, 1917. A legendary
+     hero, fallen from the very zenith of victory after three years'
+     hard and continuous fighting. He will be considered the most
+     perfect embodiment of the national qualities for his indomitable
+     energy and perseverance and his exalted gallantry. Full of
+     invincible belief in victory, he has bequeathed to the French
+     soldier an imperishable memory which must add to his
+     self-sacrificing spirit and will surely give rise to the noblest
+     emulation.
+
+On the motion of M. Lasies, in a session which reminded us of the great
+days of August, 1914, the Chamber decided on October 19 that the name of
+Captain Guynemer should be graven on the walls of the Panthéon. Two
+letters, to follow below, were read by M. Lasies, to whom they had been
+written. One came from Lieutenant Raymond, temporary commandant of the
+Storks, and was as follows:
+
+     Having the honor to command Escadrille 3 in the absence of Captain
+     Heurtaux, still wounded in hospital, I am anxious to thank you, in
+     the name of the few surviving Storks, for what you are doing for
+     the memory of Guynemer.
+
+     He was our friend as well as our chief and teacher, our pride and
+     our flag, and his loss will be felt more than any that has thinned
+     our ranks so far.
+
+     Please be sure that our courage has not been laid low with him; our
+     revenge will be merciless and victorious.
+
+     May Guynemer's noble soul remember us fighting our aërial battles,
+     that we may keep alight the flame he bequeathed to us.
+
+     Raymond
+     Commanding Escadrille 3.
+
+The other letter came from Major Brocard:
+
+     My dear Comrade:
+
+     I am profoundly moved to hear of the thought you have had of giving
+     the highest consecration to Guynemer's memory by a ceremony at the
+     Panthéon.
+
+     It had occurred to all of us that only the lofty dome of the
+     Panthéon was large enough for such wings.
+
+     The poor boy fell in the fullness of triumph, with his face towards
+     the enemy. A few days before he had sworn to me that the Germans
+     should never take him alive. His heroic death is not more glorious
+     than that of the gunner defending his gun, the infantryman rushing
+     out of his trench, or even that of the poor soldier perishing in
+     the bogs. But Guynemer was known to all. There were few who had not
+     seen him in the sky, whether blue or cloudy, bearing on his frail
+     linen wings some of their own faith, their own dreams, and all that
+     their souls could hold of trust and hope.
+
+     It was for them all, whether infantrymen or gunners or pioneers,
+     that he fought with the bitter hatred he felt for the invader, with
+     his youthful daring and the joys of his triumphs. He knew that the
+     battle would end fatally for him, no doubt, but knowing also that
+     his war-bird was the instrument of saving thousands of lives, and
+     seeing that his example called forth the noblest imitation, he
+     remained true to his idea of self-sacrifice which he had formed a
+     long time before, and which he saw develop with perfect calm.
+
+     Full of modesty as a soldier, but fully conscious of the greatness
+     of his duties, he possessed the national qualities of endurance,
+     perseverance, indifference to danger, and to these he added a most
+     generous heart.
+
+     During his short life he had not time enough to learn bitterness,
+     or suffering, or disillusionment.
+
+     He passed straight from the school where he was learning the
+     history of France to where he himself could add another page to it.
+     He went to the war driven by a mysterious power which I respect as
+     death or genius ought to be respected.
+
+     He was a powerful thought living in a body so delicate that I, who
+     lived so close beside him, knew it would some day be slain by the
+     thought.
+
+     The poor boy! Other boys from every French school wrote to him
+     every day. He was their legendary ideal, and they felt all his
+     emotions, sharing his joys as well as his dangers. To them he was
+     the living copy of the heroes whose exploits they read in their
+     books. His name is constantly on their lips, for they love him as
+     they have been taught to love the purest glories of France.
+
+     _Monsieur le député_, gain admittance for him to the Panthéon,
+     where he has already been placed by the mothers and children of
+     France. There his protecting wings will not be out of place, for
+     under that dome where sleep those who gave us our France, they will
+     be the symbol of those who have defended her for us.
+
+     Major Brocard.
+
+These letters roused the enthusiasm of the Chamber, and the following
+resolution was passed by acclamation:
+
+     The government shall have an inscription placed in the Panthéon to
+     perpetuate the memory of Captain Guynemer, the symbol of France's
+     highest aspirations.
+
+On November 5 the foregoing letters were solemnly read aloud in every
+school, and Guynemer was presented as an example to all French
+schoolboys.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The army then prepared to celebrate Guynemer as a leader, and in default
+of any place suitable for such a ceremony they selected the camp of
+Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, whence Guynemer had started on his last flight. On
+November 30 General Anthoine, commanding the First Army, before leaving
+the Flemish British sector where he had so brilliantly assisted in the
+success, decided to associate his men with the glorification of
+Guynemer.
+
+The ceremony took place at ten in the morning. A raw breeze was blowing
+off the sea, whose violence the dam, raised to protect the
+landing-ground, was not sufficient to break. In front of the battalion
+which had been sent to render the military honors, waved the colors of
+the twenty regiments that had fought in the Flemish battles, glorious
+flags bearing the marks of war, some of them almost in rags. To the
+left, in front of the airmen, two slight figures were visible, one in
+black, one in horizon blue: Captain Heurtaux still on his crutches, the
+other _sous-lieutenant_ Fonck. The former was to be made an officer, the
+latter a chevalier in the Legion of Honor. Heurtaux, a fair-haired,
+delicate, almost girlish young man, but so phenomenally self-possessed
+in danger, had been, as we have said, our Roland's Oliver, his companion
+of old days, his rival and his confidant. Fonck, whom I called
+Aymerillot because of his smallness, his boyish simplicity and his
+daring, the hope of the morrow and already a glorious soldier, had
+perhaps avenged Guynemer's death already. For Lieutenant Weissman,
+according to the _Kölnische Zeitung_, had boasted in a letter to his
+people of having brought down the most famous French aviator. "Don't be
+afraid on my account," he added, "I shall never meet such a dangerous
+enemy again." Now, on September 30 Fonck had shot this Lieutenant
+Weissman through the head as the latter was piloting a Rumpler machine
+above the French lines.
+
+While the band was playing the _Marseillaise_, accompanied by the
+roaring of the gale and of the sea, as well as of the airplanes circling
+above, General Anthoine stepped out in front of the row of flags. His
+powerful frame seemed to suggest the cuirass of the knights of old, as,
+silhouetted against the cloudy sky, he towered above the two diminutive
+aviators near whom he was standing. The band stopped playing, and the
+general spoke, his voice rising and falling in the wind, and swelling to
+a higher pitch when the elements were too rebellious. He was speaking
+almost on the spot where Guynemer had departed from the soil of his own
+country on his final flight.
+
+"I have not summoned you," he said, "to pay Guynemer the last homage he
+has a right to from the First Army, over a coffin or a grave. No trace
+could be found in Poelcapelle of his mortal remains, as if the heavens,
+jealous of their hero, had not consented to return to earth what seems
+to belong to it by right, and as if Guynemer had disappeared in empyrean
+glory through a miraculous assumption. Therefore we shall omit, on this
+spot from which he soared into Infinity, the sorrowful rites generally
+concluding the lives of mortals, and shall merely proclaim the
+immortality of the Knight of the Air, without fear or reproach.
+
+"Men come and go, but France remains. All who fall for her bequeath to
+her their own glory, and her splendor is made up of their worth. Happy
+is he who enriches the commonwealth by the complete gift of himself.
+Happy then the child of France whose superhuman destiny we are
+celebrating! Glory be to him in the heavens where he reigned supreme,
+and glory be to him on the earth, in our soldiers' hearts and in these
+flags, sacred emblems of honor and of the worship of France!
+
+"Ye flags of the second aëronautical unit and of the First Army, you
+keep in the mystery of your folds the memory of virtue, devotion, and
+sacrifice of every kind, to hand down to future generations the
+treasures of our national traditions!
+
+"Flags, the souls of our heroes live in you, and when your fluttering
+silk is heard, it is indeed their voice bidding us go from the same
+dangers to the same triumphs!
+
+"Flags, keep the soul of Guynemer forever. Let it raise up and multiply
+heroes in his likeness! Let it exalt to resolution the hearts of
+neophytes eager to avenge the martyr by imitating his lofty example, and
+let it give them power to revive the prowess of this legendary hero!
+
+"For the only homage he expects from his companions is the continuation
+of his work.
+
+"In the brief moment during which dying men see, as in a vision, the
+whole past and the whole future, if Guynemer knew a comfort it was the
+certainty that his comrades would successfully complete what he had
+begun.
+
+"You, his friends and rivals, I know well; I know that, like Guynemer,
+you can be trusted, that you meet bravely the formidable task he has
+bequeathed to you, and that you will fulfil the hopes which France had
+reposed in him.
+
+"It is to confirm this certitude in presence of our flags, brought to
+witness it, that I am glad to confer on two of his companions, two of
+our bravest fighters, distinctions which are at the same time a reward
+for the past and an earnest of future glory."
+
+Then the general gave the accolade and embraced Heurtaux, now less
+dependent on his crutches, and Fonck, suddenly grown taller, children of
+glory, both of them, and still pale from the emotion caused by the
+evocation of their friend's glory. He pinned the badges on their coats.
+After this he added, in a lull of the conflicting elements:
+
+"Let us raise our hearts in respectful and grateful admiration for the
+hero whom the First Army can never forget, of whom it was so proud, and
+whose memory will always live in History.
+
+"Dead though he be, a man like Guynemer guides us, if we know how to
+follow him, along the triumphal way which, over ruins, tombs, and
+sacrifices, leads to victory the good and the strong."
+
+Of itself, thanks to this religious conclusion of the general's ode, the
+ceremony had assumed a sort of sacred character, and the word which
+concludes prayers, the Amen of the officiating priest, naturally came to
+our lips while the general saluted with his sword the invisible spirit
+of the hero, and the blasts of the bugles rose above the gale and the
+sea.
+
+
+VI. IN THE PANTHÉON
+
+In the Panthéon crypt, destined, as the inscription says, for the burial
+of great men, the name of Guynemer will be graven on a marble slab
+cemented in the wall. The proper inscription for this slab will be the
+young soldier's last citation:
+
+     FALLEN ON THE FIELD OF HONOR ON SEPTEMBER 11, 1917. A LEGENDARY
+     HERO, FALLEN FROM THE VERY ZENITH OF VICTORY AFTER THREE YEARS'
+     HARD AND CONTINUOUS FIGHTING. HE WILL BE CONSIDERED THE MOST
+     PERFECT EMBODIMENT OF THE NATIONAL QUALITIES FOR HIS INDOMITABLE
+     ENERGY AND PERSEVERANCE AND HIS EXALTED GALLANTRY. FULL OF
+     INVINCIBLE BELIEF IN VICTORY, HE HAS BEQUEATHED TO THE FRENCH
+     SOLDIER AN IMPERISHABLE MEMORY WHICH MUST ADD TO HIS
+     SELF-SACRIFICING SPIRIT AND WILL SURELY GIVE RISE TO THE NOBLEST
+     EMULATION.
+
+"To deserve such a citation and die!" exclaimed a young officer after
+reading it.
+
+In his poem, _Le Vol de la Marseillaise_, Rostand shows us the twelve
+Victories seated at the Invalides around the tomb of the Emperor rising
+to welcome their sister, the Victory of the Marne. At the Panthéon, in
+the crypt where they rest, Marshal Lannes and General Marceau, Lazare
+Carnot, the organizer of victory, and Captain La Tour d'Auvergne will
+rise in their turn on this young man's entrance. Victor Hugo, who is
+there too, will recognize at once one of the knights in his _Légende des
+Siècles_, and Berthelot will look upon his coming as an evidence of the
+fervor of youth for France as well as for science. But of them all,
+Marceau, his elder brother, killed at twenty-seven, will be the most
+welcoming.
+
+Traveling in the Rhine Valley some ten or twelve years ago, I made a
+pilgrimage to Marceau's tomb, outside Coblenz, just above the Moselle.
+In a little wood stands a black marble pyramid with the following
+inscription in worn-out gilt letters:
+
+     Here lieth Marceau, a soldier at sixteen, a general at twenty-two,
+     who died fighting for his country the last day of the year IV of
+     the Republic. Whoever you may be, friend or foe, respect the ashes
+     of this hero.
+
+The French prisoners who died in 1870-71 at the camp of Petersberg have
+been buried, on the same spot. Marceau was not older than these
+soldiers, who died without fame or glory, when his brief and wonderful
+career came to an end. Without knowing it, the Germans had completed the
+hero's mausoleum by laying these remains around it; for it is proper
+that beside the chief should be represented the anonymous multitude
+without whom there would be no chiefs.
+
+In 1889 the remains of Marceau were transferred to the Panthéon in
+Paris, and the Coblenz monument now commemorates only his name. It will
+be the same with Guynemer, whose remains will never be found, as if the
+earth had refused to engulf them; they will never be brought back,
+amidst the acclamations of the people, to the mount once dedicated to
+Saint Genevieve. But his legendary life was fitly crowned by the mystery
+of such a death.
+
+One of the frescoes of Puvis de Chavannes in the Panthéon, the last to
+the left, represents an old woman leaning over a stone terrace and
+gazing at the town beneath her with its moonlit roofs and its
+surrounding plain, looking bluish in the night. The city is asleep, but
+the holy woman watches and prays. She stands tall and upright as a lily.
+Her lamp, which is seen at the entrance of her house, is one long stem
+illuminated by the flame. She, too, is like this lamp. Her emaciated
+body would be nothing without her ardent face. Her serenity can only
+come from work well done and confidence in the future. Lutetia,
+represented in this picture by Genevieve, is not anxious; yet she
+listens as if she might hear once more the threatening approach of
+Attila. It is because she knows that the barbarians may come back again,
+and can only be stopped by invincible faith.
+
+As long as France keeps her belief, she is secure. The life and death of
+a Guynemer are an act of faith in immortal France.
+
+
+ENVOI
+
+The _ballades_ of olden times used to conclude with an _envoi_ addressed
+to some powerful person and invariably beginning with King, Queen,
+Prince or Princess. But the poet was occasionally at a loss, for, as
+Theodore de Banville observes in his _Petit traité de Poésie Française_,
+"everybody has not a prince handy to whom to dedicate his _ballade_."
+
+Guynemer's biography is of such a nature that it must seem like a poem:
+why not, then, conclude it with an _envoi_? I have no difficulty in
+finding a Prince, for I shall select him from among the French
+schoolboys. There is a little Paul Bailly, not quite twelve years old,
+from Bouclans, a village in Franche-Comté, who wrote a beautiful theme
+on Guynemer: he shall be my Prince. And through him I shall address all
+the French schoolboys or girls, in all the French towns and villages.
+
+Little Prince, I have no doubt that you love arithmetic, and I will give
+you accurate figures which will satisfy your taste. You will like to
+know that Guynemer flew for 665 hours and 55 seconds in all, which I
+added up from his flying notebooks: his last flight is not recorded in
+them, because it never stopped.
+
+As for the number of fights in which he was engaged, that is difficult
+to ascertain. Guynemer himself did not seem anxious to be sure about it.
+But it must be more than 600, and might well be 700 or 800. Your
+Guynemer, our Guynemer, will never be surpassed: not because he forgot
+to hand over to his successors, rivals, and avengers the sacred flame
+which in France can never go out, but because genius is an exceptional
+privilege, and because the present methods of fighting in the air are
+not in favor of single combats but engage whole units.
+
+You will also love to hear about Guynemer as an inventor, and the
+creator of a magic airplane. Some day this airplane will be exhibited;
+and perhaps some of your little friends have already seen at the
+Invalides the machine in which Guynemer brought down nineteen German
+airplanes. On November 1, 1917, thousands of Parisians visited it; and
+it was strewn with magnificent bunches of chrysanthemums, to which many
+people added clusters of violets.
+
+In Guynemer the technician and the marksman equaled and perhaps
+surpassed the pilot. Captain Galliot, who is a specialist, has called
+him "the thinker-fighter," thereby emphasizing that his excellence as a
+gunner arose from meditation and preparation. The same officer adds that
+"accuracy was Guynemer's characteristic; he never shot at random as
+others occasionally do, but always took long and careful aim. Perfect
+weapons and perfect mastery of them were dogmas with him. His
+marksmanship, the result of perseverance and intelligence, multiplied
+tenfold the capacity of his machine-gun, and accounts for his
+overwhelming superiority."[31]
+
+[Footnote 31: _Guerre aérienne_, October 18, 1917.]
+
+But when you have realized the technical superiority of our Guynemer,
+you will have yet to learn one thing, one great thing, the essential
+thing. You have heard that Guynemer's frame was not robust; that he was
+delicate, and the military boards refused him several times as unfit.
+Yet no aviator ever showed more endurance than he did, even when
+developments made long cruising necessary in altitudes of 6000 or 7000
+meters. There have been pilots as quickwitted and gunners as accurate as
+Guynemer, but there has never been anybody who equaled him in the
+flashlike rapidity of his attack, or for doggedness in keeping up a
+fight. We must conclude that he had a special gift, and this gift--his
+own genius--must be ultimately reduced to his decision, that is, his
+will-power. His will, to the very end, was far above his physical
+strength. There are two great dates in his short life: November 21,
+1914, when he joined the army, and September 11, 1917, when he left camp
+for his last flight. Neither a passion for aviation nor thirst for glory
+had any part in his action on those two dates. Will-power in itself is
+sometimes dangerous, enviable though it be, and must be wisely directed.
+Now, Guynemer regulated his will by one great object, which was to
+serve, to serve his country, even unto death.
+
+Finally, do not place Guynemer apart from his comrades: even in his
+grave, even in the region where there is no grave, he would resent it. I
+hope you will learn by heart the names of the French aces, at any rate
+those names which I am going to give you, whatever may become of those
+who bear them:[32]
+
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Nungesser     30 airplanes brought down
+     Captain Heurtaux                21     "        "
+     Lieutenant Deullin              17     "        "
+     Lieutenant Pinsard              16     "        "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Madon         16     "        "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Chaput        12     "        "
+     Adjutant Jailler                12     "        "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Ortoli        11     "        "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Tarascon      11     "        "
+     Chief Adjutant Fonck            11     "        "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Lufbery       10     "        "
+
+[Footnote 32: List made September 11, 1917.]
+
+These names will become more and more glorious--some have already done
+so--and others will be added to the list which you will learn also. But
+however tenacious your memory may be, you will never remember, nobody
+will ever remember, the thousands of names we ought to save from
+oblivion, the names of those whose patience, courage, and sufferings
+have saved the soil of France. The fame of one man is nothing unless it
+represent the obscure deeds of the anonymous multitude. The name of
+Guynemer ought to sum up the sacrifice of all French youth--infantrymen,
+gunners, pioneers, troopers, or flyers--who have given their lives for
+us, as we hear the infinite murmur of the ocean in one beautiful shell.
+
+The enthusiasm and patience, the efforts and sacrifices, of the
+generations which came before you, little boy, were necessary to save
+you, to save your country, to save the world, born of light and born
+unto light, from the darkness of dread oppression. Germany has chosen to
+rob war of all that, slowly and tentatively, the nations had given to it
+of respect for treaties, pity for the weak and defenseless, and of honor
+generally. She has poisoned it as she poisons her gases. This is what we
+should never forget. Not only has Germany forced this war upon the
+world, but she has made it systematically cruel and terrifying, and in
+so doing she has sown the seeds of horrified rebellion against anything
+that is German. Parisian boys of your own age will tell you that during
+their sleep German squadrons used to fly over their city dropping bombs
+at random upon it. And to what purpose? None, beyond useless murder.
+This is the kind of war which Germany has waged from the first,
+gradually compelling her opponents to adopt the same methods. But while
+this loathsome work was being done, our airplanes, piloted by soldiers
+not much older than you, cruised like moving stars above the city of
+Genevieve, threatened now with unheard-of invasion from on high.
+
+Little boy, do not forget that this war, blending all classes, has also
+blended in a new crucible all the capacities of our country. They are
+now turned against the aggressor, but they will have to be used in time
+for union, love, and peace. _Omne regnum divisum contra se desolabitur;
+et omnis civitas vel domus divisa contra se non stabit._ You can read
+this easy Latin, but if necessary your teacher or village priest will
+help you. The house, the city, the nation ought not to be divided. The
+enemy would have done us too much evil if he had not brought about the
+reconciliation of all Frenchmen. You, little boy, will have to wipe away
+the blood from the bleeding face of France, to heal her wounds, and
+secure for her the revival she will urgently need. She will come out of
+the formidable contest respected and admired, but oh, how weary! Love
+her with pious love, and let the life of Guynemer inspire you with the
+resolve to serve in daily life, as he served, even unto death.
+
+_December_, 1917, to _January_, 1918.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+GENEALOGY OF GEORGES GUYNEMER
+
+
+In _Huon de Bordeaux_, a _chanson de geste_ with fairy and romantic
+elements, Huon leaves for Babylon on a mission confided to him by the
+Emperor, which he was told to fulfil with the aid of the dwarf sorcerer,
+Oberon. At the château of Dunôtre, in Palestine, where he must destroy a
+giant, he meets a young girl of great beauty named Sébile, who guides
+him through the palace. As he is astonished to hear her speak French,
+she replies: "I was born in France, and I felt pity for you because I
+saw the cross you wear." "In what part of France?" "In the town of
+Saint-Omer," replied Sébile; "I am the daughter of Count Guinemer." Her
+father had lately come on a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, bringing
+her with him. A tempest had cast them on shore near the town of the
+giant, who had killed her father and kept her prisoner. "For more than
+seven years," she added, "I have not been to mass." Naturally Huon kills
+the giant, and delivers the daughter of Count Guinemer.
+
+In an article by the learned M. Longnon on _L'Elément historique de Huon
+de Bordeaux_,[33] a note is given on the name of Guinemer:
+
+"In _Huon de Bordeaux_," writes M. Longnon, "the author of the _Prologue
+des Lorrains_ makes Guinemer the son of Saint Bertin, second Abbot of
+Sithieu, an abbey which took the name of this blessed man and was the
+foundation of the city of Saint-Omer, which the poem of _Huon de
+Bordeaux_ makes the birthplace of Count Guinemer's daughter. It is
+possible that this Guinemer was borrowed by our _trouveres_ from some
+ancient Walloon tradition; for his name, which in Latin is Winemarus,
+appears to have occurred chiefly in those countries forming part, from
+the ninth to the twelfth century, of the County of Flanders. The
+chartulary of Saint Vertin alone introduces us to: 1st, a deacon named
+Winidmarus, who in 723 wrote a deed of sale at Saint-Omer itself
+(Guérard, p. 50); 2d, a knight of the County of Flanders, Winemarus, who
+assassinated the Archbishop of Rheims, Foulques, who was then Abbot of
+Saint-Bertin (Guérard, p. 135); 3d, Winemarus, a vassal of the Abbey,
+mentioned in an act dated 1075 (_ib._, p. 195); 4th, Winemarus, Lord of
+Gand, witness to a charter of Count Baudouin VII in 1114 (_ib._, p.
+255). The personage in _Huon de Bordeaux_ might also be connected with
+Guimer, Lord of Saint-Omer, who appears in the beginning of _Ogier le
+Danios_, if the form, Guimer, did not seem rather to derive from
+Withmarus."[34]
+
+[Footnote 33: _Romania_, 1879, p. 4.]
+
+[Footnote 34: With this note may be connected the following page of the
+Wauters, a chronological table of Charters and printed Acts, Vol. II, p.
+16, 1103: "Baldéric, Bishop of the Tournaisiens and the Noyonnais,
+confirms the cession of the tithe and patronage of Templeuve, which was
+made to the Abbey of Saint-Martin de Tournai by two knights of that
+town, Arnoul and Guinemer, and by the canon _Géric. Actum Tornaci, anno
+domenice incarnationis M.C. III, regnante rege Philippo, episcopante
+domo Baldrico pontifice_. Extracts for use in the ecclesiastic history
+of Belgium, 2d year, p. 10."]
+
+Leaving the _chansons de geste_, Guinemer reappears in the history of
+the Crusades. Count Baudouin of Flanders and his knights, while making
+war in the Holy Land (1097), see a vessel approaching, more than three
+miles from the city of Tarsus. They wait on the shore, and the vessel
+casts anchor. "Whence do you come?" is always the first question asked
+in like circumstances. "From Flanders, from Holland, and from
+Friesland." They were repentant pirates, who after having combed the
+seas had come to do penance by a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The Christian
+warriors joyously welcome these sailors whose help will be useful to
+them. Their chief is a Guinemer, not from Saint-Omer but Boulogne. He
+recognizes in Count Baudouin his liege lord, leaves his ship and decides
+to remain with the crusaders. "_Moult estait riche de ce mauvais
+gaeng._" The whilom pirate contributes his ill-gotten gains to the
+crusade.[35]
+
+[Footnote 35: _Receuil des Historiens des Croisades_, Western
+Historians, Volume I, Book III and XXIII, p. 145: _Comment Guinemerz et
+il Galiot s'accompaignierent avec Baudouin_.]
+
+In another chapter of the _Histoire des Croisades_, this Guinemer
+besieged Lalische, which "is a most noble and ancient city situated on
+the border of the sea; it was the only city in Syria over which the
+Emperor of Constantinople was ruler." Lalische or Laodicea in Syria,
+_Laodicea ad mare_--now called Latakia--was an ancient Roman colony
+under Septimus Severus, and was founded on the ruins of the ancient
+Ramitha by Seleucus Nicator, who called it Laodicea in honor of his
+mother Laodice. Guinemer, who expected to take the city by force, was in
+his turn assaulted and taken prisoner by the garrison. Baudouin, with
+threats, demanded him back and rescued him; but esteeming him a better
+seaman than a combatant on the land, he invited him to return to his
+ship, take command of his fleet, and navigate within sight of the coast,
+which the former pirate "very willingly did."
+
+A catalogue of the Deeds of Henri I, King of France (1031-1060)[36]
+mentions in this same period a Guinemer, Lord of Lillers, who had
+solicited the approval of the king for the construction of a church in
+his château, to be dedicated to Notre-Dame and Saint-Omer. The royal
+approval was given in 1043, completing the authorization of Baudouin,
+Count of Flanders, and of Dreu, Bishop of Thérouanne at the request of
+Pope Gregory VI, to whom the builder had gone in person to ask consent
+for his enterprise. Was this Guinemer, like the pirate of Jerusalem,
+doing penance for some wrong? Thus we find two Guinemers in the eleventh
+century, one in Palestine, the other in Italy. About this same period
+the family probably left Flanders to settle in Brittany, where they
+remained until the Revolution. The corsair of Boulogne became a
+ship-builder at Saint-Malo, having his own reasons for changing
+parishes. The Flemish tradition then gives place to that of Brittany,
+which is authenticated by documents. One Olivier Guinemer gave a receipt
+in 1306 to the executors of Duke Jean II de Bretagne. He held a fief
+under Saint-Sauveur de Dinan, "on which the duke had settled tenants
+contrary to agreements." The executors, to liquidate the estate, had to
+pay immense sums for "indemnification, restitution and damages," and
+took care to "take receipts from all those to whom their commission
+obliged them to distribute money."[37] The Treaty of Guérande (April 11,
+1365), which ended the war for the Breton succession and gave the Duchy
+to Jean de Montfort, though under the suzerainty of the King of France,
+is signed by thirty Breton knights, among whom is a Geoffrey Guinemer. A
+Mathelin Guinemer, squire, is mentioned in an act received at Bourges in
+1418; while in 1464, an Yvon Guynemer, man-at-arms, is promoted to full
+pay, and he already spells his name with a _y_.
+
+[Footnote 36: _Catalogue des actes d'Henri I, Roi de France_
+(1031-1060), by Frédéric Soehnée, archivist at the National Archives.]
+
+[Footnote 37: _Histoire de Bretagne_, by Dom Lobineau (1707), Vol. I, p.
+293. _Recherches sur la chevalerie du duché de Bretagne, by A. de
+Couffon de Kerdellech_, Vol. II (Nantes, Vincent Forest and Emile
+Grimaud, Printers and Publishers).]
+
+It is somewhat difficult to trace the history of this lesser provincial
+nobility, engaged sometimes in petty wars, sometimes in the cultivation
+of their domains. In a book glorifying the humble service of ancient
+French society, _Gentilshommes Campagnards_, M. Pierre de Vaissiére has
+shown how this race of rural proprietors lived in the closest contact
+with French agriculture, counseling and defending the peasant, clearing
+and cultivating their land, and maintaining their families by its
+produce. In his _Mémoires_, the famous Rétif de la Bretonne paints in
+the most picturesque manner the patriarchal and authoritative manners of
+his grandfather who, by virtue of his own unquestioned authority
+prevented his descendant from leaving his native village and
+establishing in Paris. Paris was already exercising its fascination and
+uprooting the youth of the time. The Court of Versailles had already
+weakened the social authority of families still attached to their lands.
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note:
+
+The following typographical errors in the original were corrected:
+
+batallion (to battalion)
+Fleugzeg (to Flugzeug)
+éclaties (to éclatiez)
+Kamfflieger (to Kampfflieger)]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Georges Guynemer, by Henry Bordeaux
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Georges Guynemer, by Henry Bordeaux
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Georges Guynemer, by Henry Bordeaux
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Georges Guynemer
+       Knight of the Air
+
+Author: Henry Bordeaux
+
+Translator: Louise Morgan Sill
+
+Release Date: April 4, 2006 [EBook #18117]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GEORGES GUYNEMER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Barbara Tozier, Graeme Mackreth and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+<h1>GEORGES GUYNEMER</h1>
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-top: 5em;">
+<small><i>Published on the Fund<br />
+given to the Yale University Press in memory of</i><br />
+
+ENSIGN CURTIS SEAMAN READ, U.S.N.R.F.<br />
+
+<i>of the Class of 1918, Yale College, killed in the<br />
+aviation service in France, February, 1918</i><br />
+</small></p>
+
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-top: 5em;">
+<img src="images/illus01.png" alt="Georges"  />
+<a id="illus01" name="illus01"></a>
+</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-bottom: 5em;"><b>Georges Guynemer, Knight of the Air</b></p>
+
+
+
+
+<h4>HENRY BORDEAUX</h4>
+
+<h3>GEORGES</h3>
+<h2>GUYNEMER</h2>
+
+<h3>KNIGHT OF THE AIR</h3>
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-top: 2.5em;"><small>TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH<br />
+<span class="smcap">By</span> LOUISE MORGAN SILL</small></p>
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-top: 2em;"><small>WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY<br />
+THEODORE ROOSEVELT</small></p>
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-top: 2em;"><small>NEW HAVEN<br />
+YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS<br />
+NEW YORK: 280 MADISON AVENUE<br />
+<br />
+MDCCCCXVIII</small>
+</p>
+
+
+
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-top: 2em;">
+<small>COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY<br />
+YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS</small>
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+
+
+<h3>TABLE OF CONTENTS</h3>
+
+
+<p style="margin-left: 4em;"><a href="#INTRODUCTION"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></a></p>
+<p style="margin-left: 4em;"><a href="#PROLOGUE"><span class="smcap">Prologue</span></a></p>
+
+<h4><a href="#CANTO_I">CANTO I: CHILDHOOD</a></h4>
+<ul class="TOC">
+<li>
+<a href="#I_THE_GUYNEMERS"><span class="smcap">The Guynemers</span></a></li>
+<li>
+<a href="#II_HOME_AND_COLLEGE"><span class="smcap">Home and College</span></a></li>
+<li>
+<a href="#III_THE_DEPARTURE"><span class="smcap">The Departure</span></a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<h4><a href="#CANTO_II">CANTO II: LAUNCHED INTO SPACE</a></h4>
+<ul class="TOC">
+<li>
+<a href="#I_THE_FIRST_VICTORY"><span class="smcap">The First Victory</span></a></li>
+
+<li>
+<a href="#II_FROM_THE_AISNE_TO_VERDUN"> <span class="smcap">From the Aisne to Verdun</span></a></li>
+<li>
+<a href="#III_LA_TERRE_A_VU_JADIS_ERRER_DES_PALADINS"><span class="smcap">"La Terre a vu jadis errer des Paladins"</span></a></li>
+<li>
+<a href="#IV_ON_THE_SOMME"> <span class="smcap">On the Somme (June, 1916, to February, 1917</span>)</a></li>
+</ul>
+<h4><a href="#CANTO_III">CANTO III: AT THE ZENITH</a></h4>
+<ul class="TOC"><li>
+<a href="#I_ON_THE_25th_OF_MAY"><span class="smcap">On the 25th of May, 1917</span></a></li>
+<li>
+<a href="#II_A_VISIT_TO_GUYNEMER"> <span class="smcap">A Visit to Guynemer</span></a></li>
+<li>
+<a href="#III_GUYNEMER_IN_CAMP"><span class="smcap">Guynemer in Camp</span></a></li>
+<li>
+<a href="#IV_GUYNEMER_AT_HOME"> <span class="smcap">Guynemer at Home</span></a></li>
+<li>
+<a href="#V_THE_MAGIC_MACHINE"> <span class="smcap">The Magic Machine</span></a></li>
+</ul>
+<h4><a href="#CANTO_IV">CANTO IV: THE ASCENSION</a></h4>
+<ul class="TOC"><li>
+<a href="#I_THE_BATTLE_OF_FLANDERS"><span class="smcap">The Battle of Flanders</span></a></li>
+<li>
+<a href="#II_OMENS"><span class="smcap">Omens</span></a></li>
+<li>
+<a href="#III_THE_LAST_FLIGHT"><span class="smcap">The Last Flight</span></a></li>
+<li>
+<a href="#IV_THE_VIGIL"><span class="smcap">The Vigil</span></a></li>
+<li>
+<a href="#V_THE_LEGEND"><span class="smcap">The Legend</span></a></li>
+<li>
+<a href="#VI_IN_THE_PANTHEON"><span class="smcap">In the Panth&eacute;on</span></a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 4em;"><a href="#ENVOI"><span class="smcap">Envoi</span></a></p>
+<p style="margin-left: 4em;"><a href="#APPENDIX"><span class="smcap">Appendix: Genealogy of Georges Guynemer</span></a>
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h3>
+
+
+<p>
+<a href="#illus01"> Georges Guynemer, Knight of the Air</a><br />
+(From a wood block in three colors by Rudolph Ruzicka.)<br />
+<a href="#illus02">The First Flight in a Bl&eacute;riot</a><br />
+<a href="#illus03">In the Air</a><br />
+<a href="#illus04">Combat</a><br />
+<a href="#illus05">"Going West"</a><br />
+(From charcoal drawings by W.A. Dwiggins.)<br />
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;"><i>June 27th, 1918.</i></span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">My dear M. Bordeaux</span>:</p>
+
+<p>I count the American people fortunate in reading any book of yours; I
+count them fortunate in reading any biography of that great hero of the
+air, Guynemer; and thrice over I count them fortunate to have such a
+book written by you on such a subject.</p>
+
+<p>You, sir, have for many years been writing books peculiarly fitted to
+instill into your countrymen the qualities which during the last
+forty-eight months have made France the wonder of the world. You have
+written with such power and charm, with such mastery of manner and of
+matter, that the lessons you taught have been learned unconsciously by
+your readers&mdash;and this is the only way in which most readers will learn
+lessons at all. The value of your teachings would be as great for my
+countrymen as for yours. You have held up as an ideal for men and for
+women, that high courage which shirks no danger, when the danger is the
+inevitable accompaniment of duty. You have preached the essential
+virtues, the duty to be both brave and tender, the duty of courage for
+the man and courage for the woman. You have inculcated stern horror of
+the baseness which finds expression in refusal to perform those
+essential duties without which not merely the usefulness, but the very
+existence, of any nation will come to an end.</p>
+
+<p>Under such conditions it is eminently appropriate that you should write
+the biography of that soldier-son of France whose splendid daring has
+made him stand as arch typical of the soul of the French people through
+these terrible four years. In this great war France has suffered more
+and has achieved more than any other power. To her more than to any
+other power, the final victory will be due. Civilization has in the
+past, for immemorial centuries, owed an incalculable debt to France; but
+for no single feat or achievement of the past does civilization owe as
+much to France as for what her sons and daughters have done in the world
+war now being waged by the free peoples against the powers of the Pit.</p>
+
+<p>Modern war makes terrible demands upon those who fight. To an infinitely
+greater degree than ever before the outcome depends upon long
+preparation in advance, and upon the skillful and unified use of the
+nation's entire social and industrial no less than military power. The
+work of the general staff is infinitely more important than any work of
+the kind in times past. The actual machinery of both is so vast,
+delicate, and complicated that years are needed to complete it. At all
+points we see the immense need of thorough organization and of making
+ready far in advance of the day of trial. But this does not mean that
+there is any less need than before of those qualities of endurance and
+hardihood, of daring and resolution, which in their sum make up the
+stern and enduring valor which ever has been and ever will be the mark
+of mighty victorious armies.</p>
+
+<p>The air service in particular is one of such peril that membership in it
+is of itself a high distinction. Physical address, high training, entire
+fearlessness, iron nerve, and fertile resourcefulness are needed in a
+combination and to a degree hitherto unparalleled in war. The ordinary
+air fighter is an extraordinary man; and the extraordinary air fighter
+stands as one in a million among his fellows. Guynemer was one of these.
+More than this. He was the foremost among all the extraordinary fighters
+of all the nations who in this war have made the skies their battle
+field. We are fortunate indeed in having you write his biography.</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 25em;">Very faithfully yours,</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 25em;">(Signed) <span class="smcap">Theodore Roosevelt.</span></p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 2.5em;"><span class="smcap">M. Henry Bordeaux,</span></p>
+<p style="margin-left: 2.5em;">44 <span class="smcap">Rue du Ranelagh,</span></p>
+<p style="margin-left: 2.5em;"><span class="smcap">Paris, France.</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="PROLOGUE" id="PROLOGUE"></a>PROLOGUE</h2>
+
+
+<p>" ... <span class="smcap">Guynemer</span> has not come back."</p>
+
+<p>The news flew from one air escadrille to another, from the aviation
+camps to the troops, from the advance to the rear zones of the army; and
+a shock of pain passed from soul to soul in that vast army, and
+throughout all France, as if, among so many soldiers menaced with death,
+this one alone should have been immortal.</p>
+
+<p>History gives us examples of such universal grief, but only at the death
+of great leaders whose authority and importance intensified the general
+mourning for their loss. Thus, Troy without Hector was defenseless. When
+Gaston de Foix, Duke de Nemours, surnamed the Thunderbolt of Italy, died
+at the age of twenty-three after the victory of Ravenna, the French
+transalpine conquests were endangered. The bullet which struck Turenne
+at Saltzbach also menaced the work of Louis XIV. But Guynemer had
+nothing but his airplane, a speck in the immense spaces filled by the
+war. This young captain, though without an equal in the sky, conducted
+no battle on land. Why, then, did he alone have the power, like a great
+military chief, of leaving universal sadness behind him? A little child
+of France has given us the reason.</p>
+
+<p>Among the endless expressions of the nation's mourning, this letter was
+written by the school-mistress of a village in Franche-Comt&eacute;,
+Mademoiselle S&mdash;&mdash;, of Bouclans, to the mother of the aviator:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Madame, you have already received the sorrowful and grateful
+sympathy of official France and of France as a nation; I am
+venturing to send you the na&iuml;ve and sincere homage of young France
+as represented by our school children at Bouclans. Before receiving
+from our chiefs the suggestion, of which we learn to-day, we had
+already, on the 22nd of October, consecrated a day to the memory of
+our hero Guynemer, your glorious son.</p>
+
+<p>I send you enclosed an exercise by one of my pupils chosen at
+random, for all of them are animated by the same sentiments. You
+will see how the immortal glory of your son shines even in humble
+villages, and that the admiration and gratitude which the children,
+so far away in the country, feel for our greatest aviator, will be
+piously and faithfully preserved in his memory.</p>
+
+<p>May this sincere testimony to the sentiments of childhood be of
+some comfort in your grief, to which I offer my most profound
+respect.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap">The School-mistress of Bouclans</span>,<br />
+C.S.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>And this is the exercise, written by Paul Bailly, aged eleven years and
+ten months:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Guynemer is the Roland of our epoch: like Roland he was very brave,
+and like Roland he died for France. But his exploits are not a
+legend like those of Roland, and in telling them just as they
+happened we find them more beautiful than any we could imagine. To
+do honor to him they are going to write his name in the Panth&eacute;on
+among the other great names. His airplane has been placed in the
+Invalides. In our school we consecrated a day to him. This morning
+as soon as we reached the school we put his photograph up on the
+wall; for our moral lesson we learned by heart his last mention in
+the despatches; for our writing lesson we wrote his name, and he
+was the subject for our theme; and finally, we had to draw an
+airplane. We did not begin to think of him only after he was dead;
+before he died, in our school, every time he brought down an
+airplane we were proud and happy. But when we heard that he was
+dead, we were as sad as if one of our own family had died.</p>
+
+<p>Roland was the example for all the knights in history. Guynemer
+should be the example for Frenchmen now, and each one will try to
+imitate him and will remember him as we have remembered Roland. I,
+especially, I shall never forget him, for I shall remember that he
+died for France, like my dear Papa.</p></div>
+
+<p>This little French boy's description of Guynemer is true and, limited as
+it is, sufficient: Guynemer is the modern Roland, with the same
+redoubtable youth and fiery soul. He is the last of the knights-errant,
+the first of the new knights of the air. His short life needs only
+accurate telling to appear like a legend. The void he left is so great
+because every household had adopted him. Each one shared in his
+victories, and all have written his name among their own dead.</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer's glory, to have so ravished the minds of children, must have
+been both simple and perfect, and as his biographer I cannot dream of
+equaling the young Paul Bailly. But I shall not take his hero from him.
+Guynemer's life falls naturally into the legendary rhythm, and the
+simple and exact truth resembles a fairy tale.</p>
+
+<p>The writers of antiquity have mourned in touching accents the loss of
+young men cut down in the flower of their youth. "The city," sighs
+Pericles, "has lost its light, the year has lost its spring." Theocritus
+and Ovid in turn lament the short life of Adonis, whose blood was
+changed into flowers. And in Virgil the father of the gods, whom Pallas
+supplicates before facing Turnus, warns him not to confound the beauty
+of life with its length:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Stat sua cuique dies; breve et irreparabile tempus</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Omnibus est vitae; sed famam extendere factis,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Hoc virtutis opus. . .</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"The days of man are numbered, and his life-time short and
+irrecoverable; but to increase his renown by the quality of his acts,
+this is the work of virtue...."<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <i>&AElig;neid</i>, Book 10, Garnier ed.</p></div>
+
+
+<p><i>Famam extendere factis</i>: no fabulous personage of antiquity made more
+haste than Guynemer to multiply the exploits that increased his glory.
+But the enumeration of these would not furnish a key to his life, nor
+explain either that secret power he possessed or the fascination he
+exerted. "It is not always the most brilliant actions which best expose
+the virtues or vices of men. Some trifle, some insignificant word or
+jest, often displays the character better than bloody combats, pitched
+battles, or the taking of cities. Also, as portrait painters try to
+reproduce the features and expression of their subjects, as the most
+obvious presentment of their characters, and without troubling about the
+other parts of the body, so we may be allowed to concentrate our study
+upon the distinctive signs of the soul...."<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Plutarch, <i>Life of Alexander</i>.</p></div>
+
+<p>I, then, shall especially seek out these "distinctive signs of the
+soul."</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer's family has confided to me his letters, his notebooks of
+flights, and many precious stories of his childhood, his youth, and his
+victories. I have seen him in camps, like the Cid Campeador, who made
+"the swarm of singing victories fly, with wings outspread, above his
+tents." I have had the good fortune to see him bring down an enemy
+airplane, which fell in flames on the bank of the river Vesle. I have
+met him in his father's house at Compi&egrave;gne, which was his Bivar. Almost
+immediately after his disappearance I passed two night-watches&mdash;as if we
+sat beside his body&mdash;with his comrades, talking of nothing but him:
+troubled night-watches in which we had to change our shelter, for
+Dunkirk and the aviation field were bombarded by moonlight. In this way
+I was enabled to gather much scattered evidence, which will help,
+perhaps, to make clear his career. But I fear&mdash;and offer my excuses for
+this&mdash;to disappoint professional members of the aviation corps, who will
+find neither technical details nor the competence of the specialist.
+One of his comrades of the air,&mdash;and I hope it may be one of his rivals
+in glory,&mdash;should give us an account of Guynemer in action. The
+biography which I have attempted to write seeks the soul for its object
+rather than the motor: and the soul, too, has its wings.</p>
+
+<p>France consented to love herself in Guynemer, something which she is not
+always willing to do. It happens sometimes that she turns away from her
+own efforts and sacrifices to admire and celebrate those of others, and
+that she displays her own defects and wounds in a way which exaggerates
+them. She sometimes appears to be divided against herself; but this man,
+young as he was, had reconciled her to herself. She smiled at his youth
+and his prodigious deeds of valor. He made peace within her; and she
+knew this, when she had lost him, by the outbreak of her grief. As on
+the first day of the war, France found herself once more united; and
+this love sprang from her recognition in Guynemer of her own impulses,
+her own generous ardor, her own blood whose course has not been retarded
+by many long centuries.</p>
+
+<p>Since the outbreak of war there are few homes in France which have not
+been in mourning. But these fathers and mothers, these wives and
+children, when they read this book, will not say: "What is Guynemer to
+us? Nobody speaks of <i>our</i> dead." Their dead were, generally, infantry
+soldiers whom it was impossible for them to help, whose life they only
+knew by hearsay, and whose place of burial they sometimes do not know.
+So many obscure soldiers have never been commemorated, who gave, like
+Guynemer, their hearts and their lives, who lived through the worst days
+of misery, of mud and horror, and upon whom not the least ray of glory
+has ever descended! The infantry soldier is the pariah of the war, and
+has a right to be sensitive. The heaviest weight of suffering caused by
+war has fallen upon him. Nevertheless, he had adopted Guynemer, and this
+was not the least of the conqueror's conquests. The infantryman had not
+been jealous of Guynemer; he had felt his fascination, and instinctively
+he divined a fraternal Guynemer. When the French official dispatches
+reported the marvelous feats of the aviation corps, the infantry soldier
+smiled scornfully in his mole's-hole:</p>
+
+<p>"Them again! Everlastingly them! And what about <span class="smcap">us</span>?"</p>
+
+<p>But when Guynemer added another exploit to his account, the trenches
+exulted, and counted over again all his feats.</p>
+
+<p>He himself, from his height, looked down in the most friendly way upon
+these troglodytes who followed him with their eyes. One day when
+somebody reproached him with running useless risks in a&euml;rial acrobatic
+turns, he replied simply:</p>
+
+<p>"After certain victories it is quite impossible not to pirouette a bit,
+one is so happy!"</p>
+
+<p>This is the spirit of youth. "They jest and play with death as they
+played in school only yesterday at recreation."<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> But Guynemer
+immediately added:</p>
+
+<p>"It gives so much pleasure to the poilus watching us down there."<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Henri Lavedan (<i>L'Illustration</i> of October 6, 1917).</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Pierre l'Ermite (<i>La Croix</i> of October 7, 1917).</p></div>
+
+<p>The sky-juggler was working for his brother the infantryman. As the
+singing lark lifts the peasant's head, bent over his furrow, so the
+conquering airplane, with its overturnings, its "loopings," its close
+veerings, its spirals, its tail spins, its "zooms," its dives, all its
+tricks of flight, amuses for a while the sad laborers in the trenches.</p>
+
+<p>May my readers, when they have finished this little book, composed
+according to the rules of the boy, Paul Bailly, lift their heads and
+seek in the sky whither he carried, so often and so high, the tricolor
+of France, an invisible and immortal Guynemer!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CANTO_I" id="CANTO_I"></a>CANTO I</h3>
+
+<h4>CHILDHOOD</h4>
+
+
+<h4><a name="I_THE_GUYNEMERS" id="I_THE_GUYNEMERS"></a>I. THE GUYNEMERS</h4>
+
+<p>In his book on Chivalry, the good L&eacute;on Gautier, beginning with the
+knight in his cradle and wishing to surround him immediately with a
+supernatural atmosphere, interprets in his own fashion the sleeping baby
+smiling at the angels. "According to a curious legend, the origin of
+which has not as yet been clearly discovered," he explains, "the child
+during its slumber hears 'music,' the incomparable music made by the
+movement of the stars in their spheres. Yes, that which the most
+illustrious scholars have only been able to suspect the existence of is
+distinctly heard by these ears scarcely opened as yet, and ravishes
+them. A charming fable, giving to innocence more power than to proud
+science."<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> <i>La Chevalerie</i>, by L&eacute;on Gautier. A. Walter ed. 1895.</p></div>
+
+<p>The biographer of Guynemer would like to be able to say that our new
+knight also heard in his cradle the music of the stars, since he was to
+be summoned to approach them. But it can be said, at least, that during
+his early years he saw the shadowy train of all the heroes of French
+history, from Charlemagne to Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>Georges Marie Ludovic Jules Guynemer was born in Paris one Christmas
+Eve, December 24, 1894. He saw then, and always, the faces of three
+women, his mother and his two elder sisters, standing guard over his
+happiness. His father, an officer (Junior Class '80, Saint-Cyr), had
+resigned in 1890. An ardent scholar, he became a member of the
+Historical Society of Compi&egrave;gne, and while examining the charters of the
+<i>Cartulaire de royallieu</i>, or writing a monograph on the <i>Seigneurie
+d'Off&eacute;mont</i>, he verified family documents of the genealogy of his
+family. Above all, it was he in reality who educated his son.</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer is a very old French name. In the <i>Chanson de Roland</i> one
+Guinemer, uncle of Ganelon, helped Roland to mount at his departure. A
+Guinemer appears in <i>Gaydon</i> (the knight of the jay), which describes
+the sorrowful return of Charlemagne to Aix-la-Chapelle after the drama
+of Roncevaux; and a Guillemer figures in <i>Fier-&agrave;-Bras</i>, in which
+Charlemagne and the twelve peers conquer Spain. This Guillemer l'Escot
+is made prisoner along with Oliver, B&eacute;rart de Montdidier, Auberi de
+Bourgoyne, and Geoffroy l'Angevin.</p>
+
+<p>In the eleventh century the family of Guynemer left Flanders for
+Brittany. When the French Revolution began, there were still Guynemers
+in Brittany,<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> but the greatgrandfather of our hero, Bernard, was
+living in Paris in reduced circumstances, giving lessons in law. Under
+the Empire he was later to be appointed President of the Tribunal at
+Mayence, the chief town in the country of Mont Tonnerre. Falling into
+disfavor after 1815, he was only President of the Tribunal of Gannat.</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> There are still Guynemers there. M. Etienne Dupont, Judge
+in the Civil Court of Saint-Malo, sent me an extract from an <i>aveu
+collectif</i> of the "Leftenancy of Tint&eacute;niac de Guinemer des Rabines." The
+Guynemers, in more recent times, have left traces in the county of
+Saint-Malo, where Mgr. Guynemer de la H&eacute;landi&egrave;re inaugurated, in
+September, 1869, the Tour Saint-Joseph, house of the Little Sisters of
+the Poor in Saint-Pern.</p></div>
+
+<p>Here, thanks to an unusual circumstance, oral tradition takes the place
+of writings, charters, and puzzling trifles. One of the four sons of
+Bernard Guynemer, Auguste, lived to be ninety-three, retaining all his
+faculties. Toward the end he resembled Voltaire, not only in face, but
+in his irony and skepticism. He had all sorts of memories of the
+Revolution, the Empire, and the Restoration, of which he told
+extraordinary anecdotes. His longevity was owing to his having been
+discharged from military service at the conscription. Two of his three
+brothers died before maturity: one, Alphonse, infantry officer, was
+killed at Vilna in 1812, and the other, Jules, naval officer, died in
+1802 as the result of wounds received at Trafalgar. The last son,
+Achille, whom we shall presently refer to again, was to perpetuate the
+family name.</p>
+
+<p>Auguste Guynemer remembered very vividly the day when he faced down
+Robespierre. He was at that time eight years old, and the mistress of
+his school had been arrested. He came to the school as usual and found
+there were no classes. Where was his teacher? he asked. At the
+Revolutionary Tribunal. Where was the Revolutionary Tribunal? Jestingly
+they told him where to find it, and he went straight to the place,
+entered, and asked back the captive. The audience looked at the little
+boy with amazement, while the judges joked and laughed at him. But
+without being discomposed, he explained the purpose of his visit. The
+incident put Robespierre in good humor, and he told the child that his
+teacher had not taught him anything. Immediately, as a proof of the
+contrary, the youngster began to recite his lessons. Robespierre was so
+delighted that, in the midst of general laughter, he lifted up the boy
+and kissed him. The prisoner was restored to him, and the school
+reopened.</p>
+
+<p>However, of the four sons of the President of Mayence, the youngest
+only, Achille, was destined to preserve the family line. Born in 1792, a
+volunteer soldier at the age of fifteen, his military career was
+interrupted by the fall of the Empire. He died in Paris, in the rue
+Rossini, in 1866. Edmond About, who had known his son at Saverne, wrote
+the following biographical notice:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>A child of fifteen years enlisted as a Volunteer in 1806. Junot
+found him intelligent, made him his secretary, and took him to
+Spain. The young man won his epaulettes under Colonel Hugo in 1811.
+He was made prisoner on the capitulation of Guadalajara in 1812,
+but escaped with two of his comrades whom he saved at the peril of
+his own life. Love, or pity, led a young Spanish girl to aid in
+this heroic episode, and for several days the legend threatened to
+become a romance. But the young soldier reappeared in 1813 at the
+passage of the Bidassoa, where he was promoted lieutenant in the
+4th Hussars, and was given the Cross by the Emperor, who seldom
+awarded it. The return of the Bourbons suddenly interrupted this
+career, so well begun. The young cavalry officer then undertook the
+business of maritime insurance, earning honorably a large fortune,
+which he spent with truly military generosity, strewing his road
+with good deeds. He continued working up to the very threshold of
+death, for he resigned only a month ago, and it was yesterday,
+Thursday, that we laid him in his tomb at the age of seventy-five.</p>
+
+<p>His name was Achille Guynemer. His family is related to the Benoist
+d'Azy, the Dupr&eacute; de Saint-Maur, the Cochin, de Songis, du Tr&eacute;moul
+and Vasselin families, who have left memories of many exemplary
+legal careers passed in Paris. His son, who wept yesterday as a
+child weeps before the tomb of such a father, is the new
+Sub-Prefect of Saverne, the young and laborious administrator who,
+from the beginning, won our gratitude and friendship.</p></div>
+
+<p>The story of the escape from Spain contributes another page to the
+family traditions. The young Spanish girl had sent the prisoner a silken
+cord concealed in a pie. A fourth companion in captivity was
+unfortunately too large to pass through the vent-hole of the prison, and
+was shot by the English. It was August 31, 1813, after the passage of
+the Bidassoa, that Lieutenant Achille Guynemer was decorated with the
+Cross of the Legion of Honor. He was then twenty-one years of age. His
+greatgrandson, who resembled the portraits of Achille (especially a
+drawing done in 1807), at least in the proud carriage of the head, was
+to receive the Cross at an even earlier age.</p>
+
+<p>There were other epic souvenirs which awakened Georges Guynemer's
+curiosity in childhood. He was shown the sword and snuffbox of General
+Count de Songis, brother of his paternal grandmother. This sword of
+honor had been presented to the general by the Convention when he was
+merely a captain of artillery, for having saved the cannon of the
+fortress at Valenciennes,&mdash;though it is quite true that Dumouriez, for
+the same deed, wished to have him hanged. The snuffbox was given him by
+the Emperor for having commanded the passage of the Rhine during the Ulm
+campaign.</p>
+
+<p>Achille Guynemer had two sons. The elder, Am&eacute;d&eacute;e, a graduate of the
+&Eacute;cole polytechnique, died at the age of thirty and left no children. The
+second, Auguste, was Sub-Prefect of Saverne under the Second Empire;
+and, resigning this office after the war of 1870, he became
+Vice-President of the society for the protection of Alsatians and
+Lorrainers, the President of which was the Count d'Haussonville. He had
+married a young Scottish lady, Miss Lyon, whose family included the
+Earls of Strathmore, among whose titles were those of Glamis and Cawdor
+mentioned by Shakespeare in "Macbeth."</p>
+
+<p>As we have already seen, only one of the four sons of the President of
+Mayence&mdash;the hero of the Bidassoa&mdash;had left descendants. His son is M.
+Paul Guynemer, former officer and historian of the <i>Cartulaire de
+Royallieu</i> and of the <i>Seigneurie d'Off&eacute;mont</i>, whose only son was the
+aviator. The race whose history is lost far back in the <i>Chanson de
+Roland</i> and the Crusades, which settled in Flanders, and then in
+Brittany, but became, as soon as it left the provinces for the capital,
+nomadic, changing its base at will from the garrison of the officer to
+that of the official, seems to have narrowed and refined its stock and
+condensed all the power of its past, all its hopes for the future, in
+one last offshoot.</p>
+
+<p>There are some plants, like the aloe, which bear but one flower, and
+sometimes only at the end of a hundred years. They prepare their sap,
+which has waited so long, and then from the heart of the plant issues a
+long straight stem, like a tree whose regular branches look like forged
+iron. At the top of this stem opens a marvelous flower, which is moist
+and seems to drop tears upon the leaves, inviting them to share its
+grief for the doom it awaits. When the flower is withered, the miracle
+is never renewed.</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer is the flower of an old French family. Like so many other
+heroes, like so many peasants who, in this Great War, have been the
+wheat of the nation, his own acts have proved his nobility. But the
+fairy sent to preside at his birth laid in his cradle certain gilded
+pages of the finest history in the world: Roland, the Crusades, Brittany
+and Duguesclin, the Empire, and Alsace.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h4><a name="II_HOME_AND_COLLEGE" id="II_HOME_AND_COLLEGE"></a>II. HOME AND COLLEGE</h4>
+
+<p>One of the generals best loved by the French troops, General de M&mdash;&mdash;, a
+learned talker and charming moralist, who always seemed in his
+conversation to wander through the history of France, like a sorcerer in
+a forest, weaving and multiplying his spells, once recited to me the
+short prayer he had composed for grace to enable him to rear his
+children in the best way:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Monseigneur Saint Louis, Messire Duguesclin, Messire Bayard, help
+me to make my sons brave and truthful."</p></div>
+
+<p>So was Georges Guynemer reared, in the cult of truth, and taught that to
+deceive is to lower oneself. Even in his infancy he was already as proud
+as any personage. His early years were protected by the gentle and
+delicate care of his mother and his two sisters, who hung adoringly over
+him and were fascinated by his strange black eyes. What was to become of
+a child whose gaze was difficult to endure, and whose health was so
+fragile, for when only a few months old he had almost died of infantile
+enteritis. His parents had been obliged to carry him hastily to
+Switzerland, and then to Hy&egrave;res, and to keep him in an atmosphere like
+that of a hothouse. Petted and spoiled, tended by women, like Achilles
+at Scyros among the daughters of Lycomedes, would he not bear all his
+life the stamp of too softening an education? Too pretty and too frail,
+with his curls and his dainty little frock, he had an <i>air de
+princesse</i>. His father felt that a mistake was being made, and that this
+excess of tenderness must be promptly ended. He took the child on his
+knees; a scene as trifling as it was decisive was about to be enacted:</p>
+
+<p>"I almost feel like taking you with me, where I am going."</p>
+
+<p>"Where are you going, father?"</p>
+
+<p>"There, where I am going, there are only men."</p>
+
+<p>"I want to go with you."</p>
+
+<p>The father seemed to hesitate, and then to decide:</p>
+
+<p>"After all, too early is better than too late. Put on your hat. I shall
+take you." He took him to the hairdresser.</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to have my hair cut. How do you feel about it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I want to do like men."</p>
+
+<p>The child was set upon a stool where, in the white combing-cloth, with
+his curly hair, he resembled an angel done by an Italian Primitive. For
+an instant the father thought himself a barbarian, and the barber
+hesitated, scissors in air, as before a crime. They exchanged glances;
+then the father stiffened and gave the order. The beautiful curls fell.</p>
+
+<p>But now it became necessary to return home; and when his mother saw him,
+she wept.</p>
+
+<p>"I am a man," the child announced, peremptorily.</p>
+
+<p>He was indeed to be a man, but he was to remain for a long time also a
+mischievous boy&mdash;nearly, in fact, until the end.</p>
+
+<p>When he was six or seven years old he began to study with the teacher of
+his sisters, which was convenient and agreeable, but meant the addition
+of another petticoat. The fineness of his feelings, his fear of having
+wounded any comrade, which were later to inspire him in so many touching
+actions, were the result of this feminine education. His walks with his
+father, who already gave him much attention, brought about useful
+reactions. Compi&egrave;gne is rich in the history of the past: kings were
+crowned there, and kings died there. The Abbey of Saint Cornille
+sheltered, perhaps, the holy winding-sheet of Christ. Treaties were
+signed at Compi&egrave;gne, and there magnificent f&ecirc;tes were given by Louis
+XIV, Louis XV, Napoleon I, and Napoleon III. And even in 1901 the child
+met Czar Nicholas and Czarina Alexandra, who were staying there. So, the
+palace and the forest spoke to him of a past which his father could
+explain. And on the Place de l'H&ocirc;tel de Ville he was much interested in
+the bronze statue of the young girl, bearing a banner.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Jeanne d'Arc."</p>
+
+<p>Georges Guynemer's parents renounced the woman teacher, and in order to
+keep him near them, entered him as a day scholar at the lyceum of
+Compi&egrave;gne. Here the child worked very little. M. Paul Guynemer, having
+been educated at Stanislas College, in Paris, wished his son also to go
+there. Georges was then twelve years old.</p>
+
+<p>"In a photograph of the pupils of the Fifth (green) Class," wrote a
+journalist in the <i>Journal des D&eacute;bats</i>, who had had the curiosity to
+investigate Georges' college days, "may be seen a restless-looking
+little boy, thinner and paler than the others, whose round black eyes
+seem to shine with a somber brilliance. These eyes, which, eight or ten
+years later, were to hunt and pursue so many enemy airplanes, are
+passionately self-willed. The same temperament is evident in a snapshot
+of this same period, in which Georges is seen playing at war. The
+college registers of this year tell us that he had a clear, active,
+well-balanced mind, but that he was thoughtless, mischief-making,
+disorderly, careless; that he did not work, and was undisciplined,
+though without any malice; that he was very proud, and 'ambitious to
+attain first rank': a valuable guide in understanding the character of
+one who became 'the ace of aces.' In fact, at the end of the year young
+Guynemer received the first prize for Latin translation, the first prize
+for arithmetic, and four honorable mentions."</p>
+
+<p>The author of the <i>D&eacute;bats</i> article, who is a scholar, recalls Michelet's
+<i>mot</i>: "The Frenchman is that naughty child characterized by the good
+mother of Duguesclin as 'the one who is always fighting the others....'"
+But the best portrait of Guynemer as a child I find in the unpublished
+notes of Abb&eacute; Chesnais, who was division prefect at Stanislas College
+during the four years which Guynemer passed there. The Abb&eacute; Chesnais had
+divined this impassioned nature, and watched it with troubled sympathy.</p>
+
+<p>"His eyes vividly expressed the headstrong, fighting nature of the boy,"
+he says of his pupil. "He did not care for quiet games, but was devoted
+to those requiring skill, agility, and force. He had a decided
+preference for a game highly popular among the younger classes&mdash;<i>la
+petite guerre</i>. The class was divided into two armies, each commanded by
+a general chosen by the pupils themselves, and having officers of all
+ranks under his orders. Each soldier wore on his left arm a movable
+brassard. The object of the battle was the capture of the flag, which
+was set up on a wall, a tree, a column, or any place dominating the
+courtyard. The soldier from whom his brassard was taken was considered
+dead.</p>
+
+<p>"Guynemer, who was somewhat weak and sickly, always remained a private
+soldier. His comrades, appreciating the value of having a general with
+sufficient muscular strength to maintain his authority, never dreamed of
+placing him at their head. The muscle, which he lacked, was a necessity.
+But when a choice of soldiers had to be made, he was always counted
+among the best, and his name called among the first. Although he had not
+much strength, he had agility, cleverness, a quick eye, caution, and a
+talent for strategy. He played his game himself, not liking to receive
+any suggestions from his chiefs, intending to follow his own ideas. The
+battle once begun, he invariably attacked the strongest enemy and
+pursued those comrades who occupied the highest rank. With the marvelous
+suppleness of a cat, he climbed trees, flung himself to the ground,
+crept along barriers, slipped between the legs of his adversaries, and
+bounded triumphantly off with a number of brassards. It was a great joy
+to him to bring the trophies of his struggles to his general. With
+radiant face, and with his two hands resting on his legs, he looked
+mockingly at his adversaries who had been surprised by his cleverness.
+His superiority over his comrades was especially apparent in the battles
+they fought in the woods of Bellevue.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> There the field was larger, and
+there was a greater variety of chances for surprising the enemy. He hid
+himself under the dead leaves, lay close to the branches of trees, and
+crept along brooks and ravines. It was often he who was selected to find
+a place of vantage for the flag. But he was never willing to act as its
+guardian, for he feared nothing so much as inactivity, preferring to
+chase his comrades through the woods. The short journey to the Bellevue
+woods was passed in the elaboration of various plans, and arguing about
+those of his friends; he always wanted to have the last word. The return
+journey was enlivened by biting criticism, which often ended in a
+quarrel."<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> The country house of Stanislas College is at Bellevue.
+[Translator's note.]</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Unpublished notes by Abb&eacute; Chesnais.</p></div>
+
+<p>This is an astonishing portrait, in which nearly all the characteristics
+of the future Guynemer, Guynemer the fighter, are apparent. He does not
+care to command, he likes too well to give battle, and is already the
+knight of single combats. His method is personal, and he means to
+follow his own ideas. He attacks the strongest; neither size nor number
+stops him. His suppleness and skill are unequaled. He lacks the muscle
+for a good gymnast, and at the parallel bars, or the fixed bar, he is
+the despair of his instructors. How will he supply this deficiency?
+Simply by the power of his will. All physical games do not require
+physical strength, and he became an excellent shot and fencer. Furious
+at his own weakness, he outdid the strong, and, like Diomede and Ajax,
+brought back his trophies laughing. A college courtyard was not
+sufficient for him: he needed the Bellevue woods, while he waited to
+have all space, all the sky, at his disposal. So the warlike infancy of
+a Guynemer is like that of a Roland, a Duguesclin, a Bayard,&mdash;all are
+ardent hearts with indomitable energy, upright souls developing early,
+whose passion it was only necessary to control.</p>
+
+<p>The youth of Guynemer was like his childhood. As a student of higher
+mathematics his combative tendencies were not at all changed. "At
+recreation he was very fond of roller-skating, which in his case gave
+rise to many disputes and much pugilism. Having no respect for boys who
+would not play, he would skate into the midst of their group, pushing
+them about, seizing their arms and forcing them to waltz round and round
+with him like weather-cocks. Then he would be off at his highest speed,
+pursued by his victims. Blows were exchanged, which did not prevent him
+from repeating the same thing a few seconds later. At the end of
+recreation, with his hair disordered, his clothes covered with dust,
+his face and hands muddy, Guynemer was exhausted. But the strongest of
+his comrades could not frighten him; on the contrary, he attacked these
+by preference. The masters were often obliged to intervene and separate
+the combatants. Guynemer would then straighten up like a cock, his eyes
+sparkling and obtruding, and, unable to do more, would crush his
+adversary with piquant and sometimes cutting words uttered in a dry,
+railing voice."<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Unpublished notes by Abb&eacute; Chesnais.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>Talking, however, was not his forte, and his nervousness made him
+sputter. His speech was vibrant, trenchant, like hammerstrokes, and he
+said things to which there was no answer. He had a horror of discussion:
+he was already all action.</p>
+
+<p>This violence and frenzied action would have driven him to the most
+unreasonable and dangerous audacity if they had not been counterbalanced
+by his sense of honor. "He was one of those," wrote a comrade of
+Guynemer's, M. Jean Constantin, now lieutenant of artillery, "for whom
+honor is sacred, and must not be disregarded under any pretext; and in
+his life, in his relations with his comrades, his candor and loyalty
+were only equaled by his goodness. Often, in the midst of our games,
+some dispute arose. Where are the friends who have never had a dispute?
+Sometimes we were both so obstinate that we fought, but after that he
+was willing to renounce the privilege of the last word. He never could
+have endured bringing trouble upon his fellow-students. He never
+hesitated to admit a fault; and, what is much better, once when one of
+his comrades, who was a good student, had inadvertently made a foolish
+mistake which might have lowered his marks, I saw Georges accuse himself
+and take the punishment in his place. His comrade never knew anything
+about it, for Georges did that sort of thing almost clandestinely, and
+with the simplicity and modesty which were always the great charm of his
+character."</p>
+
+<p>This sense of honor he had drawn in with his mother's milk; and his
+father had developed it in him. Everything about him indicated pride:
+the upright carriage of his head, the glance of his black eyes which
+seemed to pierce the objects he looked at. He loved the Stanislas
+uniform which his father had worn before him, and which had been worn by
+Gouraud and Baratier, whose fame was then increasing, and Rostand, then
+in all the new glory of <i>Cyrano</i> and <i>L'Aiglon</i>. He had an exact
+appreciation of his own dignity. Though he listened attentively in
+class, he would never ask for information or advice from his classmates.
+He hated to be trifled with, and made it understood that he intended to
+be respected. Never in all his life did he have a low thought. If he
+ever varied from the nobleness which was natural to him, silence was
+sometimes sufficient to bring him to himself.</p>
+
+<p>With a mobile face, full of contrasts, he was sometimes the roguish boy
+who made the whole class shake with laughter, and involved it in a
+whirlwind of games and tricks, and at others the serious, thoughtful
+pupil, who was considered to be self-absorbed, distant, and not inclined
+to reveal himself to anybody. The fierce soldier of the <i>petite guerre</i>
+was also a formidable adversary at checkers. Here, however, he became
+patient, only moving his pieces after long reflection. None of the
+students could beat him, and no one could take him by surprise. If he
+was beaten by a professor, he never rested until he had had his revenge.
+His power of will was far beyond his years, but it needed to be relaxed.
+To study and win to the head of his class was nothing for his lively
+intelligence, but his health was always delicate. He would appear
+wrapped in cloaks, comforters, waterproof coats, and then vanish into
+the infirmary. This boy who did not fear blows, bruises, or falls, was
+compelled to avoid draughts and to diet. Nobody ever heard him complain,
+nor was any one ever to do so. Often he had to give up work for whole
+months at a time; and in his baccalaureate year he was stopped by a
+return of the infantile enteritis. "Three months of rest," the doctor
+ordered at Christmas. "You will do your rhetoric over again next year,"
+said his father, who came to take him home. "Not at all," said the boy;
+"the boys shall not get ahead of me"&mdash;a childish boast which passed
+unnoticed. At the end of three months of rest and pleasant walks around
+Compi&egrave;gne, the child remarked: "The three months are up, and I mean to
+present myself in July." "You haven't time; it is impossible." He
+insisted. So they discovered, at Compi&egrave;gne, the Pierre d'Ailly school,
+in a building which since then has been ruined by a shell. It was his
+idea to attend these classes as a day scholar, just for the pleasure of
+it. He promised to continue to take care of himself at home. And in the
+month of July, at the age of fifteen, he took his bachelor degree, with
+mention.</p>
+
+<p>But the bow cannot long remain bent, and hence certain diversions of
+his, ending sometimes in storms, but not caused by any ill-will on his
+part, for it was repugnant to him to give others pain. The following
+autumn he returned to Stanislas College, and resumed his school
+exploits.</p>
+
+<p>"Vexed to find that a place had been reserved for him near the
+professor, under the certainly justified pretext that he was too much
+inclined to talk," again writes Abb&eacute; Chesnais, "he was resolved to talk
+all the same, whenever he pleased. With the aid of pins, pens, wires and
+boxes, he soon set up a telephone which put him into communication with
+the boy whose desk was farthest away. He possessed tools necessary for
+any of his tricks, and his desk was a veritable bazaar: copybooks,
+books, pen-holders and paper were mixed pell-mell with the most unlikely
+objects, such as fragments of fencing foils, drugs, chemical products,
+oil, grease, bolts, skate wheels, and tablets of chocolate. In one
+corner, carefully concealed, were some glass tubes which awaited a
+favorable moment for projecting against the ceiling a ball of chewed
+paper. Attached to this ball, a paper personage cut out of a copybook
+cover danced feverishly in space. When this grotesque figurine became
+quiet, another paper ball, shot with great skill, renewed the dancing
+to the great satisfaction of the young marksman. Airplanes made of paper
+were also hidden in this desk, awaiting the propitious hour for
+launching them; and the professor's desk sometimes served as their
+landing place.... Everything, indeed, was to be found there, but in such
+disorder that the owner himself could never find them. Who has not seen
+him hunting for a missing exercise in a copybook full of scraps of
+paper? It is time to go to class; with his head hidden in his desk, he
+turns over all its contents in great haste, upsetting a badly closed
+ink-bottle over his books and copybooks. The master calls him to order,
+and he rushes out well behind all the rest of the boys.</p>
+
+<p>"He was not one of those ill-intentioned boys whose sole idea is to
+disturb the class and hinder the work of his comrades. Nor was he a
+ringleader. He acted entirely on his own account, and for his own
+satisfaction. His practical jokes never lasted long, and did not
+interrupt the work of others. His upright, frank and honest nature
+always led him to acknowledge his own acts when the master attributed
+them by mistake to the wrong boys. He never allowed any comrade to take
+his punishment for him, but he knew very well how to extricate himself
+from the greatest difficulties. His candor often won him some
+indulgence. If he happened to be punished by a timorous master, he
+assumed a terrible facial expression and tried to frighten him. But
+when, on the contrary, he found himself in the presence of a man of
+energy, he pleaded extenuating circumstances, and persevered until he
+obtained the least possible punishment. He never resented the infliction
+of just punishment, but suffered very much when punished in public. On
+the day when the class marks were read aloud, if he suspected that his
+own were to be bad, he took refuge in the infirmary to avoid the shame
+of public exposure. Honor, for him, was not a vain word.</p>
+
+<p>"He was very sensitive to reproaches. He was an admirer of courage,
+audacity, anything generous. Who at Stanislas does not remember his
+proud and haughty attitude when a master vexed him in presence of his
+classmates, or interfered to end a quarrel in which his own self-respect
+was at stake? All his nerves were stretched; his body stiffened, and he
+stood as straight as a steel rod, his arms pressed against his legs, his
+fists tightly closed, his head held high and rigid, and his face as
+yellow as ivory, with its smooth forehead, and his compressed lips
+cutting two deep lines around his mouth; his eyes, fixed like two black
+balls, seemed to start from the sockets, shooting fire. He looked as if
+he were about to destroy his adversary with lightning, but in reality he
+retained the most imperturbable sang-froid. He stood like a marble
+statue, but it was easy to divine the storm raging within...."<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Unpublished notes by Abb&eacute; Chesnais.</p></div>
+
+<p>His tendency, after taking his bachelor's degree, was towards science;
+he was ambitious to enter the &Eacute;cole polytechnique, and joined the
+special mathematics class. Even when very young he had shown particular
+aptitude for mechanics, and a gift for invention which we have seen
+exercised in his practical jokes as a student. When he was only four or
+five years old he constructed a bed out of paper, which he raised by
+means of cords and pulleys.</p>
+
+<p>"He passed whole hours," says his Stanislas classmate, Lieutenant
+Constantin, "in trying to solve a mathematical problem, or studying some
+question which had interested him, without knowing what went on around
+him; but as soon as he had solved his problem, or learned something new,
+he was satisfied and returned to the present. He was particularly
+interested in everything connected with the sciences. His greatest
+pleasure was to make experiments in physics or chemistry: he tried
+everything which his imagination suggested. Once he happened to produce
+a detonating mixture which made a formidable explosion, but nothing was
+broken except a few windows."</p>
+
+<p>His choice of reading revealed the same tendency. He was not fond of
+reading, and only liked books of adventure which were food for his
+warlike sentiments and his ideas of honor and honesty. He preferred the
+works of Major Driant, and re-read them even during his mathematical
+year. Returning from a walk one Thursday evening, he knocked on the
+prefect's door to ask for a book. He wanted <i>La Guerre fatale</i>, <i>La
+Guerre de Demain</i>, <i>L'Aviateur du Pacifique</i>, etc. "But you have already
+read them." "That does not matter." Did he really re-read them? His
+dreams were always the same, and his eyes looked into the future.</p>
+
+<p>Somebody, however, was to exert over this impressionable, mobile, almost
+too ardent nature, an influence which was to determine its direction.
+His father had advised him to choose his friends with care, and not
+yield himself to the first comer. He was not only incapable of doing
+that, but equally incapable of yielding himself to anybody. Do we really
+choose our friends in early life? We only know our friends by finding
+them in our lives when we need them. They are there, but we have not
+sought them. A similarity of taste, of sensibility, of ambitions draw us
+to them, and they have been our friends a long time already before we
+perceive that they are not merely comrades. Thus Jean Krebs became the
+constant companion of Georges Guynemer. The father of Jean Krebs is that
+Colonel Krebs whose name is connected with the first progress made in
+a&euml;rostation and aviation. He was then director of the Panhard factories,
+and his two sons were students at Stanislas. Jean, the elder, was
+Guynemer's classmate. He was a silent, self-centered, thoughtful
+student, calm in speech and facial expression, never speaking one word
+louder than another, and the farthest possible removed from anything
+noisy or agitated. Georges broke in upon his solitude and attached
+himself to him, while Krebs endured, smiled, and accepted, and they
+became allies. It was Krebs, for the time, who was the authority, the
+one who had prestige and wore the halo. Why, he knew what an automobile
+was, and one Sunday he took his friend Georges to Ivry and taught him
+how to drive. He taught him every technical thing he knew. Georges
+launched with all his energy into this new career, and soon became
+acquainted with every motor in existence. During the school promenades,
+if the column of pupils walked up or down the Champs Elys&eacute;es, he told
+them the names of passing automobiles: "That's a Lorraine. There is a
+Panhard. This one has so many horsepower," etc. Woe to any who ventured
+to contradict him. He looked the insolent one up and down, and crushed
+him with a word.</p>
+
+<p>He was overjoyed when the college organized Thursday afternoon visits to
+factories. He chose his companions in advance, sometimes compelling them
+to give up a game of tennis. Krebs was one of them. For Georges the
+visits to the Puteaux and Dion-Bouton factories were a feast of which he
+was often to speak later. He went, not as a sightseer, but as a
+connoisseur. He could not bring himself to remain with the engineer who
+showed the party through the works. He required more liberty, more time
+to investigate everything for himself, to see and touch everything. The
+smallest detail interested him; he questioned the workmen, asking them
+the use of some screw, and a thousand other things. The visit was too
+soon over for him; and when his comrades had already left, and the
+division prefect was calling the roll to make sure of all his boys,
+Guynemer as usual was missing, and was discovered standing in ecstasy
+before a machine which some workmen were engaged in setting up.</p>
+
+<p>"The opening weeks of the automobile and aviation exhibition were a
+period of comparative tranquillity for his masters, as Guynemer was no
+longer the same restless, nervous, mischievous boy, being too anxious to
+retain his privileges for the promenades. He was always one of those who
+haunted the prefect when the hour for departure drew near. He was
+impatient to know where they were to go: 'Where are we going?... Shall
+you take us to the Grand Palais? (The Automobile and Aviation
+Exhibition).... Wouldn't you be a brick!...' When they arrived, he was
+not one of those many curious people who circulate aimlessly around the
+stands with their hands in their pockets, without reaping anything but
+fatigue, like a cyclist on a circular track. His plans were all made in
+advance, and he knew where the stand was which he meant to visit. He
+went directly there, where his ardor and his free and easy behavior drew
+upon him the admonitions of the proprietor. But nothing stopped him, and
+he continued to touch everything, furnishing explanations to his
+companions. When he returned to the college his pockets bulged with
+prospectuses, catalogues, and selected brochures, which he carefully
+added to the heterogeneous contents of his desk."<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Unpublished notes by Abb&eacute; Chesnais.</p></div>
+
+<p>Jean Krebs crystallized Georges Guynemer's vocation. He developed and
+specialized his taste for mechanics, separating it from vague
+abstractions and guiding it towards material realities and the wider
+experiences these procure. He deserves to be mentioned in any biography
+of Guynemer, and before passing on, it is proper that his premature loss
+should be cited and deplored. Highly esteemed as an aviator during the
+war, he made the best use of his substantial and reliable faculties in
+the work of observation. Airplane chasing did not attract him, but he
+knew how to use his eyes. He was killed in a landing accident at a time
+almost coincident with the disappearance of Guynemer. One of his
+escadrille mates described him thus: "With remarkable intelligence, and
+a perfectly even disposition, his chiefs valued him for his sang-froid,
+his quick eye, his exact knowledge of the services he was able to
+perform. Every time a mission was intrusted to him, everybody was sure
+that he would accomplish it, no matter what conditions he had to meet.
+He often had to face enemy airplanes better armed than his own, and in
+the course of a flight had been wounded in the thigh by an exploding
+shell. Nevertheless he had continued to fly, only returning considerably
+later when his task was done. His death has left a great void in this
+escadrille. Men like him are difficult to replace...."</p>
+
+<p>Thus the immoderate Guynemer had for his first friend a comrade who knew
+exactly his own limits. Guynemer could save Jean Krebs from his excess
+of literal honesty by showing him the enchantment of his own ecstasies,
+but Jean Krebs furnished the motor for Guynemer's ambitious young wings.
+Without the technical lessons of Jean Krebs, could Guynemer later have
+got into the aviation field at Pau, and won so easily his diploma as
+pilot? Would he have applied himself so closely to the study of his
+tools and the perfecting of his machine?</p>
+
+<p>The war was to make them both aviators, and both of them fell from the
+sky, one in the fullness of glory, the other almost obscure. When they
+talked together on school outings, or as they walked along beside the
+walls of Stanislas, had they ever foreseen this destiny? Certainly not
+Jean Krebs, with his positive spirit; he only saw ahead the &Eacute;cole
+polytechnique, and thought of nothing but preparation for that. But
+Guynemer? In his very precious notes, Abb&eacute; Chesnais shows us the boy
+constructing a little airplane of cloth, the motor of which was a bundle
+of elastics. "At the next recreation hour, he went up to the dormitory,
+opened a window, launched his machine, and presided over its evolutions
+above the heads of his comrades." But these were only the games of an
+ingenious collegian. The worthy priest, who was division prefect, and
+watched the boy with a profound knowledge of psychology, never received
+any confidence from him regarding his vocation.</p>
+
+<p>Aviation, whose first timid essays began in 1906, progressed rapidly.
+After Santos Dumont, who on November 22, 1906, covered 220 meters while
+volplaning, a group of inventors&mdash;Bl&eacute;riot, Delagrange, Farman,
+Wright&mdash;perfected light motors. In 1909 Bl&eacute;riot crossed the Channel,
+Paulhan won the height record at 1380 meters, and Farman the distance
+record over a course of 232 kilometers. A visionary, Viscomte Melchior
+de Vogu&eacute;, had already foreseen the prodigious development of air-travel.
+All the young people of the time longed to fly. Guynemer, studying the
+new invention with his customary energy, could hardly do otherwise than
+share the general infatuation. His comrades, like himself, dreamed of
+parts of airplanes and their construction. But the idea of Lieutenant
+Constantin is different: "When an airplane flew over the quarter,
+Guynemer followed it with his eyes, and continued to gaze at the sky for
+some time after its disappearance. His desk contained a whole collection
+of volumes and photographs concerning aviation. He had resolved to go up
+some day in an airplane, and as he was excessively self-willed he tried
+to bring this about by every means in his power. 'Don't you know anybody
+who could take me up some Sunday?' Of whom has he not asked this
+question? But at college it was not at all easy, and it was during
+vacation that he succeeded in carrying out his project. If I am not
+mistaken, his first ascension was at the a&euml;rodrome of Compi&egrave;gne. At that
+time the comfortable cockpits of the modern airplanes were unknown, and
+the passenger was obliged to place himself as best he could behind the
+pilot and cling to him by putting his arms around him in order not to
+fall, so that it was a relief to come down again!..."</p>
+
+<p>The noticeable sentence in these notes is the first one: <i>When an
+airplane flew over the quarter, he followed it with his eyes, and
+continued to gaze at the sky for some time after its disappearance.</i> If
+Jean Krebs had survived, he could perhaps enlighten us still further;
+but, even to this reasonable friend, could Guynemer have revealed what
+was still confused to himself? Jean Constantin only saw him once in a
+reverie; and Guynemer must have kept silent about his resolutions.</p>
+
+<p>Soon afterwards, as Guynemer was obliged once more to renounce his
+studies&mdash;and this was the year in which he was preparing for the
+Polytechnique&mdash;his father left him with his grandmother in Paris, to
+rest. During this time he went to lectures on the social sciences,
+finally completing his education, which was strictly French, not one day
+having been passed with any foreign teacher. After this he traveled with
+his mother and sisters, leading the life of the well-to-do young man who
+has plenty of time in which to plan his future. Was he thinking of his
+future at all? The question occurred to his father who, worried at the
+thought of his son's idleness, recalled him and interrogated him as to
+his ideas of a future career, fully expecting to receive one of those
+undecided answers so often given by young men under similar
+circumstances. But Georges replied, as if it were the most natural thing
+in the world, and no other could ever have been considered:</p>
+
+<p>"Aviator."</p>
+
+<p>This reply was surprising. What could have led him to a determination
+apparently so sudden?</p>
+
+<p>"That is not a career," he was told. "Aviation is still only a sport.
+You travel in the air as a motorist rides on the highways. And after
+passing a few years devoted to pleasure, you hire yourself to some
+constructor. No, a thousand times no!"</p>
+
+<p>Then he said to his father what he had never said to anybody, and what
+his comrade Constantin had merely suspected:</p>
+
+<p>"That is my sole passion. One morning in the courtyard at Stanislas I
+saw an airplane flying. I don't know what happened to me: I felt an
+emotion so profound that it was almost religious. You must believe me
+when I ask your permission to be an aviator."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't know what an airplane is. You never saw one except from
+below."</p>
+
+<p>"You are mistaken; I went up in one at Corbeaulieu."</p>
+
+<p>Corbeaulieu was an a&euml;rodrome near Compi&egrave;gne; and these words were spoken
+a very few months before the war.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Many years before Georges Guynemer was a student at Stanislas, a
+professor, who was also destined to become famous, taught rhetoric
+there. His name was Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Ozanam. He too had been a precocious child,
+prematurely sure of his vocation for literature. When only fifteen he
+had composed in Latin verse an epitaph in honor of Gaston de Foix, dead
+at Ravenna. This epitaph, if two words are changed&mdash;<i>Hispanae</i> into
+<i>hostilis</i>, and <i>Gaston</i> into <i>Georges</i>&mdash;describes perfectly the short
+and admirable career of Guynemer. Even the palms are included:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Fortunate heros! moriendo in saecula vives.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Eia, agite, o socii, manibus profundite flores,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Lilia per tumulum, violamque rosamque recentem</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Spargite; victricis armis superaddite lauros,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Et tumulo tales mucrone inscribite voces:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Hic jacet hostilis gentis timor et decus omne</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Gallorum, Georgius, conditus ante diem:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Credidit hunc Lachesis juvenem dum cerneret annos,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4.5em;">Sed palmas numerans credidit esse senem.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>It is a paraphrase of the reply of the gods to the young Pallas, in
+Virgil.</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a><br />
+
+<p>
+Fortunate hero! thou diest, but thou shalt live forever!<br />
+Come, my companions! strew flowers<br />
+And lilies over the tomb! violets and young roses<br />
+Scatter; heap up laurels upon his arms,<br />
+And on the stone write with the point of your sword:<br />
+Here lieth one who was the terror of the enemy, and the glory<br />
+Of the French, George, taken before his time.<br />
+Lachesis from his face thought him a boy,<br />
+But counting his victories she thought him full of years.<br />
+</p></div>
+
+<p>This young Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Ozanam died in the full vigor of manhood before
+having attained his fortieth year, of a malady which had already
+foretold his death. At that time he seemed to have achieved perfect
+happiness; it was the supreme moment when everything succeeds, when the
+difficult years are almost forgotten, and the road mounts easily upward.
+He had in his wife a perfect companion, and his daughter was a lovable
+young girl. His reputation was growing; he was soon to be received by
+the Academy, and fortune and fame were already achieved. And then death
+called him. Truly the hour was badly chosen&mdash;but when is it chosen at
+the will of mortals? Ozanam tried to win pity from death. In his private
+journal he notes death's approach, concerning which he was never
+deceived; and he asks Heaven for a respite. To propitiate it, he offers
+a part of his life, the most brilliant part; he is willing to renounce
+honors, fame, and fortune, and will consent to live humbly and be
+forgotten, like the poor for whom he founded the <i>Conf&eacute;rences de
+Saint-Vincent de Paul</i>, and whom he so often visited in their wretched
+lodgings; but let him at least dwell a little longer in his home, that
+he may see his daughter grow up, and pass a few years more with the
+companion of his choice. Finally, he is impassioned by his Faith, he no
+longer reasons with Heaven, but says: "Take all according to Thy wish,
+take all, take myself. Thy will be done...."</p>
+
+<p>Rarely has the drama of acceptance of the Divine Will been more freely
+developed. Now, in the drama which was to impassion Guynemer even to
+complete sacrifice, it is not the vocation of aviator that we should
+remark, but the absolute will to serve. Abb&eacute; Chesnais, who does not
+attach primary importance to the vocation, has understood this well. At
+the end of his notes he reminds us that Guynemer was a believer who
+accomplished his religious exercises regularly, without ostentation and
+without weakness. "How many times he has stopped me at night," he
+writes, "as I passed near his bed! He wanted a quiet conscience, without
+reproach. His usual frivolity left him at the door of the chapel. He
+believed in the presence of God in this holy place and respected it....
+His Christian sentiments were to be a sustaining power in his a&euml;rial
+battles, and he would fight with the more ardor if his conscience were
+at peace with his God...."</p>
+
+<p>These words of Abb&eacute; Chesnais explain the true vocation of Guynemer: "The
+chances of war brought out marvelously the qualities contained in such a
+frail body. In the beginning did he think of becoming a pilot? Perhaps.
+But what he wanted above everything was to fulfil his duty as a
+Frenchman. He wanted to be a soldier; he was ashamed of himself, he
+said, in the first days of September, 1914: 'If I have to sleep in the
+bottom of an automobile truck, I want to go to the front. I will go.'"</p>
+
+<p>He was to go; but neither love of aviation nor love of fame had anything
+to do with his departure, as they were to have nothing to do with his
+final fate.</p>
+
+
+<h4><a name="III_THE_DEPARTURE" id="III_THE_DEPARTURE">THE DEPARTURE</a></h4>
+
+<p>In the month of July, 1914, Georges Guynemer was with his family at the
+Villa Delphine, Biarritz, in the northern part of the Anglet beach. This
+beach is blond with sunshine, but is refreshed by the ocean breezes. One
+can be deliciously idle there. This beach is besides an excellent
+landing-place for airplanes, because of the welcome of its soft sand.
+Georges Guynemer never left the Anglet beach, and every time an airplane
+descended he was there to receive it. He was the aviation sentry. But at
+this period airplanes were rare. Guynemer had his own thoughts, and
+tenacity was one of his dominant traits; he was already one of those who
+never renounce. The bathers who passed this everlasting idler never
+suspected that he was obstinately developing one single plan, and
+hanging his whole future upon it.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the horizon of Europe darkened. Ever since the assassination
+of the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, at Sarajevo, electricity had
+accumulated in the air, and the storm was ready to burst. To this young
+man, the Archduke and the European horizon were things of nothing. The
+sea-air was healthful, and he searched the heavens for invisible
+airplanes. The conversations in progress all around him were full of
+anxiety; he had no time to listen to them. The eyes of the women began
+to be full of pain; he did not notice the eyes of women. On the second
+of August the order for mobilization was posted. It was war!</p>
+
+<p>Then Guynemer rid himself of his dream, as if it were something unreal,
+and broke off brusquely all his plans for the future. He was entirely
+possessed by another idea, which made his eyes snap fire, and wrinkled
+his forehead. He rushed to his father and without taking breath
+announced:</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to enlist."</p>
+
+<p>"You are lucky."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, you authorize me...."</p>
+
+<p>"I envy you."</p>
+
+<p>He had feared to be met with some parental objection on account of the
+uncertain health which had so often thwarted him, and had postponed his
+preparation for the &Eacute;cole Polytechnique. Now he felt reassured. Next day
+he was at Bayonne, getting through all the necessary formalities. He was
+medically examined&mdash;and postponed. The doctors found him too tall, too
+thin&mdash;no physiological defect, but a child's body in need of being
+developed and strengthened. In vain he supplicated them; they were
+pitiless. He returned home grieved, humiliated, and furious. The Villa
+Delphine was to know some very uncomfortable days. His family understood
+his determination and began to have fears for him. And he returned to
+the charge, and attacked his father with insistence, as if his father
+were all-powerful and could, if he would, compel them to accept his
+son's services for <i>la Patrie</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"If you would help me, I should not be put off."</p>
+
+<p>"But how?"</p>
+
+<p>"A former officer has connections in the army. You could speak for me."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, I will."</p>
+
+<p>M. Guynemer, in his turn, went to Bayonne. From that date, indeed from
+the first day of war, he had promised himself never to set obstacles in
+the way of his son's military service, but to favor it upon all
+occasions. He kept his word, as we shall see later, at whatever cost to
+himself. The recruiting major listened to his request. It was the hour
+of quick enthusiasms, and he had already sustained many assaults and
+resisted many importunities.</p>
+
+<p>"Monsieur," he now said, "you may well believe that I accept all who can
+serve. I speak to you as a former officer: does your conscience assure
+you that your son is fit to carry a knapsack and be a foot-soldier?"</p>
+
+<p>"I could not say that he is."</p>
+
+<p>"Would he make a cavalryman?"</p>
+
+<p>"He can't ride on account of his former enteritis."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you see how it is; it's proper to postpone him. Build him up, and
+later on he'll be taken. The war is not finished."</p>
+
+<p>As Georges had been present at this interview, he now saw himself
+refused a second time. He returned with his father to Biarritz, pale,
+silent, unhappy, and altogether in such a state of anger and bitterness
+that his face was altered. Nothing consoled him, nothing amused him. On
+those magnificent August days the sea was a waste of sunshine, and the
+beach was an invitation to enjoy the soft summer hours; but he did not
+go to the beach, and he scorned the sea. His anxious parents wondered
+if, for the sake of his health, it would not be easier to see him
+depart. As for them, it was their fate to suffer in every way.</p>
+
+<p>Ever since the mobilization, Georges Guynemer had had only one thought:
+to serve&mdash;to serve, no matter where, no matter how, no matter in what
+branch of the service, but to leave, to go to the front, and not stay
+there at Biarritz like those foreigners who had not left, or like those
+useless old men and children who were now all that remained of the male
+population.</p>
+
+<p>Many trains had carried off the first recruits, trains decorated with
+flowers and filled with songs. The sons of France had come running from
+her farthest provinces, and a unanimous impulse precipitated them upon
+the assaulted frontier. But this impulse was perfectly controlled. The
+songs the men sang were serious and almost sacred. The nation was living
+through one of her greatest hours, and knew it. With one motion she
+regained her national unity, and renewed once more her youth.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the news that sifted in, little by little, caused intense
+anguish&mdash;anguish, not doubt. The government had left Paris to establish
+itself at Bordeaux. The capital was menaced. The enemy had entered
+Compi&egrave;gne. Compi&egrave;gne was no longer ours. The Joan of Arc on the <i>place</i>
+of the H&ocirc;tel de Ville had <i>pickelhauben</i> on her men-at-arms. And then
+the victory of the Marne lifted the weight that oppressed every heart.
+At the Villa Delphine news came that Compi&egrave;gne was saved. Meanwhile
+trains left carrying troops to reinforce the combatants. And Georges
+Guynemer had to live through all these departures, suffering and
+rebelling until he had a horror of himself. His comrades and friends
+were gone, or had asked permission to go. His two first cousins, his
+mother's nephews, Guy and Ren&eacute; de Saint Quentin, had gone; one, a
+sergeant, was killed at the Battle of the Marne, the other, councilor to
+the Embassy at Constantinople, returning in haste when war was declared,
+had taken his place as lieutenant of reserves, and had been twice
+wounded at the Marne, by a ball in the shoulder and a shrapnel bullet in
+the thigh. Was it possible for him to stay there alone when the whole
+of France had risen?</p>
+
+<p>In the <i>Chanson d'Aspremont</i>, which is one of our most captivating
+<i>chansons de geste</i>, Charlemagne is leaving for Italy with his army, and
+passes by Laon. In the donjon five children, one of whom is his nephew
+Roland, are imprisoned under the care of Turpin. The Emperor, who knows
+them well, has had them locked up for fear they would join his troops.
+But when they hear the ivory horns sounding and the horses neighing,
+they are determined to escape. They try to cajole the porter, but he is
+adamant and incorruptible. This faithful servitor is immediately well
+beaten. They take away his keys, pass over his body, and are soon out of
+the prison. But their adventures are only beginning. To procure
+themselves horses they attack and unhorse five Bretons, and to get arms
+they repeat the same process. They are so successful that they manage to
+join the Emperor's army before it has crossed the Alps. Will our new
+Roland allow himself to be outdistanced by these terrible children of
+former ages? It is not the army with its ivory horns that he has heard
+departing, but the whole marching nation, fighting to live and endure,
+and to enable honor and justice and right to live and endure with her.</p>
+
+<p>So we find Guynemer once more on the Anglet beach, sad and discomfited.
+An airplane capsizes on the sand. What does he care about an
+airplane&mdash;don't they know that his old passion and dream are dead? Since
+August 2 he has not given them a thought. However, he begins a
+conversation with the pilot, who is a sergeant. And all at once a new
+idea takes possession of him; the old passion revives again under
+another form; the dream rises once more.</p>
+
+<p>"How can one enlist in the aviation corps?"</p>
+
+<p>"Arrange it with the captain; go to Pau."</p>
+
+<p>Georges runs at once to the Villa Delphine. His parents no longer
+recognize the step and the face of the preceding days; he looks like
+their son again; he is saved.</p>
+
+<p>"Father, I want to go to Pau to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"Why this trip to Pau?"</p>
+
+<p>"To enlist in the aviation corps. Before the war you wouldn't hear of my
+being an aviator, but in war aviation is no longer a sport."</p>
+
+<p>"In war&mdash;yes, it is certainly quite another thing."</p>
+
+<p>Next day he reached Pau, where Captain Bernard-Thierry was in command of
+the aviation camp. He forced his way through Captain Bernard-Thierry's
+door, over the expostulations of the sentries. He explained his case and
+pleaded his cause with such fire in his eyes that the officer was dazed
+and fascinated. From the tones of the captain's voice, when he referred
+to the two successive rejections, Guynemer knew he had made an
+impression. As he had done at Stanislas when he wanted to soften some
+punishment inflicted by his master, so now he brought every argument to
+bear, one after another; but with how much more ardor he made this plea,
+for his future was at stake! He bewitched his hearer. And then suddenly
+he became a child again, imploring and ready to cry.</p>
+
+<p>"Captain, help me&mdash;employ me&mdash;employ me at anything, no matter what. Let
+me clean those airplanes over there. You are my last resource. It must
+be through you that I can do something at last in the war."</p>
+
+<p>The captain reflected gravely. He felt the power hidden in this fragile
+body. He could not rebuff a suppliant like this one.</p>
+
+<p>"I can take you as student mechanician."</p>
+
+<p>"That's it, that's it; I understand automobiles."</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer exulted, as Jean Krebs' technical lessons flashed already into
+his mind; they would be of great help in his work. The officer gave him
+a letter to the recruiting officer at Bayonne, and he went back there
+for the third time. This time his name was entered, he was taken, and he
+signed a voluntary engagement. This was on November 21, 1914. There was
+no need for him to explain to the family what had occurred when he
+returned to the Villa Delphine: he was beaming.</p>
+
+<p>"You are going?" said his mother and sisters.</p>
+
+<p>"Surely."</p>
+
+<p>Next day he made his <i>d&eacute;but</i> at the aviation camp at Pau as student
+mechanician. He had entered the army by the back door, but he had got
+in. The future knight of the air was now the humblest of grooms. "I do
+not ask any favors for him," his father wrote to the captain. "All I ask
+is that he may perform any services he is capable of." He had to be
+tried and proved deserving, to pass through all the minor ranks before
+being worthy to wear the <i>casque sacr&eacute;</i>. The petted child of Compi&egrave;gne
+and the Villa Delphine had the most severe of apprenticeships. He slept
+on the floor, and was employed in the dirtiest work about camp, cleaned
+cylinders and carried cans of petroleum. In this <i>milieu</i> he heard words
+and theories which dumbfounded him, not knowing then that men frequently
+do not mean all that they say. On November 26, he wrote Abb&eacute; Chesnais:
+"I have the pleasure of informing you that after two postponements
+during a vain effort to enlist, I have at last succeeded. <i>Time and
+patience</i> ... I am writing you in the mess, while two comrades are
+elaborating social theories...."</p>
+
+<p>Would he be able to endure this workman's existence? His parents were
+not without anxiety. They hesitated to leave Biarritz and return to
+their home in Compi&egrave;gne in the rue Saint-Lazare, on the edge of the
+forest. But, so far from being injured by manual labor, the child
+constantly grew stronger. In his case spirit had always triumphed over
+matter, and compelled it to obedience on every occasion. So now he
+followed his own object with indomitable energy. He took an airplane to
+pieces before mounting in it, and learned to know it in every detail.</p>
+
+<p>His preparation for the &Eacute;cole Polytechnique assured him a brilliant
+superiority in his present surroundings. He could explain the laws of
+mechanics, and tell his wonderstruck comrades what is meant by the
+resultant of several forces and the equilibrium of forces, giving them
+unexpected notions about kinematics and dynamics.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> From the
+laboratory or industrial experiments then being made, he acquired, on
+his part, a knowledge of the resisting power of the materials used in
+aviation: wood, steel, steel wires, aluminum and its composites, copper,
+copper alloys and tissues. He saw things made&mdash;those famous wings that
+were one day to carry him up into the blue&mdash;with their longitudinal
+spars of ash or hickory, their ribs of light wood, their interior
+bracing of piano wire, their other bracing wires, and their wing
+covering. He saw the workmen prepare all the material for mortise and
+tenon work, saw them attach the tension wires, fit in the ends of poles,
+and finally connect together all the parts of an airplane,&mdash;wings,
+rudders, motor, landing frame, body. As a painter grinds his colors
+before making use of them, so Guynemer's prelude to his future flights
+was to touch with his hands&mdash;those long white hands of the rich student,
+now tanned and callous, often coated with soot or grease, and worthy to
+be the hands of a laborer&mdash;every piece, every bolt and screw of these
+machines which were to release him from his voluntary servitude.</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> See <i>&Eacute;tude raisonn&eacute;e de l'a&eacute;roplane</i>, by Jules Bordeaux,
+formerly student at &Eacute;cole Polytechnique (Gauthier-Billars, edition
+1912).</p></div>
+
+<p>One of his future comrades, <i>sous-lieutenant</i> Marcel Viallet (who one
+day had the honor of bringing down two German airplanes in ten minutes
+with seven bullets), thus describes him at the Pau school: "I had
+already had my attention drawn to this 'little girl' dressed in a
+private's uniform whom one met in the camp, his hands covered with
+castor oil, his face all stains, his clothes torn. I do not know what he
+did in the workshop, but he certainly did not add to its brilliance by
+his appearance. We saw him all the time hanging around the 'zincs.' His
+highly interested little face amused us. When we landed, he watched us
+with such admiration and envy! He asked us endless questions and
+constantly wanted explanations. Without seeming to do so, he was
+learning. For a reply to some question about the art of flying, he would
+have run to the other end of the camp to get us a few drops of gasoline
+for our tanks...."<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> <i>Le Petit Parisien</i>, September 27, 1917.</p></div>
+
+<p>He was learning, and when he saw his way clear, he wanted to begin
+flying. New Year's Day arrived&mdash;that sad New Year's Day of the first
+year of the war. What gifts would he ask of his father? He would ask for
+help to win his diploma as pilot. "Don't you know somebody in your class
+at Saint-Cyr who could help me?" He always associated his father with
+every step he took in advance. The child had no fear of creating a
+conflict between his father's love for him and the service due to
+France: he knew very well that he would never receive from his father
+any counsel against his honor, and without pity he compelled him to
+facilitate his son's progress toward mortal danger. Certain former
+classmates of M. Guynemer's at Saint-Cyr had, in fact, reached the rank
+of general, and the influence of one of them hastened Guynemer's
+promotion from student mechanician to student pilot (January 26, 1915).</p>
+
+<p>On this same date, Guynemer, soldier of the 2d Class, began his first
+journal of flights. The first page is as follows:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;"><i>Wednesday</i>, January 27:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;  Doing camp chores.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;"><i>Thursday</i>,&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;  &nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 28: &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;  &nbsp; ib.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;"><i>Friday</i>,&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;  &nbsp;&nbsp;   "&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;  29:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;  Lecture and camp chores.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;"><i>Saturday</i>,&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;  &nbsp; 30:&nbsp;&nbsp;  &nbsp; &nbsp;Lecture at the Bl&eacute;riot</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15.5em;">a&euml;rodrome.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;"><i>Sunday</i>,&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;  &nbsp; 31:&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; ib.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15.5em;">a&euml;rodrome.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;"><i>Monday</i>,&nbsp; &nbsp;  February&nbsp;&nbsp; 1:&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;  Went out twenty minutes</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15.5em;">on Bl&eacute;riot "roller."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>The Bl&eacute;riot "roller," called the Penguin because of its abbreviated
+wings, and which did not leave the ground, was followed on Wednesday,
+February 17, by a three-cylinder 25 H.P. Bl&eacute;riot, which rose only thirty
+or forty meters. These were the first ascensions before launching into
+space. Then came a six-cylinder Bl&eacute;riot, and ascensions became more
+numerous. Finally, on Wednesday, March 10, the journal records two
+flights of twenty minutes each on a Bl&eacute;riot six-cylinder 50 H.P., one at
+a height of 600 meters, the other at 800, with tacking and volplaning
+descents. This time the child sailed into the sky. Guynemer's first
+flight, then, was on March 10, 1915.</p>
+
+<p>This journal, with its fifty pages, ends on July 28, 1916, with the
+following statement:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><i>Friday</i>, July 28.&mdash;Round at the front. Attacked a group of four
+enemy airplanes and forced down one of them. Attacked a second
+group of four airplanes, which immediately dispersed. Chased one of
+the airplanes and fired about 250 cartridges: the Boche dived, and
+seemed to be hit. When I shot the last cartridges from the Vickers,
+one blade of the screw was perforated with bullet-holes, the
+dislocated motor struck the machine violently and seriously injured
+it. Volplaned down to the a&euml;rodrome of Chipilly without accident.</p></div>
+
+<p>A marginal note states that the a&euml;roplane which "seemed to be hit" was
+brought down, and that the English staff confirmed its fall. This
+victory of July 28, 1916, on the Somme, was Guynemer's eleventh; and at
+that time he had flown altogether 348 hours, 25 minutes. This journal of
+fifty pages enables us to measure the distance covered.</p>
+
+<p>Impassioned young people! You who in every department of achievement
+desire to win the trophies of a Guynemer, never forget that your
+progress on the path to glory begins with "doing chores."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CANTO_II" id="CANTO_II"></a>CANTO II</h3>
+
+<h4>LAUNCHED INTO SPACE</h4>
+
+
+<h4><a name="I_THE_FIRST_VICTORY" id="I_THE_FIRST_VICTORY"></a>I. THE FIRST VICTORY</h4>
+
+<p>The apprentice pilot, then, left the ground for the first time at the
+Pau school on February 17, 1915, in a three-cylinder Bl&eacute;riot. But these
+were only short leaps, though sufficiently audacious ones. His monitor
+accused him of breakneck recklessness: "Too much confidence, madness,
+fantastical humor." That same evening he wrote describing his
+impressions to his father: "Before departure, a bit worried; in the air,
+wildly amusing. When the machine slid or oscillated I was not at all
+troubled, it even seemed funny.... Well, it diverted me immensely, but
+it was lucky that <i>Maman</i> was not there.... I don't think I have
+achieved a reputation for prudence. I hope everything will go well; I
+shall soon know...."</p>
+
+<p>During February he made many experimental flights, and finally, on March
+10, 1915, went up 600 meters. This won him next day a diploma from the
+A&euml;ro Club, and the day following he wrote to his sister Odette this hymn
+of joy&mdash;not long, but unique in his correspondence: "Uninterrupted
+descent, volplaning for 800 meters. Superb view (sunset)...."</p>
+
+<p>"Superb view (sunset)": in the hundred and fifty or two hundred letters
+addressed to his family, I believe this is the only landscape. Slightly
+later, but infrequently, the new aviator gave a few details of
+observation, the accuracy of which lent them some picturesqueness; but
+in this letter he yielded to the intoxication of the air, he enjoyed
+flying as if it were his right. He experienced that sensation of
+lightness and freedom which accompanies the separation from earth, the
+pleasure of cleaving the wind, of controlling his machine, of seeing,
+breathing, thinking differently from the way he saw and thought and
+breathed on the land, of being born, in fact, into a new and solitary
+life in an enlarged world. As he ascended, men suddenly diminished in
+size. The earth looked as if some giant hand had smoothed its surface,
+diversified only by moving shadows, while the outlines of objects became
+stronger, so that they seemed to be cut in relief.</p>
+
+<p>The land was marked by geometrical lines, showing man's labor and its
+regularity, an immense parti-colored checker-board traversed by the
+lines of highroads and rivers, and containing islands which were forests
+and towns and cities. Was it the chain of the Pyrenees covered with snow
+which, breaking this uniformity, wrested a cry of admiration from the
+aviator? What shades of gold and purple were shed over the scene by the
+setting sun? His half-sentence is like a confession of love for the joy
+of living, violently torn from him, and the only avowal this blunt
+Roland would allow himself.</p>
+
+<p>For the nature of his correspondence is somewhat surprising. Read
+superficially, it must seem extremely monotonous; but when better
+understood, it indicates the writer's sense of oppression, of
+hallucination, of being bewitched. From that moment Guynemer had only
+one object, and from its pursuit he never once desisted. Or, if he did
+desist for a brief interval, it was only to see his parents, who were
+part of his life, and whom he associated with his work. His
+correspondence with them is full of his airplanes, his flights, and then
+his enemy-chasing. His letters have no beginning and no ending, but
+plunge at once into action. He himself was nothing but action. Only
+that? the reader will ask. Action was his reason for existing, his
+heart, his soul&mdash;action in which his whole being fastened on his prey.</p>
+
+<p>A long and minutiose training goes to the making of a good pilot. But
+the impatient Guynemer had patience for everything, and the self-willed
+Stanislas student became the hardest working of apprentices. His
+scientific knowledge furnished him with a method, and after his first
+long flights his progress was very rapid. But he wanted to master all
+the principles of aviation. As student mechanician he had seen airplanes
+built. He intended to make himself veritably part of the machine which
+should be intrusted to him. Each of his senses was to receive the
+education which, little by little, would make it an instrument capable
+of registering facts and effecting security. His eyes&mdash;those piercing
+eyes which were to excel in raking the heavens and perceiving the first
+trace of an enemy at incalculable distances&mdash;though they could only
+register his motion in relation to the earth and not the air, could, at
+all events, inform him of the slightest deviations from the horizontal
+in the three dimensions: namely, straightness of direction, lateral and
+longitudinal horizontality, and accurately appreciate angular
+variations. When the motor slowed up or stopped, his ear would interpret
+the sound made by the wind on the piano wires, the tension wires, the
+struts and canvas; while his touch, still more sure, would know by the
+degree of resistance of the controlling elements the speed action of the
+machine, and his skillful hands would prepare the work of death. "In the
+case of the bird," says the <i>Manual</i>, by M. Maurice Percheron, "its
+feathers connect its organs of stability with the brain; while the
+experienced aviator has his controlling elements which produce the
+movement he wishes, and inform him of the disturbing motions of the
+wind." But with Guynemer the movements he wanted were never brought
+about as the result of reflex nervous action. At no time, even in the
+greatest danger, did he ever cease to govern every maneuver of his
+machine by his own thought. His rapidity of conception and decision was
+astounding, but was never mere instinct. As pilot, as hunter, as
+warrior, Guynemer invariably controlled his airplane and his gun with
+his brain. This is why his apprenticeship was so important, and why he
+himself attached so much importance to it&mdash;by instinct, in this case.
+His nerves were always strained, but he worked out his results. Behind
+every action was the power of his will, that power which had forced his
+entrance into the army, and itself closed the doors behind him, a
+prisoner of his own vocation.</p>
+
+<p>He familiarized himself with all the levers of the engine and every part
+of the controlling elements. When the obligatory exercises were
+finished, and his comrades were resting and idling, he remounted the
+airplane, as a child gets onto his rocking-horse, and took the levers
+again into his hands. When he went up, he watched for the exact instant
+for quitting the ground and sought the easiest line of ascension; during
+flights, he was careful about his position, avoiding too much diving, or
+nosing-up, maintaining a horizontal movement, making sure of his lateral
+and longitudinal equilibrium, familiarizing himself with winds, and
+adapting his motions to every sort of rocking. When he came down, and
+the earth seemed to leap up at him, he noted the angle and swiftness of
+the descent and found the right height at which to slow down. Although
+his first efforts had been so clever that his monitors were convinced
+for a long time that he had already been a pilot, yet it is not so much
+his talent that we should admire as his determination. He was more
+successful than others because he wore himself out during the whole of
+his short life in trying to do better&mdash;to do better in order to serve
+better. He worked more than any one else; when he was not satisfied with
+himself he began all over again, and sought the cause of his errors.
+There are many other pilots as gifted as Guynemer, but he possessed an
+energy which was extraordinary, and in this respect excelled all the
+rest.</p>
+
+<p>And there were no limits to the exercise of this energy. He gave his own
+body to complete so to speak, the airplane,&mdash;a centaur of the air. The
+wind that whistled through his tension wires and canvas made his own
+body vibrate like the piano wires. His body was so sensitive that it,
+too, seemed to obey the rudder. Nothing that concerned his voyages was
+either unknown or negligible to him. He verified all his
+instruments&mdash;the map-holder, the compass, the altimeter, the tachometer,
+the speedometer&mdash;with searching care. Before every flight he himself
+made sure that his machine was in perfect condition. When it was brought
+out of the hangar he looked it over as they look over race-horses, and
+never forgot this task. How would it be when he should have his own
+airplane?</p>
+
+<p>At Pau he increased the number of his flights, and changed airplanes,
+leaving the Bl&eacute;riot Gnome for the Morane. His altitudes at this time
+varied from 500 to 600 meters. Going, on March 21, to the Avord school,
+he went up on the 28th to a height of 1500 meters, and on April 1 to
+2600. His flights became longer, and lasted one hour, then an hour and a
+half. The spiral descent from a height of 500 meters, with the motor
+switched off, triangular voyages, the test of altitude and that of
+duration of flight, which were necessary for his military diploma, soon
+became nothing more to him than sport. In May nearly every day he
+piloted one passenger on an M.S.P. (Morane-Saunier-Parasol). During all
+this period his record-book registers only one breakdown. Finally, on
+May 25, he was sent to the general Aviation Reserves, and on the 31st
+made two flights in a Nieuport with a passenger. This was the end of his
+apprenticeship, and on June 8 Corporal Georges Guynemer was designated
+as member of Escadrille M.S.3, which he joined next day at Vauciennes.</p>
+
+<p>This M.S.3 was the future N.3, the "Ciogognes" or Storks Escadrille. It
+was already commanded by Captain Brocard, under whose orders it was
+destined to become illustrious. V&eacute;drines belonged to it.
+<i>Sous-lieutenant de cavalerie</i> Deullin joined it almost simultaneously
+with Guynemer, whose friend he soon became. Later, little by little,
+came Heurtaux, de la Tour, Dorme, Auger, Raymond, etc., all the famous
+valiant knights of the escadrille, like the peers of France who followed
+Roland over the Spanish roads. This aviation camp was at Vauciennes,
+near Villers-Cotterets, in the Valois country with its beautiful
+forests, its chateaux, its fertile meadows, and its delicate outlines
+made shadowy by the humid vapor rising from ponds or woods. "Complete
+calm," wrote Guynemer on June 9, "not one sound of any kind; one might
+think oneself in the Midi, except that the inhabitants have seen the
+beast at close range, and know how to appreciate us.... V&eacute;drines is very
+friendly and has given me excellent advice. He has recommended me to his
+'<i>mecanos</i>,' who are the real type of the clever Parisian, inventive,
+lively and good humored...." Next day he gives some details of his
+billet, and adds: "I have had a <i>mitrailleuse</i> support mounted on my
+machine, and now I am ready for the hunt.... Yesterday at five o'clock I
+darted around above the house at 1700 or 2000 meters. Did you see me? I
+forced my motor for five minutes in hopes that you would hear me." He
+had recently parted from his family, and a happy chance had brought him
+to fight over the very lines that protected his own home. The front of
+the Sixth Army to which he was attached, extending from Rib&eacute;court beyond
+the forest of Laigue, passed in front of Railly and Tracy-le-Val,
+hollowed itself before the enemy salient of Moulin-sous-Touvent,
+straightened itself again near Autr&egrave;ches and Nouvron-Vingr&eacute;, covered
+Soissons, whose very outskirts were menaced, was obliged to turn back on
+the left bank of the Aisne where the enemy took, in January, 1915, the
+bridge-head at Cond&eacute;, and Vailly and Chavonne, and crossed the river
+again at Soupir which belonged to us. Laon, La F&egrave;re, Coucy-le-Ch&acirc;teau,
+Chauny, Noyon, Ham, and P&eacute;ronne were the objects of his reconnoitering
+flights.</p>
+
+<p>War acts more poignantly, more directly upon a soldier whose own home is
+immediately behind him. If the front were pierced in the sector which
+had been intrusted to him, his own people would be exposed. So he
+becomes their sentinel. Under such conditions, <i>la Patrie</i> is no longer
+merely the historic soil of the French people, the sacred ground every
+parcel of which is responsible for all the rest, but also the beloved
+home of infancy, the home of parents, and, for this collegian of
+yesterday, the scene of charming walks and delightful vacations. He has
+but just now left the paternal mansion; and, not yet accustomed to the
+separation, he visits it by the roads of the air, the only ones which he
+is now free to travel. He does not take advantage of his proximity to
+Compi&egrave;gne to go ring the familiar door-bell, because he is a soldier and
+respects orders; but, on returning from his rounds, he does not hesitate
+to turn aside a bit in order to pass over his home, indulging up there
+in the sky in all sorts of acrobatic caprioles to attract attention and
+prolong the interview. What lover was ever more ingenious and madder in
+his rendezvous?</p>
+
+<p>Throughout all his correspondence he recalls his air visits. "You must
+have seen my head, for I never took my eyes off the house...." Or, after
+an a&euml;rial somersault that filled all those down below with terror: "I am
+wretched to know that my veering the other day frightened <i>maman</i> so
+much, but I did it so as to see the house without having to lean over
+the side of the machine, which is unpleasant on account of the wind...."
+Or sometimes he threw down a paper which was picked up in Count Foy's
+park: "Everything is all right." He thought he was reassuring his
+parents about his safety; but their state of mind can be conceived when
+they beheld, exactly over their heads, an airplane engaged apparently in
+performing a dance, while through their binoculars they could see the
+tiny black speck of a head which looked over its side. He had indeed a
+singular fashion of reassuring them!</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, at Vauciennes the newcomer was being tested. At first he was
+thought to look rather sickly and weak, to be somewhat reserved and
+distant, and too well dressed, with a "young-ladyish" air. He was known
+to be already an expert pilot, capable of making tail spins after barely
+three months' experience. But still the men felt some uncertainty about
+this youngster whom they dared not trifle with on account of his eyes,
+"out of which fire and spirit flowed like a torrent."<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> Later on they
+were to know him better.</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Saint-Simon.</p></div>
+
+<p>A legend was current as to the large quantity of "wood broken" by
+Guynemer in his early days with the escadrille. This is radically
+untrue, and his notebook contradicts it. From the very first day the
+<i>d&eacute;butant</i> fulfilled the promise of his apprentice days. After one or
+two trial flights, he left for a scouting expedition on Sunday, June 13,
+above the enemy lines, and there met three German airplanes. On the 14th
+he described what he had seen in a letter to his father.&mdash;His
+correspondence still included some description at that time, the earth
+still held his attention; but it was soon to lose interest for
+him.&mdash;"The appearance of Tracy and Quennevi&egrave;res," he wrote, "is simply
+unbelievable: ruins, an inextricable entanglement of trenches almost
+touching one another, the soil turned over by the shells, the holes of
+which one sees by thousands. One wonders how there could be a single
+living man there. Only a few trees of a wood are left standing, the
+others beaten down by the "<i>marmites</i>,"<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> and everywhere may be seen
+the yellow color of the literally plowed-up earth. It seems incredible
+that all these details can be seen from a height of over 3000 meters. I
+could see to a distance of 60 or 70 kilometers, and never lost sight of
+Compi&egrave;gne. Saint-Quentin, P&eacute;ronne, etc., were as distinct as if I were
+there...."</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Shells.</p></div>
+
+<p>Next day, the 14th, another reconnaissance, of which the itinerary was
+Coucy, Laon, La F&egrave;re, Tergnier, Appily, Vic-sur-Aisne. Not a cannon shot
+disturbed these first two expeditions. But danger lurked under this
+apparent security, and on the 15th he was saluted by shells, dropping
+quite near. It was his "baptism by fire," and only inspired this
+sentence <i>&agrave; la Duguesclin</i>: "No impression, except satisfied curiosity."</p>
+
+<p>The following days were passed in a perfect tempest, and he only
+laughed. The new Roland, the bold and marvelous knight, is already
+revealed in the letters to be given below. On the 16th he departed on
+his rounds, carrying, as observer, Lieutenant de Lavalette. His airplane
+was hit by a shell projectile in the right wing. On the 17th his machine
+returned with eight wounds, two in the right wing, four in the body, and
+in addition one strut and one longitudinal spar hit. On the 18th he
+returned from a reconnaissance with Lieutenant Colcomb during which his
+machine had been hit in the right wing, the rudder, and the body. But
+his notebook only contains statements of facts, and we have to turn to
+his correspondence for more details.</p>
+
+<p>"Decidedly," he wrote on June 17 to his sister Odette, "the Boches have
+quite a special affection for me, and the parts of my '<i>coucou</i>' serve
+me for a calendar. Yesterday we flew over Chauny, Tergnier, Laon, Coucy,
+Soissons. Up to Chauny my observer had counted 243 shells; Coucy shot
+500 to 600; my observer estimated 1000 shots in all. All we heard was a
+rolling sound, and then the shells burst everywhere, below us, above, in
+front, behind, on the right and on the left, for we descended to take
+some photographs of a place which they did not want us to see. We could
+hear the shell-fragments whistling past; there was one that, after
+piercing the wing, passed within the radius of the propeller without
+touching it, and then to within fifty centimeters of my face; another
+entered by the same hole but stayed there, and I will send it to you.
+Fragments also struck the rudder, and one the body." (His journal
+mentions more.) "My observer, who has been an observer from the
+beginning, says that he never saw a cannonade like that one, and that he
+was glad to get back again. At one moment a bomb-head of 105
+millimeters, which we knew by its shape and the color of its explosion,
+fell on us and just grazed us. In fact, we often see enormous shells
+exploding. It is very curious. On our return we met Captain Gerard, and
+my observer told him that I had astounding nerve; <i>zim, boum boum!</i> He
+said he knew it.... I will send you a photograph of my '<i>coucou</i>' with
+its nine bruises: it is superb."</p>
+
+<p>The next day, June 18, it was his mother who received his confidences.
+The enemy had bombarded Villers-Cotterets with a long-distance gun which
+had to be discovered. On this occasion he took Lieutenant Colcomb as
+observer: "At Coucy, terribly accurate cannonade: <i>toc, toc</i>, two
+projectiles in the right wing, one within a meter of me; we went on with
+our observations in the same place. Suddenly a formidable crash: a shell
+burst 8 to 10 meters under the machine. Result: three holes, one strut
+and one spar spoiled. We went on for five minutes longer observing the
+same spot, always encircled, naturally. Returning, the shooting was less
+accurate. On landing, my observer congratulated me for not having moved
+or zig-zagged, which would have bothered his observation. We had, in
+fact, only made very slight and very slow changes of altitude, speed,
+and direction. Compliments from him mean something, for nobody has
+better nerve. In the evening Captain Gerard, in command of army
+aviation, called me and said: 'You are a nervy pilot, all right; you
+won't spoil our reputation by lack of pluck&mdash;quite the contrary. For a
+beginner!&mdash;' and he asked me how long I had been a corporal. <i>Y a bon.</i>
+My '<i>coucou</i>' is superb, with its parts all dated in red. You can see
+them all, for those underneath spread up over the sides. In the air I
+showed each hole in the wing, as it was hit, to the passenger, and he
+was enchanted, too. It's a thrilling sport. It is a bore, though, when
+they burst over our heads, because I cannot see them, though I can hear.
+The observer has to give me information in that case. Just now, <i>le roi
+n'est pas mon cousin</i>...."</p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant, now Captain, Colcomb, has completed this account. During the
+entire period of his observation, the pilot, in fact, did not make any
+maneuver or in any way shake the machine in order to dodge the firing.
+He simply sent the airplane a bit higher and calmly lowered it again
+over the spot to be photographed, as if he were master of the air. The
+following dialogue occurred:</p>
+
+<p><i>The Observer</i>: "I have finished; we can go back."</p>
+
+<p><i>The Pilot</i>: "Lieutenant, do me the favor of photographing for me the
+projectiles falling around us."</p>
+
+<p>Children have always had a passion for pictures; and the pictures were
+taken.</p>
+
+<p>The chasers and bombardiers in the history of aviation have attracted
+public attention to the detriment of their comrades, the observers,
+whose admirable services will become better known in time. It is by them
+that the battle field is exposed, and the preparations and ruses of the
+enemy balked: they are the eyes of the commanders, and also the friends
+of the troops. On April 29, 1916, Lieutenant Robbe flew over the
+trenches of the Mort-Homme at 200 meters, and brought back a detailed
+exposition of the entanglement of the lines. A year later, in nearly the
+same place, Lieutenant Pierre Guilland, observer on board a biplane of
+the Moroccan division, was forced down by three enemy airplanes just at
+the moment when his division, whose progress he was following in order
+to report it, started its attack on the Corbeaux Woods east of the
+Mort-Homme, on August 20, 1917. He fell on the first advancing lines and
+was picked up, unconscious and mortally wounded, by an artillery officer
+who proceeded to carry out the aviator's mission. When the latter
+reopened his eyes&mdash;for only a short while&mdash;he asked: "Where am
+I?"&mdash;"North of Chattancourt, west of Cumi&egrave;res."&mdash;"Has the attack
+succeeded?"&mdash;"Every object has been attained."&mdash;"Ah! that's good, that's
+good." ... He made them repeat the news to him. He was dying, but his
+division was victorious.</p>
+
+<p>Near Frise, Lieutenant Sains, who had been obliged to land on July 1,
+1916, was rescued by the French army on July 4, after having hidden
+himself for three days in a shell-hole to avoid surrendering, his pilot,
+Quartermaster de Kyspotter, having been killed.</p>
+
+<p>During the battle of the Aisne in April, 1917, Lieutenant Godillot,
+whose pilot had also been killed, slid along the plane, sat on the knees
+of the dead pilot, and brought the machine back into the French lines.
+And Captain M&eacute;ry, Lieutenant Viguier, Lieutenant de Saint-S&eacute;verin, and
+Fressagues, Floret, de Niort, and Major Challe, Lieutenant Boudereau,
+Captain Roeckel, and Adjutant Fonck&mdash;who was to become famous as a
+chaser&mdash;how many of these &eacute;lite observers furthered the destruction
+wrought by the artillery, and aided the progress of the infantry!</p>
+
+<p>On October 24, 1916, as the fog cleared away, I saw the airplane of the
+Guyot de Salins division fly over Fort Douaumont just at the moment when
+Major Nicolai's marines entered there.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> The airplane had descended so
+low into the mist that it seemed as if magnetically drawn down by the
+earth, and the observer, leaning over the edge, was clapping his hands
+to applaud the triumph of his comrades. The latter saw his gesture, even
+though they could not hear the applause, and cheered him&mdash;a spontaneous
+exchange of soldierly confidence and affection between the sky and the
+earth.</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> See <i>Les Captifs d&eacute;livr&eacute;s</i>.</p></div>
+
+<p>Almost exactly one year later, on October 23, 1917, I saw the airplane
+of the same division hovering over the Fort of the Malmaison just as the
+Giraud battalion of the 4th Zouaves Regiment took possession of it. At
+dawn it came to observe and note the site of the commanding officer's
+post, and to read the optical signals announcing our success. At each
+visit it seemed like the moving star of old, now guiding the new
+shepherds, the guardians of our dear human flocks&mdash;not over the stable
+where a God was born, but over the ruins where victory was born.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p class="center">
+<img src="images/illus02.png" alt="Bleriot" />
+<a id="illus02" name="illus02"></a>
+</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-bottom: 3em;"><b>The First Flight In A Bl&eacute;riot</b></p>
+
+<p>Later on Captain Colcomb spoke of Guynemer as "the most sublime military
+figure I have ever been permitted to behold, one of the finest and
+most generous souls I have ever known." Guynemer was not satisfied to be
+merely calm and systematically immovable, and to display sang-froid,
+though to an extraordinary degree. He amused himself by counting the
+holes in his wings, and pointing them out to the observer. He was
+furious when the explosions occurred outside his range of vision,
+because he was not resigned to missing anything. He seemed to juggle
+with the shrapnel. And after landing, he rushed off to his escadrille
+chief, Captain Brocard, took him by the arm, and never left him until he
+had drawn him almost by force to his machine, compelling him to put his
+fingers into the wounds, exulting meanwhile and fairly bounding with
+joy. Captain, now Major Brocard, felt quite sure of him from that time,
+and referred to him later in these words: "Very young: his extraordinary
+self-confidence and natural qualities will very soon make him an
+excellent pilot...."</p>
+
+<p>His curiosity, indeed, was satisfied; and to whom would he confide all
+the risks that he ran? His mother and his sisters, the hearts which were
+the most troubled about him, and whose peace and happiness he had
+carried off into the air. He never dreamed of the torment he caused
+them, and which they knew how to conceal from him. Even the idea of such
+a thing never occurred to him. As they loved him, they loved him just as
+he was, in the raw. He was too young to dissimulate, too young to spare
+them. He knew nothing either of lies or of pity. He never thought that
+any one could suffer anguish about a son or a brother when this son and
+brother was himself supremely happy in his vocation. He was na&iuml;vely
+cruel.</p>
+
+<p>But the rounds and reconnaissances were not to hold him long; and he
+already scented other adventures. He had scented the odor of the beast,
+and he had his airplane furnished with a support for a machine-gun. That
+particular airplane, it is true, came to an untimely end in a ditch, but
+was already condemned by its body-frame, which was rotten with bullet
+holes. That was the only "wood" Guynemer "broke" during his early
+flights.</p>
+
+<p>But his next airplane was also armed, and in the young pilot could
+already be plainly seen that taste for enemy-chasing which was to
+bewitch and take possession of him. Though after this time he certainly
+carried over the lines Lieutenant de Lavalette, Lieutenant Colcomb and
+Captain Sim&eacute;on, and always with equal calm, yet he aspired to other
+flights, further away from earth. Lieutenant de Beauchamp&mdash;the future
+Captain de Beauchamp, who was to die so soon after his audacious raids
+on Essen and Munich&mdash;divined what was hidden in this thin boy who was in
+such breathless haste to get on. He would not allow Corporal Guynemer to
+address him as lieutenant, feeling so surely his equality, and to-morrow
+perhaps his mastery. On July 6, 1915, he sent him a little guide for
+aviators in a few lines: "Be cautious. Look well at what is happening
+around you before acting. Invoke Saint Beno&icirc;t every morning. But above
+all, write in letters of fire in your memory: <i>In aviation, everything
+not useful should be avoided.</i>" Oh, of course! The "little girl" laughed
+at the advice as he laughed at the tempest. He had an admiration for
+Beauchamp, but when did a Roland ever listen to an Oliver? One day he
+went up in a wind of over 25 meters, and even by nosing-up a bit he
+could hardly make any progress. With the wind behind him he made over
+200 kilometers. Then he landed. V&eacute;drines addressed a few warning remarks
+to him, and he was thought to be calmed. But off he went again before
+the frightened spectators. He would always do too much, and nothing
+could restrain him.</p>
+
+<p>The importance of the development of aviation in the war had been
+foreseen neither by the Germans nor ourselves. If before the beginning
+of the campaign the military chiefs had understood all the services
+which would be rendered by a&euml;rial strategic scouting, the regulation of
+artillery fire would not have still been in an experimental stage. No
+one knew the help which was to be derived from a&euml;rial photography. The
+air duel was regarded simply as a possible incident that might occur
+during a patrol or a reconnaissance, and in view of which the observer
+or mechanician armed himself with a gun or an automatic pistol.
+Airplanes armed with machine-guns were very exceptional, and at the end
+of 1914 there were only thirty. The Germans used them generally before
+we did; but it was the French aviators, nevertheless, who forced the
+Germans to fight in the air. I had the opportunity in October, 1914, to
+see, from a hill on the Aisne, one of these first airplane combats,
+which ended by the enemy falling on the outskirts of the village of
+Muizon on the left bank of the Vesle. The French champion bore the fine
+name of Franc, and piloted a Voisin. At that date it was not unusual to
+pick up messages dropped within our lines by enemy pilots, substantially
+to this effect: "Useless for us to fight each other; there are enough
+risks without that...."</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, strategic reconnaissance was perfected as the line of the
+front became firmly established, and more and more importance was
+accorded to the search for objectives. Remarkable results were attained
+by air photography from December, 1914; and after January, 1915, the
+regulation of artillery fire by wireless telegraphy was in general
+practice. It was necessary to protect the airplanes attached to army
+corps, and to clean up the air for their free circulation. This r&ocirc;le
+devolved upon the most rapid airplanes, which were then the
+Morane-Saunier-Parasols, and in the spring of 1915 these formed the
+first <i>escadrilles de chasse</i>, one for each army. Garros, already
+popular before the war for having been the first air-pilot to cross the
+Mediterranean, from Saint-Raphael to Bizerto, forced down a large
+Aviatik above Dixmude in April, 1915. A few days later a motor breakdown
+compelled him to land at Ingelminster, north of Courtrai, and he was
+made prisoner.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> The aviators, like the knights of ancient times,
+sent one another challenges. Sergeant David&mdash;who was killed shortly
+after&mdash;having been obliged to refuse to fight an enemy airplane because
+his machine-gun jammed, dropped a challenge to the latter on the German
+a&euml;rodrome, and waited at the place, on the day and hour fixed, at
+Vauquois (noon, in June, 1915, above the German lines), but his
+adversary never came to the rendezvous.</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> The romantic circumstances under which he escaped in
+February, 1918, are well known.</p></div>
+
+<p>The Maurice Farman and Caudron airplanes were used for observation. The
+Voisin machines, strong but slower, were more especially utilized for
+bombardments, which began to be carried out by organized expeditions.
+The famous raids on the Ludwigshafen factories and the Karlsruhe railway
+station occurred in June, 1915. It was at the battle of Artois (May and
+June, 1915) that aviation for the first time constituted a branch of the
+army; and the work was chiefly done by the escadrilles belonging to the
+army corps, which rendered very considerable services as scouts and in
+a&euml;rial photography and destructive fire. But as an enemy chaser, the
+airplane was still regarded with much distrust and incredulity. Some
+said it was useless; was it not sufficient that the airplanes of the
+army corps and those for bombardments could defend themselves? Others of
+less extreme opinions thought it should be limited to the part of
+protector. This opposition was overcome by the sudden development of the
+German enemy-chasing airplanes after July, 1915, subsequent to our raids
+on Ludwigshafen and Karlsruhe, which aroused furious anger in Germany.</p>
+
+<p>In the beginning the belligerent nations had collected the most
+heterogeneous group of all the airplane models then available. But the
+methodical Germans, without delay, supplied their constructors with
+definite types of machines in order to make their escadrilles
+harmonious. At that time they used monoplanes for reconnaissances,
+without any special arrangement for carrying arms, and incapable of
+carrying heavy weights; and biplanes for observation, unarmed, and
+possessing only a makeshift contrivance for launching bombs. The
+machines of both these series were two-seated, with the passenger in
+front. These were Albatros, Aviatiks, Eulers, Rumplers, and Gothas.
+Early in 1915 appeared the Fokkers, which were one-seated, and new
+two-seated machines, Aviatiks or Albatros, which were more rapid, with
+the passenger at the rear, and furnished with a revolving turret for the
+machine-gun. The German troops engaged in a&euml;rostation, aviation,
+automobile and railway service were grouped as communication troops
+(<i>Verkehrstruppen</i>), under the direction of the General Inspection of
+Military Communications. It was not until the autumn of 1916 that the
+a&euml;rostation, aviation, and a&euml;rial defense troops were made independent
+and, under the title of <i>Luftstreitkr&auml;fte</i> (a&euml;rial combatant forces),
+took their position in the order of battle between the pioneers and the
+communication troops. But early in the summer of 1915 the progress
+realized in aviation resulted in its forming a separate branch of the
+army, with campaign and enemy-chasing escadrilles.</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer was now on the straight road toward a&euml;rial combat. Most of our
+pilots were still chasing enemy airplanes with one passenger armed with
+a simple musketoon. More circumspect than the others, Guynemer had his
+airplane armed with a machine-gun. Meanwhile the staff was preparing to
+reorganize the army escadrilles. The bold P&eacute;goud had several times
+fought with too enterprising Fokkers or Aviatiks; Captain Brocard had
+forced down one of them in flames over Soissons; and the latest recruit
+of the escadrille, this youngster of a Guynemer, was burning to have his
+own Boche.</p>
+
+<p>The first entries in his notebook of flights for July, 1915, record
+expeditions without result, in company with Adjutant Hatin, Lieutenant
+de Ruppiere, in the region of Noyon, Roye, Ham, and Coucy-le-Ch&acirc;teau. On
+the 10th, the <i>chasseurs</i> put to flight three Albatros, while a more
+rapid Fokker attempted an attack, but turned back having tried a shot at
+their machine-gun. On the 16th Guynemer and Hatin dropped bombs on the
+Chauny railway station; during the bombardment an Aviatik attacked them,
+they stood his fire, replying as well as they could with their
+musketoon, and returned to camp uninjured. Adjutant Hatin was decorated
+with the Military Medal. As Hatin was a <i>gourmet</i>, Guynemer went that
+same evening to Le Bourget to fetch two bottles of Rhine wine to
+celebrate this family f&ecirc;te. At Le Bourget he tried the new Nieuport
+machine, which was the hope of the fighting airplanes. Finally, on July
+19&mdash;memorable date&mdash;his journal records Guynemer's first victory:</p>
+
+<p>"Started with Guerder after a Boche reported at Couvres and caught up
+with him over Pierrefonds. Shot one belt, machine-gun jammed, then
+unjammed. The Boche fled and landed in the direction of Laon. At Coucy
+we turned back and saw an Aviatik going toward Soissons at about 3200
+meters up. We followed him, and as soon as he was within our lines we
+dived and placed ourselves about 50 meters under and behind him at the
+left. At our first salvo, the Aviatik lurched, and we saw a part of the
+machine crack. He replied with a rifle shot, one ball hitting a wing,
+another grazing Guerder's hand and head. At our last shot the pilot sank
+down on the body-frame, the observer raised his arms, and the Aviatik
+fell straight downward in flames, between the trenches...."</p>
+
+<p>This flight began at 3700 meters in the air, and lasted ten minutes, the
+two combatants being separated by a distance of 50 and sometimes 20
+meters. The statement of fact is characteristic of Guynemer. An
+unforgettable sight had been imprinted on his eyes: the pilot sinking
+down in his cock-pit, the arms of the observer beating the air, the
+burning airplane sinking. Such were to be his future landscape sketches,
+done in the sky. The wings of the bird of prey were unfurled definitely
+in space.</p>
+
+<p>The two fighting airmen had left Vauciennes at two o'clock in the
+afternoon, and at quarter-past three they landed, conquerors, at
+Carri&egrave;re l'Ev&ecirc;que. From their opposing camps the infantry had followed
+the fight with their eyes. The Germans, made furious by defeat,
+cannonaded the landing-place. Georges, who was too thin for his clothes,
+and whose leather pantaloons lined with sheepskin, which he wore over
+his breeches, slipped and impeded his walking, sat down under the
+exploding shells and calmly took them off. Then he placed the machine in
+a position of greater safety, but broke the propeller on a pile of hay.
+During this time a crowd had come running and now surrounded the
+victors. Artillery officers escorted them off, sentinels saluted them, a
+colonel offered them champagne. Guerder was taken first into the
+commanding officer's post, and on being questioned about the maneuver
+that won the victory excused himself with modesty:</p>
+
+<p>"That was the pilot's affair."</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer, who had stolen in, was willing to talk.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is this?" asked the colonel.</p>
+
+<p>"That's the pilot."</p>
+
+<p>"You? How old are you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Twenty."</p>
+
+<p>"And the gunner?"</p>
+
+<p>"Twenty-two."</p>
+
+<p>"The deuce! There are nothing but children left to do the fighting."</p>
+
+<p>So, passed along in this manner from staff to staff, they finally landed
+at Compi&egrave;gne, conducted by Captain Sim&eacute;on. No happiness was complete for
+Guynemer if his home was not associated with it.</p>
+
+<p>"He will get the Military Medal," declared Captain Sim&eacute;on, "because he
+wanted his Boche and went after him."</p>
+
+<p>Words of a true chief who knew his men. Always to go after what he
+wanted was the basic characteristic of Guynemer. And now various details
+concerning the combat came one by one to light. Guerder had been half
+out of the machine to have the machine-gun ready to hand. When the gun
+jammed, Georges yelled to his comrade how to release it. Guerder, who
+had picked up his rifle, laid it down, executed the maneuver indicated
+by Guynemer, and resumed his machine-gun fire. This episode lasted two
+minutes during which Georges maintained the airplane under the Aviatik,
+unwilling to change his position, as he saw that a recoil would expose
+them to the Boche's gun.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile V&eacute;drines came in search of the victor, and piloted the machine
+back to head-quarters, with Guynemer on board seated on the body and
+quivering with joy.</p>
+
+<p>With this very first victory Guynemer sealed his friendship with the
+infantry, whom his youthful audacity had comforted in their trenches. He
+received the following letter, dated July 20, 1915:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Lieutenant-colonel Maillard, commanding the 238th Infantry, to
+Corporal Pilot Guynemer and Mechanician Guerder of Escadrille M.S.
+3, at Vauciennes.</p>
+
+<p>
+The Lieutenant-colonel,<br />
+The Officers,<br />
+The whole Regiment,<br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>Having witnessed the a&euml;rial attack you made upon a German Aviatik
+over their trenches, spontaneously applauded your victory which
+terminated in the vertical fall of your adversary. They offer you
+their warmest congratulations, and share the joy you must have felt
+in achieving so brilliant a success. <span class="smcap">Maillard</span>.</p></div>
+
+<p>On July 21 the Military Medal was given to the two victors, Guynemer's
+being accompanied by the following mention: "Corporal Guynemer: a pilot
+full of spirit and audacity, volunteering for the most dangerous
+missions. After a hot pursuit, gave battle to a German airplane, which
+ended in the burning and destruction of the latter." The decoration was
+bestowed on August 4 at Vauciennes by General Dubois, then in command of
+the Sixth Army, and in presence of his father, who had been sent for.
+Then Guynemer paid for his newly won glory by a few days of fever.</p>
+
+
+<h4><a name="II_FROM_THE_AISNE_TO_VERDUN" id="II_FROM_THE_AISNE_TO_VERDUN"></a>II. FROM THE AISNE TO VERDUN</h4>
+
+<p>Guynemer's first victory occurred on July 19, 1915, and for his second
+he had to wait nearly six months. This was not because he had not been
+on the watch. He would have been glad to mount a Nieuport, but, after
+all, he had had his Boche, and at that time the exploit was exceptional:
+he had to be patient, and give his comrades a chance to do the same.</p>
+
+<p>When finally he obtained the longed-for Nieuport, he flew sixteen hours
+in five days, and naturally went to parade himself over Compi&egrave;gne.
+Without this dedication to his home, the machine would never be
+consecrated.</p>
+
+<p>When the overwork incident to such a life forced him to take a little
+repose, he wandered back to his home like a soul in pain. It was in vain
+that his parents and his two sisters&mdash;whom he called his "kids" as if he
+were their elder&mdash;exhausted their ingenuity to amuse him. This home he
+loved so much, which he left so recently, and returned to so happily,
+bringing with him his young fame, no longer sufficed him. Though he was
+so comfortable there, yet on clear days the house stifled him. On such
+days he seemed like a school child caught in some fault: a little more
+and he would have condemned himself. Then his sister Yvonne, who had
+understood the situation, made a bargain with him.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it you miss here at home?"</p>
+
+<p>"Something you cannot give me. Or rather, yes, you can give it to me.
+Promise me you will."</p>
+
+<p>"Surely, if it will make you happy."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be the happiest of men."</p>
+
+<p>"Then it's granted in advance."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, this is it: every morning you must examine the weather. If
+it is bad, you will let me sleep."</p>
+
+<p>"And if it is fine?"</p>
+
+<p>"If it is fine, you will wake me up."</p>
+
+<p>His sister was afraid to ask more, as she guessed how he would use a
+fine day. As she was silent, he pretended to pout with that cajoling
+manner he could assume, and which fascinated everybody.</p>
+
+<p>"You won't do it? I could not stay home: <i>c'est plus fort que moi</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"But, I promise."</p>
+
+<p>And to keep him at home until he should be cured, more or less, the
+young girl opened her window every morning and inspected the sky,
+secretly hoping to find it thickly covered with clouds.</p>
+
+<p>"Clouds, waiting over there, motionless, on the edge of the horizon,
+what are you waiting for? Will you stand idle and let me awaken my
+brother, who is resting?"</p>
+
+<p>The clouds being indifferent, the sleeper had to be awakened. He dressed
+hastily, with a smile at the transparent sky, and soon reached
+Vauciennes by automobile, where he called for his machine, mounted,
+ascended, flew, hunted the enemy, and returned to Compi&egrave;gne for
+luncheon.</p>
+
+<p>"And you can leave us like that?" remonstrated his mother. "Why, this is
+your holiday."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, the effort to leave is all the greater."</p>
+
+<p>"Well?&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I like the effort, <i>Maman</i>."</p>
+
+<p>His Antigone forced herself to keep her bargain with him. The sun never
+shone above the forest in vain, but nevertheless she detested the sun.
+What a strange Romeo this boy would have made! Without the least doubt
+he would have charged Juliet to wake him to go to battle, and would
+never have forgiven her for confounding the lark and the nightingale.</p>
+
+<p>On his return to the aviation camp, in the absence of his own
+longed-for victories, he took pleasure in describing those of others. He
+knew nothing of rivalry or envy. He wrote his sister Odette the
+following description of a combat waged by Captain Brocard, who
+surprised a Boche from the rear, approached him to within fifteen meters
+without being seen, and, just at the moment when the enemy pilot turned
+round his head, sent him seven cartridges from his machine-gun: "Result:
+one ball in the ear, and another through the middle of his chest. You
+can imagine whether the fall of the machine was instantaneous or not.
+There was nothing left of the pilot but one chin, one ear, one mouth, a
+torso and material enough to reconstitute two arms. As to the "<i>coucou</i>"
+(burned), nothing was left but the motor and a few bits of iron. The
+passenger was emptied out during the fall...." It cannot be said that he
+had much consideration for the nerves of young girls. He treated them as
+if they were warriors who could understand everything relating to
+battles. He wrote with the same freedom that Shakespeare's characters
+use in speech.</p>
+
+<p>Until the middle of September he piloted two-seated airplanes, carrying
+one passenger, either as observer or combatant. At last he went up in
+his one-seated Nieuport, reveling in the intoxication of being alone,
+that intoxication well known to lovers of the mountains and the air. Is
+it the sensation of liberty, the freedom from all the usual material
+bonds, the feeling of coming into possession of these deserts of space
+or ice where the traveler covers leagues without meeting anybody, the
+forgetfulness of all that interferes with one's own personal object?
+Such solitaries do not easily accommodate themselves to company which
+seems to them to encroach upon their domain, and steal a part of their
+enjoyment. Guynemer never enjoyed anything so much as these lonely
+rounds in which he took possession of the whole sky, and woe to the
+enemy who ventured into this immensity, which was now his park.</p>
+
+<p>On September 29, and October 1, 1915, he was sent on special missions.
+These special missions were generally confided to V&eacute;drines, who had
+accomplished seven. The time is not yet ripe for a revelation of their
+details, but they were particularly dangerous, for it was necessary to
+land in occupied territory and return. Guynemer's first mission required
+three hours' flying. He ascended in a storm, just as the countermand
+arrived owing to the unfavorable weather. When he descended, volplaning,
+at daybreak, with slackened, noiseless motor, and landed on our invaded
+territory, his heart beat fast. Some peasants going to their work in the
+fields saw him as he ascended again, and recognizing the tricolor,
+showed much surprise, and then extended their hands to him. This mission
+won for Sergeant Guynemer&mdash;he had been promoted sergeant shortly
+before&mdash;his second mention: "Has proved his courage, energy and
+sang-froid by accomplishing, as a volunteer, an important and difficult
+special mission in stormy weather."&mdash;"This palm is worth while," he
+wrote in a letter to his parents, "for the mission was hard." On his way
+back an English aviator shot at him, but on recognizing him signaled
+elaborate excuses.</p>
+
+<p>Some rather exciting reconnaissances with Captain Sim&eacute;on&mdash;one day over
+Saint-Quentin they were attacked by a Fokker and, their machine-gun
+refusing to work, they were subjected to two hundred shots from the
+enemy at 100 meters, then at 50 meters, so that they were obliged to
+dive into a cloud, with one tire gone&mdash;and a few bombardments of railway
+stations and goods depots did not assuage his fever for the chase.
+Nothing sufficed him but to explore and rake the heavens. On November 6,
+3000 meters above Chaulnes, he waged an epic combat with an L.V.G.
+(<i>Luft-Verkehr-Gesellschaft</i>), 150 H.P. Having succeeded in placing
+himself three meters under his enemy, he almost laughed with the surety
+he felt of forcing him down, when his machine-gun jammed. He immediately
+banked, but he was so near the enemy that the machines interlocked.
+Would he fall? A bit of his canvas was torn off, but the airplane held
+its own. As he drew away he saw the enormous enemy machine-gun aimed at
+him. A bullet grazed his head. He dived under the Boche, who retreated.
+"All the same," Guynemer added gaily, "if I ever get into a terrible
+financial fix and have to become a cab-driver, I shall have memories
+which are far from ordinary: a tire exploding at 3400 meters, an
+interlocking at 3000 meters. That rotten Boche only owed his life to a
+spring being slightly out of order, as was shown by the autopsy on the
+machine-gun. For my eighth combat, this was decidedly annoying...."</p>
+
+<p>It was annoying, but what could be done? Nothing, in fact, but return to
+one's apprenticeship. He was perfectly satisfied with his work as a
+pilot, but it was necessary to avoid these too frequent jammings which
+saved the enemy. At Stanislas College Guynemer was known as an excellent
+shot. He began to practice again with his rifle, and with the
+machine-gun; above all, he carefully examined every part of this
+delicate weapon, taking it apart and putting it together, and increasing
+his practice. He became a gunsmith. And there lies the secret of his
+genius: he never gave up anything, nor ever acknowledged himself beaten.
+If he failed, he began all over again, but after having sought the cause
+of his failure in order to remedy it. When he was asked one day to
+choose a device for himself, he adopted this, which completely expresses
+his character: <i>Faire face</i>. He always faced everything, not only the
+enemy, but every object which opposed his progress. His determination
+compelled success. In the career of Guynemer nothing was left to chance,
+and everything won by effort, pursuit, and implacable will.</p>
+
+<p>On Sunday, December 5, 1915, as he was making his rounds in the
+Compi&egrave;gne region, he saw two airplanes more than 3000 meters above
+Chauny. As the higher one flew over Bailly he sprang upon it and
+attacked it: at 50 meters, fifteen shots from his machine-gun; at 20
+meters, thirty shots. The German fell in a tail spin, north of Bailly
+over against the Bois Carr&eacute;. Guynemer was sure he had forced him down;
+but the other airplane was still there. He tacked in order to chase and
+attack him, but in vain, for his second adversary had fled. And when he
+tried to discover the spot where the first must have fallen, he failed
+to find it. This was really too much: was he going to lose his prey?
+Suddenly he had an idea. He landed in a field near Compi&egrave;gne. It was
+Sunday, and just noon, and he knew that his parents would be coming home
+from mass. He watched for them, and as soon as he perceived his father
+rushed to him:</p>
+
+<p>"Father, I have lost my Boche."</p>
+
+<p>"You have lost your Boche?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, an airplane that I have forced down. I must return to my
+escadrille, but I don't want to lose him."</p>
+
+<p>"What can I do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, look for him and find him. He ought to be near Bailly, towards the
+Bois Carr&eacute;."</p>
+
+<p>And he vanished, leaving to his father the task of finding the lost
+airplane as a partridge is found in a field of lucerne. The military
+authority kindly lent its aid, and in fact the body of the German pilot
+was discovered on the edge of the Bois Carr&eacute;, where it was buried.</p>
+
+<p>This victory was ratified, but a few days later the authorities, failing
+to find the necessary material proof, refused to give Guynemer credit
+for it. Ah, the regulations refuse the hunter this game? Guynemer,
+turning very red, declared: "It doesn't matter, I will get another." He
+was always wanting another; and in fact he got one four days later, on
+December 8. This is the report in his notebook: "Discovering the
+strategic line Royne-Nesle. While descending, saw a German airplane
+high, and far within its own lines. As it passed the lines at
+Beuvraigne, I cut off its retreat and chased it. I caught up to it in
+five minutes, and fired forty-seven shots from my Lewis from a point 20
+meters behind and under it. The enemy airplane, an L.V.G. 165 H.P.
+probably, dived, caught fire, turned over, and, carried along by the
+west wind, fell on its back at Beuvraigne. The passenger fell out at
+Bus, the pilot at Tilloloy...."</p>
+
+<p>When the victor landed at Beuvraigne near his victim, the artillerymen
+belonging to a nearby battery of 95 mm. guns (47th battery of the 31st
+regiment of artillery), and who were already crowding around the enemy's
+body, rushed upon and surrounded Guynemer. But the commander, Captain
+Allain Launay, mustered his men, ordered a salute to Guynemer, made a
+speech to his command, and said: "We shall now fire a volley in honor of
+Sergeant Guynemer." The salvo demolished a small house where some Boches
+had taken refuge. Through the binoculars they could be seen to scatter
+when the first shell struck their shelter.</p>
+
+<p>"They owe that to me, too!" cried the enthusiastic urchin.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Captain Allain Launay had patiently ripped the captain's
+stripes from his cap, and when he had finished handed them to Guynemer:</p>
+
+<p>"Promise me to wear them when you are appointed captain."</p>
+
+<p>This victory was not questioned, and there was even some discussion
+about making this youngster a Knight of the Legion of Honor. But even
+when he had been promoted sergeant there had been some objection, owing
+to his youth. "Nevertheless," Guynemer had observed angrily, "I am not
+too young to be hit by the enemy's shells." This time another objection
+arose: If he receives the "cross" for this victory, what can be given
+him for succeeding ones? The proud little Roland rebelled, revolted,
+rose up like a cock on its spurs. He did not see that everybody already
+foresaw his destiny. He would have his "cross," he would have it, and he
+would not wait long for it, either. He would know how to wring it out of
+them.</p>
+
+<p>Six days later, December 14, with his comrade, the sober and calm
+Bucquet, he attacked two Fokkers, one of which was dashed to pieces in
+its fall, while the other damaged his own machine. A letter to his
+father described the combat in his own brief and direct manner, without
+a superfluous word: "Combat with two Fokkers. The first, trapped, and
+his passenger killed, dived upon me without having seen me. Result: 35
+bullets at close quarters and '<i>couic</i>' [his finish]! The fall was seen
+by four other airplanes (3 plus 1 makes 4, and perhaps that will win me
+the 'cross'). Then combat with the second Fokker, a one-seated machine
+shooting through the propeller, as rapid and easily handled as mine. We
+fought at ten meters, both turning vertically to try to get behind.</p>
+
+<p>"My spring was slack: compelled to shoot with one hand above my head, I
+was handicapped; I was able to shoot twenty-one times in ten seconds.
+Once we almost telescoped, and I jumped over him&mdash;his head must have
+passed within fifty centimeters of my wheels. That disgusted him; he
+went away and let me go. I came back with an intake pipe burst, one
+rocker torn away: the splinters had made a number of holes in my
+over-coat and two notches in the propeller. There were three more in one
+wheel, in the body-frame (injuring a cable), and in the rudder."</p>
+
+<p>All these accounts of the chase, cruel and clear, seem to breathe a
+savage joy and the pride of triumph. The sight of a burning airplane, of
+an enemy sinking down, intoxicated him. Even the remains of his enemies
+were dear to him, like treasures won by his young strength. The
+shoulder-straps and decorations worn by his adversary who fell at
+Tilloloy were given over to him; and Achilles before the trophies of
+Hector was not more arrogant. These combats in the sky, more than nine
+thousand feet above the earth, in which the two antagonists are isolated
+in a duel to the death, scarcely to be seen from the land, alone in
+empty space, in which every second lost, every shot lost, may cause
+defeat&mdash;and what a defeat! falling, burning, into the abyss beneath&mdash;in
+which they fight sometimes so near together, with short, unsteady
+thrusts, that they see each other like knights in the lists, while the
+machines graze and clash together like shields, so that fragments of
+them fall down like the feathers of birds of prey fighting beak to
+beak&mdash;these combats which require the simultaneous handling of the
+controlling elements and of the machine-gun, and in which speed is a
+weapon, why should they not change these young men, these children, into
+demi-gods? Hercules, Achilles, Roland, the Cid&mdash;where shall we find
+outside of mythology or the epics any prototypes for the wild and
+furious Guynemer?</p>
+
+<p>On the day of his coming of age, December 24, 1915&mdash;earlier than his
+ancestor under the Empire&mdash;he received the Cross of the Legion of Honor,
+with this mention: "Pilot of great value, model of devotion and courage.
+Has fulfilled in the past six months two special missions requiring the
+finest spirit of sacrifice, and has waged thirteen a&euml;rial combats, two
+of which ended in the enemy airplanes falling in flames." This mention
+was already behindhand, having been based upon the report dated December
+8. To the two victories therein mentioned should be added those of the
+5th and the 14th of December. Decorated at the age of twenty-one, the
+enlisted mechanician of Pau continued to progress at breakneck speed.
+The red ribbon, the yellow ribbon and green War Medal with four palms,
+are very becoming to a young man's black coat. Georges Guynemer never
+despised these baubles, nor in any way concealed the pleasure they
+afforded him. He knew how high one has to climb to pick them. And he
+was eager for more and more, not because of vanity, but for what they
+signified.</p>
+
+<p>On the 3d and 5th of February, 1916, new combats took place, always in
+the region of Roy and Chaulnes. On February 3 he met three enemies
+within forty minutes, on the same round: "Attacked at 11.10 an L.V.G.,
+which replied with its machine-gun. Fired 47 shots at 100 meters; the
+enemy airplane dived swiftly down to its own lines, smoking. Lost to
+view at 500 meters from the ground. At 11.40 attacked an L.V.G. (with
+Parabellum) from behind, at 20 meters; it tacked and dived spirally,
+pursued neck to neck at 1300 meters. It fell three kilometers from its
+lines. I rose again and lost sight of it. (This airplane had wings of
+the usual yellow color, its body was blue like the N., and its outlines
+seemed similar to that of the <i>monococques</i>.) At 11.50 attacked an
+L.V.G., which immediately dived into the clouds and disappeared. Landed
+at Amiens." He cleared the sky of every Boche: one fallen and two put to
+flight is not a bad record. He always attacked. With his accurate eyes
+he tracked out the enemy in the mystery of space, and placing himself
+higher, tried to surprise him. On the 5th, near Frise, he closed the
+road to another L.V.G. which was returning to its lines, attacked it
+from above in front, tacked over it, reached its rear, and overwhelmed
+it like a thunder-clap. The Boche fell in flames between Assevillers and
+Herb&eacute;court. One more victory, and this one had the honor of appearing
+in the official <i>communiqu&eacute;</i>. Sometimes he got back with his machine and
+his clothes riddled with bullet-holes. He carried fire and massacre up
+into the sky. And all this was nothing as yet but the exercise of a
+knight-errant in his infancy. This became evident later when he had
+acquired complete mastery of his work.</p>
+
+<p>February, 1916&mdash;the month in which began the longest, the most stubborn
+and cruel, and perhaps the most significant battle of the Great War. In
+this month began Verdun, and the menacing German advance on the right of
+the Meuse (February 21-26), to the wood of Haumont, the wood of the
+Caures and Herbebois, then to Samogneux, the wood of the Fosses, the Le
+Chaume wood and Ornes, and finally, on February 25, the attack on
+Louvemont and Douaumont. The escadrilles, little by little, headed in
+the same direction, and Guynemer was about to leave the Sixth Army. He
+would dart no more above the paternal mansion, announcing his victories
+by his caracoles in the air; nor watch over his own household during his
+patrol of the region beyond Compi&egrave;gne, over Noyon, Chauny, Coucy, and
+Tracy-le-Val. The cord which still linked him with his infancy and youth
+was now to be strained, and on March 11 the Storks Escadrille received
+orders to depart next day, and to fly to the Verdun region.</p>
+
+<p>The development of the German fighting airplanes had constantly
+progressed during 1915. Now, early in 1916, they appeared at Verdun,
+more homogeneous and better trained, and in possession of a series of
+new machines: small, one-seated biplanes (Albatros, Halberstadt, new
+Fokker, and Ago), with a fixed motor of 165-175 H.P. (Merc&eacute;d&egrave;s, and more
+rarely Benz and Argus), and two stationary machine-guns firing through
+the propeller. These chasing escadrilles (<i>Jagdstaffeln</i>) are
+essentially fighting units. Each <i>Jagdstaffel</i> comprises eighteen
+airplanes, and sometimes twenty-two, four of which are reserves. These
+airplanes do not generally travel alone, at least when they have to
+leave their lines, but fly in groups (<i>Ketten</i>) of five each, one of
+them serving as guide (<i>Kettenfuhrer</i>), and conducted by the most
+experienced pilot, regardless of rank. German aviation tactics seek more
+and more to avoid solitary combat and replace it by squadron fighting,
+or to surprise an isolated enemy by a squadron, like an attack of
+sparrow-hawks upon an eagle.</p>
+
+<p>Ever since the establishment of our first autonomous group of fighting
+airplanes, which figured in the Artois offensives in May, 1915, but
+which did not take the offensive (having their cantonments in the
+barriers and limiting themselves to keeping off the enemy and cruising
+above our lines and often behind them), our fighting airplanes gradually
+overcame prejudice. They were not, it is true, so promptly brought to
+perfection as our army corps airplanes, which proved so useful in the
+Champagne campaign of September, 1915; but it was admitted that the
+a&euml;rial combat should not be regarded as a result of mere chance, but as
+inevitable, and that it constituted, first, a protection, and
+afterwards an effective obstruction to an enemy forbidden to make raids
+in our a&euml;rial domain. The next German offensive&mdash;against Verdun&mdash;had
+been foreseen. In consequence, the staff had organized a safety service
+to avoid all surprise by the enemy, to meet attacks, and prepare the way
+for the reinforcing troops. But the violence of the Verdun offensive
+exceeded all expectations.</p>
+
+<p>Our escadrilles had done their duty as scouts before the attack. After
+it began, they were overwhelmed and numerically unable to perform all
+the a&euml;rial missions required. The fighting enemy escadrilles, with their
+new series of machines and their improvements, won for a few days the
+complete mastery of the air. Our own airplanes were forced off the
+battle-field, and driven from their landing-places by cannon. Meanwhile
+the Verdun battle was changing its character. General P&eacute;tain, who took
+command on February 26, restored the order which had been compromised by
+the bending of the front, and established the new front against which
+the Germans hurled their forces. It was also necessary for him to
+reconquer the mastery of the air. He asked for and obtained a rapid
+concentration of all the available escadrilles, and demanded of them
+vigorous offensive tactics. To economize and co&ouml;rdinate strength, all
+the fighting escadrilles at Verdun were grouped under the sole command
+of Major de Rose. They operated by patrols, sometimes following very
+distant itineraries, and attacking all the airplanes they met. In a
+short time we regained our air supremacy, and our airplanes which were
+engaged in regulating artillery fire and in taking a&euml;rial photographs
+could work in safety. Their protection was assured by raids even into
+the German lines.</p>
+
+<p>The Storks Escadrille, then, flew in the direction of Verdun. In the
+course of the voyage, Guynemer brought down his eighth airplane, which
+fell vertically in flames. This was a good augury. Hardly had he arrived
+on March 15 when he began to explore the battle-field with his
+conqueror's eyes. The enemy at that time still thought himself master,
+and dared to venture within the French lines. Guynemer chased, over
+Revigny, a group of five airplanes, drove another out of Argonne, and
+while returning met two others, almost face to face. He engaged the
+first one, tacking under it and firing from a distance of ten meters.
+But the adversary answered his fire, and Guynemer's machine was hit: the
+right-hand rear longitudinal spar was cut, the cable injured, the right
+forward strut also cut, and the wind-shield shattered. The airman
+himself was wounded in the face by fragments of aluminum and iron, one
+lodging in the jaw, from which it could never be extracted, one in the
+right cheek, one in the left eyelid, miraculously leaving the eye
+unhurt, while smaller fragments peppered him generally, causing
+hemorrhages which clogged his mask and made it adhere to the flesh. In
+addition, he had two bullets in his left arm. Though blinded by blood,
+he did not lose his sang-froid, and hastily dived, while the second
+airplane continued firing, and a third, furnished with a turret, which
+had come to the rescue of its comrades, descended after him and fired
+down upon his machine. Nevertheless, he had escaped by his maneuver, and
+in spite of his injuries made a good landing at Brocourt. On the 14th he
+was evacuated to Paris, to the Japanese ambulance in the Hotel Astoria,
+and with despair in his soul was obliged to let his comrades fight their
+battle of Verdun without his help.</p>
+
+
+<h4><a name="III_LA_TERRE_A_VU_JADIS_ERRER_DES_PALADINS" id="III_LA_TERRE_A_VU_JADIS_ERRER_DES_PALADINS"></a>III. "LA TERRE A VU JADIS ERRER DES PALADINS...."<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></h4>
+
+<p>At Verdun our a&euml;rial as well as our land forces underwent sudden and
+almost prodigious reverses. Within a few days the Storks Escadrille had
+been decimated: its chief, Captain Brocard, had been wounded in the face
+by a bullet and compelled to land; Lieutenant Perretti had been killed,
+Lieutenant Deullin wounded, Guynemer wounded and nearly all its best
+pilots put <i>hors de combat</i>. The lost air-mastery was only regained by
+the tenacity of Major de Rose, Chief of Aviation of the Second Army, and
+by a rapid reconcentration of forces.</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> "Once knightly heroes wandered over earth...."</p></div>
+
+<p>Major de Rose ordered enemy-chasing, and electrified and inspired his
+escadrilles. The part he played during those terrible Verdun months can
+never be sufficiently praised. Guynemer's comrades held the sky under
+fire, as their brothers, the infantrymen, held the shifting ground
+which protected the ancient citadel. Chaput brought down seven
+airplanes, Nungesser six, and a drachen, Navarre four, Lenoir four,
+Auger and Pelletier d'Oisy three, Puple, Chainat, and Lesort two. The
+observation airplanes rivaled the fighting machines, often defending
+themselves, and not infrequently forcing down their assailants in
+flames. Twice Sergeant Fedoroff rid himself in this manner of
+troublesome adversaries. But other pilots deserve to be mentioned,
+pilots such as Stribick and Houtt, Captain Vuillemin, Lieutenant de
+Laage, Sergeants de Ridder, Viallet and Buisse, and such observers as
+Lieutenant Liebmann, who was killed, and Mutel, Naudeau, Campion,
+Moulines, Dumas, Robbe, Travers, <i>sous-lieutenant</i> Boillot, Captain
+Verdurand&mdash;admirable squadron chief&mdash;and Major Roisin, expert in
+bombardments. The lists of names are always too short, but these, at
+least, should be loudly acclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the battle of Verdun shattered trees, knocked down walls,
+annihilated villages, hollowed out the earth, dug up the plains,
+distorted the hills, and renewed once more that chaos of the third day,
+according to Genesis, on which the Creator separated the waters from the
+earth. Almost the entire French army filed through this extraordinary
+epic battle, and Guynemer, wounded and weeping with rage, was not there.</p>
+
+<p>But there was another period in the Great War in which the grouping of
+our fighting escadrilles and their employment in offensive movements
+gave us triumphant superiority in the a&euml;rial struggle, and this was the
+battle of the Somme, particularly during its first three months&mdash;a
+splendid and heroic time when our airmen sprang up in the sky, spreading
+panic and fear, like the knights-errant of <i>La L&eacute;gende des si&egrave;cles</i>.
+Victor Hugo's verses seem to describe them and their vertiginous rounds
+rather than the too slow horsemen of old:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">La terre a vu jadis errer des paladins;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Ils flamboyaient ainsi que des &eacute;clairs soudains,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Puis s'&eacute;vanouissaient, laissant sur les visages</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">La crainte, et la lueur de leurs brusques passages...</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Les noms de quelques-uns jusqu'&agrave; nous sont venus....</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Ils surgissaient du Sud ou du Septentrion,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Portant sur leur &eacute;cu l'hydre ou l'al&eacute;rion,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Couverts des noirs oiseaux du taillis h&eacute;raldique,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Marchant seuls au sentier que le devoir indique,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Ajoutant au bruit sourd de leur pas solennel</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">La vague obscurit&eacute; d'un voyage &eacute;ternel,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Ayant franchi les flots, les monts, les bois horribles,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Ils venaient de si loin qu'ils en &eacute;taient terribles,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Et ces grands chevaliers m&ecirc;laient &agrave; leurs blasons</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Toute l'immensit&eacute; des sombres horizons....</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>These new knights-errant who wandered above the desolate plains of the
+Somme, no longer on earth but in the sky, mounted on winged steeds, who
+started up with a "heavy sound" from south or north, will be immortal
+like those of the ancient epics. It will be said that it was Dorme or
+Heurtaux, or Nungesser, Deullin, Sauvage, Tarascon, Chainat, or it was
+Guynemer, who accomplished such and such an exploit. The Germans,
+without knowing their names, recognized them, not by their armor and
+their sword-thrust, but by their machines, their maneuvers and methods.
+Almost invariably their enemies desperately avoided a fight with them,
+retreating far within their own lines, where, even then, they were not
+sure of safety. Those who accepted their gage of battle seldom returned.
+The enemy aviation camps from Ham to P&eacute;ronne watched anxiously for the
+return of their champions who dared to fight over the French lines. None
+of them cared to fly alone, and even in groups they appeared timid. In
+patrols of four, five, and six, sometimes more, they flew beyond their
+own lines with the utmost caution, fearful at the least alarm, and
+anxiously examining the wide and empty sky where these mysterious
+knights mounted guard and might at any moment let loose a storm. But in
+the course of these prodigious first three months of the battle of the
+Somme, our French chasing-patrols not infrequently flew to and fro for
+two hours over German aviation camps, forcing down all those who
+attempted to rise, and succeeding in spreading terror and consternation
+in the enemy's lines.</p>
+
+<p>The Franco-British offensive began on July 1, 1916, on the flat lands
+lying along both banks of the Somme River. The general plan of these
+operations had been agreed upon in the preceding December. The battle of
+Verdun had not prevented its execution which, on the contrary, was
+expected to relieve Verdun. The attack was made on a front of 40
+kilometers between Gomm&eacute;court on the north and Vermandovillers on the
+south of the river. From the beginning the French penetrated the enemy's
+first lines, the 20th Corps took the village of Curlu and held the
+Favi&egrave;re wood, while the 1st Colonial Corps and one division of the 35th
+Corps passed the Fay ravine and took possession of Bacquincourt,
+Dompierre and Bussus. On the third, this successful advance continued
+into the second lines. Within just a few days General Fayolle's army had
+taken 10,000 prisoners, 75 cannon, and several hundred machine-guns. But
+the Germans, who were concentrated in the P&eacute;ronne region, with strong
+positions like Maurepas, Combles, and Cl&eacute;ry, and, further in the rear,
+Bouchavesnes and Sailly-Saillisel on the right bank, and Estr&eacute;es,
+Belloy-en-Santerre, Barleux, Albaincourt and Pressoire on the left bank,
+made such desperate resistance that the struggle was prolonged into
+mid-winter. The German retreat in March, 1917, to the famous Hindenburg
+line was the strategic result of this terrible battle, the tactics of
+which were continuously successful and the connection between the
+different arms brought to perfection, while the infantry made an
+unsurpassed record for suffering and endurance and will power in such
+combats as Maurepas (August 12), Cl&eacute;ry (September 3), Bouchavesnes
+(September 12)&mdash;where, when evening came, the enemy was definitely
+broken&mdash;and the taking of Berny-en-Santerre, of Deni&eacute;court, of
+Vermandovillers (September 13) on the left bank, and on the right bank
+the entry into Combles (surrounded on September 26), the advance on
+Sailly-Saillisel and the stubborn defense of this ruined village whose
+ch&acirc;teau and central district had already been occupied on October 15,
+and in which a few houses resisted until November 12. Then, there was
+the fight for the Chaulnes wood, and La Maisonnette and Ablaincourt and
+Pressoire; and everywhere it was the same as at Verdun: the woods were
+razed to the ground, villages disappeared into the soil, and the earth
+was so plowed and crushed and martyred that it was nothing but one
+immense wound.</p>
+
+<p>Now, the air forces had had their part in the victory. Obliged, as they
+were at Verdun, to resist the numerical superiority of the enemy, they
+had thrown off the tyranny of atmospheric conditions and accepted and
+fulfilled diverse missions in all kinds of weather. Verdun had hardened
+them, as it had "burned the blood" of the infantry who had never known a
+worse hell than that one. But as our operations now took the initiative,
+the aviation corps was able to prepare its material more effectively, to
+organize its a&euml;rodromes and concentrate its forces beforehand. Its
+advantage was evident from the first day of the Somme offensive, not
+only in mechanical power, but in a method which co&ouml;rdinated and
+increased its efforts under a single command. Though this arm of the
+service was in continuous evolution, more subject than any other to the
+modifications of the war, and the most susceptible of all to progress
+and improvement, it had nevertheless finished its trial stages and
+acquired full development as connecting agent for all the other arms,
+whom it supplied with information. Serving at first for strategic
+reconnaissance, and then almost exclusively for regulating artillery
+fire, the a&euml;rial forces now performed complex and efficient service for
+every branch of the army. By means of a&euml;rial photography they furnished
+exact knowledge of the ground and of the enemy's defenses, thus
+preceding the execution of military operations. They regulated artillery
+fire, followed the program laid down for the destruction of the enemy,
+and supplied such information as was necessary to set the time for the
+attack. They then accompanied the infantry in the attack, observed its
+progress, located the conquered positions, revealed the situation of the
+enemy's new lines, betrayed his defensive works, and announced his
+reinforcements and his counter-attacks. They were the conducting wire
+between the command, the artillery, and the troops, and everybody felt
+them to be sure and faithful allies, for they were able to see and know,
+to speak and warn. But the air forces, during all their useful missions,
+were themselves in need of protection, and there must be no enemy
+airplanes about if they were to make their observations in security. But
+how to rid them of these enemies, and render the latter incapable of
+harm? Here the air cavalry, the airplanes built for distant scouting and
+combats, intervened. The safety of observation machines could only be
+insured by long-distance protection, that is to say, by a&euml;rial patrols
+taking the offensive, not by a solitary guard, too often disappointing,
+and ineffective against a resolute adversary. Their safety near to the
+army could be guaranteed only by carrying the a&euml;rial struggle over into
+the enemy's lines and preventing all raids upon our own. The groups
+belonging to our fighting escadrilles on both banks of the Somme
+achieved this result.</p>
+
+<p>The one-seated Nieuport, rapid, easily managed, with high ascensional
+speed, and capable, by its solid construction and air-piercing power, of
+diving from a height upon an enemy and falling upon him like a bird of
+prey, was then the chasing airplane <i>par excellence</i>, and remained so
+until the appearance of the terrible Spad, which made its <i>d&eacute;but</i> in the
+course of the Somme campaign, Guynemer and Corporal Sauvage piloting the
+first two of these machines in early September, 1916. They were armed
+with machine-guns, firing forward, and invariably connected with the
+direction of the machine's motion. The Spad is an extraordinary
+instrument of attack, but its defense lies only in its capacity for
+rapid displacement and the swiftness of its evolutions. Its rear is
+badly exposed: its field of visibility is very limited at the sides, and
+objects can be seen only above and below,&mdash;below, minus the dead angle
+of the motor and the cock-pit. The pilot can easily lose sight of the
+airplanes in his own group or that of the enemy, so that if he is alone,
+he is in danger of being surprised. On the other hand, one condition of
+his own victory is to surprise the enemy, especially if he attacks a
+two-seated machine whose range of fire is much broader, or if he does
+not hesitate to choose his victim from among a group. The Spad pilot
+makes use of the sun, of fog, of clouds. He flies high in order to hold
+the advantage of being able to pounce down upon his enemy while the
+enemy approaches prudently, timidly, suspecting no danger.</p>
+
+<p>The battle of the Somme was the most favorable for solitary airplanes,
+or airplanes coupled like hunting-dogs. Since then methods have changed,
+and the future belongs to fighting escadrilles or groups of machines.
+But at that time the one-seated airplane was king of the air. One of
+them was enough to intimidate enemy airplanes engaged in regulating
+artillery fire and in short-distance scouting, making them hesitate to
+leave their lines, and to frighten barrier patrols of two or even four
+two-seated airplanes, in spite of their shooting superiority, into
+turning back and disbanding. The one-seated enemy machines never
+ventured out except in groups, and even with the advantage of two
+against one refused to fight. So the one-seated French machine was
+obliged to fly alone, for if it was accompanied by patrols, the enemy
+fled and there was no one to attack; whereas, when free to maneuver at
+will, the solitary pilot could plan ruses, hide himself in the light or
+in the clouds, take advantage of the enemy's blind sides, and carry out
+sudden destructive attacks which are impossible for groups. Our airmen
+never speak of the Somme without a smile of satisfaction: they have
+retained heroic memories of that campaign. Afterwards, the Germans
+drilled their one-seated or two-seated patrols, trained them in
+resistance to isolated attacks, and taught them in turn how to attack
+the solitary machine which had ventured out beyond its own lines. We
+were obliged to alter our tactics and adopt group formation. But the
+strongest types of our enemy-chasing pilots were revealed or developed
+during the battle of the Somme.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, our aviators at that time were incomparable; and in citing the
+most illustrious among them one risks injustice to their companions
+whose opportunities were less fortunate and whose exploits were less
+brilliant but not less useful. The cavalry, artillery, and infantry were
+drawn upon for recruits for the aviation branch of the army, and it
+appeared a difficult undertaking to fuse such different elements; but as
+all shared the same life and the same dangers, had similar tastes, and a
+passion for attaining the same result, and as their officers were
+necessarily recruited from among themselves, and chosen for services
+rendered, an atmosphere of <i>camaraderie</i> and friendly rivalry was
+created. A great novelist said that the origin of our friendships dates
+"from those hours at the beginning of life when we dream of the future
+in company with some comrade with the same ideals as our own, a chosen
+brother."<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> What difference does it make, then, if they depart in
+company for glory or for death? These young men gave themselves with the
+same willingness to the same service, a service full of constant
+danger. They were not gathered together by chance, but by their vocation
+and by selection, and they spoke the same language. For them, friendship
+easily became rivalry in courage and energy, and a school of mutual
+esteem, in which each strove to outdo the other. Friendship kept them
+alert, drove away inertia and weakness, and they became confident and
+generous, so that each rejoiced in the success of the others. In the
+mountains, on the sea, in every place where men feel most acutely their
+own fragility, such friendship is not rare; but war brings it to
+perfection.</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Paul Bourget, <i>Une Idylle tragique</i>.</p></div>
+
+<p>The patrols of the Storks Escadrille, in the beginning of the Somme
+campaign, consisted of a single airplane, or airplanes in couples.
+Guynemer, whom everybody called "the kid," always took Heurtaux with him
+when he carried a passenger; for Heurtaux, as blond as Guynemer was
+brown, thin and slender, very delicate and young, seemed to give
+Guynemer the rights of an elder. Heurtaux was the Oliver of this Roland.
+In character and energy they were the same. Dorme used to take Deullin
+with him, or de la Tour. Or the choice was made alternately. This was
+the quartet of whom the enemy had cause to beware, and woe to the Boche
+who met any one of them! There was at that time at Bapaume a group of
+five one-seated German machines which never maneuvered singly. If they
+perceived a pair of Nieuports, they immediately tacked about and fled in
+haste. But if one of our chasers was cruising alone, the whole group
+attacked him. Heurtaux, attacked in this way, had been compelled to dive
+and land, and on his return had to submit to the jests of Guynemer, for
+at that age friendship is roughish. "Go there yourself," advised
+Heurtaux, "and you will see." Next day Guynemer went alone, but in his
+turn was forced down. After these two trials, which might have ended in
+disaster&mdash;but knights must amuse themselves&mdash;the five one-seated planes
+at Bapaume were methodically but promptly beaten down.</p>
+
+<p>Friendship demands equality between souls. If one has to protect the
+other, if one is manifestly superior, it is no longer friendship. In the
+Storks Escadrille friendship reigned in peace in the midst of war, so
+surely did each take his turn in surpassing the others. Which one was,
+finally, to be the greatest, not because of the number of his mentions,
+nor his renown or public fame, but according to the testimony of his
+comrades&mdash;the surest and most clearsighted of testimony&mdash;for no one can
+deceive his peers? Would it be the cold and calm Dorme, who went to
+battle as a fisher goes to his nets, who never spoke of his exploits,
+and whose heart, under this modest, gentle, kind exterior, was filled
+with hatred for the invader who occupied his own countryside, Briey, and
+for six months had held in custody and ill-treated his parents? In the
+Somme battle alone his official victories numbered seventeen, but the
+enemy could recount many others, doubtless, for this silent,
+well-balanced young man possessed quite improbable audacity. He would
+fly more than fifteen or twenty kilometers above the German lines,
+perfectly tranquil under the showers of shells which rose from the
+earth. At such a distance within their lines the Boche airplanes thought
+themselves safe when, suddenly, <i>du Sud ou du Septentrion</i>, appeared
+this knightly hero. And he would return smilingly, as fresh as when he
+had started out. It was only with difficulty that a very brief statement
+could then be extracted from him. His machine would be inspected, and
+not a trace of any fragment found; he might have been a tourist
+returning from a promenade. In more than a hundred combats his airplane
+received only three very small wounds. His cleverness in handling his
+machine was incredible: his close veering, his twistings and turnings,
+made it impossible for the adversary to shoot. He also knew how to quit
+the combat in time, if his own maneuvers had not succeeded. He seemed
+invulnerable. But later, much later, while he was fighting on the Aisne
+in May, 1917, Dorme, who had penetrated far within the enemy's lines,
+never came back.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center">
+<img src="images/illus03.png" alt="Air" />
+<a id="illus03" name="illus03"></a>
+</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-bottom: 3em;"><b>In The Air</b></p>
+
+
+
+<p>Was Heurtaux the greatest, whose method was as delicate as himself&mdash;a
+virtuoso of the air, clever, supple and quickwitted, whose hand and eye
+equaled his thought in rapidity? Was it Deullin, skilled in approach,
+and prompt as the tempest? Or the long-enduring, robust, admirable
+<i>sous-lieutenant</i> Nungessor, or Sergeant Sauvage, or Adjutant Tarascon?
+Was it Captain M&eacute;nard, or Sangloer, or de la Tour? But the reader knows
+very well that it was Guynemer. Why was it Guynemer, according to the
+testimony of all his rivals? History and the epic have coupled many
+names of friends, like Achilles and Patroclus, Orestes and Pylades,
+Nisus and Euryalus, Roland and Oliver. In these friendships, one is
+always surpassed by the other, but not in intelligence, nor courage nor
+nobility of character. For generosity, or wisdom of council, one might
+even prefer a Patroclus to an Achilles, an Oliver to a Roland. In what,
+then, lies the superiority? That is the secret of temperament, the
+secret of genius, the interior flame which burns the brightest, and
+whose appearances cause astonishment and almost terror, as if some
+mystery were divulged.</p>
+
+<p>It is certain that Georges Guynemer was a mechanician and a gunsmith. He
+knew his machine and his machine-gun, and how to make them do their
+utmost. But there were others who knew the same. Dorme and Heurtaux were
+perhaps more skillful in maneuvering than he. (It was interesting to
+watch Guynemer when he was preparing to mount his Nieuport. First the
+bird was brought out of the shed; then he minutely examined and fingered
+it. This tall thin young man, with his amber-colored skin, his long oval
+face and thin nose, his mouth with its corners falling slightly, a very
+slight moustache, and crow-black hair tossed backward, would have
+resembled a Moorish chief had he been more impassive. But his features
+constantly showed his changing thoughts, and this play of expression
+gave grace and freshness to his face. Sometimes it seemed strained and
+hardened, and a vertical wrinkle appeared on his forehead above the
+nose. His eyes&mdash;the unforgettable eyes of Guynemer&mdash;round like agates,
+black and burning with a brilliance impossible to endure, for which
+there is only one expression sufficiently strong, that of Saint-Simon
+concerning some personage of the court of Louis XIV: "The glances of his
+eyes were like blows"&mdash;pierced the sky like arrows, when his practiced
+ear had heard the harsh hum of an enemy motor. In advance he condemned
+the audacious adversary to death, seeming from a distance to draw him
+into the abyss, like a sorcerer.)</p>
+
+<p>After examining his machine he put on his fur-lined <i>combinaison</i> over
+his black coat, and his head-covering, the <i>passe-montagne</i>, fitting
+tightly over his hair, and framing the oval of his face, and over this
+his leather helmet. Plutarch spoke of the terrible expression of
+Alexander when he went to battle. Guynemer's face, when he rose for a
+flight, was appalling.</p>
+
+<p>What did he do in the air? His flight journals and statements tell the
+story. On each page, a hundred times in succession, and several times on
+a page, his flight notebooks contain the short sentences which seem to
+bound from the paper, like a dog showing its teeth: "I attack ... I
+attack ... I attack...." At long intervals, as if ashamed, appears the
+phrase: "I am attacked." On the Somme more than twenty victories were
+credited to him, and to these should be added, as in the case of Dorme,
+others taking place at too great distances to receive confirmation. In
+the first month of the Somme battle, on September 13, 1916, the Storks
+Escadrille, Captain Brocard, was mentioned before the army: "Has shown
+unequaled energy and devotion to duty in the operations of Verdun and
+the Somme, waging, from March 19 to August 19, 1916, 338 combats,
+bringing down 36 airplanes, 3 drachen, and compelling 36 other badly
+damaged airplanes to land." Captain Brocard dedicated this mention to
+Lieutenant Guynemer, writing under it: "To Lieutenant Guynemer, my
+oldest pilot, and most brilliant Stork. Souvenir of gratitude and
+warmest friendship." And all the pilots of the escadrille, in turn, came
+to sign it. His comrades had often seen what he did in the air.</p>
+
+<p>When Guynemer came back and landed, what a spectacle! Although a victor,
+his face was not appeased. It was never to be appeased. He never was
+satisfied, never waged enough battles, never burned or destroyed enough
+enemies. When he landed he was still under the influence of nervous
+effort, and seemed as if electrified by the fluid still passing through
+his frame. However, his machine bore traces of the struggle: four
+bullets in the wing, the body, and the elevator. And he himself was
+grazed by the missiles, his <i>combinaison</i> scratched and the end of his
+glove torn. By what miracle had he escaped?&mdash;He had passed through
+encircling death as a man leaps through a hoop.</p>
+
+<p>His method was one of the wildest temerity and impetuosity, and can be
+recommended to nobody. The number and strength of the enemy, so far from
+repelling, attracted him. He flew to vertiginous heights, and taking his
+place in the sunshine, watched and waited. In an attack he did not make
+use of the a&euml;rial acrobatic maneuvers with which, however, he was
+perfectly familiar. He struck without delay,&mdash;what is known in fencing
+as the cut direct. Without trying to maintain his machine within his
+adversary's dead angles, he fell on him as a stone falls. He shot as
+near to the enemy as he could, at the risk of being shot first himself,
+and even of interlocking their machines, though in that respect the
+sureness of his maneuvering sufficed to disengage him. If he failed to
+take the enemy by surprise, he did not quit the combat as prudence
+exacted; but returned to the charge, refusing to unhook his clutch from
+the enemy airplane, and held him, and wanted him, and got him.</p>
+
+<p>His passion for flying never diminished. On rainy days, when it was
+unreasonable and useless to attempt to fly, he wandered around the sheds
+where the winged horses took their repose. He could not resist it: he
+entered, and mounted his own machine, settling himself in his cock-pit
+and handling the controls, holding mysterious conferences with his
+faithful steed.</p>
+
+<p>In the air, he had a higher power of resistance than the most robust
+men. This frail, sickly Guynemer, twice refused by the army because of
+feebleness of constitution, never gave up. In proportion as the
+requirements of aviation became more severe, as the higher altitudes
+reached made it more exhausting, Guynemer seemed to prolong his flights
+to the point where overwork and nervous depression compelled him to go
+away and take a little rest&mdash;which made him suffer still more. And
+suddenly, before he had taken the necessary repose, he threw it off like
+ballast, and returning to camp, reappeared in the air, like the falcon
+in the legend of Saint Julien the Hospitaller: "The bold bird rose
+straight in the air like an arrow, and there could be seen two spots of
+unequal size which turned and joined, and then disappeared in the
+heights of heaven. The falcon soon descended, tearing some bird to
+pieces, and returned to his perch on the gauntlet, with his wings
+quivering."<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> Thus the victorious Guynemer came back, quivering, to
+the aviation field. Truly, a god possessed him.</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Flaubert.</p></div>
+
+<p>Apart from all that, he was just a boy, simple, gay, tender, and
+charming.</p>
+
+
+<h4><a name="IV_ON_THE_SOMME" id="IV_ON_THE_SOMME"></a>IV. ON THE SOMME (JUNE, 1916, TO FEBRUARY, 1917)</h4>
+
+<p>Georges Guynemer, then, was wounded on March 15, 1916, at Verdun. On
+April 26, he arrived again at the front, with his arm half-cured and the
+wounds scarcely healed. He had escaped from the doctors and nurses.
+Between times, he had been promoted <i>sous-lieutenant</i>. But he had to be
+sent back, to his bandages and massage.</p>
+
+<p>He returned to Compi&egrave;gne. The bargain he had made with his sister Yvonne
+was continued, and when the weather was clear he went to Vauciennes,
+where his machine awaited him. The first time he met an airplane after
+his fall and his wound, he experienced a quite natural but very painful
+sensation. Would he hesitate? Was he no longer the stubborn Guynemer?
+The Boche shot, but he did not reply. The Boche used up all his
+machine-gun belt, and the combat was broken off. Was it to be believed?
+What had happened?</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer returned to his home. In the spring dawn comes very soon, and
+he had left so early that it was still morning. Was his sister awake? He
+waited, but waiting was not his forte. So he opened the door again, and
+his childish face appeared in the strip of light that filtered through.
+This time the sleeper saw him.</p>
+
+<p>"Already back? Go back to bed. It is too early."</p>
+
+<p>"Is it really so early?"</p>
+
+<p>Her sisterly tenderness divined that he had something to tell her,
+something important, and that it would be necessary to help him to tell
+it. "Come in," she said.</p>
+
+<p>He opened the blinds and sat down at the foot of the bed.</p>
+
+<p>"What scouting have you done this morning?"</p>
+
+<p>But he was following his own thoughts: "The men had warned me that under
+those circumstances one receives a very disagreeable impression."</p>
+
+<p>"Under what circumstances?"</p>
+
+<p>"When one goes up again after having been wounded, and meets a Boche. As
+long as you have not been wounded you think nothing can happen to you.
+When I saw that Boche this morning I felt something quite new. Then...."</p>
+
+<p>He stopped and laughed, as if he had played some schoolboy joke.</p>
+
+<p>"Then, what did you do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I made up my mind to submit to his shots. Calmly."</p>
+
+<p>"Without replying?"</p>
+
+<p>"Surely: I ordered myself not to shoot. That is the way one masters
+one's nerves, little sister. Mine are entirely mastered: I am now
+absolutely in control. The Boche presented me with five hundred shots
+while I maneuvered. They were necessary. I am perfectly satisfied."</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him, sitting at the foot of the bed with his head resting
+against the post. Her eyes were wet and she kept silent. The silence
+continued.</p>
+
+<p>Finally she said softly, "You have done well, Georges."</p>
+
+<p>But he was asleep.</p>
+
+<p>Later, referring to this meeting in which he offered himself to the
+enemy's fire, he said gravely:</p>
+
+<p>"That was the decisive moment of my life. If I had not set things right
+then and there, I was done for...."</p>
+
+<p>When he reappeared at his escadrille's head-quarters on May 18, quite
+cheerful but with a set face and flaming eyes, no one dared discuss his
+cure with him.</p>
+
+<p>The Storks returned for a few days to the Oise region, and once more the
+contented pilot of a Nieuport flew over the country from P&eacute;ronne to
+Roye. He had not lost the least particle of his determination; quite the
+reverse. One day (May 22) he searched the air desperately for three
+hours, and though he finally discovered a two-seated enemy machine over
+Noyon, he was obliged to give over the combat for lack of gasoline in
+his motor.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile they were preparing the Somme battle; the escadrilles
+familiarized themselves with their ground, and new machines were tried.
+The enemy, who suspected our preparations, sent out long-distance
+scouting airplanes. Near Amiens, above Villers-Bretonneux, Guynemer,
+making his rounds with Sergeant Chainat, attacked one of these groups on
+June 22, isolated one of the airplanes and, maneuvering with his
+comrade, set it afire. That was, I believe, his ninth. This combat took
+place at a height of 4200 meters. The advantage went more and more to
+the pilot who mounted highest.</p>
+
+<p>After July 1 there was a combat almost every day. Would Guynemer be put
+out of action from the beginning, as at Verdun? Returning on the 6th,
+after having put to flight an L.V.G., he surprised another Boche
+airplane which was diving down on one of our artillery-regulating
+machines. He immediately drew the enemy's attention to himself; but the
+enemy (Guynemer pays him this homage in his flight notebook) was keen
+and supple. His well-aimed shots passed through the propeller of the
+Nieuport and cut two cables in the right cell. Guynemer was obliged to
+land. He was forced down eight times during his flying career, once
+under fantastic conditions. He passed through every form of danger
+without ever losing the self-possession, the quickness of eye, and
+rapidity of decision which his passion for conquest had developed.</p>
+
+<p>What battles he fought in the air! On July 9 his journal notes a combat
+of five against five; on the 10th a combat of three against seven, in
+which Guynemer disengaged Deullin, who was followed by an Aviatik at a
+distance of a hundred meters. On the 11th, at 10 o'clock, he attacked an
+L.V.G. and cut its cable; the enemy dived but appeared to be in control
+of the machine. A few moments later he and Deullin attacked an Aviatik
+and an L.V.G., Guynemer damaging the Aviatik, and Deullin forcing down
+the L.V.G.; and before returning to their base, the two comrades
+attacked a group of seven machines and dispersed them. On the 16th
+Guynemer forced down, with Heurtaux, an L.V.G., which fell with its
+wheels in the air. After a short absence, during which he got a more
+powerful machine for his own use, he began on the 25th a repetition of
+his former program. On the 26th he waged five combats with enemy groups
+consisting of from five to eleven airplanes. On the 27th he fought three
+L.V.G.'s, and then groups of from three to ten machines. On the 28th he
+successively attacked two airplanes within their own lines, then a
+drachen which was obliged to land, then a group of four airplanes one of
+which was forced down, and then a second group of four which were
+dispersed, Guynemer pursuing one of the fugitives and bringing him down.
+One blade of his own propeller was riddled with bullets, and he was
+compelled to land. Such was his work for three days, taken at random
+from the notebook.</p>
+
+<p>Open his journal at any page, and it reads the same. On August 7
+Guynemer got back with seven shell fragments in his machine: he had been
+cannonaded from the ground while in chase of four enemy airplanes. On
+the same day he started off again, piloting Heurtaux, who attacked the
+German trenches north of Cl&eacute;ry and fired on some machine-guns. From its
+place up in the air the airplane encouraged the infantry, and shared in
+their assaults. The recital of events became, however, more and more
+brief: the fighting pilot had not time enough to write details; nobody
+had any time in the Storks Escadrille, constantly engaged as it was in
+its triumphant flights. We must turn then to Guynemer's letters&mdash;strange
+letters, indeed, which contain nothing, absolutely nothing about the
+war, or the battle of the Somme, or about anything else except <i>his</i> war
+and <i>his</i> battle. The earth-world no longer existed for him: the earth
+was a place which received the dead and the vanquished. So this is the
+way in which he wrote his two sisters, then sojourning in Switzerland
+(Fritz meaning any enemy airplane):</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Dear Kids</span>,</p>
+
+<p>Some sport: the 17, attacked a Fritz, three shots and gun jammed;
+Fritz tumbled. The 18th, <i>idem</i>, but in two shots: two Fritzes in
+five shots, record.</p>
+
+<p>Day before yesterday, attacked Fritz at 4.30 at ten meters: killed
+the passenger and perhaps the rest, prevented from seeing what
+happened by a fight at half-past four: the Boche ran.</p>
+
+<p>At 7.40 attacked an Aviatik, carried away by the impetus, passed it
+at fifty centimeters; passenger "<i>couic</i>" (killed), the machine
+fell and was got under control again at fifty meters above the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p>At 7.35, attacked an L.V.G.; at fifteen meters; just ready to
+shoot, when a bullet in my fingers made me let go the trigger;
+reservoir burst, good landing two kilometers from the trenches
+between two shell-holes. Inventory of the "taxi": one bullet right
+in the face of my Vickers; one perforative bullet in the motor; the
+steel stone had gone clear through it as well as the oil reservoir,
+the gasoline tank, the cartridge chest, my glove ... where it
+stayed in the index finger: result, about as if my finger had been
+slightly pinched in a door; not even skinned, only the top of the
+nail slightly blackened. At the time I thought two fingers had been
+shot. To continue the inventory: one bullet in the reservoir, in
+the direction of my left lung, having passed through four
+millimeters of copper and had the good sense to stop, but one
+wonders why.</p>
+
+<p>One bullet in the edge of the back of my seat, one in the rudder,
+and a dozen in the wings. They knocked the "taxi" to pieces with a
+hatchet at two o'clock in the morning, under shell-fire. On
+landing, received 86 shots of 105, 130 and 150, for nothing. They
+will pay the bill.</p>
+
+<p>For a beginning, La Tour has his fourth mention.</p>
+
+<p>A hug for each of you.</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 25em;"><span class="smcap">Georges</span>.</p>
+
+<p>P.S.&mdash;It could not be said now that I am not strong; I stop steel
+bullets with the end of my finger.</p></div>
+
+<p>Is this a letter? At first, it is a bulletin of victory: two airplanes
+for five bullets, plus one passenger "<i>couic</i>." Then it becomes a
+recital of the golden legend&mdash;the golden legend of aviation: he stops
+the enemy's bullets with his fingers; Roland would write in that style
+to the beautiful Aude: "Met three Saracens, Durandal cleft two, the
+third tried to settle the affair with his bow, but the arrow broke on
+the cord." Young Paul Bailly was right: "The exploits of Guynemer are
+not a legend, like those of Roland; in telling them just as they
+happened we find them more beautiful than any we could invent." That is
+why it is better to let Guynemer himself relate them. He says only what
+is necessary, but the right accent is there, the rapidity and the
+"<i>couic</i>." The following letter is dated September 15, 1916.</p>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="center"><i>From the same to the same</i></p>
+
+<p>Some sport.</p>
+
+<p>On the 16th, in a group of six, four of them squeezed at 25 meters.</p>
+
+<p>In four days, six combats at 25 meters: filled a few Boches with
+holes, but they did not seem to tumble down, though some were hard
+hit all the same; then five boxing rounds up between 5100 and 5300
+(altitude). To-day five combats, four of them at less than 25
+meters, and the fifth at 50 meters. In the first, gun jammed at 50
+meters. In the second, at 5200, the Boche in his excitement lost
+his wings, and descended on his a&euml;rodrome in a wingless coach; his
+ears must be humming (16th). The third was a nose-to-nose combat
+with a fighting Aviatik. Too much impetus: I failed to hammer him
+hollow. In the fourth, same joke with an L.V.G. in a group of
+three: I failed to hammer him, I lurched: <i>pan</i>, a bullet near my
+head. In the fifth, I cleaned up the passenger (that is the third
+this week), then knocked up the pilot very badly at 10
+meters,&mdash;completely disabled, he landed evidently with great
+difficulty, and he must be in hospital....</p></div>
+
+<p>Three lines to describe a victory, the sixteenth. And what boarding of
+the adversary, from above and from below! He springs upon the enemy, but
+fails to go through him. Both speeds combined, he does not make much
+less than 400 kilometers an hour when he dives on him. The meeting and
+shooting hardly last one second, after which the combat continues, with
+other maneuvers. Some savant should calculate the time allowed for sight
+and thought in fighting such duels!</p>
+
+<p>This was the period of the great series of combats on the Somme. The
+Storks Escadrille, which was the first to arrive, waged battle
+uninterruptedly for eight months. Other escadrilles came to the rescue.
+Altogether they were divided into two groups, one under the command of
+Major F&eacute;quant, the other under that of Captain Brocard, appointed chief
+of battalion. It becomes impossible to enumerate all Guynemer's
+victories, and we can merely emphasize the days on which he surpassed
+himself. September 28 was a remarkable day, on which he brought down two
+enemies and had a fall from a height of 3000 meters. Little Paul Bailly
+would hardly have believed that; he would have said it was surely a
+legend, the golden legend of aviation. Nevertheless, here is Guynemer's
+statement, countersigned by the escadrille commandant:</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Saturday, September 23.</i>&mdash;Two combats near Eterpigny. At 11.20 forced
+down a Boche in flames near Aches; at 11.21 forced a Boche to land,
+damaged, near Carr&eacute;puy; at 11.25 forced down a Boche in flames near
+Roye. At 11.30, was forced down myself by a French shell, and smashed my
+machine near Fescamps...."</p>
+
+<p>These combats occurred between P&eacute;ronne and Montdidier. To his father he
+wrote with more precision, but in his usual elliptical style.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>September 22</i>: Asphyxiated a Fokker in 30 seconds, tumbled down
+disabled.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>September 23</i>: 11.20.&mdash;A Boche in flames within our lines.</p>
+
+<p>"11.21.&mdash;A Boche disabled, passenger killed.</p>
+
+<p>"11.25.&mdash;A Boche in flames 400 meters from the lines.</p>
+
+<p>"11.25 and a half.&mdash;A 75 blew up my water reservoir, and all the linen
+of the left upper plane, hence a superb tail spin. Succeeded in changing
+it into a glide. Fell to ground at speed of 160 or 180 kilometers:
+everything broken like matches, then the 'taxi' rebounded, turned around
+at 45 degrees, and came back, head down, planting itself in the ground
+40 meters away like a post; they could not budge it. Nothing was left
+but the body, which was intact: the Spad is strong; with any other
+machine I should now be thinner than this sheet of paper. I fell 100
+meters from the battery that had demolished me; they had not aimed at
+me, but they brought me down all the same, which they had no difficulty
+in recognizing; the shell struck me hard some time before exploding. The
+Boche fell close by Major Constantin's post. I picked up the pieces."</p>
+
+<p>The group which he had attacked was composed of five airplanes, flying
+in <i>&eacute;chelon</i>, three above, two below. The two which flew lowest were
+assaulted by one of our escadrilles, and the pilots, seeing a machine
+fall in flames, thought at first it was their own victory. "It was my
+first one, falling from the upper story," Guynemer explained drolly, in
+his Stanislas-student manner. With his "<i>terrible oiseau</i>" he had waged
+battle with the three pilots "of the upper story," and had forced them
+down one after the other. "The first one," he said, "had a half-burned
+card in his pocket which had certainly been given him that same morning,
+judging by the date, which read in German: 'I think you are very
+successful in aviation.' I have his photograph with his Gretchen. What
+German heads! He wore the same decorations as that one who fell in the
+Bus wood...." Is this not Achilles setting his foot on Hector and
+taking possession of his trophies? Guynemer's heart was stone to his
+enemies. He saw in them the wrongs done to France, the invasion of our
+country, the destruction of our towns and villages, our desolation, and
+our dead, so many of our dead whose deserted homes weep for them. His
+was not to give pity, but to do justice. And in doing justice, when an
+adversary whom he had forced down was wounded, he brought him help with
+all his native generosity.</p>
+
+<p>For him, thirty seconds had separated the Capitol from the Tarpeian
+Rock. After his triple victory came his incredible fall, unheard of,
+fantastic, from a height of 3000 meters, the Spad falling at the highest
+speed down to earth, and rebounding and planting itself in the ground
+like a picket. "I was completely stupefied for twenty-four hours, but
+have escaped with merely immense fatigue (especially where I wear my
+looping-the-loop straps, which saved my life), and a gash in my knee
+presented to me by my magneto. During that 3000-meter tumble I was
+planning the best way to hit the ground (I had the choice of sauces): I
+found the way, but there were still 95 out of 100 chances for the wooden
+cross. <i>Enfin</i>, all right!" And this postscript followed: "Sixth time I
+have been brought down: record!"</p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant V.F., of the Dragon Escadrille, colliding with a comrade's
+airplane at a height of 3000 meters, had a similar fall onto the
+Avocourt wood, and was similarly astounded to find himself whole. He
+had continued maneuvering during the five or six minutes of the descent.
+"Soon," he wrote, "the trees of the Hesse forest came in sight; in fact,
+they seemed to approach at a dizzy rate of speed. I switched off so as
+not to catch fire, and a few meters before reaching the trees I nosed up
+my machine with all my strength so that it would fall flat. There was a
+terrible shock! One tree higher than the rest broke my right wings, and
+made me turn as if I were on a pivot. I closed my eyes. There was a
+second shock, less violent than I could have hoped: the machine fell on
+its nose like a stone, at the foot of the tree which had stopped me. I
+unfastened my belt which, luckily, had not broken, and let myself slip
+onto the ground, amazed not to be suffering intense agony. The only bad
+effects were that my head was heavy, and blood was flowing through my
+mask. I breathed, coughed, and shook my arms and legs, and was
+dumbfounded to find that all my faculties functioned normally...."
+Guynemer did not tell us so much; but, as a mathematician, he calculated
+his chances. He too had switched off, and with the greatest sang-froid
+superintended, so to speak, his fall. Its result was no less magical.</p>
+
+<p>The infantrymen had observed this rainfall of airplanes. The French
+plane reached the earth just before its pilot's last victim fell also,
+in flames. The soldiers pitied the poor victor, who had not, as they
+thought, survived his conquest! They rushed to his aid, expecting to
+pick him up crushed to atoms. But Guynemer stood up without aid. He
+seemed like a ghost; but he was standing, he was alive, and the excited
+soldiers took possession of him and carried him off in triumph. A
+division general approached, and immediately commanded a military salute
+for the victor, saying to Guynemer:</p>
+
+<p>"You will review the troops with me."</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer did not know how to review troops, and would have liked to go.
+He was suffering cruelly from his knee:</p>
+
+<p>"I happen to be wounded, General."</p>
+
+<p>"Wounded, you! It's impossible. When a man falls from the sky without
+being broken, he is a magician, no doubt of that. You cannot be wounded.
+However, lean upon me."</p>
+
+<p>And holding him up, almost indeed carrying him, he walked with the young
+<i>sous-lieutenant</i> in front of the troops. From the neighboring trenches
+rose the sound of singing, first half-suppressed, and then swelling into
+a formidable roar: the <i>Marseillaise</i>. The song had sprung spontaneously
+to the men's lips.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Cerebral commotion required Guynemer to rest for a few days. But on
+October 5 he started off again. The month of October on the Somme was
+marked by an improvement in German aviation, their numbers being
+considerably reinforced and supplied with new tactics. Guynemer defied
+the new tactics of numbers, and in one day, October 17, attacked a group
+of three one-seated planes, and another group of five. A second time he
+made a sortie, and attacked a two-seated plane which was aided by five
+one-seated machines. On another occasion, November 9, he waged six
+battles with one-seated and two-seated machines, all of which made their
+escape, one after another, by diving. Still this was not enough, and he
+set forth again and attacked a group of one Albatros and four one-seated
+planes. "Hard fight," says the journal, "the enemy has the advantage."
+He broke off this combat, but only to engage in another with an Albatros
+which had surprised Lieutenant Deullin at 50 meters. On the following
+day, November 10, he added two more items to his list (making his
+nineteenth and twentieth): his first victim, at whom he had shot fifteen
+times from a distance less than ten meters, fell in flames south of
+Nesle; the other, a two-seated Albatros, 220 H.P. Merc&eacute;d&egrave;s, protected by
+three one-seated machines, fell and was crushed to pieces in the
+Morcourt ravine. This double stroke he repeated on the twenty-second of
+the same month (making his twenty-second and twenty-third), and again on
+January 23, 1917 (his twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh), and still again
+the next day, the twenty-fourth (his twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth
+victories). In addition, here is one of his letters with a statement of
+the results of three chasing days. There are no longer headings or
+endings to his letters; he makes a direct attack, as he does in the
+air.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>26-1-'17</p>
+
+<p><i>January</i> 24, 1917.&mdash;Fell on a group of five Boches at 2300. I
+brought them back, with drums beating, at 800 meters (one wire stay
+cut, one escape pot broken). At the end of the boxing-round, 400
+meters above Roye, I succeeded in getting behind a one-seated
+machine of the group. My motor stopped; obliged to pump and let the
+Boche go.</p>
+
+<p>11.45.&mdash;Attacked a Fritz, let him go at 800 meters, my motor
+spattered, but the Boche landed, head down, near Goyancourt. I only
+count him as damaged.</p>
+
+<p>At this instant, I see a Boche cannonaded at 2400, hence at 11.50 a
+boxing round necessary with a little Rumpler armed with two
+machine-guns. The pilot got a bullet in his lung; the passenger,
+who fired at me, got one in his knee. The two reservoirs were hit,
+and the whole machine took fire and tumbled down at Ligni&egrave;res,
+within our lines. I landed alongside; in starting in again one
+wheel was broken in the plowed frozen earth. In taking away the
+"taxi" the park people completely demolished it for me. It was
+rushed to Paris for repairs.</p>
+
+<p>25.&mdash;I watch the others fly, and fume.</p>
+
+<p>26.&mdash;Bucquet loaned me his "taxi." No view-finder; only a
+wretchedly bad (oh, how bad!) sight-line.</p>
+
+<p>At 12 o'clock.&mdash;Saw a Boche at 3800; took the lift.&mdash;Arrived at the
+sun.&mdash;In turning, was caught in an eddy-wind, rotten tail
+spin.&mdash;While coming down again I saw the Boche aiming at me 200
+meters away; sent him ten shots: gun jammed; but the Boche seemed
+excited and dived with his motor in full blast straight south. Off
+we go! But I took care not to get too near so that he would not see
+that my gun was out of action. The altimeter tumbled: 1600
+Estr&eacute;es-Saint-Denis came in sight. I maneuvered my Boche as well as
+I could. Suddenly he righted himself and departed in the direction
+of Rheims, banging away at me.</p>
+
+<p>I tried bluffing; I rose 500 meters and let myself fall on him like
+a pebble. When I began to think my bluff had not succeeded, he
+seemed impressed and began to descend again. I placed myself at a
+distance of 10 meters, but every time I showed my nose the
+passenger aimed at me. The road to Compi&egrave;gne: 1000 ... 800 meters.
+When I showed my nose, the passenger, standing, stopped aiming and
+made a sign that he gave himself up. All right! I saw under his
+belly that four shells had struck the mark. 400 meters: the Boche
+slowed up his "<i>moulin</i>" (motor). 200 meters, 20 meters. I let him
+go and watched him land. At 100 meters I circled and found I was
+over an a&euml;rodrome. But, having no more cartridges, I could not
+prevent them from setting fire to their "taxi," a magnificent 200
+H.P. Albatros. When I saw they had been surrounded, I landed and
+showed the Boches my broken machine-gun. Sensation. They had fired
+at me two hundred times: my bullets, before the breakdown, had gone
+through their altimeter and their tachometer, which had caused
+their excitement. The pilot said that an airplane had been forced
+down two days before at Goyancourt: passenger killed, pilot wounded
+in legs&mdash;had to have one amputated above the knee. I hope this
+original confirmation will be accepted, which will make 30.</p></div>
+
+<p>Thirty victories, twenty or twenty-one of which occurred on the Somme:
+such is the schedule of these extraordinary flights. The last one
+surpassed all the rest. He fought unarmed, with nothing but his machine,
+like a knight who, with sword broken, manages his horse and brings his
+adversary to bay. What a scene it was when the German pilot and
+passenger, prisoners, became aware that Guynemer's machine-gun had been
+out of action! Once more he had imposed his will upon others, and his
+power of domination had fascinated his enemies.</p>
+
+<p>In the beginning of February, 1917, the Storks Escadrille left the Somme
+after six months' fighting, and flew into Lorraine.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CANTO_III" id="CANTO_III"></a>CANTO III</h3>
+
+<h4>AT THE ZENITH</h4>
+
+
+<h4><a name="I_ON_THE_25th_OF_MAY" id="I_ON_THE_25th_OF_MAY"></a>I. ON THE 25TH OF MAY, 1917</h4>
+
+<p>The destiny of a Guynemer is to surpass himself. Part of his power,
+however, must lie in the perfection of his weapons. Why could he not
+forge them himself? In him, the mechanician and the gunsmith were
+impatient to serve the pilot and the fighter. Nothing in the science of
+aviation was unknown to him, and Guynemer in the factory was always the
+same Guynemer. He worked with the same nervous tension when he
+overhauled his machine-guns to avoid the too frequent and too
+troublesome jamming, or when he improved the arrangement of the
+instruments and tools in his airplane in accordance with his superior
+practical experience, as when he chased an enemy. He wanted to compel
+the obedience of matter, as he compelled the enemy to surrender.</p>
+
+<p>In the Somme campaign he had forced down two airplanes in a single day,
+and then four in two days. In Lorraine he was to do even better. At that
+time, the beginning of 1917, the German a&euml;rial forces were very active
+in Lorraine, but the city of Nancy paid no attention to them. In 1914
+Nancy had seen the invading army broken against the mountain of Saint
+Genevieve and the Grand Couronn&eacute;; she had withstood a bombardment by
+gigantic shells and visits from air squadrons, and all without losing
+her good humor and her animation. She was one of those cities on the
+front who are accustomed to danger, and who find in it an inspiration
+for courage, for commerce, and even for pleasure which does not belong
+to cities behind the lines. Sometimes people who were dining on the
+Place Stanislas left their tables to watch some fine battle in the air,
+after which they resumed their seats and their appetites, merely
+replacing Rhenish by Moselle wines. Nevertheless, the frequency of
+raids, and the destruction caused by bombs, began to make the existence
+of both native and visiting Nancyites decidedly unpleasant. The Storks
+Escadrille, which arrived in February, very promptly punished these
+a&euml;rial brigands, by a police policy both rapid and severe. The enemy
+airplanes which flew over Nancy were vigorously chased, and less than a
+month later the framework of a good dozen of them, arranged in an
+orderly manner around the statue of Stanislas Leczinski, reassured the
+population and served as an interesting spectacle for the visitor who
+could no longer have the pleasure of admiring, behind Lamour's gates,
+the two monumental fountains consecrated to Neptune and Amphitrite, by
+Guibal, and which were then covered by coarse sacks of earth.</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer had contributed his share of these <i>spolia opima</i>. On March 16
+he alone had forced down three Boches, and a fourth on the 17th. Three
+victories in one day constituted a novel exploit. Navarre had achieved a
+double victory on February 26, 1916, at Verdun, and Guynemer had the
+same success on the Somme; in this campaign Nungesser had burned a
+drachen and two airplanes in one morning; but three airplanes destroyed
+in one day had never been seen before.</p>
+
+<p>On that same evening Guynemer wrote to his family, and I transcribe the
+letter just as it is, with neither heading nor final formula. The King
+of Spain, in <i>Ruy Blas</i>, talks of the weather before he tells of the six
+wolves he has killed; but the new Cid fought in all weathers and speaks
+of nothing but his chase:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>9 o'clock.&mdash;Rose from the ground on hearing shell explosions.
+Forced down in flames a two-seated Albatros at 9.08.</p>
+
+<p>9.20.&mdash;Attacked with Deuillin a group of three one-seated Albatros,
+famous on the Lorraine front. At 9.26 I brought one down almost
+intact: pilot wounded, Lieutenant von Hausen, nephew of the
+general. And Deullin brought down another in flames at the same
+time. About 9 o'clock Dorme and Auger had attacked and grilled a
+two-seated plane. These four Boches were in a quadrilateral, the
+sides of which measured five kilometers, four and a half
+kilometers, three kilometers and three kilometers. Those who were
+in the middle need not have bothered themselves, but they were
+completely distracted.</p>
+
+<p>14.30.&mdash;Forced down a two-seated Albatros in flames.</p>
+
+<p>Three Boches within our lines for my day's work.... Ouf! G.G.</p></div>
+
+<p>Guynemer, who had been promoted lieutenant in February and was to be
+made captain in March, treated this Lieutenant von Hausen humanely and
+courteously as soon as he had landed. In all his mentions up to that
+time Guynemer had been described as a "brilliant chasing pilot"; he was
+now mentioned as an "incomparable chasing pilot."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Early in April the Storks left Lorraine and went to make their nests on
+a plateau on the left bank of the Aisne, back of Fismes. New events were
+in preparation. After the German retreat to the Hindenburg line, the
+French army in connection with the English army&mdash;which was to attack
+Vimy cliffs (April 9-10, 1917)&mdash;was about to undertake that vast
+offensive operation which, from Soissons to Auberive in Champagne, was
+to roll like an ocean wave over the slopes of the Chemin des Dames, the
+hills of Sapigneul and Brimont, and the Moronvillers mountain. Hearts
+were filled with hope, and the men were inspired by a sacred joy. Their
+sufferings and their wounds did not prevent the hearts of the soldiers
+in that spring of 1917 from flowering in sublime sacrifices for the
+cause of liberty.</p>
+
+<p>As at the battle of the Somme, so at the battle of the Aisne our a&euml;rial
+escadrilles were in close touch with the general staff and the other
+arms of the service. Their success was no doubt dependent upon the
+quality of the airplanes, and the factory output, and limited by the
+enemy's power in the air. But though they were unable to achieve the
+mastery of the air from the very first, they continued obstinately to
+increase their force, and little by little their successes increased.
+They had to oppose an enemy who had just accomplished an immense
+improvement in his aviation corps.</p>
+
+<p>In September, 1916, the German staff, profiting by the lessons of the
+Somme campaign during which its aviation forces had been so terribly
+scourged, resolved upon an almost complete reorganization of its
+a&euml;ronautical service. Hindenburg's program arranged for a rehandling of
+both the direction and the technical services. A decree dating from
+November, 1916, announced the separation from the other services of the
+Air Fight Forces (<i>Luftstreitkr&auml;fte</i>), which were to be placed under a
+staff officer, the <i>Kommandeur der Luftstreitkr&auml;fte</i>. This new
+<i>Kommandeur</i>, who was to superintend the building of the machines as
+well as the training of the pilots, was Lieutenant General von Hoeppner,
+with Lieutenant Colonel Tjomsen as an assistant. The squadrons,
+numbering more than 270, were divided into bombing, chasing, patrolling
+and field escadrilles, these last being intrusted with scouting,
+photographing, and artillery work, in constant touch with the infantry.
+Most of these novelties were servilely copied from French aviation. The
+Germans had borrowed the details of <i>liaison</i> service, as well as those
+for the regulation of artillery fire, from the French regulations. The
+commander of the a&euml;ronautical section of the Fifth German Army (Verdun)
+said in a report that "a conscientious aviator was the only reliable
+informant in action." And his supreme chief, the Kronprinz, commenting
+upon this sentence, drew the following conclusions: "All this shows once
+more that through methodical use of Infantry Aviation, the command can
+be kept informed of developments through the whole battle. But the
+necessary condition for fruitful work in the field lies in a previous
+training carried on with the infantry, machine-guns, artillery, and
+<i>liaison</i> units. The task of the Infantry Flyer is apt to become more
+difficult as the weather grows worse, and ground more deeply plowed up,
+the enemy more pressing, or our own troops yielding ground. When all
+these unfavorable circumstances are united, the Infantry Aviator can
+only be effective if he has perfect training. So he must be in constant
+contact with the other services, and the Infantry must know him
+personally. At a pinch he ought to make himself understood by the
+troops, even without any of the usual signals."</p>
+
+<p>But these airplanes, while doing this special work, must be protected by
+patrolling escadrilles. The best protection is afforded by the chasing
+units, fitted to spread terror and death far afield, or to stop enemy
+escadrilles bound on a similar errand. Here again, copying the French
+services, Germany strengthened her chasing escadrilles during the whole
+winter of 1916-1917, and by the following spring she possessed no less
+than forty. Before the war she had given her attention almost
+exclusively to heavy airplanes. French types were plagiarized: as the
+Morane had been altered into the Fokker, the Nieuport became an
+Albatros. Their one-seated 160 H.P. Albatros, with a Benz or Merc&eacute;d&egrave;s
+fixed engine and two Maxim guns shooting through the propeller, was
+henceforth the typical chasing machine. However, the powerful two-engine
+Gothas (520 H.P.) and the Friedrichshafen and A.E.G. (450 H.P.) soon
+made their appearance in bombing escadrilles.</p>
+
+<p>At the same time, the defensive attitude adopted at the beginning of the
+Somme campaign was repudiated. The order of the day became strong
+concentration, likely to secure, at least in one sector, decided
+superiority in the air, even if other sectors must be left destitute or
+battle shirked. The flying men were never to be over-worked, so as to be
+fresh in an emergency. The subordination of aviation to the other
+services was evidently an inspiration from the French regulation saying:
+"The aviation forces shall be always ready to attack, but in perfect
+subordination to the orders of the commanding officers."</p>
+
+<p>In spite of this <i>readiness to attack</i>, the enemy recommended prudence
+in scouting and patrolling work. The airman was not to engage in a fight
+without special orders. He seldom cruises by himself, and most often is
+one of five. To one Boelcke, fond of high altitudes and given to
+pouncing falconlike on his prey, like Guynemer, there are scores of
+Richtofens who, under careful protection from other airplanes, circle
+round and round trying to attract the enemy, and unexpectedly getting
+behind him by a spiral or a loop. It should be said here that the German
+controlling boards take the pilot's word concerning the number of his
+victories instead of requiring, as the French do, the evidence of eye
+witnesses. The high figures generously allowed to a Richtofen or a
+Werner Voss are less creditable than the strictly controlled record of a
+Guynemer, a Nungesser, or a Dorme.</p>
+
+<p>The enemy expected in April, 1917, a massive attack from the French air
+forces in the Aisne, and had taken measures to evade it. An order from
+the staff of the Seventh Army says that all flying units shall be given
+the alarm whenever a large number of French airplanes are sighted. The
+German machines must return to camp at once, refusing combat except on
+equal terms; and balloons must be lowered, or even pulled down to the
+ground. If, on the contrary, the German machines took the offensive, the
+order was that, at the hour determined upon, all available machines must
+rise together to a low altitude, and divide into two distinct fleets,
+the chasing units flying above the rest. These two fleets must then make
+for the point of attack, gaining height as they go, and must engage the
+enemy above the lines with the utmost energy, never giving up the
+pursuit until they reach the French lines, when the danger from
+anti-aircraft batteries becomes too great.</p>
+
+<p>From this it is evident that the preference of German Aviation for
+taking the offensive was not sufficient to induce it to offer battle
+above the enemy lines, and the tendency of the staff was to group
+squadrons into overpowering masses. The French had preceded their
+opponents in the way of technical progress, but the Germans made up for
+the inferiority, as usual, by method and system. The French were
+unrivaled for technical improvements, and the training of their pilots.
+Their new machine, the Spad, was a first-rate instrument, superior in
+strength, speed, and ease of control to the best Albatros, and the
+Germans knew that this inferiority must be obviated. All modern battles
+are thus preceded by technical rivalry. The preparation in factories,
+week after week, and month after month, ultimately results in living
+machinery which the staff uses as it pleases.</p>
+
+<p>Living machinery it is, but it is in appearance only that it seems to be
+independent of man. A battle is a collective work, to which each
+participant, from the General-in-chief to the road-mender behind the
+lines, brings his contribution. Colossal though the whole seems, perfect
+as the enormous machine seems to be, it would not work if there were not
+behind it a weak man made of poor flesh. A humble gunner, the anonymous
+defenders of a trench, a pilot who purges the air of the hostile
+presence, an observer who secures information in good time, some poor
+soldier who has no idea that his individual action was connected with
+the great drama, has occasionally brought about wonderful results&mdash;as a
+stone falling into a pool makes its presence felt to the remotest banks.</p>
+
+<p>Amidst the fighters on the Aisne, Guynemer was at his post in the
+Storks Escadrille. "All right! (sic) they tumble down," he wrote
+laconically to his family. There were indeed some five tumbling down: on
+May 25 he had surpassed all that had been done so far in a&euml;rial fights,
+bringing down four German machines in that one day. His notebook states
+the fact briefly:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>8.30.&mdash;Downed a two-seater, which lost a wing as it fell and was
+smashed on the trees 1200 meters NNE. of Corbeny.</p>
+
+<p>8.31.&mdash;Another two-seater downed, in flames, above
+Juvincourt.&mdash;With Captain Auger, forced another two-seater to dive
+down to 600 meters, one kilometer from our lines.</p>
+
+<p>Downed a D.F.W.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> in flames above Courlandon.</p>
+
+<p>Downed a two-seater in flames between Guignicourt and
+Cond&eacute;-sur-Suippes. Dispersed with Captain Auger a squadron of six
+one-seaters.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> The D.F.W. (<i>Deutsche Flugzeug Werke</i>) is a scouting
+machine provided with two machine-guns, one shooting through the
+propeller, the other mounted on a turret aft. It is thirty-nine feet
+across the wings, and twenty-four in length. One Benz six-cylinder
+engine of 200/225 H.P. Its speed at an altitude of 3000 meters supposed
+to be 150 kilometers an hour. One of these machines has been on view at
+the Invalides since July, 1917.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>Now, his Excellency, Lieutenant General von Hoeppner, <i>Kommandeur der
+Luftstreitkr&auml;fte</i>, being interviewed two days later by newspaper men he
+had summoned for the purpose, told them and through them told Germany
+and, if possible, the whole world, that the German airplanes and the
+German airmen were unrivaled. "As for the French aviators," he went on
+to say remarkably apropos, "they only engage our men when they are sure
+of victory. When they have doubts about their own superiority, they
+prefer to desist rather than take any risks." This solemn lie the
+newspaper men repeated at once in their issues of May 28.</p>
+
+<p>A few months later one of these same reporters, reverting to the subject
+of French aviation, took Guynemer himself to task in the <i>Badische
+Presse</i> for August 8, 1917, as follows: "The airman you see flying so
+high is the famous Guynemer. He is the rival of the most daring German
+aviators, an <i>as</i>, as the French call their champions. He is undoubtedly
+to be reckoned with, for he handles his machine with absolute mastery,
+and he is an excellent shot. But he only accepts an air fight when every
+chance is on his side. He flies above the German lines at altitudes
+between 6000 and 7000 meters, quite out of range of our anti-aircraft
+artillery. He cannot make any observations, for from that height he sees
+nothing clearly, not even troops on the march. He is exclusively a
+chasing flyer bent on destroying our own machines. He has been often
+successful, though he cannot be compared to our own Richtofen. He is
+very prudent; always flying, as I said above, at an altitude of at least
+6000 meters, he waits till an airplane rises from the German lines or
+appears on its way home. Then he pounces upon it as a falcon might, and
+opens fire with his machine-gun. When he only wounds the pilot, or if
+our airman seems to show fight, Guynemer flies back to his own lines at
+the incredible speed of 250 kilometers an hour, which his very powerful
+machine makes possible. He never accepts a fair fight. Every man chases
+as he can."</p>
+
+<p>"Every man chases as he can." Quite so. To revert to that 25th of May,
+the "very prudent" Guynemer, on his morning patrol, met three German
+airplanes flying towards the French lines. They were two-seaters, less
+nimble, no doubt, than one-seaters, but provided with so much more
+dangerous arms. Naturally he could not think of attacking them, "not
+feeling sure of victory," and "always avoiding a risky contest!" Yet he
+pounced upon his three opponents, who promptly turned back. However, he
+overtook one, began making evolutions around him, succeeded in getting
+slightly below him, fired, and with his first volley succeeded in
+bringing him down in flames north of Corbeny (northeast of Craonne).</p>
+
+<p>The danger for a one-seater is to be surprised from behind. Just as
+Guynemer veered round, he saw another machine flying after him. He again
+fired upwards, and the airplane fell in flames, like the first, only a
+few seconds having elapsed between the two fights. Guynemer then
+returned to camp.</p>
+
+<p>But he was excited by these two fights; his nerves were strained and his
+will was tense. He soon started again. Towards noon a German machine
+appeared above the camp itself. How had it been able to get there? This
+is what the airmen down below were asking themselves. It was useless to
+chase it, for it would take any of them longer to rise than the German
+to escape. So they had to content themselves with looking up, some of
+them searching the sky with binoculars. Everybody was back except
+Guynemer, when somebody suddenly cried:</p>
+
+<p>"Here comes Guynemer!"</p>
+
+<p>"Then the Boche is done for."</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer, in fact, was coming down upon his prey like lightning, and the
+instant he was behind and slightly beneath him, he fired. Only one shot
+from the machine-gun was heard, but the enemy airplane was already
+spinning down, its engine going full speed, and was dashed into the
+earth at Courlandon near Fismes. The pilot had been shot through the
+head.</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon the very prudent Guynemer started for the third time,
+and towards seven o'clock, above the Guignicourt market gardens (that is
+to say, in the enemy lines), he brought down another machine in flames.</p>
+
+<p>"Very prudent" is the last epithet one could have expected to see in
+connection with the name of Guynemer. For he rarely came home without
+bullet-holes in his wings or even in his clothes. The Boche, being the
+Boche, had shown his usual respect for truth and generosity towards an
+adversary.</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer, when returning to camp after a victory, generally announced
+his success by making his engine work to some tune. This time the
+cadence was the tune of the <i>Lampions</i>. All the neighboring airplane
+sheds understood, also the cantonments, parks, depots, dugouts, field
+hospitals and railway stations; in a word, all the communities scattered
+behind the lines of an army. This time the motor was singing so
+insistently that everybody, with faces upturned, concluded that their
+Guynemer had been "getting them."</p>
+
+<p>In fact, the news was already spreading like wildfire, as news has the
+mysterious capacity for doing. No, it was not simply one airplane he had
+set ablaze; it was two, one above Corbeny, the other above Juvincourt.
+And people had hardly realized the wonderful fact before the third
+machine was seen falling in flames near Fismes. It was seen by hundreds
+of men who thought it was about to fall upon them, and ran for shelter.
+Meanwhile, Guynemer's engine was singing.</p>
+
+<p>And for the fourth time it was heard again at twilight. Could it be
+possible? Had Guynemer really succeeded four times? Four machines
+brought down in one day by one pilot was what no infantryman, gunner,
+pioneer, territorial, Anamite or Senegalese had ever seen. And from the
+stations, field hospitals, dugouts, depots, parks and cantonments, while
+the setting sun lingered in the sky on this May evening, whoever handled
+a shovel, a pickaxe or a rifle, whoever laid down rails, unloaded
+trucks, piled up cases, or broke stones on the road, whoever dressed
+wounds, gave medicine or carried dead men, whoever worked, rested, ate
+or drank&mdash;whoever was alive, in a word&mdash;stepped out, ran, jostled
+along, arrived at the camp, got helterskelter over the fences, broke
+into the sheds, searched the airplanes, and called to the mechanicians
+in their wild desire to see Guynemer. There they were, a whole town of
+them, knocking at every door and peeping into every tent.</p>
+
+<p>Somebody said: "Guynemer is asleep."</p>
+
+<p>Whereupon, without a word of protest, without a sound, the crowd
+streamed out and scattered in the darkening fields, threading its way
+back to the quiet dells behind the lines.</p>
+
+<p>So ended the day of the greatest a&euml;rial victory.</p>
+
+
+<h4><a name="II_A_VISIT_TO_GUYNEMER" id="II_A_VISIT_TO_GUYNEMER"></a>II. A VISIT TO GUYNEMER</h4>
+
+<p><i>Sunday, June 3, 1917.</i> To-day, the first Sunday of June, the women from
+the neighboring villages came to visit the camp. Nobody is allowed to
+enter, but from the road you can see the machines start or land. The day
+was glorious, and the broad sun transfiguring these French landscapes,
+with their elongated valleys, their wooded ranges of hills, and
+generally harmonious lines suggested Greece, and one looked around for
+the colonnades of temples.</p>
+
+<p>Beyond the rolling country rose the Aisne cliffs, where the fighting was
+incessant, though its roar was scarcely perceived.</p>
+
+<p>Why had these villages been attracted to this particular camp? Because
+they knew that here, in default of Greek temples, were young gods. They
+wanted to see Guynemer.</p>
+
+<p>The news had flown on rapid wings from hamlet to hamlet, from farm to
+farm, of what had happened on the 25th, and on the next day Guynemer had
+been almost equally successful.</p>
+
+<p>Several aviators had already landed, men with famous names, but the
+public cannot be expected to remember them all. Finally an airplane
+descended in graceful spirals, landing softly and rolling along close to
+the railings.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Guynemer!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>But the pilot, unconscious of the worshiping crowd, took off his helmet,
+disclosed a frowning face, and began discontentedly to examine his gun.
+Twice that day it had jammed, saving two Germans. Guynemer was like the
+painters of old who, by grinding their colors themselves, insured the
+duration of their works. He resented not being able to make all his
+weapons himself, his engine, his Vickers, and his bullets. At length he
+seemed willing to leave his machine, and pulled off his heavy war
+accouterment, which revealed a tall, flexible young man. As he rapidly
+approached his tent, his every motion watched by the onlookers, a
+private turned on him a small camera, with a beseeching&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"You'll permit me, <i>mon capitaine</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but quick."</p>
+
+<p>He was cross and impatient, and as he stopped he noticed all the eyes of
+the women watching him ecstatically. He made a despairing gesture. His
+frown deepened, his figure stiffened, and the snapshot was another
+failure.</p>
+
+<p>Hardly any of his portraits are like him. Does the fact that he was tall
+and spare, almost beardless, with an amber-colored, oval face and a
+regular profile, and raven-hair brushed backwards, give any idea of the
+force that was in him? If his eyes, dark with golden reflections, could
+have been painted, they might no doubt have given a more accurate notion
+of him: his capacity for surveying all space, and his prompt decision,
+were visible in them, as well as his carefulness and his courage. Their
+glance was so direct, almost brutal, that it could be felt, so to speak,
+physically; and yet it could suddenly express a cheerful, boyish nature,
+or disclose his close attention to the technical problems which
+everlastingly engrossed his mind.</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer was very different from Navarre, with his powerful profile and
+broad chest like an eagle in repose, and different from Nungesser, the
+Nungesser before his wounds had so devastated his body that a medical
+board wanted to declare him unfit, a decision which he heroically
+resisted, adding to his thirty victories another triumph over physical
+disability. Guynemer differed from them mentally, too, possessing
+neither their instinct nor their intuitiveness. These he replaced with
+scientific accuracy based on study, by a passion for flying, by method
+allied to fervor, by violent logic. His power was nervous and almost
+electric. The vicinity of danger drew sparks from him.</p>
+
+<p>His most daring exploits were prepared by meditation beforehand, and he
+never indulged in recklessness without having pondered and calculated.
+His action was so swift that it might seem instinctive, but under
+appearances the reasoning element was always present.</p>
+
+<p>It was now late, but he was willing to talk to us about that wonderful
+25th of May, for he had no objection to talking about his enemy-chasing;
+on the contrary, he would tell us details with the same amusement as if
+he related lucky plays at poker, and with the same knowing ways. There
+was not the least shade of affectation or of posing in his narrative,
+but he talked with the simplicity of a child. He told us that his third
+encounter had been the most enjoyable. He was coming back to lunch, had
+seen the impudent German soaring above the camp, had fired, and the man
+had gone down dead. After this exceedingly brief account he laughed as
+usual, a fresh laugh like a girl's, and his eyes closed. He said he was
+sleepy; he had been out twice, and before he went again he wanted a
+little rest.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>I remember how bustling the camp looked! It was half-past six, and the
+weather was wonderful, with not a cloud in the sky, for some floating
+white flakes in the blue could not be called clouds. But these white
+flakes began to multiply; they were, in fact, an enemy patrol, which had
+succeeded in crossing the lines and was now above us. We counted two,
+three, four machines, which the sparks of our exploding shells promptly
+surrounded, while three French Spads rose at full speed to meet them.</p>
+
+<p>As we stood watching and wondering if the enemy would accept the fight,
+Guynemer suddenly appeared. He had been called, and now he and his
+comrades, Captain Auger and Lieutenant Raymond, came running to their
+machines. I watched Guynemer as he was being put into his leather suit.
+His whole soul was in his eyes, which glared at one moving point in
+space as if they themselves could shoot. Three of the German machines
+had already turned back, but the remaining one went on, insolently
+counting on his own power and speed. I shall never forget Guynemer, his
+face lifted, his eyes illuminated as if hypnotized by this point in
+space, his figure upright and stiffened like an arrow waiting to be
+released by the bow. Before pulling down his helmet he gave the order:</p>
+
+<p>"Straight at him."</p>
+
+<p>The engines snorted and snored, the propellers began to move, the
+machines rolled along, and suddenly were seen climbing almost
+vertically. Up above the fight was beginning, and it seemed as if the
+three starting airplanes could never reach in time the altitude of four
+or five thousand meters at which it was taking place.</p>
+
+<p>The attacking Spad was obviously trying to get its opponent within
+firing range, but the German was a first-rate pilot and dodged without
+losing height, banking, looping, taking advantage of the Frenchman's
+dead angles, and striving to get him under his machine-gun. Round and
+round the two airplanes circled, when suddenly the German bolted in the
+direction of the Aisne cliffs. But the Spad partly caught up with him
+and the a&euml;rial circling began anew, while two other Spads appeared&mdash;a
+pack after a deer. The German cleverly took advantage now of the sun,
+now of the evening vapors, but he was within range, and the tack-tack of
+a machine-gun was heard. Guynemer and the other two were coming nearer,
+when the Spad dropped beneath its adversary and fired upwards. The
+German plunged, and we expected would sink, but he righted himself and
+was off in an instant. However, this was Guynemer's chance: three shots,
+not more, from his gun, and the German airplane crashed down somewhere
+near Muizon, on the banks of the Vesle.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> This victory was not put down to Guynemer's account,
+because another airman had shot first&mdash;which gives an idea of the French
+controlling board's severity.</p></div>
+
+<p>One after another, the victorious birds came back to cover from every
+part of the violet and rosy sky. But joy over their success must show
+itself, and they indulged in all the fanciful caprioles of acrobatic
+aviation, spinning down in quick spirals, turning somersaults, looping
+or plunging in a glorious sky-dance. Last of these young gods, Guynemer
+landed after one final circle, and took off his helmet, offering to the
+setting sun his illuminated face, still full of the spirit of battle.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h4><a name="III_GUYNEMER_IN_CAMP" id="III_GUYNEMER_IN_CAMP"></a>III. GUYNEMER IN CAMP</h4>
+
+<p>On the Somme Guynemer was one of the great French champions; on the
+Aisne he became their king. No enemy could resist him, and his daring
+appeared without bounds. On May 27 he attacked alone a squadron of six
+two-seaters above Auberive at an altitude of 5000 meters, and compelled
+them to go down to an altitude of 3600 meters. Before landing, he
+pounced on another group of eight, scattering them and bringing down
+one, completely smashed, with its fuselage linen in rags, among the
+shell-holes in a field. He was like the Cid Campeador, to whom the Sheik
+Jabias said:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">...Vous &eacute;clatiez, avec des rayons jusqu'aux cieux,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Dans une pr&eacute;s&eacute;ance &eacute;blouissante aux yeux;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Vous marchiez, entour&eacute; d'un ordre de bataille;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Aucun sommet n'&eacute;tait trop haut pour votre taille,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Et vous &eacute;tiez un fils d'une telle fiert&eacute;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Que les aigles volaient tous de votre c&ocirc;t&eacute;....</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>His feats exceeded all hopes, and his appearance in the sky fairly
+frightened the enemy. On June 5, after bringing down an Albatros east of
+Berry-au-Bac, he chased to the east of Rheims a D.F.W., which had
+previously been attacked by other Spads. "My nose was right on him,"
+says Guynemer's notebook, "when my machine-gun jammed. But just then the
+observer raised his hands. I beckoned to him several times to veer
+towards our lines, but noticing that he was making straight for his own,
+I went back to my gun, which now worked, and fired a volley of fifteen
+(at 2200 altitude). Immediately the machine upset, throwing the observer
+overboard, and sank on Berru forest." However, Guynemer's day's work was
+not done to his satisfaction after these two victories (his forty-fourth
+and forty-fifth): he attacked a group of three, and later on a group of
+four, and came back with bullets in his machine.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile he had been made, on June 11, 1917, an Officer of the Legion
+of Honor with the following citation:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>A remarkable officer, a daring and dexterous chaser. Has been of
+exceptional service to the country both by the number of his
+victories and by the daily example of his never-flagging courage
+and constantly increasing mastery. Careless of danger, he has
+become, by the infallibility of his methods, the most formidable
+opponent of German flyers. On May 25 achieved unparalleled success,
+bringing down two machines in one minute, and two more in the
+course of the same day. By these exploits has contributed to
+maintaining the courage and enthusiasm of the men who, from the
+trenches, have witnessed his triumphs. Forty-five machines brought
+down; twenty citations; twice wounded.</p></div>
+
+<p>This document, eloquent and accurate and tracing facts to their causes,
+praises in Guynemer at the same time will-power, courage, and the
+contagion of example. Guynemer loved the last sentence, because it
+associated with his fights their daily witnesses, the infantrymen in the
+trenches.</p>
+
+<p>The badge of an Officer in the Legion of Honor was given to him at the
+aviation camp on July 5 by General Franchet d'Esperey, in command of the
+Northern Armies. But this solemn ceremony had not prevented Guynemer
+from flying twice, the first time for two hours, the second flight one
+hour, on a new machine from which he expected wonders. He attacked three
+D.F.W.'s, and had to land with five bullets in his engine and radiator.</p>
+
+<p>His new decoration was given him at four o'clock on a beautiful summer
+afternoon. Guynemer's comrades were present, of course, and as pleased
+as if the function had concerned themselves. The 11th Company of the 82d
+Regiment of Infantry took its station opposite the imposing row of
+squadron machines, sixty in number, which stood there like race horses
+as if to take part in the f&ecirc;te. Guynemer's well-known airplane, the
+<i>Vieux-Charles</i>, was the fifth to the left, its master having required
+its presence, though it had been injured that very day. In front of the
+aviation and regimental flags the young aviator stood by himself in his
+black <i>vareuse</i>, looking slight and pale, but upright, with eyes
+sparkling. At a little distance a few civilians&mdash;his own people, whom
+the general had invited&mdash;watched the proceedings.</p>
+
+<p>General Franchet d'Esperey appeared, a robust, energetic man, and the
+following scene, described by one of the trench papers&mdash;the <i>Brise
+d'entonnoirs</i> of the 82d Infantry&mdash;took place: "The general stopped
+before the young hero and eyed him with evident pleasure; then he
+proclaimed him a gallant soldier, touched his two shoulders with his
+sword, as they did to champions of past ages, pinned the <i>rosette</i> on
+his coat, and embraced him. Then to the stirring tune of
+'<i>Sambre-et-Meuse</i>' the band and the soldiers marched in front of the
+new officer who, the ceremony now being over, joined his relatives some
+distance away."</p>
+
+<p>General d'Esperey, looking over Guynemer's <i>Vieux-Charles</i>, noticed the
+damaged parts.</p>
+
+<p>"How comes it that your foot was not injured?" he asked, pointing to one
+of the bullet-holes.</p>
+
+<p>"I had just removed it, <i>mon g&eacute;n&eacute;ral</i>," said Guynemer, with his usual
+simplicity.</p>
+
+<p>None of the airmen with whom Guynemer shared his joy ever forgot that
+afternoon of July 5, 1917. The summer sun, the serene beauty of the
+hills bordering the Aisne, the distant bass of the battle, lent to the
+scene an enchanting but solemn interest. Tragic memories were in the
+minds of all the bystanders, and great names were on their lips&mdash;the
+names of retiring, noble, hard-working Dorme, reported missing on May
+25, and of Captain Lecour-Grandmaison, creator of the three-seaters,
+who, on one of these machines, brought down five Germans, but was killed
+in a combat on May 10 and brought back to camp dead by a surviving
+comrade. Guynemer's red <i>rosette</i> meant glory to the great chasers, to
+wounded Heurtaux, to M&eacute;nard and Deullin, to Auger, Fonck, Jailler,
+Gu&eacute;rin, Baudouin, and all their comrades! And it meant glory to the
+pilots and observers who, always together in the discharge of duty, are
+not infrequently together in meeting death: to Lieutenant Fressagues,
+pilot, and sous-lieutenant Bouvard, observer, who once fought seven
+Germans and managed to bring one down; to Lieutenant Floret and
+Lieutenant Homo, who, placed in similar circumstances, set two machines
+on fire; to Lieutenant Viguier who, on April 18, had the pluck to come
+down to twenty-five meters above the enemy's lines and calmly make his
+observations; and to so many others who did their duty with the same
+daring, intelligence, and conscientiousness, to the hundreds of more
+humble airmen who, while the infantry says the sanguinary mass, throw
+down from above, like the chorister boys in the <i>corpus Christi</i>
+procession, the red roses of epics!</p>
+
+<p>The whole Storks Escadrille had received from General Duch&ecirc;ne the
+following <i>citation</i>: "Escadrille No. 3. Commander: Captain Heurtaux. A
+brilliant chasing escadrille which for the past two years has fought in
+every sector of the front with wonderful spirit and admirable
+self-sacrifice. The squadron has just taken part in the Lorraine and
+Champagne operations, and during this period its members have destroyed
+fifty-three German machines which, added to others previously brought
+down, makes a total of one hundred and twenty-eight certainly
+demolished, and one hundred and thirty-two partly disabled."</p>
+
+<p>This battle on the Aisne, with its famous climax at the Chemin des
+Dames, began to slacken in July; and it was decided that the chasing
+squadrons, including the Storks, should be transferred to one of the
+British sectors where another offensive was being prepared. But before
+leaving the Fismes or Rheims district, Guynemer was active. He had not
+been given his new rank in the Legion of Honor to be idle: that was not
+his way. On the contrary, his habit was to show, after receiving a
+distinction as well as before, that he was worthy of it. On July 6 he
+engaged five two-seaters, and brought down one in flames. The next day
+his notebook records two more victories:</p>
+
+<p>"Attacked with Adjutant Bozon-Verduraz, four Albatros one-seaters, above
+Brimont. Downed one in flames north of Villers-Franqueux, in our own
+lines. Attacked a D.F.W. which spun down in our lines at Moussy."</p>
+
+<p>These victories, his forty-sixth, forty-seventh, and forty-eighth, were
+his farewell to the Aisne. But these excessive exertions brought on
+nervous fatigue. The escadrille had only just reached its new station,
+when Guynemer had to go into hospital, whence he wrote his father on
+July 18 as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">Dear Father</span>:</p>
+
+<p>Knocked out again. Hospital. But this time I'm flourishing. No more
+wooden barracks, but a farmhouse right in the fields. I have a room
+all to myself. Quite correct: I downed three Fritzes, one ablaze,
+and the next day again great sport: mistook four Boches for
+Frenchmen. At first fought three of them, then one alone at 3200 to
+800 meters. He took fire. They will have to wait till the earth
+dries so they can dig him out. An hour later a two-seater turned up
+at 5500. He blundered, and fell straight down on a 75, which died
+of the shock. But so did the passenger. The pilot was simply a bit
+excited, for which he couldn't be blamed. His machine had not
+plunged, but came down slowly, with its nose twirling, and I got
+his two guns intact....</p>
+
+<p>The <i>toubib</i> (doctor) says I shall be on my feet in three or four
+days. Don't see many Boches just now, but that won't last. I read
+in a newspaper that I had been mobbed in a friendly manner in
+Paris. I must be ubiquitous without knowing it. Modern science
+brings about marvels, modern journalism also.</p>
+
+<p>Raymond has two strings (officer's stripes) and the cross of the
+Legion. Please congratulate him.</p>
+
+<p>Good night, father.</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 25em;"><span class="smcap">Georges</span>.</p>
+
+<p>P.S. I, who get seasick over nothing at all, have just been out to
+sea for the first time. The water was very rough, especially for a
+little motor-boat, but I smiled serenely through it all. Wasn't I
+proud!...</p></div>
+
+<p>In fact, some newspaper had announced that Guynemer would carry the
+aviation flag in the Parade of the Fourteenth of July in Paris, and this
+was enough to persuade the crowd that some other airman was Guynemer.
+Indeed, there had been talk of sending him to Paris on that solemn
+occasion, but he had declined. He loved glory, but hated show, and he
+had followed his squadron to Flanders, where he had taken to his bed.</p>
+
+<p>The foregoing letter bears Guynemer's mark unmistakably. The son of rich
+parents rejoicing over having a room to himself, after having renounced
+all comfort from the very first day of his enlistment, and willing to
+begin as <i>gar&ccedil;on d'a&eacute;rodrome</i>; the joke about the German airplane sunk
+so deep in the wet ground that it would have to be dug out, and the
+surprise of the pilot; the delight over Raymond's promotion; the amusing
+allusion to sea-sickness by the man who had no equal in air navigation,
+are all characteristic details.</p>
+
+<p>Sheik Jabias thus sums up his impressions after visiting the Cid in his
+camp:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Vous dominiez tout, grand, sans chef, sans joug, sans digue,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Absolu, lance au poing, panache, au front....</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>And that Cid had never fought up in the air.</p>
+
+
+<h4><a name="IV_GUYNEMER_AT_HOME" id="IV_GUYNEMER_AT_HOME">IV. GUYNEMER IN HIS FATHER'S HOUSE</a></h4>
+
+<p>To quote him once more, Sheik Jabias, after being dazzled by the Cid in
+his camp, is supposed to see him in his father's castle at Bivar, doing
+more humble work.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">...Que s'est-il donc pass&eacute;? Quel est cet &eacute;quipage?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">J'arrive, et je vous trouve en veste, comme un page,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Dehors, bras nus, nu-t&ecirc;te, et si petit gar&ccedil;on</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Que vous avez en main l'auge et le cave&ccedil;on,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Et faisant ce qu'il sied aux &eacute;cuyers de faire,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">&mdash;Cheick, dit le Cid, je suis maintenant chez mon p&egrave;re.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Those who never saw Guynemer at his father's at Compi&egrave;gne cannot know
+him well. Of course, even in camp he was the best of comrades, full of
+his work, but always ready to enjoy somebody else's success, and
+speaking about his own as if it were billiards or bridge. His renown
+had not intoxicated him, and he would have been quite unconscious of it
+had he not sometimes felt that unresponsiveness on the part of others
+which is the price of glory: anything like jealousy hurt him as if it
+had been his first discovery of evil. In Kipling's <i>Jungle Book</i>,
+Mowgli, the man cub, noticing that the Jungle hates him, feels his eyes
+and is frightened at finding them wet. "What is this, Bagheera?" he asks
+of his friend the panther. "Oh, nothing; only tears," answers Bagheera,
+who had lived among men.</p>
+
+<p>One who, on occasion, told Guynemer <i>not to mind</i> knows how deep was his
+sensitiveness, not to the presence of real hostility, which he
+fortunately never encountered, but even to an obscure germ of jealousy.
+The moment he felt this he shrank into himself. His native exuberance
+only displayed itself under the influence of sympathy.</p>
+
+<p>Friendship among airmen is manly and almost rough, not caring for
+formulas or appearances, but proving itself by deeds. To these men the
+games of war are astonishingly like school games, and are spoken of as
+if they were nothing else. When a comrade has not come back, and dinner
+has to begin without him, no show of sorrow is tolerated: only these
+young men's hearts feel the absence of a friend, and the casual visitor,
+not knowing, might take them for sporting men, lively and jolly.</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer was living his life in perfect confidence, feeling no personal
+ambition, not inclined to enjoy honors more than work, ignoring all
+affectation or attitudinizing, never politic, and naturally unconscious
+of his own simplicity. Yet he loved and adored what we call glory, and
+would tell anybody of his successes, even of his decorations, with a
+childlike certitude that these things must delight others as much as
+himself. His French honors were of course his great pride, but he highly
+appreciated those which he had received from allied governments, too:
+the Distinguished Service order, the Cross of St. George, the Cross of
+Leopold, the Belgian war medal, Serbian and Montenegrin orders, etc. All
+these ribbons made a bright show, and although he generally wore only
+the <i>rosette</i> of the Legion of Honor, he would sometimes deck himself
+out in them all, or carry them in his pocket and occasionally empty them
+out on a table, as at school he used to tumble out the untidy contents
+of his desk in search of his task.</p>
+
+<p>When he went to Paris to see to his machines, he first secured a room at
+the H&ocirc;tel Edouard VII, and immediately posted to the Buc works. When he
+had time he would invite himself to dinner at the house of his
+schoolmate at the Coll&egrave;ge Stanislas, Lieutenant Constantin. "Every time
+he came," this officer writes, "some new exploit or a new decoration had
+been added to his list. He never wore all his medals, his 'village-band
+banner,' as he amusingly called them; but when people asked to see them,
+he immediately searched his pockets and produced the whole disorderly
+lot. When he became officer in the Legion, he appeared at my mother's
+quite radiant, so that she asked him the reason of this unusual joy.
+'Regardez bien, madame, there is something new.' The new thing which my
+mother discovered was a tiny <i>rosette</i> ornamenting his red ribbon."</p>
+
+<p>This <i>rosette</i> was so very small that nobody noticed it, and Guynemer
+felt that he must complain to the shopman at the Palais Royal who had
+sold it to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Give me a larger one, a huge one," he said; "nobody sees this."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The tradesman spread a number of <i>rosettes</i> on his counter, but Guynemer
+only took back again the one of which he had complained, and went out
+laughing as if the whole thing had been a good joke.</p>
+
+<p>His officer's stripes gave him as much pleasure as his decorations.
+Every time he was promoted, he wanted his stripes sewn on, not in a day
+or an hour, or even five minutes, but immediately. He received his
+captain's commission the same day he had been given the Distinguished
+Service order, and he promptly went to see his friend, Captain de la
+Tour, who was wounded in the hospital at Nancy. This officer had lost
+three brothers in action, and loved Guynemer as if he had been another
+younger brother. Indeed, Guynemer said later that La Tour loved him more
+than any other did.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you see any change in me?" Guynemer asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No, you're just as usual."</p>
+
+<p>"No, there's a change!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I see; you mean your English order; it does look well."</p>
+
+<p>"There's something else. Look closer."</p>
+
+<p>La Tour at last discovered the three stripes on the cap and sleeves.</p>
+
+<p>"What! Are you a captain?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, a captain," and Guynemer laughed his boyish laugh.&mdash;This kid a
+captain! So I am not an impressive captain, then? I haven't run risks
+enough to be a captain, probably!&mdash;His laugh said all this.</p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant Constantin also says in his notes: "Guynemer disliked walking
+about Paris, because people recognized him. When he saw them turn to
+look at him, he would grumble at the curse of having a face that was
+public property. So he preferred waiting for evening, and then drove his
+little white car up the Champs Elys&eacute;es to the Bois. He enjoyed this
+peaceful recreation thoroughly, and forgot the excitement of his life at
+the front. Memories of our boyhood days came back to him, and he dwelt
+on them with delight: 'Do you remember one day in <i>seconde</i> when we
+quarreled and fought like madmen? You made such a mark on my arm that it
+is there yet.' He did not mind, but I was ashamed of having been such a
+young brute. Another day, in May, 1917, coming home on leave I met
+Georges just as he stepped out of his hotel, and as I had just been
+mentioned in dispatches I told him about it. Immediately he dragged me
+into a shop, bought a <i>croix de guerre</i>, pinned it on my <i>vareuse</i>, and
+hugged me before everybody."</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer had a genius for graciousness, and his imagination was
+inexhaustible when he wished to please, but his temper was hot and
+quick. One day he had left his motor at the door of the hotel, and some
+practical joker thought it clever to leave a note in the car with this
+inscription in large letters: AVIATORS TO THE FRONT! Guynemer did not
+take the joke at all, and was boiling with rage.</p>
+
+<p>His complete freedom from conceit has often been remarked. At a luncheon
+given in his honor by the well-known deputy, Captain Lasies, he would
+not say a word about himself, but extolled his comrades until somebody
+said: "You are really modesty itself."</p>
+
+<p>Whereupon another guest asked: "Could you imagine him bragging?"</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer was delighted, and when the party broke up he went out with the
+gentleman who had said this and thanked him warmly. "Don't you see how
+little they understand? I don't say I am modest, but if I weren't I
+would be a fool, and I should not like to be that. I know quite well
+that just now some of us are getting so much admiration and so many
+honors that one may get more than one's share. Whereas the men in the
+trenches&mdash;how different it is with them!"<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> <i>Journal des D&eacute;bats</i> for September 26, 1917.</p></div>
+
+<p>But it was inevitable that he should be lionized. People came to him
+with albums and pictures. He wrote to his father that a Madame de B.
+wanted something, just one sentence, in an album which was to be sold in
+America. "I am to be alongside the Generalissimo. What on earth can I
+write?"</p>
+
+<p>An American lady who was also a guest at the H&ocirc;tel Edouard VII wanted to
+have at any price some souvenir of the young hero. She ordered her maid
+to bring away an old glove of Guynemer's which was lying on a chest of
+drawers, and replace it by a magnificent bouquet. "This lady put me in a
+nice dilemma," Guynemer explained, "as it was Sunday and there was no
+way of getting any more gloves."<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Anecdote related in the <i>Figaro</i> for September 29, 1917.</p></div>
+
+<p>He had no affectation, least of all the kind that pretends to be
+ignorant of one's own popularity; but surely he cared little for
+popularity. Here again he puts us in mind of a medieval poem. In
+<i>Gilbert de Metz</i>, one of our oldest epics, the daughter of Ans&eacute;is is
+described seated at the window, "fresh, slim, and white as a lily" when
+two knights, Garin and his cousin Gilbert, happen to ride near. "Look
+up, cousin Gilbert," says Garin, "look. By our lady, what a handsome
+dame!" "Oh," answers Gilbert, "what a handsome creature my steed is! I
+never saw anything so lovely as this maiden with her fair skin and dark
+eyes. I never knew any steed that could compare with mine." And so on,
+while Gilbert still refuses to look up at the beautiful daughter of
+Ans&eacute;is. Also in <i>Girard de Viane</i>, Charlemagne, holding his court at
+the palace of Vienne, has just placed the hand of the lovely Aude in
+that of his nephew Roland. Both the girl and the great soldier are
+silent and blushing while the date of the wedding is being discussed,
+when a messenger suddenly rushes in: "The Saracens are in France! War!
+war!" shout the bystanders. Then without a word Roland drops the white
+hand of the girl, springs to arms, and is gone. So Guynemer would have
+praised his Nieuport or his Spad as Gilbert praised his steed, and
+<i>belle Aude</i> herself could not have kept him away from the fight.</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+<img src="images/illus04.png" alt="Combat" />
+<a id="illus04" name="illus04"></a>
+</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-bottom: 3em;"><b>Combat</b></p>
+
+
+<p>One day his father felt doubts about the capacity of such a young man to
+resist the intoxication of so much flattery from men and women.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't worry," Guynemer answered, "I am watching my nerves as an acrobat
+watches his muscles. I have chosen my own mission, and I must fulfil
+it."</p>
+
+<p>After his death, one of his friends, the one who spoke to him last, told
+me: "He used to put aside heaps of flattering letters which he did not
+even read. 'Read them if you like,' he said to me, and I destroyed them.
+He only read letters from children, schoolboys and soldiers."</p>
+
+<p>In <i>L'Aiglon</i> Prokesch brings the mail to the Prince Imperial, and
+handing him letters from women, he says:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 14em;">Voil&agrave;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Ce que c'est d'avoir l'aur&eacute;ole fatale.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Prokesch begins to read them, the Prince stops him with the
+words: "<i>Je d&eacute;chire</i>." Even when a woman whom he has nicknamed "Little
+Spring"&mdash;"because the water sleeping in her eyes or purling in her voice
+has often cooled his fever"&mdash;announces her departure, hoping he may
+detain her, he lets her go, whispering again like a refrain, "<i>Je
+d&eacute;chire</i>."</p>
+
+<p>Did Guynemer deal with hearts as he dealt with the besieging letters, or
+as the falcon of St. Jean l'Hospitalier dealt with birds?&mdash;No "Little
+Spring," had her voice been ever so rill-like, could have detained him
+when a sunny morning invited him skywards.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Safe from the admiring public, Guynemer would relax and breathe freely
+with his people at Compi&egrave;gne, where he became once more a lively, noisy,
+indulged, but coaxing and charming boy, except when absorbed in work,
+from which nothing could distract him. He spent hours in pasting and
+classifying the snapshots he took of his enemies just before pulling the
+trigger of his machine-gun and bringing them down. One of his greatest
+pleasures when on leave was to arrange and show these photographs.</p>
+
+<p>His eyes, which saw everything, were keen to detect the least changes in
+the arrangement of his home, even when mere knickknacks had been moved
+about. At each visit he found the house ornamented with some new trophy
+of his exploits. He was delighted to find that a miniature barkentine,
+which he had built with corks, paper, and thread when he was seven years
+old, still stood on his mother's mantelpiece. Even at that age his
+powers of observation had been evident, and he had forgotten no detail
+of sails or rigging.</p>
+
+<p>He had taken again so naturally his old place in the family circle that
+his mother forgot once and called the tall, famous young man by his old
+familiar name, "<i>B&eacute;b&eacute;</i>." She quickly corrected herself, but he said:</p>
+
+<p>"I am always that to you, Mother."</p>
+
+<p>"I was happier when you were little," she observed.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you are not vexed with me, Mother."</p>
+
+<p>"Vexed for what?"</p>
+
+<p>"For having grown up."</p>
+
+<p>He was naturally full of the one subject that interested him, airplanes
+and chasing, and he would go round the house collecting audiences.
+Strange bits of narration could be overheard from different rooms as he
+held forth:</p>
+
+<p>"Then I <i>embusqued</i> myself became a slacker...."</p>
+
+<p>"What!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! I <i>embusqued</i> myself behind a cloud."</p>
+
+<p>Or, "The light dazzled me, so I hid the sun with my wing."</p>
+
+<p>He never forgot his sisters' birthdays, but he could not always give
+them the present he preferred. "Sorry I could not present you with a
+Boche."</p>
+
+<p>He was hardly different when his mother received company: he was never
+seen to play the great man. Only on one subject he always and instantly
+became serious, namely, when the future was mentioned. "Do not let us
+make any plans," he would say.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>A page from one of my own notebooks will help to show Guynemer as I used
+to see him in his home.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><i>Wednesday, June 27, 1917.</i>&mdash;Compi&egrave;gne. Called on the Guynemers. He
+is fascination itself with his "goddess on the clouds" gait&mdash;as if
+he remembered when walking that he could also fly&mdash;with his
+incomparable eyes, his perpetual movement, his interior
+electricity, his admixture of elegance and ardor, and with that
+impulse of his whole being towards one object which suggests the
+antique runner, even when he is for an instant in repose. His
+parents and sisters do not miss a single gesture, a single motion
+he makes. They drink in his every word, and his life seems to
+absorb them. His laugh echoes in their souls. They believe in him,
+are sure of him, sure of his future, and that all will be well.
+Noticing this certitude, whether real or assumed, I could not help
+stealing a glance at the frail god of aviation, made like the
+delicate statuettes that we dread breaking. He talks passionately,
+as usual, of his a&euml;rial fights. But just now one thought seems to
+supersede every other. He is expecting a new machine, a magic
+machine which he planned long ago, found difficult to get built,
+and with which he must do more damage than ever.</p>
+
+<p>Then he showed us his photographs with the white blotches of
+bursting shells, or the gray wings of German airplanes. One of
+these is seen as it falls in flames, the pilot falling, too, some
+distance away from it. Thus the victim was registered, and the
+memory of it made him happy.</p>
+
+<p>I swallowed a question I was going to ask: What about
+yourself&mdash;some day? because he looked so full of life that the
+notion of death could never present itself to him. But he seemed to
+have read my thoughts, for he said:</p>
+
+<p>"You have plenty of time in the air, except when you fight, and
+then you have no time at all. I've been brought down six times, and
+I always had plenty of time to realize what was happening." And he
+laughed his clear, boyish laugh.</p>
+
+<p>As a matter of fact, he has been incredibly lucky. In one fight he
+was hit three times, and each time the bullet was deadened by some
+unexpected obstacle.</p>
+
+<p>Finally I was shown photographs of himself, chronologically
+arranged. Needless to say, it was not he who showed them. There was
+the half-nude baby, with eyes already sparkling and eager, then the
+schoolboy with the fine carriage of the head, then the lad fresh
+from school with a singularly calm expression, and well filled-out
+cheeks. A little later the expression appeared more mature and
+tense, though still ingenuous. Later again there was a decidedly
+stern look, with the face less oval and thinner. The rough fingers
+of war had chiseled this face, and sharpened and strengthened it. I
+looked from the picture to him, and I realized that, compared to
+his former pictures, his expression had now indeed acquired
+something terrible. But just then he laughed, and the laughter
+conjured away all phantasies.</p></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h4><a name="V_THE_MAGIC_MACHINE" id="V_THE_MAGIC_MACHINE"></a>V. THE MAGIC MACHINE</h4>
+
+<p>As a tiny boy who had invented an enchanted bed for his sisters' dolls,
+as a boy who, at Coll&egrave;ge Stanislas, had rigged up a telephone to send
+messages to the last forms in the schoolroom, or manufactured miniature
+airplanes, as a recruit who, at Pau, had gladly accepted the work of
+cleaning, burnishing, and overhauling engines, Guynemer had always shown
+a passion for mechanics. Becoming a pilot, and later on a chaser, he
+exhibited in the study and perfecting of his airplanes the same
+enthusiasm and perseverance as in his flights. He was everlastingly
+calling for swifter or more powerful machines, and not only strove to
+communicate his own fervor to technicians, but went into minute details,
+suggested improvements, and whenever he had a chance visited the
+workshops and assisted at trials. Such trials are sometimes dangerous.
+One of his friends, Edouard de Layens, was killed in this kind of
+accident, and Guynemer was enraged that a gallant airman should perish
+otherwise than in battle. He was in reality an inventor, though this
+statement may cause surprise, and though it may not be wise at present
+to bear it out by facts.</p>
+
+<p>Every part of his machine or of his gun was familiar to him. He had
+handled them all, taking them apart and putting them together again.
+There are practical improvements in modern airplanes which would not be
+there had it not been for him. And there is a "Guynemer visor."</p>
+
+<p>Confidence and authoritativeness had not come to him along with glory,
+for from the first he talked as one engrossed by his ideas, and it is
+because he was thus engrossed that he found persuasive words to bring
+others round to his views. But, naturally enough, he had not at first
+the prestige which he possessed when he became Captain Guynemer, had
+high rank in the Legion of Honor, and enjoyed world-wide fame. In his
+'prentice days when, in workshops or in the presence of well-known
+builders, he would make confident statements, inveigh against errors, or
+demand modifications, people thought him flippant and saucy. Once
+somebody called him a raw lad. The answer came with crushing rapidity:
+"When you blunder, raw lads like myself pay for your mistakes."</p>
+
+<p>It must be admitted that, like most people brought up with wealth, he
+was apt to be unduly impatient. Delays or objections irritated him. He
+wanted to force his will upon Time, which never admits compulsion, and
+tried to over-ride obstacles. His peculiar fascination gradually won its
+way even in workshops, and his appearance there was greeted with
+acclamation, not only because the men were curious to see him, but
+because they were in sympathy with him and had put his ideas to a
+successful test. The workmen liked to see him sit in a half-finished
+machine, and explain in his short, decisive style what he wanted and
+what was sure to give superiority to French aviation. The men stopped
+work, came round, and listened eagerly. This, too, was a triumph for
+him. What he told them on such occasions he had probably whispered to
+himself many times before when, on rainy days, he would sit in his
+airplane under the hangar, and think and talk to himself, while
+strangers wondered if he was not crazy.</p>
+
+<p>However, he had made friends with well-known engineers, especially Major
+Garnier of Puteaux and M. B&eacute;chereau of the Spad works. These two,
+instead of dismissing him as a snappish airman continually at variance
+with the builder, took his inventions seriously and strove to meet his
+requirements. When M. B&eacute;chereau, after long delays, was at last
+decorated for his eminent services, the Secretary of A&euml;ronautics, M.
+Daniel Vincent, came to the works and was going to place the medal and
+red ribbon on the engineer's breast, when he saw Guynemer standing near.
+He graciously handed the medal over to the airman, saying:</p>
+
+<p>"Give M B&eacute;chereau his decoration; it is only fair you should."</p>
+
+<p>In September, 1916, Guynemer had tried at the front one of the first two
+Spads. On the 8th he wrote to M. B&eacute;chereau: "Well, the Spad has had her
+<i>bapt&ecirc;me du feu</i>. The others were six: an Aviatik at 2800, an L.V.G. at
+2900, and four Rumplers jostling one another with barely 25 meters in
+between at 3000 meters. When the four saw me coming (at 1800 on the
+speedometer) they no doubt took me for a meteorite and funked, and when
+they got over it and back to their shooting (fine popping, though) it
+was too late. My gun never jammed once." Here he went into
+technicalities about his new machine-gun, but further on reverted to the
+Spad: "She loops wonderfully. Her spin is a bit lazy and irregular, but
+deliciously soft." The letter concludes with many suggestions for minor
+improvements.</p>
+
+<p>His correspondence with M. B&eacute;chereau was entirely devoted to a study of
+airplanes: he never wandered from the subject. Thus he collaborated with
+the engineer by constantly communicating to him the results of his
+experience. His machine-gun was the great difficulty. "Yesterday," he
+wrote on October 21, 1916, "five Boches, three of them above our lines,
+came within ten meters of the muzzle of my gun, and impossible to shoot.
+Four days ago I had to let two others get away. Sickening.... The
+weather is wonderful. Perhaps the gun will work now." In fact, a few
+days later he wrote exultingly, having discovered that the jamming was
+due to cold and having found an ingenious remedy.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><i>November 4, 1916.</i> Day before yesterday I bagged a Fokker
+one-seater biplane. It was two meters off, but as it tumbled into a
+group of our Nieuports, the controlling board would not give the
+victory to anybody. Yesterday got an Aviatik ten meters off;
+passenger shot dead by the first bullet; the plane, all in rags,
+went down in slow spirals and must have been knocked flat somewhere
+near Berlincourt. Heurtaux, who had seen it beginning to fall,
+brought one down himself ten minutes later, like a regular ball.</p></div>
+
+<p>On November 18 next, after going into particulars concerning his engine
+which he wanted made stronger, he told M. B&eacute;chereau of his 21st and 22d
+victories:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>As for the 21st, it was a one-seater I murdered as it twirled in
+elegant spirals down to its own landing ground. No. 22 was a 220
+H.P., one of three above our lines. I came upon it unawares in a
+somersault. Passenger stood up, but fell down again in his seat
+before even setting his gun going. I put some two hundred or two
+hundred and fifty bullets into him twenty meters away from me. He
+had taken an invariable angle of 45&deg; on the first volley. When I
+let him go, Adjutant Bucquet took him in hand&mdash;which would have
+helped if he hadn't already been as full of holes as a strainer. He
+kept his angle of 45&deg; till about 500 meters, when he adopted the
+vertical, and blazed up on crashing to the ground....</p></div>
+
+<p>The Spad ravished him. It was the heyday of wonderful flights on the
+Somme. Yet he wanted something even better; but before pestering M.
+B&eacute;chereau he began with an inspiring narrative.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><i>December 28, 1916.</i> I can't grumble; yet yesterday I missed my
+camera badly. I had a high-class round with an Albatros, a fine,
+clever fellow, between two and ten meters away from me. We only
+exchanged fifteen shots, and he snapped my right fore-cable&mdash;just a
+few threads still held&mdash;while I shot him in the small of his back.
+A fine spill! (No. 25).</p>
+
+<p>Now, to speak of serious things, I must tell you that the Spad 150
+H.P. is not much ahead of the Halberstadt. The latter is not
+faster, I admit, but it climbs so much more quickly that it
+amounts to the same thing. However, our latest model knocks them
+all out....</p></div>
+
+<p>The letter adds only some recommendations as to the necessity for more
+speed and a better propeller.</p>
+
+<p>But much more important improvements were already filling his mind. He
+had conceived plans for a magic airplane that would simply annihilate
+the enemy, and as he would doggedly carry on a fight, so he ruminated,
+begged, and urged until his idea was realized. But he was forced to
+practice exhausting perseverance, and on several occasions the lack of
+comprehension or sympathy which he encountered infuriated him. Yet he
+never gave up. It was not his way in a workshop, any more than in the
+air; and when, after some ten months' struggling, trying, and frequent
+beginning over again, he saw himself at last in possession of the
+wonderful machine, he rejoiced as a warrior may after forging his own
+weapons.</p>
+
+<p>In January, 1917, he wrote to M. B&eacute;chereau urging him to make all
+dispatch: "Spring will soon be here, and the Germans are working like
+niggers. If we go to sleep, it will be '<i>couic</i>' for us." Henceforth his
+correspondence, sometimes rather dictatorial, with the engineer was
+entirely devoted to the magic airplane,&mdash;its size, controls, wing-tips,
+tank, weight, etc. The margins of his letters were covered with
+drawings, and every detail was minutely discussed. In February he wrote
+to his father as if he had been a builder: "My machine surpasses all
+expectations, and will soon be at work. In Paris I go to bed early and
+rise ditto, spending all day at Spad's. I have no other thought or
+occupation. It is a fixed idea, and if it goes on I shall become a
+perfect idiot. When peace is signed, let nobody dare to mention a weapon
+of any kind in my presence for six months."</p>
+
+<p>He thought himself within reach of his goal; but unexpected obstacles
+would come in his way, and it was not till July 5, 1917&mdash;the same day on
+which he received the <i>rosette</i> of the Legion of Honor from General
+Franchet d'Esperey at the Aisne Aviation Camp&mdash;that he could at last try
+the long-dreamed-of, long-hoped-for airplane. But in a fight against
+three D.F.W.'s, the splendid new machine got riddled with bullets, he
+had to land, and everything had to be begun over again. But Guynemer was
+not afraid of beginning over again, and in fact he was to give the
+airplane another chance in Flanders, and to see all his expectations
+fulfilled. The 49th, 50th, 51st and 52d victories of Guynemer were due
+to the magic airplane.</p>
+
+<p>He managed to impose his will on matter, and on those who adapt it to
+the warlike conceptions of man, as he imposed it on the enemy. Then,
+spreading out his wings on high, he might well think himself
+invincible.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="CANTO_IV" id="CANTO_IV"></a>CANTO IV</h3>
+
+<h4>THE ASCENSION</h4>
+
+
+<h4><a name="I_THE_BATTLE_OF_FLANDERS" id="I_THE_BATTLE_OF_FLANDERS">I. THE BATTLE OF FLANDERS</a></h4>
+
+<p>After the battle on the Aisne Georges Guynemer was ordered to Flanders,
+but he had to take to his bed as soon as he arrived (July, 1917) and
+only left the hospital on the 20th. He then repaired to the new aviation
+camp outside Dunkirk, which at that time consisted of a few rows of
+tents near the seaside. He was to take part in the contemplated
+offensive, on his own magic airplane&mdash;which he brought from Fismes on
+the 23d&mdash;for the Storks Escadrille had been incorporated into a fighting
+unit under Major Brocard. No disease could be an obstacle to a Guynemer
+when an offensive was in preparation. In fact, all the Storks were on
+the spot: Captain Heurtaux, now recovered from his wound received in
+Champagne in April, was in command, and Captain Auger (soon to be
+killed), Lieutenant Raymond, Lieutenant Deullin, Lieutenant Lagache and
+<i>sous-lieutenant</i> Bucquet were there; while Fonck and Verduraz,
+newcomers to the squadron but not by any means unknown, Adjutants
+Guillaumat, Henin, and Petit-Dariel, Sergeants Gaillard and Moulines,
+Corporals de Marcy, Dubonnet, and Risacher, completed the staff. As
+early as June 24 Guynemer had soared again.</p>
+
+<p>In order to realize the importance of this new battle of Flanders which,
+begun on July 31, was to rage till the following winter, it may not be
+out of place to quote a German appreciation. In an issue of the <i>Lokal
+Anzeiger</i>, published at the end of September, 1917, after two months'
+uninterrupted fighting, Doctor Wegener wrote as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>How can anybody talk of anything but this battle of Flanders? Is it
+possible that some people actually grow hot over the
+parliamentarization, or the loan, or the cost of butter, or the
+rumors of peace, while every heart and every eye ought to be fixed
+on these places where soldiers are doing wonderful deeds! This
+battle is the most formidable that has yet been fought. It was
+supposed to be ended, but here it is, blazing afresh and promising
+a tremendous conflagration. The Englishman goes on with his usual
+doggedness, and the last bombardment has excelled in horrible
+intensity all that has been known so far. Even before the signal
+for storming, the English were drunk with victory, so gigantic was
+their artillery, so dreadful their guns, so intense their
+firing....</p></div>
+
+<p>These lines help us to realize how keen was the anxiety caused in
+Germany by the new offensive coming so soon after the battles of
+Champagne in April. But the lyricism of Dr. Wegener stood in the way of
+his own judgment, and prevented him from seeing that the battle on the
+Marne which drove the enemy back, the battle on the Yser which brought
+him to a standstill, and the battle round Verdun which effectually wore
+him out, were each in succession the greatest of the war. The second
+battle of Flanders ought rather to be compared to the battle on the
+Somme, the real consequences of which were not completely visible till
+the German recoil on the Siegfried line took place in March, 1917. While
+the first battle of Flanders had closed the gates of Dunkirk and Calais
+against the Germans, and marked the end of their invasion, the second
+one drove a wedge at Ypres into the German strength, made formidable by
+three years' daily efforts, secured the Flemish heights, pushed the
+enemy back into the bog land, and threatened Bruges. In the first
+battle, the French under Foch had been supported by the English under
+Marshal French; this time the English, who were the protagonists, under
+Plumer (Second Army) and Gough (Fifth Army), were supported by the First
+French Army under General Anthoine.</p>
+
+<p>It was as late as June that General Anthoine's soldiers had taken their
+stand to the left of the British armies, and after the tremendous fights
+along the Chemin des Dames and Moronvillers in April, it might well be
+believed that they were tired. They had borne the burden from the very
+first; they had been on the Marne and the Yser in 1914, at the
+numberless and costly offensives of 1915 in Artois, Champagne, Lorraine
+and Alsace; and in 1916, after the Verdun epic, they had had to fight on
+the Somme. Indeed, they had only ceased repelling the enemy's attacks in
+order to attack in their turn. Among the Allies, they represented
+invincible determination, as well as a perfected military method. Those
+troops arriving on June 15, on ground they had never seen before, might
+well have been anxious for a respite; yet on July 31 they were in the
+fighting line with the British. Two days before the attack they crossed
+the Yser canal by twenty-nine bridges without losing one man, and showed
+an intelligence and spirit which added to their ascendancy over the
+enemy and increased the prestige of the French army. And while Marshal
+Haig was finding such an exceptional second in General Anthoine, P&eacute;tain,
+now commander-in-chief, was aiding the British offensive by attacking
+the Germans at other points on the front: on August 20 the Second Army
+under Guillaumat was victorious on the Meuse, near Verdun, while the
+Sixth Army under Maistre was preparing for the Malmaison offensive which
+on October 23 secured for the French the whole length of the Chemin des
+Dames to the river Ailette.</p>
+
+<p>General Anthoine had had less than six weeks in which to see what he
+could do with the ground, organize the lines of communication, and post
+his batteries and infantry. But he had no idea of delaying the British
+offensive, and on the appointed day he was ready. The line of attack for
+the three armies was some 20 kilometers long, namely, from the
+Ypres-Menin road to the confluence of the Yperl&eacute;e and Martje-Vaert, the
+French holding the section between Drie Grachten and Boesinghe. It had
+been settled that the offensive should be conducted methodically, that
+its objective should be limited, and that it might be interrupted and
+resumed as often as should seem advisable. The troops were engaged on
+the 31st of July, and the first rush carried the French onward a
+distance of 3 kilometers, not only to Steenstraete, which was the
+objective, but further on to Bixchoote and the Korteker Tavern. The
+British on their side had advanced 1500 yards over heavily fortified or
+wooded ground, and their new line lay along Pilkem, Saint-Julien,
+Frezenberg, Hooge, Sanctuary Wood, Hollebeke and Basse-Ville. Stormy
+weather on the first of August, and German counter-attacks on
+Saint-Julien, prevented an immediate continuation of the offensive, but
+on August 16 a fresh advance took the French as far as Saint-Jansbeck,
+while they seized the bridge-head of Drie Grachten. General Anthoine had
+been so careful in his artillery preparation that one of the attacking
+battalions had not a single casualty, and no soldier was even wounded.
+The French then had to wait until the English had advanced in their turn
+to the range of hillocks between Becelaere and Poelcapelle (September 20
+and 26), but the brilliant British successes on those two dates were
+making another collective operation possible; and this operation took
+place on October 9, and gave the French possession of the outskirts of
+Houthulst forest, while the British fought on till they captured the
+Passchendaele hills.</p>
+
+<p>Every great battle is now preceded and accompanied by a battle in the
+air, because if chasing or bombarding squadrons did not police the air
+before an attack, no photographs of the enemy's lines could be taken;
+and if they did not afford protection for the observers while the troops
+are engaged, the batteries would shoot and the infantry progress
+blindly. It is not surprising, therefore, that the enemy, who could not
+be deceived as to the importance of the French and British preparations
+in Flanders, had as early as mid-June brought additional airplanes and
+"sausages," and throughout July terrible contests took place in the air.
+Sometimes these engagements were duels, oftener they were fought by
+strong squadrons, and on July 13 units consisting of as many as thirty
+machines were seen on either side, the Germans losing fifteen airplanes,
+and sixteen more going home in a more or less damaged condition.</p>
+
+<p>While in hospital, Guynemer had heard of these tremendous encounters,
+and wondered if the enchanting cruises he used to make by himself or
+with just one companion must be things of the past. Was he to be
+involved in the new tactics and to become a mere unit in a group, or a
+chief with the responsibility of collective maneuvers? The air knight
+was incredulous; he thought of his magic airplane and could not persuade
+himself that, whatever the number of his opponents, he could not single
+one out for his thunder-clap attack.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Meanwhile the artillery preparation had begun, towards the fifteenth of
+July, and the earth was quaking to the thundering front at a distance
+of 50 kilometers. These are flat regions, and there would be no beauty
+in them if the light radiating from the vapors rising from the fields or
+the sea did not lend brilliance and relief to the yellow stone villages,
+the straggling woods or copses, the well-to-do farms, the low hedges, or
+the tall calvaries at the crossroads.</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer was in splendid condition. His indisposition of the previous
+month had been caused by his refusing to sleep at Dunkirk, as the others
+did, until their new quarters were ready. He wanted to be near his
+machine the moment there was light enough to see by, and slept in some
+unfinished hangar or under canvas in order not to miss any enterprising
+German who might take advantage of the dusk to sneak over the lines, spy
+on our preparations, or bombard our rear. He had paid for his imprudence
+by a severe cold. But now, comfortable-looking wooden houses stood along
+the shore, and Guynemer was himself again.</p>
+
+<p>On July 27, while patrolling with Lieutenant Deullin, his chum of Somme
+and of Aisne days&mdash;in fact, his friend of much older times&mdash;he brought
+down in flames, between Langemarck and Roulers, a very powerful
+Albatros, apparently a 220 H.P. of the latest model. This fell far
+within the enemy lines, but enthusiastic British soldiers witnessed the
+scene. Guynemer had chosen this Albatros for his victim among eight
+other machines, and had pulverized it at a distance of a few yards.</p>
+
+<p>This victory was his forty-ninth. He secured his fiftieth the very next
+day, bringing down a D.F.W. in flames over Westrobeke, the enemy showing
+fight, for Guynemer's magic airplane was hit in the tail, in one of the
+longitudinal spars, the exhaust pipe, and the hood, and had to be
+repaired. This day of glory was also one of mourning for the Storks.
+Captain Auger who, trusting his star after seven triumphs, had gone
+scouting alone, was shot in the head, and, after mustering energy enough
+to bring his machine back to the landing-ground, died almost
+immediately.</p>
+
+<p>Fifty machines destroyed! This had been Guynemer's dream. The apparently
+inaccessible figure had gradually seemed a possibility. Finally it had
+become a fact. Fifty machines down, without taking into account those
+which fell too far from the official observers, or those which had been
+only disabled, or those which had brought home sometimes a pilot,
+sometimes a passenger, dead in their seats. What would Guynemer do now?
+Was he not tired of hunting, killing, or destroying in the high regions
+of the atmosphere? Did he not feel the exhaustion consequent on the
+nervous strain of unlimited effort? Could he be entirely deaf to voices
+which advised him to rest, now that he was a captain, an officer in the
+Legion of Honor, and, at barely twenty-two, could hardly hope for more
+distinction? On the other hand, he had shown in his unceasing effort
+towards an absolutely perfect machine a genius for mechanics which might
+profitably be given play elsewhere. The occasion was not far to seek,
+for he had to take his damaged airplane back to the works; and what
+with this interruption and the precarious state of his health&mdash;for he
+had left the hospital too soon&mdash;he might reasonably have applied for
+leave. Nor was this all. The adoption of the new tactics of fighting in
+numbers might change the nature of his action: he might become the
+commanding officer of a unit, run less risk, indulge his temerity only
+once in a while, and yet make himself useful by infusing his own spirit
+into aspiring pilots.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly all these ideas occurred, if not to him, at all events to his
+friends. Guynemer has slain his fifty&mdash;they must have thought&mdash;Guynemer
+can now rest. What would it matter if some envious people should make
+remarks? "It is a pleasure worthy of a king," Alexander once said after
+Antisthenes, "to hear evil spoken of one while one is doing good." But
+Guynemer never knew this royal enjoyment; he never even suspected that
+well-wishers were plotting for his safety. He took his machine to the
+works, supervised the repairs with his customary attention, and by
+August 15 he was back again at his sport in Flanders.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Meanwhile his comrades had added to their laurels. Auger was dead, it is
+true; but Captain Derode, Adjutant Fonck&mdash;a perfect Aymerillot, the
+smallest and youngest of these knights-errant, Heurtaux, Deullin (both
+wounded, and the latter now risen to a captaincy), Lieutenant Gorgeus
+and Corporal Collins&mdash;all had done well. Besides them many, too many,
+bombarding aviators ought to be mentioned, but we must limit ourselves
+to those who are now laid low in Flemish graveyards: Lieutenant Mulard,
+Sergeant Thabaud-Deshouli&egrave;res, <i>sous-lieutenant</i> Bailliotz,
+<i>sous-lieutenant</i> Pelletier, who saved his airplane if he could not save
+his own life, and was heard saying to himself before expiring: "For
+France&mdash;I am happy...."; finally Lieutenant Ravarra, and Sergeant
+Delaunay, who had specialized in night attacks and disappeared without
+ever being heard of again.</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer had reported at the camp on August 15. On the seventeenth, at
+9.20 o'clock, he brought down a two-seated Albatros which fell in flames
+at Wladsloo, and five minutes later a D.F.W. which collapsed, also in
+flames, south of Dixmude. This double execution avenged the death of
+Captain Auger and of another Stork, Sergeant Cornet, killed the day
+before. On the eighteenth, Guynemer poured a broadside, at close
+quarters, into a two-seated machine above Staden; and on the twentieth,
+flying this time on his old <i>Vieux-Charles</i>, he destroyed a D.F.W. in a
+quick fight above Poperinghe. This meant three undoubted victories in
+four days under circumstances which the number of enemy machines and the
+high altitude made more difficult than they had ever been. The weather
+during this month of August was constantly stormy, and the Germans were
+taking every precaution to avoid surprise; but Guynemer was quick as
+lightning, took advantage of the shortest lulls, and baffled German
+prudence.</p>
+
+<p>The British or Belgian airmen of the neighborhood called on him, and he
+liked to return their politeness. He loved to talk about his methods,
+especially his shooting methods, for flying to him was only the means of
+shooting, and once he defined his airplane as a flying machine-gun.
+Captain Galliot, a specialist in gunsmithery, who overheard this remark,
+also heard him say to the Minister of Aviation, M. Daniel Vincent, who
+was inspecting the camp at Buc: "It is not by clever flying that you get
+rid of a Boche, but by hard and sharp shooting."</p>
+
+<p>It is not surprising, therefore, that he began his day's work by
+overhauling his machine-gun, cartridges, and visor. He did not mind
+trusting his mechanicians where his airplane and motor were concerned,
+but his weapon and ammunition were his own special care. He regarded as
+an axiom the well-known maxim of big-game hunters, that "it is not
+enough to hit, but you must shoot down your enemy with lightning
+rapidity if you do not wish to perish with him...."<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> <i>Guynemer tireur de combat</i> (<i>Guerre a&eacute;rienne</i> for October
+18, 1917, special number consecrated to Guynemer).</p></div>
+
+<p>Of his machine itself Guynemer made a terrible weapon, and he soon
+passed his fiftieth victory. On August 20 his record numbered
+fifty-three, and he was in as good condition as on the Somme. On the
+24th he was on his way to Paris, planning not only to have his airplane
+repaired, but to point out to the Buc engineers an improvement he had
+just devised.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h4><a name="II_OMENS" id="II_OMENS"></a>II. OMENS</h4>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, the dog always manages to get what he wants," Guynemer's
+father had once said to him with a sad smile, when Georges, regardless
+of his two previous failures, insisted at Biarritz upon enlisting.</p>
+
+<p>"The dog? what dog?" Guynemer had answered, not seeing an apologue in
+his father's words.</p>
+
+<p>"The dog waiting at the door till somebody lets him in. His one thought
+is to get in while the people's minds are not concentrated on keeping
+him out. So he is sure to succeed in the end."</p>
+
+<p>It is the same thing with our destiny, waiting till we open the door of
+our life. Vainly do we try to keep the door tightly shut against it: we
+cannot think of it all the time, and every now and then we fall into
+trustfulness, and thus its hour inevitably comes, and from the opening
+door it beckons to us. "What we call fatalism," M. Bergson says, "is
+only the revenge of nature on man's will when the mind puts too much
+strain upon the flesh or acts as if it did not exist. Orpheus, it is
+true, charmed the rivers, trees and rocks away from their places with
+his lyre, but the Maenades tore him to pieces in his turn."</p>
+
+<p>We cannot say that the Guynemer who flew in Flanders was not the same
+Guynemer who had flown over the Somme, Lorraine or Aisne battle-fields.
+Indeed, his mastery was increasing with each fresh encounter, and with
+his daring he cared little whether the enemy was gaining in numbers or
+inventing unsuspected tactics. His victories of August 17 and 20 showed
+him at his boldest best. Yet his comrades noticed that his nerves seemed
+overstrained. He was not content with flying oftener and longer than the
+others in quest of his game, but fretted if his Boche did not appear
+precisely when he wanted him. When an enemy did not turn up where he was
+expected, he made up his mind to seek him where he himself was not
+expected, and he became accustomed to scouting farther and farther away
+into dangerous zones. Was he tired of holding the door tight against
+destiny, or feeling sure that destiny could not look in? Did it not
+occur to him that his hour, whether near or not, was marked down?</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, it is certain that the thought not only presented itself to him
+sometimes, but was familiar. "At our last meeting," writes his
+school-fellow of Stanislas days, Lieutenant Constantin, "I had been
+struck by his melancholy expression, and yet he had just been victorious
+for the forty-seventh time. 'I have been too lucky,' he said to me, 'and
+I feel as if I must pay for it.' 'Nonsense,' I replied, 'I am absolutely
+certain that nothing will happen to you.' He smiled as if he did not
+believe me, but I knew that he was haunted by the idea, and avoided
+everything that might uselessly consume a particle of his energy or
+disturb his sang-froid, which he intended to devote entirely to Boche
+hunting."<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Unpublished notes by J. Constantin.</p></div>
+
+<p>When had he ceased to think himself invincible? The reader no doubt
+remembers how he recovered from his wound at Verdun, and the shock it
+might have left, merely by flying and offering himself to the enemy's
+fire with the firm resolve not to return it. Eight times he had been
+brought down, and each time with full and prolonged consciousness of
+what was happening. On many occasions he had come back to camp with
+bullets in his machine, or in his combination. Yet these narrow escapes
+never reacted on his imagination, damped his spirit, or diminished his
+<i>furia</i>. But had he thought himself invincible? He believed in his star,
+no doubt, but he knew he was only a man. One of his most intimate
+friends, his rival in glory, the nearest to him since the loss of Dorme,
+the one who was the Oliver to this Roland, once received this confidence
+from Guynemer: "One of the fellows told me that when he starts up he
+only thinks of the fighting before him; he found that sufficiently
+absorbing; but I told him that when the men start my motor I always make
+a sign to the fellows standing around. 'Yes, I have seen it,' he
+answered; 'the handshake of the airman. It means <i>au revoir</i>.' But maybe
+it is farewell I am inwardly saying," Guynemer added, and laughed, for
+the boy in him was never far from the man.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Towards the end of July, while he was in Paris seeing to the repairs for
+his machine after bringing down his fiftieth enemy, he had gone to
+Compi&egrave;gne for a short visit. His father, knowing his technical ability
+and his interest in all mechanical improvements, and on the other hand
+noticing a nervousness in his manner, dared for the first time to hint
+timidly and allusively at the possibility of his being useful in some
+other field.</p>
+
+<p>"Couldn't you be of service with respect to making engines, etc.?"</p>
+
+<p>But he was embarrassed by his son's look of questioning surprise. Every
+time Guynemer had used his father's influence in the army, it had been
+to bring himself nearer to danger.</p>
+
+<p>"No man has the right to get away from the front as long as the war
+lasts," he said. "I see very well what you are thinking, but you know
+that self-sacrifice is never wasted. Don't let us talk any more about
+it...."</p>
+
+<p>On Tuesday, August 28, Guynemer, having been obliged to come to Paris
+again for repairs to his airplane, went to Saint-Pierre de Chaillot. It
+was not exceptional for him to visit this old church; he loved to
+prepare himself there for his battle. One of the officiating priests has
+written since his death of "his faith and the transparency of his
+soul."<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> The Chaillot parishioners knew him well, but pretended not to
+notice him, and he thought himself one in a crowd. After seeing the
+priest in the confessional, he usually enjoyed another little chat in
+the sacristy, and although he was no man for long prayers and
+meditations, he expressed his thoughts on such occasions in heartfelt
+and serious language.</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> <i>La Croix</i>, October 7, 1917, article by Pierre l'Ermite.</p></div>
+
+<p>"My fate is sealed," he once said in his playful, authoritative way; "I
+cannot escape it." And remembering his not very far away Latin, he
+added: "<i>Hodie mihi, cras tibi</i>...."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Early in September he made up his mind to go back to Flanders, although
+his airplane was not yet entirely repaired. The day before leaving he
+was standing at the door of the H&ocirc;tel Edouard VII when one of his
+schoolmates at the Coll&egrave;ge Stanislas, Lieutenant Jacquemin, appeared.
+"He took me to his room," this officer relates, "and we talked for more
+than an hour about schooldays. I asked him whether he had some special
+dodge to be so successful." "None whatever," he said, "but you remember
+I took a prize for shooting at Stanislas. I shoot straight, and have
+absolute confidence in my machine." He showed me his numberless
+decorations, and was just as simple and full of good fellowship as he
+was at Stanislas. It was evident that his head had not been in the least
+turned by his success; he only talked more and enjoyed describing his
+fights. He told me, too, that in spite of opposition from airplane
+builders he had secured a long-contemplated improvement; and that he had
+had a special camera made for him with which he could photograph a
+machine as it fell. His parting words were: "I hope to fly to-morrow,
+but don't expect to see my name any more in the <i>communiqu&eacute;s</i>. That's
+all over: I have bagged my fifty Boches."</p>
+
+<p>Were not these strange words, if indeed Guynemer attached any meaning to
+them? At all events, they expressed his innermost longing, which was to
+go on flying, even if he should fly for nothing.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Before reporting at Dunkirk, Guynemer spent September 2, 3, and 4 with
+his people at Compi&egrave;gne. Never was he more fascinatingly affectionate,
+boyish, and bright than during those three days. But he seemed agitated.
+"Let us make plans," he said repeatedly, in spite of his old aversion to
+castle-building. His plans that day were for the amusement of his
+sisters. He reminded the younger, Yvonne, that he had quarreled once
+with her. It was at Biarritz, when he wanted her to make a <i>novena</i>
+(nine days' special prayers) that he might not be rejected by the
+recruiting board again; his sister did not like to promise, and he had
+threatened to sulk forever, which he had proceeded to do&mdash;for five
+minutes.</p>
+
+<p>His mother and sisters thought him more enchanting than ever, but his
+father felt that he was overstrained, and realized that his almost
+morbid notion of his duty as a chaser who could no longer wait for his
+chance but wanted to force a victory, was the result of fatigue. M.
+Guynemer no longer hesitated to speak, adding that the period of rest he
+advised was in the very interest of his son's service. "You need
+strengthening; you have done too much. If you should go on, you would be
+in great danger of falling below yourself, or not really being
+yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"Father, war is nothing else. One must pull on, even if the rope should
+threaten to snap."</p>
+
+<p>It was the first time that M. Guynemer had given undisguised advice, and
+he urged his point.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not stop awhile? Your record is pretty good; you might form younger
+pilots, and in time go back to your squadron."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and people would say that, hoping for no more distinctions, I have
+given up fighting."</p>
+
+<p>"What does it matter? Let people talk, and when you reappear in better
+condition they will understand. You know I never gave you a word of
+advice which the whole world could not hear. I always helped you, and
+you always found the most disinterested approval here in your home. But
+you will admit that human strength has its limits."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," Georges interposed, "a limit which we must endeavor to leave
+behind. We have given nothing as long as we have not given everything."</p>
+
+<p>M. Guynemer said no more. He felt that he had probed his son's soul to
+the depths, and his pride in his hero did not diminish his sorrow. When
+they parted he concealed his anguish, but he watched the boy, thinking
+he would never see him again. His wife and daughters, too, stood on the
+threshold oppressed by the same feelings, trying to suppress their
+anxiety and finding no words to veil it.</p>
+
+<p>In the Iliad, Hector, after breaking into the Greek camp like a dark
+whirlwind unexpectedly sweeping the land, and which the gods alone could
+stop, returns to Troy and stopping at the Sc&aelig;an gates waits for
+Achilles, who he knows must be wild to avenge Patroclus. Old Priam sees
+his son's danger, and beseeches him not to seek his antagonist. Hecuba
+joins her tears to his supplications. But tears and entreaties avail
+little, and Hector, turning a deaf ear to his parents, walks out to meet
+Achilles, as he thinks, but indeed to meet his own fate.</p>
+
+<p>On September 4, Guynemer was at the flying field of Saint-Pol-sur-Mer
+near Dunkirk. His old friend, Captain Heurtaux, so long Commander of the
+Storks, was not there; he had been wounded the day before by an
+explosive bullet, and the English had picked up and evacuated him.
+Heurtaux possessed infinite tact, and had not infrequently succeeded in
+influencing the rebellious Guynemer; but nobody was there to replace
+him. September 5 was a day of extraordinary activity for Guynemer. His
+magic airplane was still at the works, where he had complained of not
+having another in reserve; and not being able to wait for it, he sent
+for his old machine and immediately attacked a D.F.W. at close quarters,
+as usual; but the Boche was saved by the jamming of both of Guynemer's
+guns, and the aviator had to get back to his landing-ground. Furious at
+this failure, he promptly soared up again and attacked a chain of five
+one-seated planes, hitting two, which however managed to protect each
+other and escape. After two hours and a half, Guynemer went home again,
+overhauled his guns, found a trigger out of order, and for the third
+time went up again, scouring the sky for two more hours, indignant to
+see nothing but prudent Germans keeping far out of his reach. So, he had
+flown five hours and a half in that one day. What nerves could stand
+such a strain? But Guynemer, seeking victory, cared little for strain or
+nerves. Everything seemed to go against him: Heurtaux away, his best
+machine not available, his machine-guns out of order, and Germans
+refusing his challenge. No wonder if he fretted himself into increased
+irritation.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Guynemer liked Lieutenant Raymond, and every now and then flew with him.
+This officer being on leave, Guynemer on September 8 asked another
+favorite comrade, <i>sous-lieutenant</i> Bozon-Verduraz, to accompany him.
+The day was sullen, and a thick fog soon parted the two aviators, who
+lost their way and only managed to get clear of the fog when
+Bozon-Verduraz was over Nieuport and Guynemer over Ostend.</p>
+
+<p>September 9 was a Sunday, and Guynemer over-slept and had to be roused
+by a friend.</p>
+
+<p>"Aren't you coming to mass?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course."</p>
+
+<p>The two officers went to mass at Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, and the weather
+having grown worse Guynemer did not fly; but instead of enjoying the
+enforced rest, he resented it as a personal wrong. Next day he flew
+three times, and was unlucky again every time. On his first flight, on
+his two-gun machine, he found that the water-pump control did not work,
+and had to land on a Belgian a&euml;rodrome, where he was welcomed and
+asked to sit for his photograph. The picture shows a worried, tense,
+disquieting countenance under the mask ready to be pulled down. After
+frightening the enemy so long, Guynemer was now frightening his friends.</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+<img src="images/illus05.png" alt="West" />
+<a id="illus05" name="illus05"></a>
+</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="margin-bottom: 3em;"><b>"Going West"</b></p>
+
+
+<p>The photograph taken, Guynemer flew back to camp. The best for him,
+under the circumstances, would have been to wait. Was he not hourly to
+hear that he might go to the Buc works for his machine? And what was the
+use of flying on an unsatisfactory airplane? But Guynemer was not in
+Flanders to wait. He wanted his quarry, and he wanted to set an example
+to and galvanize his men, and even the infantry. So, Deullin being
+absent, Guynemer borrowed his machine, and at last discovered a chain of
+German flyers, whom he attacked regardless of their number. But four
+bullets hit his machine and one damaged the air-pump, an accident which
+not only compelled him to land but to return by motor to the a&euml;rodrome.
+Once more, instead of listening to the whisper of wisdom, he started, on
+Lieutenant Lagache's machine; and this time the annoyance was the
+gasoline spurting over the loose top of the carburetor. The oil caught
+fire, and Guynemer had to give in, having failed three times, and having
+been in the air five hours and a half on unsatisfactory airplanes. No
+wonder if, with the weather, the machines, and circumstances generally
+against him, he felt tired and nervous. He had never done so much with
+such poor results. But his will, his will cannot accept what is forced
+upon him, and we may be sure that he will not acknowledge himself
+beaten.</p>
+
+
+<h4><a name="III_THE_LAST_FLIGHT" id="III_THE_LAST_FLIGHT"></a>III. THE LAST FLIGHT</h4>
+
+<p>On Tuesday, September 11, the weather was once more uncertain. But
+morning fogs by the seaside do not last, and the sun soon began to
+shine. Guynemer had had a restless night after his failures, and had
+brooded, as irritable people do, over the very things that made him
+fretful. Chasing without his new airplane&mdash;the enchanting machine which
+he had borne in his mind so many months, as a women bears her child, and
+which at last he had felt soaring under him&mdash;was no pleasure. He missed
+it so much that the feeling became an obsession, until he made up his
+mind to leave for Buc before the day was over. Indeed, he would have
+done so sooner had he not been haunted by the idea that he must first
+bring down his Boche. But since the Boche did not seem to be willing....
+Now he is resolved, and more calm; he will go to Paris this very
+evening. He has only to while away the time till the train is due. The
+prospect in itself is quieting, and besides Major du Peuty, one of the
+chiefs of Aviation at Headquarters, and Major Brocard, recently
+appointed attach&eacute; to the Minister of A&euml;ronautics, were coming down by
+the early train. They were sure to arrive at the camp between nine and
+ten, and a conversation with them could not but be instructive and
+illuminating; so, better wait for them.</p>
+
+<p>But, in spite of these tranquillizing thoughts, Guynemer was restless,
+and his face showed the sallow color which always foreboded his physical
+relapses. His mind was not really made up, and he would come and go,
+strolling from his tent to the sheds and from the sheds to his tent. He
+was not cross, only nervous. Suddenly he went back to the shed and
+examined his <i>Vieux-Charles</i>. Why, the machine was not so bad after all;
+the motor and guns had been repaired, and yesterday's accident was not
+likely to happen again. If so, why not fly? In the absence of Heurtaux,
+Guynemer was in command, and once more the necessity of setting a good
+example forced itself upon him. Several flyers had started on scouting
+work already; the fog was quickly lifting, the day would soon be
+resplendent, and the notion of duty too quickly dazzled him, like the
+sun. For duty had always been his motive power; he had always
+anticipated it, from the day when he was fighting to enlist at Biarritz
+to this 11th of September, 1917. It was neither the passion for glory
+nor the craze to be an aviator which had caused him to join, but his
+longing to be of use; and in the same way his last flights were made in
+obedience to his will to serve.</p>
+
+<p>All at once he was really resolved. <i>Sous-lieutenant</i> Bozon-Verduraz was
+requested to accompany him, and the mechanicians wheeled the machines
+out. One of his comrades asked with assumed negligence: "Aren't you
+going to wait till Major du Peuty and Major Brocard arrive?" Guynemer's
+only answer was to wave towards the sky then freeing itself from its
+veils of fog as he himself was shaking off his hesitancy, and his friend
+felt that he must not be urgent. Everybody of late had noticed his
+nervousness, and Guynemer knew it and resented it; tact was more
+necessary than ever with him. Let it be remembered that he was the pet,
+almost the spoiled child, of his service, and that it had never been
+easy to approach him.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the two majors, who had been met at the station, were told of
+his nervous condition, and hurried to speak to him. They expected to
+reach the camp by nine o'clock, and would send for him at once. But
+Guynemer and Bozon-Verduraz had started at twenty-five minutes past
+eight.</p>
+
+<p>They had left the sea behind them, flying south-east. They had reached
+the lines, following them over Bixchoote and the Korteker Tavern which
+the French troops had taken on July 31, over the Bixchoote-Langemarck
+road, and finally over Langemarck itself, captured by the British on
+August 16. Trenches, sections of broken roads, familiar to them from
+above, crossed and recrossed each other under them, and they descried to
+the north of Langemarck road the railway, or what used to be the
+railway, between Ypres and Thourout and the Saint-Julien-Poelkapelle
+road. No German patrol appeared above the French or British lines, which
+Guynemer and his companion lost sight of above the Maison Blanche, and
+they followed on to the German lines over the faint vestiges of
+Poelkapelle.</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer's keen, long-practiced eye then saw a two-seated enemy airplane
+flying alone lower down than himself, and a signal was made to attract
+Bozon-Verduraz' notice. A fight was certain, and this fight was the one
+which Fate had long decided on.</p>
+
+<p>The attack on a two-seater flying over its own lines, and consequently
+enjoying unrestricted freedom of movement, is known to be a ticklish
+affair, as the pilot can shoot through the propeller and the passenger
+in his turret rakes the whole field of vision with the exception of two
+angles, one in front, the other behind him under the fuselage and tail.
+Facing the enemy and shooting directly at him, whether upwards or
+downwards, was Guynemer's method; but it is not easy on account of the
+varying speeds of the two machines, and because the pilot as well as the
+passenger is sheltered by the engine. So it is best to get behind and a
+little lower than the tail of the enemy plane.</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer had frequently used this maneuver, but he preferred a front
+attack, thinking that if he should fail he could easily resort to the
+other, either by turning or by a quick tail spin. So he tried to get
+between the sun and the enemy; but as ill-luck would have it, the sky
+clouded over, and Guynemer had to dive down to his opponent's level, so
+as to show him only the thin edges of the planes, hardly visible. But by
+this time the German had noticed him, and was endeavoring to get his
+range. Prudence advised zigzagging, for a cool-headed gunner has every
+chance of hitting a straight-flying airplane; the enemy ought to be
+made to shift his aim by quick tacking, and the attack should be made
+from above with a full volley, with the possibility of dodging back in
+case the enemy is not brought down at once. But Guynemer, regardless of
+rules and stratagems, merely fell on his enemy like a cannon ball. He
+might have said, like Alexander refusing to take advantage of the dark
+against Darius, that he did not want to steal victory. He only counted
+on his lightning-like manner of charging, which had won him so many
+victories, and on his marksmanship. But he missed the German, who
+proceeded to tail spin, and was missed again by Bozon-Verduraz, who
+awaited him below.</p>
+
+<p>What ought Guynemer to do? Desist, no doubt. But, having been imprudent
+in his direct attack, he was imprudent again on his new tack, and his
+usual obstinacy, made worse by irritation, counseled him to a dangerous
+course. As he dived lower and lower in hopes of being able to wheel
+around and have another shot, Bozon-Verduraz spied a chain of eight
+German one-seaters above the British lines. It was agreed between him
+and his chief that on such occasions he should offer himself to the
+newcomers, allure, entice, and throw them off the track, giving Guynemer
+time to achieve his fifty-fourth success, after which he should fly
+round again to where the fight was going on. He had no anxiety about
+Guynemer, with whom he had frequently attacked enemy squadrons of five,
+six, or even ten or twelve one-seaters. The two-seater might, no doubt,
+be more dangerous, and Guynemer had recently seemed nervous and below
+par; but in a fight his presence of mind, infallibility of movement, and
+quickness of eye were sure to come back, and the two-seater could hardly
+escape its doom.</p>
+
+<p>The last image imprinted on the eyes of Bozon-Verduraz was of Guynemer
+and the German both spinning down, Guynemer in search of a chance to
+shoot, the other hoping to be helped from down below. Then
+Bozon-Verduraz had flown in the direction of the eight one-seaters, and
+the group had fallen apart, chasing him. In time the eight machines
+became mere specks in the illimitable sky, and Bozon-Verduraz, seeing he
+had achieved his object, flew back to where his chief was no doubt
+waiting for him. But there was nobody in the empty space. Could it be
+that the German had escaped? With deadly anguish oppressing him, the
+airman descended nearer the ground to get a closer view. Down below
+there was nothing, no sign, none of the bustle which always follows the
+falling of an airplane. Feeling reassured, he climbed again and began to
+circle round and round, expecting his comrade. Guynemer was coming back,
+could not but come back, and the cause of his delay was probably the
+excitement of the chase. He was so reckless! Like Dorme&mdash;who one fine
+morning in May, on the Aisne, went out and was never heard of
+afterwards&mdash;he was not afraid of traveling long distances over enemy
+country. He must come back. It is impossible he should not come back;
+he was beyond the reach of common accidents, invincible, immortal! This
+was a certitude, the very faith of the Storks, a tenet which never was
+questioned. The notion of Guynemer falling to a German seemed hardly
+short of sacrilege.</p>
+
+<p>So Bozon-Verduraz waited on, making up his mind to wait as long as
+necessary. But an hour passed, and nobody appeared. Then the airman
+broadened his circles and searched farther out, without, however,
+swerving from the rallying-point. He searched the air like Nisus the
+forest in his quest of Euryalus, and his mind began to misgive him.</p>
+
+<p>After two hours he was still waiting, alone, noticing with dismay that
+his oil was running low. One more circle! How slack the engine sounded
+to him! One more circle! Now it was impossible to wait any more: he must
+go back alone.</p>
+
+<p>On landing, his first word was to ask about Guynemer.</p>
+
+<p>"Not back yet!"</p>
+
+<p>Bozon-Verduraz knew it. He knew that Guynemer had been taken away from
+him.</p>
+
+<p>The telephone and the wireless sent their appeals around, airplanes
+started on anxious cruises. Hour followed hour, and evening came, one of
+those late summer evenings during which the horizon wears the tints of
+flowers; the shadows deepened, and no news came of Guynemer. From
+neighboring camps French, British, or Belgian comrades arrived, anxious
+for news. Everywhere the latest birds had come home, and one hardly
+dared ask the airmen any question.</p>
+
+<p>But the daily routine had to be dispatched, as if there were no mourning
+in the camp. All the young men there were used to death, and to sporting
+with it; they did not like to show their sorrow; but it was deep in
+them, sullen and fierce.</p>
+
+<p>At dinner a heavy melancholy weighed upon them. Guynemer's seat was
+empty, and no one dreamed of taking it. One officer tried to dispel the
+cloud by suggesting hypotheses. Guynemer was lucky, had always been;
+probably he was alive, a prisoner.</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer a prisoner!... He had said one day with a laugh, "The Boches
+will never get me alive," but his laugh was terrible. No, Guynemer could
+not have been taken prisoner. Where was he, then?</p>
+
+<p>On the squadron log, <i>sous-lieutenant</i> Bozon-Verduraz wrote that evening
+as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><i>Tuesday, September 11, 1917.</i> Patrolled. Captain Guynemer started
+at 8.25 with <i>sous-lieutenant</i> Bozon-Verduraz. Found missing after
+an engagement with a biplane above Poelkapelle (Belgium).</p></div>
+
+<p>That was all.</p>
+
+
+<h4><a name="IV_THE_VIGIL" id="IV_THE_VIGIL"></a>IV. THE VIGIL</h4>
+
+<p>Before Guynemer, other knights of the air, other aces, had been reported
+missing or had perished&mdash;some like Captain Le Cour Grandmaison or
+Captain Auger in our lines, others like Sergeant Sauvage and
+<i>sous-lieutenant</i> Dorme in the enemy's. In fact, he would be the
+thirteenth on the list if the title of ace is reserved for aviators to
+whom the controlling board has given its vis&eacute; for five undoubted
+victories. These were the names:</p>
+
+<table summary="table" cellspacing="20">
+<tr>
+<td>Captain Le Cour Grandmaison</td>
+<td align="right"> 5</td>
+<td>victories</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Sergeant Hauss</td>
+<td align="right">5</td>
+<td align="center">"</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><i>sous-lieutenant</i> Delorme</td>
+<td align="right">5</td>
+<td align="center">"</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><i>sous-lieutenant</i> P&eacute;goud</td>
+<td align="right">6</td>
+<td align="center">"</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><i>sous-lieutenant</i> Languedoc</td>
+<td align="right">7</td>
+<td align="center">"</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Captain Auger</td>
+<td align="right">7</td>
+<td align="center">"</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Captain Doumer</td>
+<td align="right">7</td>
+<td align="center">"</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><i>sous-lieutenant</i> Rochefort</td>
+<td align="right">7</td>
+<td align="center">"</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Sergeant Sauvage</td>
+<td align="right">8</td>
+<td align="center">"</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Captain Matton</td>
+<td align="right">9</td>
+<td align="center">"</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Adjutant Lenoir</td>
+<td align="right">11</td>
+<td align="center">"</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><i>sous-lieutenant</i> Dorme</td>
+<td align="right">23</td>
+<td align="center">"</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>Would Guynemer's friends now have to add: Captain Guynemer, 53? Nobody
+dared to do so, yet nobody now dared hope.</p>
+
+<p>A poet of genius, who even before the war had been an aviator, Gabriele
+d'Annunzio, has described in his novel, <i>Forse che si forse che no</i>, the
+friendship of two young men, Paolo Tarsis and Giulio Cambasio, whose
+mutual affection, arising from a similar longing to conquer the sky, has
+grown in the perils they dare together. If this book had been written
+later, war would have intensified its meaning. Instead of dying in a
+fight, Cambasio is killed in a contest for altitude between Bergamo and
+the Lake of Garda. As Achilles watched beside the dead body of
+Patroclus, so Tarsis would not leave to another the guarding of his lost
+friend:</p>
+
+<p>"In tearless grief Paolo Tarsis kept vigil through the short summer
+night. So it had broken asunder the richest bough on the tree of his
+life; the most generous part of himself ruined. For him the beauty of
+war had diminished, now that he was no longer to see, burning in those
+dead eyes, the fervor of effort, the security of confidence, the
+rapidity of resolution. He was no longer to taste the two purest joys of
+a manly heart: steadiness of eye in attack, and the pride of watching
+over a beloved peer."</p>
+
+<p><i>For him the beauty of war had diminished</i>.... War already so long, so
+exhausting and cruel, and laden with sorrow! Will war appear in its
+horrid nakedness, now that those who invested it with glory disappear,
+now, above all, when the king of these heroes, the dazzling young man
+whose luminous task was known to the whole army, is no more? Is not his
+loss the loss of something akin to life? For a Guynemer is like the
+nation's flag: if the soldiers' eyes miss the waving colors, they may
+wander to the wretchedness of daily routine, and morbidly feed on blood
+and death. This is what the loss of a Guynemer might mean.</p>
+
+<p>But can a Guynemer be quite lost?</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+
+<p style="margin-left: 2.5em;"><span class="smcap">Saint-Pol-sur-Mer</span>, <i>September</i>, 1917</p>
+<p style="margin-left: 2.5em;">(From the author's diary)</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Visited the Storks Escadrille.
+</p>
+
+<p>The flying field occupies a vast space, for it is common to the French
+and the British. A dam protecting the landing-ground screens it from
+the sea. But from the second floor of a little house which the bombs
+have left standing, you can see its moving expanse of a delicate, I
+might say timid blue, dotted with home-coming boats. The evening is
+placid and fine, with a reddish haze blurring the horizon.</p>
+
+<p>Opposite the sheds, with their swelling canvas walls, a row of airplanes
+is standing before being rolled in for the night. The mechanicians feel
+them with careful hands, examining the engines, propellers, and wings.
+The pilots are standing around, still in their leather suits, their
+helmets in their hands. In brief sentences they sum up their day's
+experiences.</p>
+
+<p>Mechanically I look among them for the one whom the eye invariably
+sought first. I recalled his slight figure, his amber complexion, and
+dark, wonderful eyes, and his quick descriptive gestures. I remembered
+his ringing, boyish laugh, as he said:</p>
+
+<p>"And then, '<i>couic</i>'...."</p>
+
+<p>He was life itself. He got out of his seat panting but radiant,
+quivering, as it were, like the bow-string when it has sent its shaft,
+and full of the sacred drunkenness of a young god.</p>
+
+<p>Ten days had passed since his disappearance. Nothing more was known than
+on that eleventh of September when Bozon-Verduraz came back alone.
+German prisoners belonging to aviation had not heard that he was
+reported missing. Yet it was inconceivable that such a piece of news
+should not have been circulated; and, in fact, yesterday a message
+dropped by a German airplane on the British lines, concerning several
+English aviators killed or in hospital, was completed by a note saying
+that Captain Guynemer had been brought down at Poelkapelle on September
+10, at 8 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> But could this message be credited? Both the day
+and hour it stated were wrong. On September 10 at 8 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>
+Guynemer was alive, and even the next day he had not left the camp at
+the hour mentioned. An English newspaper had announced his
+disappearance, and perhaps the enemy was merely using the information.
+The mystery remained unsolved.</p>
+
+<p>As we were discussing these particulars, the last airplanes were
+landing, one after another, and Guynemer's companions offered their
+reasons for hoping, or rather believing; but none seemed convinced by
+his own arguments. Their inner conviction must be that their young chief
+is dead; and besides, what is death, what is life, to devoting one's all
+to France?</p>
+
+<p>Captain d'Harcourt had succeeded Major Brocard pro tem as commandant of
+the unit. He was a very slim, very elegant young man, with the grace and
+courtesy of the <i>ancien r&eacute;gime</i> which his name evoked, and the
+perfection of his manners and gentleness seemed to lend convincing power
+to all he said. Guynemer being missing and Heurtaux wounded, the Storks
+were now commanded by Lieutenant Raymond. He belonged to the cavalry, a
+tall, thin man, with the sharp face and heroic bearing of Don Quixote, a
+kindly man with a roughness of manner and a quick, picturesque way of
+expressing himself. Deullin was there, too, one of Guynemer's oldest and
+most devoted friends. Last of all descended from the high regions
+<i>sous-lieutenant</i> Bozon-Verduraz, a rather heavy man with a serious
+face, and more maturity than belonged to his years, an unassuming young
+man with a hatred for exaggeration and a deep respect for the truth.</p>
+
+<p>Once more he went through every detail of the fatal day for me, each
+particular anticipating the dread issue. But in spite of this narrative,
+full of the idea of death, I could not think of Guynemer as dead and
+lying somewhere under the ground held by the enemy. It was impossible
+for me not to conjure up Guynemer alive and even full of life, Guynemer
+chasing the enemy with strained terrible eyes, Guynemer of the
+superhuman will, the Guynemer who never gave up,&mdash;in short, a Guynemer
+whom death could not vanquish.</p>
+
+<p>A wonderful atmosphere men breathe here, for it relieves death of its
+horror. One officer, Raymond, I think, said in a careless manner:</p>
+
+<p>"Guynemer's fate will be ours, of course."</p>
+
+<p>Somebody protested: "The country needs men like you."</p>
+
+<p>To which Deullin answered: "Why does it? There will be others after us,
+and the life we lead...."</p>
+
+<p>But Captain d'Harcourt broke in gaily: "Come on; dinner's ready&mdash;and
+with this bright moon and clear sky we are sure to get bombed."</p>
+
+<p>Bombed, indeed, we were, and pretty severely, but in convenient time,
+for we had just drunk our coffee. A few minutes before, the practiced
+ear of one of us had caught the sound of the <i>bimoulins</i>, the bi-motor
+German airplanes, and soon they were near. We gained the sheltering
+trench. But the night was so entrancingly pure, with the moon riding
+like an airship in the deep space, that it seemed to promise peace and
+invited us to enjoy the spectacle. We climbed upon the parapet and
+listened to the breathing of the sea, accompanying with its bass the
+music of the motors. There were still a few straggling reddish vapors
+over the luminous landscape, and the stars seemed dim. But other stars
+took their place, those of the French <i>Voisins</i> returning from some
+bombing expedition, their lights dotting the sky like a moving
+constellation, while at intervals a rocket shot from one or the other
+who was anxious not to miss the landing-ground. Over Dunkirk, eight or
+ten searchlights stretched out their long white arms, thrusting and
+raking to and fro after the enemy machines. Suddenly one of these
+appeared, dazzled by the revealing light, as a moth in the circle of a
+lamp; our batteries began firing, and we could see the quick sparks of
+their shells all around it. Flashing bullets, too, drew zebra-like
+stripes across the sky, and with the cannonade and the rumbling of the
+airplanes we heard the lament of the Dunkirk sirens announcing the
+dreaded arrival of the huge 380 shells upon the town, where here and
+there fires broke out. Meanwhile the German airplanes got rid of their
+bombs all around us, and we could feel the ground tremble.</p>
+
+<p>The Storks looked on with the indifference of habit, thinking of their
+beds and awaiting the end. One of them, a weather prophet, said:</p>
+
+<p>"It will be a good day to-morrow; we can start early."</p>
+
+<p>As I spun towards Dunkirk in the motor, these young men and their
+speeches were in my mind, and I seemed to hear them speaking of their
+absent companion without any depression, with hardly any sorrow. They
+thought of him when they were successful, referred to him as a model,
+found an incentive in his memory,&mdash;that was all. Their grief over his
+loss was virile and invigorating.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>After watching his friend's body through the night, the hero of
+d'Annunzio goes to the a&euml;rodrome where the next trials for altitude are
+to take place. He cannot think of robbing the dead man of his victory.
+As he rises into the upper regions of the air he feels a soothing
+influence and an increase of power: the dead man himself pilots his
+machine, wields the controls, and helps him higher, ever higher up in
+divine intoxication.</p>
+
+<p>In the same way the warlike power of Guynemer's companions is not
+diminished. Guynemer is still with them, accompanying each one, and
+instilling into them the passionate longing to do more and more for
+France.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h4><a name="V_THE_LEGEND" id="V_THE_LEGEND"></a>V. THE LEGEND</h4>
+
+<p>In seaside graveyards, the stone crosses above the empty tombs say only,
+after the name, "Lost at sea." I remember also seeing in the churchyards
+of the Vale of Chamonix similar inscriptions: "Lost on Mont-Blanc." As
+the mountains and the sea sometimes refuse to give up their victims, so
+the air seems to have kept Guynemer.</p>
+
+<p>"He was neither seen nor heard as he fell," M. Henri Lavedan wrote at
+the beginning of October; his body and his machine were never found.
+Where has he gone? By what wings did he manage thus to glide into
+immortality? Nobody knows: nothing is known. He ascended and never came
+back, that is all. Perhaps our descendants will say: "He flew so high
+that he could not come down again."<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> <i>L'Illustration</i>, October 6, 1917.</p></div>
+
+<p>I remember a strange line read in some Miscellany in my youth and never
+forgotten, though the rest of the poem has vanished from memory:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Un jet d'eau qui montait n'est pas redescendu.</p></div>
+
+<p>Does this not embody the upspringing force of Guynemer's brilliant
+youth?</p>
+
+<p>Throughout France some sort of miracle was expected: Guynemer must
+reappear&mdash;if a prisoner he must escape, if dead he must come to life.
+His father said he would go on believing even to the extreme limits of
+improbability. The journalist who signs his letters from the front to
+<i>Le Temps</i> with the pseudonym d'Entraygues recalled a passage from
+Balzac in which some peasants at work on a haystack call to the postman
+on the road: "What's the news?" "Nothing, no news. Oh! I beg your
+pardon, people say that Napoleon has died at St. Helena." Work stops at
+once, and the peasants look at one another in silence. But one fellow
+standing on the rick says: "Napoleon dead! psha! it's plain those people
+don't know him!" The journalist added that he heard a speech of the same
+kind in the bush-region of Aveyron. A passenger on the motor-bus read in
+a newspaper the news of Guynemer's death; everybody seemed dismayed. The
+chauffeur alone smiled skeptically as he examined the spark plugs of his
+engine. When he had done, he pulled down the hood, put away his
+spectacles, carefully wiped his dirty hands on a cloth still dirtier,
+and planting himself in front of the passenger said: "Very well. I tell
+you that the man who is to down Guynemer is still an apprentice. Do you
+understand?..."</p>
+
+<p>The credulity of the poor people of France with regard to their hero was
+most touching. When the death of Guynemer had to be admitted, there was
+deep mourning, from Paris to the remote villages where news travels
+slowly, but is long pondered upon. Guynemer had been brought down from a
+height of 700 meters, northeast of Poelkapelle cemetery, in the Ypres
+sector. A German noncommissioned officer and two soldiers had
+immediately gone to where the machine was lying. One of the wings of the
+machine was broken; the airman had been shot through the head, and his
+leg and shoulder had been broken in the fall; but his face was
+untouched, and he had been identified at once by the photograph on his
+pilot's diploma. A military funeral had been given to him.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, it seemed as if Guynemer's fate still remained somewhat
+obscure. The German War Office published a list of French machines
+fallen in the German lines, with the official indications by which they
+had been recognized. Now, the number of the <i>Vieux-Charles</i> did not
+appear on any of these lists, although having only one wing broken the
+number ought to have been plainly visible. Who were the noncommissioned
+officer and the two soldiers? Finally, on October 4, 1917, the British
+took Poelkapelle, but the enemy counter-attacked, and there was furious
+fighting. On the 9th the village was completely occupied by the British,
+and they searched for Guynemer's grave. No trace of it could be found in
+either the military or the village graveyard.</p>
+
+<p>In fact, the Germans had to acknowledge in an official document that
+both the body and the airplane of Guynemer had disappeared. On November
+8, 1917, the German Foreign Office replied as follows to a question
+asked by the Spanish Ambassador:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Captain Guynemer fell in the course of an air fight on September 11
+at ten <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> close to the honor graveyard No. 2 south of
+Poelkapelle. A surgeon found that he had been shot through the
+head, and that the forefinger of his left hand had been shot off by
+a bullet. The body could neither be buried nor removed, as the
+place had been since the previous day under constant and heavy
+fire, and during the following days it was impossible to approach
+it. The sector authorities communicate that the shelling had plowed
+up the entire district, and that no trace could be found on
+September 12 of either the body or the machine. Fresh inquiries,
+which were made in order to answer the question of the Spanish
+Embassy, were also fruitless, as the place where Captain Guynemer
+fell is now in the possession of the British.</p>
+
+<p>The German airmen express their regret at having been unable to
+render the last honors to a valiant enemy.</p>
+
+<p>It should be added that investigation in this case was only made
+with the greatest difficulty, as the enemy was constantly
+attacking, fresh troops were frequently brought in or relieved, and
+eye witnesses had either been killed or wounded, or transferred.
+Our troops being continually engaged have not been in a position to
+give the aforesaid information sooner.</p></div>
+
+<p>So there had been no military funeral, and Guynemer had accepted nothing
+from his enemies, not even a wooden cross. The battle he had so often
+fought in the air had continued around his body; the Allied guns had
+kept the Germans away from it. So nobody can say where lies what was
+left of Guynemer: and no hand had touched him. Dead though he was, he
+escaped. He who was life and movement itself, could not accept the
+immobility of the tomb.</p>
+
+<p>German applause, like that with which the Greeks welcomed the dead body
+of Hector, did not fail to welcome Guynemer's end. At the end of three
+weeks a coarse and discourteous paean was sung in the <i>Woche</i>. In its
+issue of October 6, this paper devoted to Guynemer, under the title
+"Most Successful French Aviator Killed," an article whose lying
+cowardice is enough to disgrace a newspaper, and which ought to be
+preserved to shame it. A reproduction of Guynemer's diploma was given
+with the article, which ran as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Captain Guynemer enjoyed high reputation in the French army, as he
+professed having brought down more than fifty airplanes, but many
+of these were proved to have got back to their camps, though
+damaged it is true. The French, in order to make all verification
+on our side impossible, have given up stating, in the past few
+months, the place or date of their so-called victories. Certain
+French aviators, taken prisoner by our troops, have described his
+method thus: sometimes, when in command of his squadron, he left it
+to his men to attack, and when he had ascertained which of his
+opponents was the weakest, he attacked that one in turn. Sometimes
+he would fly alone at very great altitudes, for hours, above his
+own lines, and when he saw one of our machines separated from the
+others would pounce upon it unawares. If his first onset failed, he
+would desist at once, not liking fights of long duration, in the
+course of which real gallantry must be displayed.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Der Erfolgreichste Franz&ouml;sische Kampfflieger Gefallen.
+Kapit&auml;n Guynemer genoss grossen Ruhm im franz&ouml;sischen Heere, da er 50
+Flugzeuge abgeschossen haben wollte. Von diesen ist jedoch
+nachgewiesenermassen eine grosse Zahl, wenn auch besch&auml;digt, in ihre
+Flugh&auml;fen zur&uuml;ckgekert. Um deutscherseits eine Nachpr&uuml;fung unm&ouml;glich zu
+machen, wurden in den letzten Monaten Ort und Datum seiner angeblichen
+Luftsiege nicht mehr angegeben. Ueber seine Kampfmethode haben gefangene
+franz&ouml;sische Flieger berichtet: Entweder liess er, als Geschwaderf&uuml;hrer
+fliegend, seine Kameraden zuerst angreifen un st&uuml;rzle sich dann erst auf
+den schw&auml;chsten Gegner; oder er flog stundenlang in gr&ouml;ssten H&ouml;he,
+allein hinter der franz&ouml;sischen Front und st&uuml;rzte sich von oben herab
+&uuml;berraschend auf einzeln fliegende deutsche Beobachtungsflugzeuge. Hatte
+Guynemer beim ersten Verstoss keinen Erfolg, so brach er das Gefecht
+sofort ab; auf den l&auml;nger dauernden, wahrhaft muterprobenden Kurvenkampf
+liess er sich nicht gern ein.&mdash;Extract from the <i>Woche</i> of October 6,
+1917.</p></div>
+
+<p>This is the filth the German paper was not ashamed to print. Repulsive
+though it is, I must analyze some of its details. An enemy's abuse
+reveals his own character. So this German denied the fifty-three
+victories of Guynemer, all controlled, and with such severity that in
+his case, as in that of Dorme, he was not credited with fully a third of
+his distant triumphs, too far away to be officially recognized; so this
+German also vilified Guynemer's fighting methods, Guynemer the
+foolhardy, the wildly, madly foolhardy, whose machines and clothes were
+everlastingly riddled with bullets, who fought at such close quarters
+that he was constantly in danger of collisions&mdash;this Guynemer the German
+journalist makes out to be a prudent and timid airman, shirking fight
+and making use of his comrades. What sort of story had the German who
+brought him down told? Was it not obvious that if Guynemer had engaged
+him at 4000 meters, and had been killed at 700, that he must have
+prolonged the struggle, and prolonged it above the enemy's lines?
+Finally, the German journalist had the unutterable meanness and infamy
+to saddle on imprisoned French aviators this slander of their comrade,
+insinuated rather than boldly expressed. After all, this document is
+invaluable, and ought to be framed and preserved. How Guynemer would
+have laughed over it, and how youthfully ringing and honest the laugh
+would have sounded! Villiers de l'Isle Adam, remembering the Hegelian
+philosophy, once wrote: "The man who insults you only insults the idea
+he has formed of you, that is to say, himself."</p>
+
+<p>As a whole army (the Sixth) marched on May 25 towards that hill of the
+Aisne valley where Guynemer had brought down four German machines, and
+acclaimed his triumph, so the whole French nation would take part in
+mourning him.</p>
+
+<p>At the funeral service held at Saint Antony's Compi&egrave;gne, the Bishop of
+Beauvais, Monseigneur Le Senne, spoke, taking for his text the Psalm in
+which David laments the death of Saul and his sons slain <i>on the
+summits</i>, and says that this calamity must be kept secret lest the
+Philistines and their daughters should rejoice over it. This service was
+attended by General D&eacute;beney, staff major-general, representing the
+generalissimo, and by all the surviving members of the Storks
+Escadrille, with their former chief, Major Brocard. His successor,
+Captain Heurtaux, whose unexpected appearance startled the
+congregation&mdash;he seemed so pale and thin on his crutches&mdash;had left the
+hospital for this ceremony, and looked so ill that people were surprised
+that he had the strength to stand.</p>
+
+<p>A few hours before the service took place, Major Garibaldi, sent by
+General Anthoine, commander of the army to which Guynemer belonged, had
+brought to the Guynemer family the twenty-sixth citation of their hero,
+the famous document which all French schoolboys have since learned by
+heart and which was as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Fallen on the field of honor on September 11, 1917. A legendary
+hero, fallen from the very zenith of victory after three years'
+hard and continuous fighting. He will be considered the most
+perfect embodiment of the national qualities for his indomitable
+energy and perseverance and his exalted gallantry. Full of
+invincible belief in victory, he has bequeathed to the French
+soldier an imperishable memory which must add to his
+self-sacrificing spirit and will surely give rise to the noblest
+emulation.</p></div>
+
+<p>On the motion of M. Lasies, in a session which reminded us of the great
+days of August, 1914, the Chamber decided on October 19 that the name of
+Captain Guynemer should be graven on the walls of the Panth&eacute;on. Two
+letters, to follow below, were read by M. Lasies, to whom they had been
+written. One came from Lieutenant Raymond, temporary commandant of the
+Storks, and was as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Having the honor to command Escadrille 3 in the absence of Captain
+Heurtaux, still wounded in hospital, I am anxious to thank you, in
+the name of the few surviving Storks, for what you are doing for
+the memory of Guynemer.</p>
+
+<p>He was our friend as well as our chief and teacher, our pride and
+our flag, and his loss will be felt more than any that has thinned
+our ranks so far.</p>
+
+<p>Please be sure that our courage has not been laid low with him; our
+revenge will be merciless and victorious.</p>
+
+<p>May Guynemer's noble soul remember us fighting our a&euml;rial battles,
+that we may keep alight the flame he bequeathed to us.</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 25em;">
+<span class="smcap">Raymond</span><br />
+Commanding Escadrille 3.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>The other letter came from Major Brocard:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">My dear Comrade</span>:</p>
+
+<p>I am profoundly moved to hear of the thought you have had of giving
+the highest consecration to Guynemer's memory by a ceremony at the
+Panth&eacute;on.</p>
+
+<p>It had occurred to all of us that only the lofty dome of the
+Panth&eacute;on was large enough for such wings.</p>
+
+<p>The poor boy fell in the fullness of triumph, with his face towards
+the enemy. A few days before he had sworn to me that the Germans
+should never take him alive. His heroic death is not more glorious
+than that of the gunner defending his gun, the infantryman rushing
+out of his trench, or even that of the poor soldier perishing in
+the bogs. But Guynemer was known to all. There were few who had not
+seen him in the sky, whether blue or cloudy, bearing on his frail
+linen wings some of their own faith, their own dreams, and all that
+their souls could hold of trust and hope.</p>
+
+<p>It was for them all, whether infantrymen or gunners or pioneers,
+that he fought with the bitter hatred he felt for the invader, with
+his youthful daring and the joys of his triumphs. He knew that the
+battle would end fatally for him, no doubt, but knowing also that
+his war-bird was the instrument of saving thousands of lives, and
+seeing that his example called forth the noblest imitation, he
+remained true to his idea of self-sacrifice which he had formed a
+long time before, and which he saw develop with perfect calm.</p>
+
+<p>Full of modesty as a soldier, but fully conscious of the greatness
+of his duties, he possessed the national qualities of endurance,
+perseverance, indifference to danger, and to these he added a most
+generous heart.</p>
+
+<p>During his short life he had not time enough to learn bitterness,
+or suffering, or disillusionment.</p>
+
+<p>He passed straight from the school where he was learning the
+history of France to where he himself could add another page to it.
+He went to the war driven by a mysterious power which I respect as
+death or genius ought to be respected.</p>
+
+<p>He was a powerful thought living in a body so delicate that I, who
+lived so close beside him, knew it would some day be slain by the
+thought.</p>
+
+<p>The poor boy! Other boys from every French school wrote to him
+every day. He was their legendary ideal, and they felt all his
+emotions, sharing his joys as well as his dangers. To them he was
+the living copy of the heroes whose exploits they read in their
+books. His name is constantly on their lips, for they love him as
+they have been taught to love the purest glories of France.</p>
+
+<p><i>Monsieur le d&eacute;put&eacute;</i>, gain admittance for him to the Panth&eacute;on,
+where he has already been placed by the mothers and children of
+France. There his protecting wings will not be out of place, for
+under that dome where sleep those who gave us our France, they will
+be the symbol of those who have defended her for us.</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 25em;">
+<span class="smcap">Major Brocard</span>.<br />
+</p></div>
+
+<p>These letters roused the enthusiasm of the Chamber, and the following
+resolution was passed by acclamation:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The government shall have an inscription placed in the Panth&eacute;on to
+perpetuate the memory of Captain Guynemer, the symbol of France's
+highest aspirations.</p></div>
+
+<p>On November 5 the foregoing letters were solemnly read aloud in every
+school, and Guynemer was presented as an example to all French
+schoolboys.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The army then prepared to celebrate Guynemer as a leader, and in default
+of any place suitable for such a ceremony they selected the camp of
+Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, whence Guynemer had started on his last flight. On
+November 30 General Anthoine, commanding the First Army, before leaving
+the Flemish British sector where he had so brilliantly assisted in the
+success, decided to associate his men with the glorification of
+Guynemer.</p>
+
+<p>The ceremony took place at ten in the morning. A raw breeze was blowing
+off the sea, whose violence the dam, raised to protect the
+landing-ground, was not sufficient to break. In front of the battalion
+which had been sent to render the military honors, waved the colors of
+the twenty regiments that had fought in the Flemish battles, glorious
+flags bearing the marks of war, some of them almost in rags. To the
+left, in front of the airmen, two slight figures were visible, one in
+black, one in horizon blue: Captain Heurtaux still on his crutches, the
+other <i>sous-lieutenant</i> Fonck. The former was to be made an officer, the
+latter a chevalier in the Legion of Honor. Heurtaux, a fair-haired,
+delicate, almost girlish young man, but so phenomenally self-possessed
+in danger, had been, as we have said, our Roland's Oliver, his companion
+of old days, his rival and his confidant. Fonck, whom I called
+Aymerillot because of his smallness, his boyish simplicity and his
+daring, the hope of the morrow and already a glorious soldier, had
+perhaps avenged Guynemer's death already. For Lieutenant Weissman,
+according to the <i>K&ouml;lnische Zeitung</i>, had boasted in a letter to his
+people of having brought down the most famous French aviator. "Don't be
+afraid on my account," he added, "I shall never meet such a dangerous
+enemy again." Now, on September 30 Fonck had shot this Lieutenant
+Weissman through the head as the latter was piloting a Rumpler machine
+above the French lines.</p>
+
+<p>While the band was playing the <i>Marseillaise</i>, accompanied by the
+roaring of the gale and of the sea, as well as of the airplanes circling
+above, General Anthoine stepped out in front of the row of flags. His
+powerful frame seemed to suggest the cuirass of the knights of old, as,
+silhouetted against the cloudy sky, he towered above the two diminutive
+aviators near whom he was standing. The band stopped playing, and the
+general spoke, his voice rising and falling in the wind, and swelling to
+a higher pitch when the elements were too rebellious. He was speaking
+almost on the spot where Guynemer had departed from the soil of his own
+country on his final flight.</p>
+
+<p>"I have not summoned you," he said, "to pay Guynemer the last homage he
+has a right to from the First Army, over a coffin or a grave. No trace
+could be found in Poelcapelle of his mortal remains, as if the heavens,
+jealous of their hero, had not consented to return to earth what seems
+to belong to it by right, and as if Guynemer had disappeared in empyrean
+glory through a miraculous assumption. Therefore we shall omit, on this
+spot from which he soared into Infinity, the sorrowful rites generally
+concluding the lives of mortals, and shall merely proclaim the
+immortality of the Knight of the Air, without fear or reproach.</p>
+
+<p>"Men come and go, but France remains. All who fall for her bequeath to
+her their own glory, and her splendor is made up of their worth. Happy
+is he who enriches the commonwealth by the complete gift of himself.
+Happy then the child of France whose superhuman destiny we are
+celebrating! Glory be to him in the heavens where he reigned supreme,
+and glory be to him on the earth, in our soldiers' hearts and in these
+flags, sacred emblems of honor and of the worship of France!</p>
+
+<p>"Ye flags of the second a&euml;ronautical unit and of the First Army, you
+keep in the mystery of your folds the memory of virtue, devotion, and
+sacrifice of every kind, to hand down to future generations the
+treasures of our national traditions!</p>
+
+<p>"Flags, the souls of our heroes live in you, and when your fluttering
+silk is heard, it is indeed their voice bidding us go from the same
+dangers to the same triumphs!</p>
+
+<p>"Flags, keep the soul of Guynemer forever. Let it raise up and multiply
+heroes in his likeness! Let it exalt to resolution the hearts of
+neophytes eager to avenge the martyr by imitating his lofty example, and
+let it give them power to revive the prowess of this legendary hero!</p>
+
+<p>"For the only homage he expects from his companions is the continuation
+of his work.</p>
+
+<p>"In the brief moment during which dying men see, as in a vision, the
+whole past and the whole future, if Guynemer knew a comfort it was the
+certainty that his comrades would successfully complete what he had
+begun.</p>
+
+<p>"You, his friends and rivals, I know well; I know that, like Guynemer,
+you can be trusted, that you meet bravely the formidable task he has
+bequeathed to you, and that you will fulfil the hopes which France had
+reposed in him.</p>
+
+<p>"It is to confirm this certitude in presence of our flags, brought to
+witness it, that I am glad to confer on two of his companions, two of
+our bravest fighters, distinctions which are at the same time a reward
+for the past and an earnest of future glory."</p>
+
+<p>Then the general gave the accolade and embraced Heurtaux, now less
+dependent on his crutches, and Fonck, suddenly grown taller, children of
+glory, both of them, and still pale from the emotion caused by the
+evocation of their friend's glory. He pinned the badges on their coats.
+After this he added, in a lull of the conflicting elements:</p>
+
+<p>"Let us raise our hearts in respectful and grateful admiration for the
+hero whom the First Army can never forget, of whom it was so proud, and
+whose memory will always live in History.</p>
+
+<p>"Dead though he be, a man like Guynemer guides us, if we know how to
+follow him, along the triumphal way which, over ruins, tombs, and
+sacrifices, leads to victory the good and the strong."</p>
+
+<p>Of itself, thanks to this religious conclusion of the general's ode, the
+ceremony had assumed a sort of sacred character, and the word which
+concludes prayers, the Amen of the officiating priest, naturally came to
+our lips while the general saluted with his sword the invisible spirit
+of the hero, and the blasts of the bugles rose above the gale and the
+sea.</p>
+
+
+<h4><a name="VI_IN_THE_PANTHEON" id="VI_IN_THE_PANTHEON"></a>VI. IN THE PANTH&Eacute;ON</h4>
+
+<p>In the Panth&eacute;on crypt, destined, as the inscription says, for the burial
+of great men, the name of Guynemer will be graven on a marble slab
+cemented in the wall. The proper inscription for this slab will be the
+young soldier's last citation:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>FALLEN ON THE FIELD OF HONOR ON SEPTEMBER 11, 1917. A LEGENDARY
+HERO, FALLEN FROM THE VERY ZENITH OF VICTORY AFTER THREE YEARS'
+HARD AND CONTINUOUS FIGHTING. HE WILL BE CONSIDERED THE MOST
+PERFECT EMBODIMENT OF THE NATIONAL QUALITIES FOR HIS INDOMITABLE
+ENERGY AND PERSEVERANCE AND HIS EXALTED GALLANTRY. FULL OF
+INVINCIBLE BELIEF IN VICTORY, HE HAS BEQUEATHED TO THE FRENCH
+SOLDIER AN IMPERISHABLE MEMORY WHICH MUST ADD TO HIS
+SELF-SACRIFICING SPIRIT AND WILL SURELY GIVE RISE TO THE NOBLEST
+EMULATION.</p></div>
+
+<p>"To deserve such a citation and die!" exclaimed a young officer after
+reading it.</p>
+
+<p>In his poem, <i>Le Vol de la Marseillaise</i>, Rostand shows us the twelve
+Victories seated at the Invalides around the tomb of the Emperor rising
+to welcome their sister, the Victory of the Marne. At the Panth&eacute;on, in
+the crypt where they rest, Marshal Lannes and General Marceau, Lazare
+Carnot, the organizer of victory, and Captain La Tour d'Auvergne will
+rise in their turn on this young man's entrance. Victor Hugo, who is
+there too, will recognize at once one of the knights in his <i>L&eacute;gende des
+Si&egrave;cles</i>, and Berthelot will look upon his coming as an evidence of the
+fervor of youth for France as well as for science. But of them all,
+Marceau, his elder brother, killed at twenty-seven, will be the most
+welcoming.</p>
+
+<p>Traveling in the Rhine Valley some ten or twelve years ago, I made a
+pilgrimage to Marceau's tomb, outside Coblenz, just above the Moselle.
+In a little wood stands a black marble pyramid with the following
+inscription in worn-out gilt letters:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Here lieth Marceau, a soldier at sixteen, a general at twenty-two,
+who died fighting for his country the last day of the year IV of
+the Republic. Whoever you may be, friend or foe, respect the ashes
+of this hero.</p></div>
+
+<p>The French prisoners who died in 1870-71 at the camp of Petersberg have
+been buried, on the same spot. Marceau was not older than these
+soldiers, who died without fame or glory, when his brief and wonderful
+career came to an end. Without knowing it, the Germans had completed the
+hero's mausoleum by laying these remains around it; for it is proper
+that beside the chief should be represented the anonymous multitude
+without whom there would be no chiefs.</p>
+
+<p>In 1889 the remains of Marceau were transferred to the Panth&eacute;on in
+Paris, and the Coblenz monument now commemorates only his name. It will
+be the same with Guynemer, whose remains will never be found, as if the
+earth had refused to engulf them; they will never be brought back,
+amidst the acclamations of the people, to the mount once dedicated to
+Saint Genevieve. But his legendary life was fitly crowned by the mystery
+of such a death.</p>
+
+<p>One of the frescoes of Puvis de Chavannes in the Panth&eacute;on, the last to
+the left, represents an old woman leaning over a stone terrace and
+gazing at the town beneath her with its moonlit roofs and its
+surrounding plain, looking bluish in the night. The city is asleep, but
+the holy woman watches and prays. She stands tall and upright as a lily.
+Her lamp, which is seen at the entrance of her house, is one long stem
+illuminated by the flame. She, too, is like this lamp. Her emaciated
+body would be nothing without her ardent face. Her serenity can only
+come from work well done and confidence in the future. Lutetia,
+represented in this picture by Genevieve, is not anxious; yet she
+listens as if she might hear once more the threatening approach of
+Attila. It is because she knows that the barbarians may come back again,
+and can only be stopped by invincible faith.</p>
+
+<p>As long as France keeps her belief, she is secure. The life and death of
+a Guynemer are an act of faith in immortal France.</p>
+
+
+<h3><a name="ENVOI" id="ENVOI">ENVOI</a></h3>
+
+<p>The <i>ballades</i> of olden times used to conclude with an <i>envoi</i> addressed
+to some powerful person and invariably beginning with King, Queen,
+Prince or Princess. But the poet was occasionally at a loss, for, as
+Theodore de Banville observes in his <i>Petit trait&eacute; de Po&eacute;sie Fran&ccedil;aise</i>,
+"everybody has not a prince handy to whom to dedicate his <i>ballade</i>."</p>
+
+<p>Guynemer's biography is of such a nature that it must seem like a poem:
+why not, then, conclude it with an <i>envoi</i>? I have no difficulty in
+finding a Prince, for I shall select him from among the French
+schoolboys. There is a little Paul Bailly, not quite twelve years old,
+from Bouclans, a village in Franche-Comt&eacute;, who wrote a beautiful theme
+on Guynemer: he shall be my Prince. And through him I shall address all
+the French schoolboys or girls, in all the French towns and villages.</p>
+
+<p>Little Prince, I have no doubt that you love arithmetic, and I will give
+you accurate figures which will satisfy your taste. You will like to
+know that Guynemer flew for 665 hours and 55 seconds in all, which I
+added up from his flying notebooks: his last flight is not recorded in
+them, because it never stopped.</p>
+
+<p>As for the number of fights in which he was engaged, that is difficult
+to ascertain. Guynemer himself did not seem anxious to be sure about it.
+But it must be more than 600, and might well be 700 or 800. Your
+Guynemer, our Guynemer, will never be surpassed: not because he forgot
+to hand over to his successors, rivals, and avengers the sacred flame
+which in France can never go out, but because genius is an exceptional
+privilege, and because the present methods of fighting in the air are
+not in favor of single combats but engage whole units.</p>
+
+<p>You will also love to hear about Guynemer as an inventor, and the
+creator of a magic airplane. Some day this airplane will be exhibited;
+and perhaps some of your little friends have already seen at the
+Invalides the machine in which Guynemer brought down nineteen German
+airplanes. On November 1, 1917, thousands of Parisians visited it; and
+it was strewn with magnificent bunches of chrysanthemums, to which many
+people added clusters of violets.</p>
+
+<p>In Guynemer the technician and the marksman equaled and perhaps
+surpassed the pilot. Captain Galliot, who is a specialist, has called
+him "the thinker-fighter," thereby emphasizing that his excellence as a
+gunner arose from meditation and preparation. The same officer adds that
+"accuracy was Guynemer's characteristic; he never shot at random as
+others occasionally do, but always took long and careful aim. Perfect
+weapons and perfect mastery of them were dogmas with him. His
+marksmanship, the result of perseverance and intelligence, multiplied
+tenfold the capacity of his machine-gun, and accounts for his
+overwhelming superiority."<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> <i>Guerre a&eacute;rienne</i>, October 18, 1917.</p></div>
+
+<p>But when you have realized the technical superiority of our Guynemer,
+you will have yet to learn one thing, one great thing, the essential
+thing. You have heard that Guynemer's frame was not robust; that he was
+delicate, and the military boards refused him several times as unfit.
+Yet no aviator ever showed more endurance than he did, even when
+developments made long cruising necessary in altitudes of 6000 or 7000
+meters. There have been pilots as quickwitted and gunners as accurate as
+Guynemer, but there has never been anybody who equaled him in the
+flashlike rapidity of his attack, or for doggedness in keeping up a
+fight. We must conclude that he had a special gift, and this gift&mdash;his
+own genius&mdash;must be ultimately reduced to his decision, that is, his
+will-power. His will, to the very end, was far above his physical
+strength. There are two great dates in his short life: November 21,
+1914, when he joined the army, and September 11, 1917, when he left camp
+for his last flight. Neither a passion for aviation nor thirst for glory
+had any part in his action on those two dates. Will-power in itself is
+sometimes dangerous, enviable though it be, and must be wisely directed.
+Now, Guynemer regulated his will by one great object, which was to
+serve, to serve his country, even unto death.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, do not place Guynemer apart from his comrades: even in his
+grave, even in the region where there is no grave, he would resent it. I
+hope you will learn by heart the names of the French aces, at any rate
+those names which I am going to give you, whatever may become of those
+who bear them:<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p>
+
+<table summary="table" cellspacing="20">
+<tr>
+<td><i>sous-lieutenant</i> Nungesser</td>
+<td align="right">30</td>
+<td>airplanes brought down</td>
+
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Captain Heurtaux</td>
+<td align="right">21</td>
+<td align="center">" </td>
+
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>Lieutenant Deullin</td>
+<td align="right">17</td>
+<td align="center">" </td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td>Lieutenant Pinsard</td>
+<td align="right">16</td>
+<td align="center">" </td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td><i>sous-lieutenant</i> Madon</td>
+<td align="right">16</td>
+<td align="center">" </td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td><i>sous-lieutenant</i> Chaput</td>
+<td align="right">12</td>
+<td align="center">" </td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td>Adjutant Jailler</td>
+<td align="right">12</td>
+<td align="center">" </td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td><i>sous-lieutenant</i> Ortoli</td>
+<td align="right">11</td>
+<td align="center">" </td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td><i>sous-lieutenant</i> Tarascon</td>
+<td align="right">11</td>
+<td align="center">" </td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td>Chief Adjutant Fonck</td>
+<td align="right">11</td>
+<td align="center">" </td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td><i>sous-lieutenant</i> Lufbery</td>
+<td align="right">10</td>
+<td align="center">" </td>
+</tr>
+
+</table>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> List made September 11, 1917.</p></div>
+
+<p>These names will become more and more glorious&mdash;some have already done
+so&mdash;and others will be added to the list which you will learn also. But
+however tenacious your memory may be, you will never remember, nobody
+will ever remember, the thousands of names we ought to save from
+oblivion, the names of those whose patience, courage, and sufferings
+have saved the soil of France. The fame of one man is nothing unless it
+represent the obscure deeds of the anonymous multitude. The name of
+Guynemer ought to sum up the sacrifice of all French youth&mdash;infantrymen,
+gunners, pioneers, troopers, or flyers&mdash;who have given their lives for
+us, as we hear the infinite murmur of the ocean in one beautiful shell.</p>
+
+<p>The enthusiasm and patience, the efforts and sacrifices, of the
+generations which came before you, little boy, were necessary to save
+you, to save your country, to save the world, born of light and born
+unto light, from the darkness of dread oppression. Germany has chosen to
+rob war of all that, slowly and tentatively, the nations had given to it
+of respect for treaties, pity for the weak and defenseless, and of honor
+generally. She has poisoned it as she poisons her gases. This is what we
+should never forget. Not only has Germany forced this war upon the
+world, but she has made it systematically cruel and terrifying, and in
+so doing she has sown the seeds of horrified rebellion against anything
+that is German. Parisian boys of your own age will tell you that during
+their sleep German squadrons used to fly over their city dropping bombs
+at random upon it. And to what purpose? None, beyond useless murder.
+This is the kind of war which Germany has waged from the first,
+gradually compelling her opponents to adopt the same methods. But while
+this loathsome work was being done, our airplanes, piloted by soldiers
+not much older than you, cruised like moving stars above the city of
+Genevieve, threatened now with unheard-of invasion from on high.</p>
+
+<p>Little boy, do not forget that this war, blending all classes, has also
+blended in a new crucible all the capacities of our country. They are
+now turned against the aggressor, but they will have to be used in time
+for union, love, and peace. <i>Omne regnum divisum contra se desolabitur;
+et omnis civitas vel domus divisa contra se non stabit.</i> You can read
+this easy Latin, but if necessary your teacher or village priest will
+help you. The house, the city, the nation ought not to be divided. The
+enemy would have done us too much evil if he had not brought about the
+reconciliation of all Frenchmen. You, little boy, will have to wipe away
+the blood from the bleeding face of France, to heal her wounds, and
+secure for her the revival she will urgently need. She will come out of
+the formidable contest respected and admired, but oh, how weary! Love
+her with pious love, and let the life of Guynemer inspire you with the
+resolve to serve in daily life, as he served, even unto death.</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 20em;"><i>December</i>, 1917, to <i>January</i>, 1918.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>APPENDIX</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h3><a name="APPENDIX" id="APPENDIX"></a>APPENDIX</h3>
+
+<h4>GENEALOGY OF GEORGES GUYNEMER</h4>
+
+
+<p>In <i>Huon de Bordeaux</i>, a <i>chanson de geste</i> with fairy and romantic
+elements, Huon leaves for Babylon on a mission confided to him by the
+Emperor, which he was told to fulfil with the aid of the dwarf sorcerer,
+Oberon. At the ch&acirc;teau of Dun&ocirc;tre, in Palestine, where he must destroy a
+giant, he meets a young girl of great beauty named S&eacute;bile, who guides
+him through the palace. As he is astonished to hear her speak French,
+she replies: "I was born in France, and I felt pity for you because I
+saw the cross you wear." "In what part of France?" "In the town of
+Saint-Omer," replied S&eacute;bile; "I am the daughter of Count Guinemer." Her
+father had lately come on a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, bringing
+her with him. A tempest had cast them on shore near the town of the
+giant, who had killed her father and kept her prisoner. "For more than
+seven years," she added, "I have not been to mass." Naturally Huon kills
+the giant, and delivers the daughter of Count Guinemer.</p>
+
+<p>In an article by the learned M. Longnon on <i>L'El&eacute;ment historique de Huon
+de Bordeaux</i>,<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> a note is given on the name of Guinemer:</p>
+
+<p>"In <i>Huon de Bordeaux</i>," writes M. Longnon, "the author of the <i>Prologue
+des Lorrains</i> makes Guinemer the son of Saint Bertin, second Abbot of
+Sithieu, an abbey which took the name of this blessed man and was the
+foundation of the city of Saint-Omer, which the poem of <i>Huon de
+Bordeaux</i> makes the birthplace of Count Guinemer's daughter. It is
+possible that this Guinemer was borrowed by our <i>trouveres</i> from some
+ancient Walloon tradition; for his name, which in Latin is Winemarus,
+appears to have occurred chiefly in those countries forming part, from
+the ninth to the twelfth century, of the County of Flanders. The
+chartulary of Saint Vertin alone introduces us to: 1st, a deacon named
+Winidmarus, who in 723 wrote a deed of sale at Saint-Omer itself
+(Gu&eacute;rard, p. 50); 2d, a knight of the County of Flanders, Winemarus, who
+assassinated the Archbishop of Rheims, Foulques, who was then Abbot of
+Saint-Bertin (Gu&eacute;rard, p. 135); 3d, Winemarus, a vassal of the Abbey,
+mentioned in an act dated 1075 (<i>ib.</i>, p. 195); 4th, Winemarus, Lord of
+Gand, witness to a charter of Count Baudouin VII in 1114 (<i>ib.</i>, p.
+255). The personage in <i>Huon de Bordeaux</i> might also be connected with
+Guimer, Lord of Saint-Omer, who appears in the beginning of <i>Ogier le
+Danios</i>, if the form, Guimer, did not seem rather to derive from
+Withmarus."<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> <i>Romania</i>, 1879, p. 4.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> With this note may be connected the following page of the
+Wauters, a chronological table of Charters and printed Acts, Vol. II, p.
+16, 1103: "Bald&eacute;ric, Bishop of the Tournaisiens and the Noyonnais,
+confirms the cession of the tithe and patronage of Templeuve, which was
+made to the Abbey of Saint-Martin de Tournai by two knights of that
+town, Arnoul and Guinemer, and by the canon <i>G&eacute;ric. Actum Tornaci, anno
+domenice incarnationis M.C. III, regnante rege Philippo, episcopante
+domo Baldrico pontifice</i>. Extracts for use in the ecclesiastic history
+of Belgium, 2d year, p. 10."</p></div>
+
+<p>Leaving the <i>chansons de geste</i>, Guinemer reappears in the history of
+the Crusades. Count Baudouin of Flanders and his knights, while making
+war in the Holy Land (1097), see a vessel approaching, more than three
+miles from the city of Tarsus. They wait on the shore, and the vessel
+casts anchor. "Whence do you come?" is always the first question asked
+in like circumstances. "From Flanders, from Holland, and from
+Friesland." They were repentant pirates, who after having combed the
+seas had come to do penance by a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The Christian
+warriors joyously welcome these sailors whose help will be useful to
+them. Their chief is a Guinemer, not from Saint-Omer but Boulogne. He
+recognizes in Count Baudouin his liege lord, leaves his ship and decides
+to remain with the crusaders. "<i>Moult estait riche de ce mauvais
+gaeng.</i>" The whilom pirate contributes his ill-gotten gains to the
+crusade.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> <i>Receuil des Historiens des Croisades</i>, Western
+Historians, Volume I, Book III and XXIII, p. 145: <i>Comment Guinemerz et
+il Galiot s'accompaignierent avec Baudouin</i>.</p></div>
+
+<p>In another chapter of the <i>Histoire des Croisades</i>, this Guinemer
+besieged Lalische, which "is a most noble and ancient city situated on
+the border of the sea; it was the only city in Syria over which the
+Emperor of Constantinople was ruler." Lalische or Laodicea in Syria,
+<i>Laodicea ad mare</i>&mdash;now called Latakia&mdash;was an ancient Roman colony
+under Septimus Severus, and was founded on the ruins of the ancient
+Ramitha by Seleucus Nicator, who called it Laodicea in honor of his
+mother Laodice. Guinemer, who expected to take the city by force, was in
+his turn assaulted and taken prisoner by the garrison. Baudouin, with
+threats, demanded him back and rescued him; but esteeming him a better
+seaman than a combatant on the land, he invited him to return to his
+ship, take command of his fleet, and navigate within sight of the coast,
+which the former pirate "very willingly did."</p>
+
+<p>A catalogue of the Deeds of Henri I, King of France (1031-1060)<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a>
+mentions in this same period a Guinemer, Lord of Lillers, who had
+solicited the approval of the king for the construction of a church in
+his ch&acirc;teau, to be dedicated to Notre-Dame and Saint-Omer. The royal
+approval was given in 1043, completing the authorization of Baudouin,
+Count of Flanders, and of Dreu, Bishop of Th&eacute;rouanne at the request of
+Pope Gregory VI, to whom the builder had gone in person to ask consent
+for his enterprise. Was this Guinemer, like the pirate of Jerusalem,
+doing penance for some wrong? Thus we find two Guinemers in the eleventh
+century, one in Palestine, the other in Italy. About this same period
+the family probably left Flanders to settle in Brittany, where they
+remained until the Revolution. The corsair of Boulogne became a
+ship-builder at Saint-Malo, having his own reasons for changing
+parishes. The Flemish tradition then gives place to that of Brittany,
+which is authenticated by documents. One Olivier Guinemer gave a receipt
+in 1306 to the executors of Duke Jean II de Bretagne. He held a fief
+under Saint-Sauveur de Dinan, "on which the duke had settled tenants
+contrary to agreements." The executors, to liquidate the estate, had to
+pay immense sums for "indemnification, restitution and damages," and
+took care to "take receipts from all those to whom their commission
+obliged them to distribute money."<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> The Treaty of Gu&eacute;rande (April 11,
+1365), which ended the war for the Breton succession and gave the Duchy
+to Jean de Montfort, though under the suzerainty of the King of France,
+is signed by thirty Breton knights, among whom is a Geoffrey Guinemer. A
+Mathelin Guinemer, squire, is mentioned in an act received at Bourges in
+1418; while in 1464, an Yvon Guynemer, man-at-arms, is promoted to full
+pay, and he already spells his name with a <i>y</i>.</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> <i>Catalogue des actes d'Henri I, Roi de France</i>
+(1031-1060), by Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Soehn&eacute;e, archivist at the National Archives.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> <i>Histoire de Bretagne</i>, by Dom Lobineau (1707), Vol. I, p.
+293. <i>Recherches sur la chevalerie du duch&eacute; de Bretagne, by A. de
+Couffon de Kerdellech</i>, Vol. II (Nantes, Vincent Forest and Emile
+Grimaud, Printers and Publishers).</p></div>
+
+<p>It is somewhat difficult to trace the history of this lesser provincial
+nobility, engaged sometimes in petty wars, sometimes in the cultivation
+of their domains. In a book glorifying the humble service of ancient
+French society, <i>Gentilshommes Campagnards</i>, M. Pierre de Vaissi&eacute;re has
+shown how this race of rural proprietors lived in the closest contact
+with French agriculture, counseling and defending the peasant, clearing
+and cultivating their land, and maintaining their families by its
+produce. In his <i>M&eacute;moires</i>, the famous R&eacute;tif de la Bretonne paints in
+the most picturesque manner the patriarchal and authoritative manners of
+his grandfather who, by virtue of his own unquestioned authority
+prevented his descendant from leaving his native village and
+establishing in Paris. Paris was already exercising its fascination and
+uprooting the youth of the time. The Court of Versailles had already
+weakened the social authority of families still attached to their lands.</p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<p>
+<small>Transcriber's Note:</small>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<small>The following typographical errors in the original were corrected:</small>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<small>batallion (to battalion)<br />
+Fleugzeg (to Flugzeug)<br />
+&eacute;claties (to &eacute;clatiez)<br />
+Kamfflieger (to Kampfflieger)</small>
+</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Georges Guynemer, by Henry Bordeaux
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Georges Guynemer, by Henry Bordeaux
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Georges Guynemer
+       Knight of the Air
+
+Author: Henry Bordeaux
+
+Translator: Louise Morgan Sill
+
+Release Date: April 4, 2006 [EBook #18117]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GEORGES GUYNEMER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Barbara Tozier, Graeme Mackreth and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+GEORGES GUYNEMER
+
+     _Published on the Fund
+     given to the Yale University Press in memory of_
+
+     ENSIGN CURTIS SEAMAN READ, U.S.N.R.F.
+
+     _of the Class of 1918, Yale College, killed in the
+     aviation service in France, February, 1918_
+
+[Illustration: GEORGES GUYNEMER, KNIGHT OF THE AIR]
+
+
+
+
+     HENRY BORDEAUX
+
+
+     GEORGES
+     GUYNEMER
+
+     KNIGHT OF THE AIR
+
+
+     TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH
+     By LOUISE MORGAN SILL
+
+     WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
+     THEODORE ROOSEVELT
+
+     NEW HAVEN
+     YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
+     NEW YORK: 280 MADISON AVENUE
+
+     MDCCCCXVIII
+
+
+
+
+     COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY
+     YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
+
+
+
+
+TABLE OF CONTENTS
+
+
+
+                                                          PAGE
+
+     Introduction                                           9
+
+     Prologue                                              13
+
+     CANTO I: CHILDHOOD
+
+       I. The Guynemers                                    21
+
+      II. Home and College                                 28
+
+     III. The Departure                                    52
+
+
+     CANTO II: LAUNCHED INTO SPACE
+
+       I. The First Victory                                65
+
+      II. From the Aisne to Verdun                         91
+
+     III. "La Terre a vu jadis errer des Paladins"        108
+
+      IV. On the Somme (June, 1916, to February, 1917)    125
+
+
+     CANTO III: AT THE ZENITH
+
+       I. On the 25th of May, 1917                        143
+
+      II. A Visit to Guynemer                             157
+
+     III. Guynemer in Camp                                163
+
+      IV. Guynemer at Home                                170
+
+       V. The Magic Machine                               182
+
+
+     CANTO IV: THE ASCENSION
+
+       I. The Battle of Flanders                          189
+
+      II. Omens                                           200
+
+     III. The Last Flight                                 210
+
+      IV. The Vigil                                       217
+
+       V. The Legend                                      225
+
+      VI. In the Pantheon                                 239
+
+
+     Envoi                                                242
+
+     Appendix: Genealogy of Georges Guynemer              251
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+     Georges Guynemer, Knight of the Air      _Frontispiece_
+       (From a wood block in three colors by Rudolph Ruzicka.)
+
+     The First Flight in a Bleriot                        80
+
+     In the Air                                          120
+
+     Combat                                              176
+
+     "Going West"                                        208
+       (From charcoal drawings by W.A. Dwiggins.)
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+     _June 27th, 1918._
+
+My dear M. Bordeaux:
+
+I count the American people fortunate in reading any book of yours; I
+count them fortunate in reading any biography of that great hero of the
+air, Guynemer; and thrice over I count them fortunate to have such a
+book written by you on such a subject.
+
+You, sir, have for many years been writing books peculiarly fitted to
+instill into your countrymen the qualities which during the last
+forty-eight months have made France the wonder of the world. You have
+written with such power and charm, with such mastery of manner and of
+matter, that the lessons you taught have been learned unconsciously by
+your readers--and this is the only way in which most readers will learn
+lessons at all. The value of your teachings would be as great for my
+countrymen as for yours. You have held up as an ideal for men and for
+women, that high courage which shirks no danger, when the danger is the
+inevitable accompaniment of duty. You have preached the essential
+virtues, the duty to be both brave and tender, the duty of courage for
+the man and courage for the woman. You have inculcated stern horror of
+the baseness which finds expression in refusal to perform those
+essential duties without which not merely the usefulness, but the very
+existence, of any nation will come to an end.
+
+Under such conditions it is eminently appropriate that you should write
+the biography of that soldier-son of France whose splendid daring has
+made him stand as arch typical of the soul of the French people through
+these terrible four years. In this great war France has suffered more
+and has achieved more than any other power. To her more than to any
+other power, the final victory will be due. Civilization has in the
+past, for immemorial centuries, owed an incalculable debt to France; but
+for no single feat or achievement of the past does civilization owe as
+much to France as for what her sons and daughters have done in the world
+war now being waged by the free peoples against the powers of the Pit.
+
+Modern war makes terrible demands upon those who fight. To an infinitely
+greater degree than ever before the outcome depends upon long
+preparation in advance, and upon the skillful and unified use of the
+nation's entire social and industrial no less than military power. The
+work of the general staff is infinitely more important than any work of
+the kind in times past. The actual machinery of both is so vast,
+delicate, and complicated that years are needed to complete it. At all
+points we see the immense need of thorough organization and of making
+ready far in advance of the day of trial. But this does not mean that
+there is any less need than before of those qualities of endurance and
+hardihood, of daring and resolution, which in their sum make up the
+stern and enduring valor which ever has been and ever will be the mark
+of mighty victorious armies.
+
+The air service in particular is one of such peril that membership in it
+is of itself a high distinction. Physical address, high training, entire
+fearlessness, iron nerve, and fertile resourcefulness are needed in a
+combination and to a degree hitherto unparalleled in war. The ordinary
+air fighter is an extraordinary man; and the extraordinary air fighter
+stands as one in a million among his fellows. Guynemer was one of these.
+More than this. He was the foremost among all the extraordinary fighters
+of all the nations who in this war have made the skies their battle
+field. We are fortunate indeed in having you write his biography.
+
+     Very faithfully yours,
+     (Signed) Theodore Roosevelt.
+
+     M. Henry Bordeaux,
+     44 Rue du Ranelagh,
+     Paris, France.
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE
+
+
+" ... Guynemer has not come back."
+
+The news flew from one air escadrille to another, from the aviation
+camps to the troops, from the advance to the rear zones of the army; and
+a shock of pain passed from soul to soul in that vast army, and
+throughout all France, as if, among so many soldiers menaced with death,
+this one alone should have been immortal.
+
+History gives us examples of such universal grief, but only at the death
+of great leaders whose authority and importance intensified the general
+mourning for their loss. Thus, Troy without Hector was defenseless. When
+Gaston de Foix, Duke de Nemours, surnamed the Thunderbolt of Italy, died
+at the age of twenty-three after the victory of Ravenna, the French
+transalpine conquests were endangered. The bullet which struck Turenne
+at Saltzbach also menaced the work of Louis XIV. But Guynemer had
+nothing but his airplane, a speck in the immense spaces filled by the
+war. This young captain, though without an equal in the sky, conducted
+no battle on land. Why, then, did he alone have the power, like a great
+military chief, of leaving universal sadness behind him? A little child
+of France has given us the reason.
+
+Among the endless expressions of the nation's mourning, this letter was
+written by the school-mistress of a village in Franche-Comte,
+Mademoiselle S----, of Bouclans, to the mother of the aviator:
+
+     Madame, you have already received the sorrowful and grateful
+     sympathy of official France and of France as a nation; I am
+     venturing to send you the naive and sincere homage of young France
+     as represented by our school children at Bouclans. Before receiving
+     from our chiefs the suggestion, of which we learn to-day, we had
+     already, on the 22nd of October, consecrated a day to the memory of
+     our hero Guynemer, your glorious son.
+
+     I send you enclosed an exercise by one of my pupils chosen at
+     random, for all of them are animated by the same sentiments. You
+     will see how the immortal glory of your son shines even in humble
+     villages, and that the admiration and gratitude which the children,
+     so far away in the country, feel for our greatest aviator, will be
+     piously and faithfully preserved in his memory.
+
+     May this sincere testimony to the sentiments of childhood be of
+     some comfort in your grief, to which I offer my most profound
+     respect.
+
+     The School-mistress of Bouclans,
+     C.S.
+
+And this is the exercise, written by Paul Bailly, aged eleven years and
+ten months:
+
+     Guynemer is the Roland of our epoch: like Roland he was very brave,
+     and like Roland he died for France. But his exploits are not a
+     legend like those of Roland, and in telling them just as they
+     happened we find them more beautiful than any we could imagine. To
+     do honor to him they are going to write his name in the Pantheon
+     among the other great names. His airplane has been placed in the
+     Invalides. In our school we consecrated a day to him. This morning
+     as soon as we reached the school we put his photograph up on the
+     wall; for our moral lesson we learned by heart his last mention in
+     the despatches; for our writing lesson we wrote his name, and he
+     was the subject for our theme; and finally, we had to draw an
+     airplane. We did not begin to think of him only after he was dead;
+     before he died, in our school, every time he brought down an
+     airplane we were proud and happy. But when we heard that he was
+     dead, we were as sad as if one of our own family had died.
+
+     Roland was the example for all the knights in history. Guynemer
+     should be the example for Frenchmen now, and each one will try to
+     imitate him and will remember him as we have remembered Roland. I,
+     especially, I shall never forget him, for I shall remember that he
+     died for France, like my dear Papa.
+
+This little French boy's description of Guynemer is true and, limited as
+it is, sufficient: Guynemer is the modern Roland, with the same
+redoubtable youth and fiery soul. He is the last of the knights-errant,
+the first of the new knights of the air. His short life needs only
+accurate telling to appear like a legend. The void he left is so great
+because every household had adopted him. Each one shared in his
+victories, and all have written his name among their own dead.
+
+Guynemer's glory, to have so ravished the minds of children, must have
+been both simple and perfect, and as his biographer I cannot dream of
+equaling the young Paul Bailly. But I shall not take his hero from him.
+Guynemer's life falls naturally into the legendary rhythm, and the
+simple and exact truth resembles a fairy tale.
+
+The writers of antiquity have mourned in touching accents the loss of
+young men cut down in the flower of their youth. "The city," sighs
+Pericles, "has lost its light, the year has lost its spring." Theocritus
+and Ovid in turn lament the short life of Adonis, whose blood was
+changed into flowers. And in Virgil the father of the gods, whom Pallas
+supplicates before facing Turnus, warns him not to confound the beauty
+of life with its length:
+
+     Stat sua cuique dies; breve et irreparabile tempus
+     Omnibus est vitae; sed famam extendere factis,
+     Hoc virtutis opus. . .
+
+"The days of man are numbered, and his life-time short and
+irrecoverable; but to increase his renown by the quality of his acts,
+this is the work of virtue...."[1]
+
+[Footnote 1: _AEneid_, Book 10, Garnier ed.]
+
+
+_Famam extendere factis_: no fabulous personage of antiquity made more
+haste than Guynemer to multiply the exploits that increased his glory.
+But the enumeration of these would not furnish a key to his life, nor
+explain either that secret power he possessed or the fascination he
+exerted. "It is not always the most brilliant actions which best expose
+the virtues or vices of men. Some trifle, some insignificant word or
+jest, often displays the character better than bloody combats, pitched
+battles, or the taking of cities. Also, as portrait painters try to
+reproduce the features and expression of their subjects, as the most
+obvious presentment of their characters, and without troubling about the
+other parts of the body, so we may be allowed to concentrate our study
+upon the distinctive signs of the soul...."[2]
+
+[Footnote 2: Plutarch, _Life of Alexander_.]
+
+I, then, shall especially seek out these "distinctive signs of the
+soul."
+
+Guynemer's family has confided to me his letters, his notebooks of
+flights, and many precious stories of his childhood, his youth, and his
+victories. I have seen him in camps, like the Cid Campeador, who made
+"the swarm of singing victories fly, with wings outspread, above his
+tents." I have had the good fortune to see him bring down an enemy
+airplane, which fell in flames on the bank of the river Vesle. I have
+met him in his father's house at Compiegne, which was his Bivar. Almost
+immediately after his disappearance I passed two night-watches--as if we
+sat beside his body--with his comrades, talking of nothing but him:
+troubled night-watches in which we had to change our shelter, for
+Dunkirk and the aviation field were bombarded by moonlight. In this way
+I was enabled to gather much scattered evidence, which will help,
+perhaps, to make clear his career. But I fear--and offer my excuses for
+this--to disappoint professional members of the aviation corps, who will
+find neither technical details nor the competence of the specialist.
+One of his comrades of the air,--and I hope it may be one of his rivals
+in glory,--should give us an account of Guynemer in action. The
+biography which I have attempted to write seeks the soul for its object
+rather than the motor: and the soul, too, has its wings.
+
+France consented to love herself in Guynemer, something which she is not
+always willing to do. It happens sometimes that she turns away from her
+own efforts and sacrifices to admire and celebrate those of others, and
+that she displays her own defects and wounds in a way which exaggerates
+them. She sometimes appears to be divided against herself; but this man,
+young as he was, had reconciled her to herself. She smiled at his youth
+and his prodigious deeds of valor. He made peace within her; and she
+knew this, when she had lost him, by the outbreak of her grief. As on
+the first day of the war, France found herself once more united; and
+this love sprang from her recognition in Guynemer of her own impulses,
+her own generous ardor, her own blood whose course has not been retarded
+by many long centuries.
+
+Since the outbreak of war there are few homes in France which have not
+been in mourning. But these fathers and mothers, these wives and
+children, when they read this book, will not say: "What is Guynemer to
+us? Nobody speaks of _our_ dead." Their dead were, generally, infantry
+soldiers whom it was impossible for them to help, whose life they only
+knew by hearsay, and whose place of burial they sometimes do not know.
+So many obscure soldiers have never been commemorated, who gave, like
+Guynemer, their hearts and their lives, who lived through the worst days
+of misery, of mud and horror, and upon whom not the least ray of glory
+has ever descended! The infantry soldier is the pariah of the war, and
+has a right to be sensitive. The heaviest weight of suffering caused by
+war has fallen upon him. Nevertheless, he had adopted Guynemer, and this
+was not the least of the conqueror's conquests. The infantryman had not
+been jealous of Guynemer; he had felt his fascination, and instinctively
+he divined a fraternal Guynemer. When the French official dispatches
+reported the marvelous feats of the aviation corps, the infantry soldier
+smiled scornfully in his mole's-hole:
+
+"Them again! Everlastingly them! And what about US?"
+
+But when Guynemer added another exploit to his account, the trenches
+exulted, and counted over again all his feats.
+
+He himself, from his height, looked down in the most friendly way upon
+these troglodytes who followed him with their eyes. One day when
+somebody reproached him with running useless risks in aerial acrobatic
+turns, he replied simply:
+
+"After certain victories it is quite impossible not to pirouette a bit,
+one is so happy!"
+
+This is the spirit of youth. "They jest and play with death as they
+played in school only yesterday at recreation."[3] But Guynemer
+immediately added:
+
+"It gives so much pleasure to the poilus watching us down there."[4]
+
+[Footnote 3: Henri Lavedan (_L'Illustration_ of October 6, 1917).]
+
+[Footnote 4: Pierre l'Ermite (_La Croix_ of October 7, 1917).]
+
+The sky-juggler was working for his brother the infantryman. As the
+singing lark lifts the peasant's head, bent over his furrow, so the
+conquering airplane, with its overturnings, its "loopings," its close
+veerings, its spirals, its tail spins, its "zooms," its dives, all its
+tricks of flight, amuses for a while the sad laborers in the trenches.
+
+May my readers, when they have finished this little book, composed
+according to the rules of the boy, Paul Bailly, lift their heads and
+seek in the sky whither he carried, so often and so high, the tricolor
+of France, an invisible and immortal Guynemer!
+
+
+
+
+CANTO I
+
+CHILDHOOD
+
+
+I. THE GUYNEMERS
+
+In his book on Chivalry, the good Leon Gautier, beginning with the
+knight in his cradle and wishing to surround him immediately with a
+supernatural atmosphere, interprets in his own fashion the sleeping baby
+smiling at the angels. "According to a curious legend, the origin of
+which has not as yet been clearly discovered," he explains, "the child
+during its slumber hears 'music,' the incomparable music made by the
+movement of the stars in their spheres. Yes, that which the most
+illustrious scholars have only been able to suspect the existence of is
+distinctly heard by these ears scarcely opened as yet, and ravishes
+them. A charming fable, giving to innocence more power than to proud
+science."[5]
+
+[Footnote 5: _La Chevalerie_, by Leon Gautier. A. Walter ed. 1895.]
+
+The biographer of Guynemer would like to be able to say that our new
+knight also heard in his cradle the music of the stars, since he was to
+be summoned to approach them. But it can be said, at least, that during
+his early years he saw the shadowy train of all the heroes of French
+history, from Charlemagne to Napoleon.
+
+Georges Marie Ludovic Jules Guynemer was born in Paris one Christmas
+Eve, December 24, 1894. He saw then, and always, the faces of three
+women, his mother and his two elder sisters, standing guard over his
+happiness. His father, an officer (Junior Class '80, Saint-Cyr), had
+resigned in 1890. An ardent scholar, he became a member of the
+Historical Society of Compiegne, and while examining the charters of the
+_Cartulaire de royallieu_, or writing a monograph on the _Seigneurie
+d'Offemont_, he verified family documents of the genealogy of his
+family. Above all, it was he in reality who educated his son.
+
+Guynemer is a very old French name. In the _Chanson de Roland_ one
+Guinemer, uncle of Ganelon, helped Roland to mount at his departure. A
+Guinemer appears in _Gaydon_ (the knight of the jay), which describes
+the sorrowful return of Charlemagne to Aix-la-Chapelle after the drama
+of Roncevaux; and a Guillemer figures in _Fier-a-Bras_, in which
+Charlemagne and the twelve peers conquer Spain. This Guillemer l'Escot
+is made prisoner along with Oliver, Berart de Montdidier, Auberi de
+Bourgoyne, and Geoffroy l'Angevin.
+
+In the eleventh century the family of Guynemer left Flanders for
+Brittany. When the French Revolution began, there were still Guynemers
+in Brittany,[6] but the greatgrandfather of our hero, Bernard, was
+living in Paris in reduced circumstances, giving lessons in law. Under
+the Empire he was later to be appointed President of the Tribunal at
+Mayence, the chief town in the country of Mont Tonnerre. Falling into
+disfavor after 1815, he was only President of the Tribunal of Gannat.
+
+[Footnote 6: There are still Guynemers there. M. Etienne Dupont, Judge
+in the Civil Court of Saint-Malo, sent me an extract from an _aveu
+collectif_ of the "Leftenancy of Tinteniac de Guinemer des Rabines." The
+Guynemers, in more recent times, have left traces in the county of
+Saint-Malo, where Mgr. Guynemer de la Helandiere inaugurated, in
+September, 1869, the Tour Saint-Joseph, house of the Little Sisters of
+the Poor in Saint-Pern.]
+
+Here, thanks to an unusual circumstance, oral tradition takes the place
+of writings, charters, and puzzling trifles. One of the four sons of
+Bernard Guynemer, Auguste, lived to be ninety-three, retaining all his
+faculties. Toward the end he resembled Voltaire, not only in face, but
+in his irony and skepticism. He had all sorts of memories of the
+Revolution, the Empire, and the Restoration, of which he told
+extraordinary anecdotes. His longevity was owing to his having been
+discharged from military service at the conscription. Two of his three
+brothers died before maturity: one, Alphonse, infantry officer, was
+killed at Vilna in 1812, and the other, Jules, naval officer, died in
+1802 as the result of wounds received at Trafalgar. The last son,
+Achille, whom we shall presently refer to again, was to perpetuate the
+family name.
+
+Auguste Guynemer remembered very vividly the day when he faced down
+Robespierre. He was at that time eight years old, and the mistress of
+his school had been arrested. He came to the school as usual and found
+there were no classes. Where was his teacher? he asked. At the
+Revolutionary Tribunal. Where was the Revolutionary Tribunal? Jestingly
+they told him where to find it, and he went straight to the place,
+entered, and asked back the captive. The audience looked at the little
+boy with amazement, while the judges joked and laughed at him. But
+without being discomposed, he explained the purpose of his visit. The
+incident put Robespierre in good humor, and he told the child that his
+teacher had not taught him anything. Immediately, as a proof of the
+contrary, the youngster began to recite his lessons. Robespierre was so
+delighted that, in the midst of general laughter, he lifted up the boy
+and kissed him. The prisoner was restored to him, and the school
+reopened.
+
+However, of the four sons of the President of Mayence, the youngest
+only, Achille, was destined to preserve the family line. Born in 1792, a
+volunteer soldier at the age of fifteen, his military career was
+interrupted by the fall of the Empire. He died in Paris, in the rue
+Rossini, in 1866. Edmond About, who had known his son at Saverne, wrote
+the following biographical notice:
+
+     A child of fifteen years enlisted as a Volunteer in 1806. Junot
+     found him intelligent, made him his secretary, and took him to
+     Spain. The young man won his epaulettes under Colonel Hugo in 1811.
+     He was made prisoner on the capitulation of Guadalajara in 1812,
+     but escaped with two of his comrades whom he saved at the peril of
+     his own life. Love, or pity, led a young Spanish girl to aid in
+     this heroic episode, and for several days the legend threatened to
+     become a romance. But the young soldier reappeared in 1813 at the
+     passage of the Bidassoa, where he was promoted lieutenant in the
+     4th Hussars, and was given the Cross by the Emperor, who seldom
+     awarded it. The return of the Bourbons suddenly interrupted this
+     career, so well begun. The young cavalry officer then undertook the
+     business of maritime insurance, earning honorably a large fortune,
+     which he spent with truly military generosity, strewing his road
+     with good deeds. He continued working up to the very threshold of
+     death, for he resigned only a month ago, and it was yesterday,
+     Thursday, that we laid him in his tomb at the age of seventy-five.
+
+     His name was Achille Guynemer. His family is related to the Benoist
+     d'Azy, the Dupre de Saint-Maur, the Cochin, de Songis, du Tremoul
+     and Vasselin families, who have left memories of many exemplary
+     legal careers passed in Paris. His son, who wept yesterday as a
+     child weeps before the tomb of such a father, is the new
+     Sub-Prefect of Saverne, the young and laborious administrator who,
+     from the beginning, won our gratitude and friendship.
+
+The story of the escape from Spain contributes another page to the
+family traditions. The young Spanish girl had sent the prisoner a silken
+cord concealed in a pie. A fourth companion in captivity was
+unfortunately too large to pass through the vent-hole of the prison, and
+was shot by the English. It was August 31, 1813, after the passage of
+the Bidassoa, that Lieutenant Achille Guynemer was decorated with the
+Cross of the Legion of Honor. He was then twenty-one years of age. His
+greatgrandson, who resembled the portraits of Achille (especially a
+drawing done in 1807), at least in the proud carriage of the head, was
+to receive the Cross at an even earlier age.
+
+There were other epic souvenirs which awakened Georges Guynemer's
+curiosity in childhood. He was shown the sword and snuffbox of General
+Count de Songis, brother of his paternal grandmother. This sword of
+honor had been presented to the general by the Convention when he was
+merely a captain of artillery, for having saved the cannon of the
+fortress at Valenciennes,--though it is quite true that Dumouriez, for
+the same deed, wished to have him hanged. The snuffbox was given him by
+the Emperor for having commanded the passage of the Rhine during the Ulm
+campaign.
+
+Achille Guynemer had two sons. The elder, Amedee, a graduate of the
+Ecole polytechnique, died at the age of thirty and left no children. The
+second, Auguste, was Sub-Prefect of Saverne under the Second Empire;
+and, resigning this office after the war of 1870, he became
+Vice-President of the society for the protection of Alsatians and
+Lorrainers, the President of which was the Count d'Haussonville. He had
+married a young Scottish lady, Miss Lyon, whose family included the
+Earls of Strathmore, among whose titles were those of Glamis and Cawdor
+mentioned by Shakespeare in "Macbeth."
+
+As we have already seen, only one of the four sons of the President of
+Mayence--the hero of the Bidassoa--had left descendants. His son is M.
+Paul Guynemer, former officer and historian of the _Cartulaire de
+Royallieu_ and of the _Seigneurie d'Offemont_, whose only son was the
+aviator. The race whose history is lost far back in the _Chanson de
+Roland_ and the Crusades, which settled in Flanders, and then in
+Brittany, but became, as soon as it left the provinces for the capital,
+nomadic, changing its base at will from the garrison of the officer to
+that of the official, seems to have narrowed and refined its stock and
+condensed all the power of its past, all its hopes for the future, in
+one last offshoot.
+
+There are some plants, like the aloe, which bear but one flower, and
+sometimes only at the end of a hundred years. They prepare their sap,
+which has waited so long, and then from the heart of the plant issues a
+long straight stem, like a tree whose regular branches look like forged
+iron. At the top of this stem opens a marvelous flower, which is moist
+and seems to drop tears upon the leaves, inviting them to share its
+grief for the doom it awaits. When the flower is withered, the miracle
+is never renewed.
+
+Guynemer is the flower of an old French family. Like so many other
+heroes, like so many peasants who, in this Great War, have been the
+wheat of the nation, his own acts have proved his nobility. But the
+fairy sent to preside at his birth laid in his cradle certain gilded
+pages of the finest history in the world: Roland, the Crusades, Brittany
+and Duguesclin, the Empire, and Alsace.
+
+
+II. HOME AND COLLEGE
+
+One of the generals best loved by the French troops, General de M----, a
+learned talker and charming moralist, who always seemed in his
+conversation to wander through the history of France, like a sorcerer in
+a forest, weaving and multiplying his spells, once recited to me the
+short prayer he had composed for grace to enable him to rear his
+children in the best way:
+
+     "Monseigneur Saint Louis, Messire Duguesclin, Messire Bayard, help
+     me to make my sons brave and truthful."
+
+So was Georges Guynemer reared, in the cult of truth, and taught that to
+deceive is to lower oneself. Even in his infancy he was already as proud
+as any personage. His early years were protected by the gentle and
+delicate care of his mother and his two sisters, who hung adoringly over
+him and were fascinated by his strange black eyes. What was to become of
+a child whose gaze was difficult to endure, and whose health was so
+fragile, for when only a few months old he had almost died of infantile
+enteritis. His parents had been obliged to carry him hastily to
+Switzerland, and then to Hyeres, and to keep him in an atmosphere like
+that of a hothouse. Petted and spoiled, tended by women, like Achilles
+at Scyros among the daughters of Lycomedes, would he not bear all his
+life the stamp of too softening an education? Too pretty and too frail,
+with his curls and his dainty little frock, he had an _air de
+princesse_. His father felt that a mistake was being made, and that this
+excess of tenderness must be promptly ended. He took the child on his
+knees; a scene as trifling as it was decisive was about to be enacted:
+
+"I almost feel like taking you with me, where I am going."
+
+"Where are you going, father?"
+
+"There, where I am going, there are only men."
+
+"I want to go with you."
+
+The father seemed to hesitate, and then to decide:
+
+"After all, too early is better than too late. Put on your hat. I shall
+take you." He took him to the hairdresser.
+
+"I am going to have my hair cut. How do you feel about it?"
+
+"I want to do like men."
+
+The child was set upon a stool where, in the white combing-cloth, with
+his curly hair, he resembled an angel done by an Italian Primitive. For
+an instant the father thought himself a barbarian, and the barber
+hesitated, scissors in air, as before a crime. They exchanged glances;
+then the father stiffened and gave the order. The beautiful curls fell.
+
+But now it became necessary to return home; and when his mother saw him,
+she wept.
+
+"I am a man," the child announced, peremptorily.
+
+He was indeed to be a man, but he was to remain for a long time also a
+mischievous boy--nearly, in fact, until the end.
+
+When he was six or seven years old he began to study with the teacher of
+his sisters, which was convenient and agreeable, but meant the addition
+of another petticoat. The fineness of his feelings, his fear of having
+wounded any comrade, which were later to inspire him in so many touching
+actions, were the result of this feminine education. His walks with his
+father, who already gave him much attention, brought about useful
+reactions. Compiegne is rich in the history of the past: kings were
+crowned there, and kings died there. The Abbey of Saint Cornille
+sheltered, perhaps, the holy winding-sheet of Christ. Treaties were
+signed at Compiegne, and there magnificent fetes were given by Louis
+XIV, Louis XV, Napoleon I, and Napoleon III. And even in 1901 the child
+met Czar Nicholas and Czarina Alexandra, who were staying there. So, the
+palace and the forest spoke to him of a past which his father could
+explain. And on the Place de l'Hotel de Ville he was much interested in
+the bronze statue of the young girl, bearing a banner.
+
+"Who is it?"
+
+"Jeanne d'Arc."
+
+Georges Guynemer's parents renounced the woman teacher, and in order to
+keep him near them, entered him as a day scholar at the lyceum of
+Compiegne. Here the child worked very little. M. Paul Guynemer, having
+been educated at Stanislas College, in Paris, wished his son also to go
+there. Georges was then twelve years old.
+
+"In a photograph of the pupils of the Fifth (green) Class," wrote a
+journalist in the _Journal des Debats_, who had had the curiosity to
+investigate Georges' college days, "may be seen a restless-looking
+little boy, thinner and paler than the others, whose round black eyes
+seem to shine with a somber brilliance. These eyes, which, eight or ten
+years later, were to hunt and pursue so many enemy airplanes, are
+passionately self-willed. The same temperament is evident in a snapshot
+of this same period, in which Georges is seen playing at war. The
+college registers of this year tell us that he had a clear, active,
+well-balanced mind, but that he was thoughtless, mischief-making,
+disorderly, careless; that he did not work, and was undisciplined,
+though without any malice; that he was very proud, and 'ambitious to
+attain first rank': a valuable guide in understanding the character of
+one who became 'the ace of aces.' In fact, at the end of the year young
+Guynemer received the first prize for Latin translation, the first prize
+for arithmetic, and four honorable mentions."
+
+The author of the _Debats_ article, who is a scholar, recalls Michelet's
+_mot_: "The Frenchman is that naughty child characterized by the good
+mother of Duguesclin as 'the one who is always fighting the others....'"
+But the best portrait of Guynemer as a child I find in the unpublished
+notes of Abbe Chesnais, who was division prefect at Stanislas College
+during the four years which Guynemer passed there. The Abbe Chesnais had
+divined this impassioned nature, and watched it with troubled sympathy.
+
+"His eyes vividly expressed the headstrong, fighting nature of the boy,"
+he says of his pupil. "He did not care for quiet games, but was devoted
+to those requiring skill, agility, and force. He had a decided
+preference for a game highly popular among the younger classes--_la
+petite guerre_. The class was divided into two armies, each commanded by
+a general chosen by the pupils themselves, and having officers of all
+ranks under his orders. Each soldier wore on his left arm a movable
+brassard. The object of the battle was the capture of the flag, which
+was set up on a wall, a tree, a column, or any place dominating the
+courtyard. The soldier from whom his brassard was taken was considered
+dead.
+
+"Guynemer, who was somewhat weak and sickly, always remained a private
+soldier. His comrades, appreciating the value of having a general with
+sufficient muscular strength to maintain his authority, never dreamed of
+placing him at their head. The muscle, which he lacked, was a necessity.
+But when a choice of soldiers had to be made, he was always counted
+among the best, and his name called among the first. Although he had not
+much strength, he had agility, cleverness, a quick eye, caution, and a
+talent for strategy. He played his game himself, not liking to receive
+any suggestions from his chiefs, intending to follow his own ideas. The
+battle once begun, he invariably attacked the strongest enemy and
+pursued those comrades who occupied the highest rank. With the marvelous
+suppleness of a cat, he climbed trees, flung himself to the ground,
+crept along barriers, slipped between the legs of his adversaries, and
+bounded triumphantly off with a number of brassards. It was a great joy
+to him to bring the trophies of his struggles to his general. With
+radiant face, and with his two hands resting on his legs, he looked
+mockingly at his adversaries who had been surprised by his cleverness.
+His superiority over his comrades was especially apparent in the battles
+they fought in the woods of Bellevue.[7] There the field was larger, and
+there was a greater variety of chances for surprising the enemy. He hid
+himself under the dead leaves, lay close to the branches of trees, and
+crept along brooks and ravines. It was often he who was selected to find
+a place of vantage for the flag. But he was never willing to act as its
+guardian, for he feared nothing so much as inactivity, preferring to
+chase his comrades through the woods. The short journey to the Bellevue
+woods was passed in the elaboration of various plans, and arguing about
+those of his friends; he always wanted to have the last word. The return
+journey was enlivened by biting criticism, which often ended in a
+quarrel."[8]
+
+[Footnote 7: The country house of Stanislas College is at Bellevue.
+[Translator's note.]]
+
+[Footnote 8: Unpublished notes by Abbe Chesnais.]
+
+This is an astonishing portrait, in which nearly all the characteristics
+of the future Guynemer, Guynemer the fighter, are apparent. He does not
+care to command, he likes too well to give battle, and is already the
+knight of single combats. His method is personal, and he means to
+follow his own ideas. He attacks the strongest; neither size nor number
+stops him. His suppleness and skill are unequaled. He lacks the muscle
+for a good gymnast, and at the parallel bars, or the fixed bar, he is
+the despair of his instructors. How will he supply this deficiency?
+Simply by the power of his will. All physical games do not require
+physical strength, and he became an excellent shot and fencer. Furious
+at his own weakness, he outdid the strong, and, like Diomede and Ajax,
+brought back his trophies laughing. A college courtyard was not
+sufficient for him: he needed the Bellevue woods, while he waited to
+have all space, all the sky, at his disposal. So the warlike infancy of
+a Guynemer is like that of a Roland, a Duguesclin, a Bayard,--all are
+ardent hearts with indomitable energy, upright souls developing early,
+whose passion it was only necessary to control.
+
+The youth of Guynemer was like his childhood. As a student of higher
+mathematics his combative tendencies were not at all changed. "At
+recreation he was very fond of roller-skating, which in his case gave
+rise to many disputes and much pugilism. Having no respect for boys who
+would not play, he would skate into the midst of their group, pushing
+them about, seizing their arms and forcing them to waltz round and round
+with him like weather-cocks. Then he would be off at his highest speed,
+pursued by his victims. Blows were exchanged, which did not prevent him
+from repeating the same thing a few seconds later. At the end of
+recreation, with his hair disordered, his clothes covered with dust,
+his face and hands muddy, Guynemer was exhausted. But the strongest of
+his comrades could not frighten him; on the contrary, he attacked these
+by preference. The masters were often obliged to intervene and separate
+the combatants. Guynemer would then straighten up like a cock, his eyes
+sparkling and obtruding, and, unable to do more, would crush his
+adversary with piquant and sometimes cutting words uttered in a dry,
+railing voice."[9]
+
+[Footnote 9: Unpublished notes by Abbe Chesnais.]
+
+
+Talking, however, was not his forte, and his nervousness made him
+sputter. His speech was vibrant, trenchant, like hammerstrokes, and he
+said things to which there was no answer. He had a horror of discussion:
+he was already all action.
+
+This violence and frenzied action would have driven him to the most
+unreasonable and dangerous audacity if they had not been counterbalanced
+by his sense of honor. "He was one of those," wrote a comrade of
+Guynemer's, M. Jean Constantin, now lieutenant of artillery, "for whom
+honor is sacred, and must not be disregarded under any pretext; and in
+his life, in his relations with his comrades, his candor and loyalty
+were only equaled by his goodness. Often, in the midst of our games,
+some dispute arose. Where are the friends who have never had a dispute?
+Sometimes we were both so obstinate that we fought, but after that he
+was willing to renounce the privilege of the last word. He never could
+have endured bringing trouble upon his fellow-students. He never
+hesitated to admit a fault; and, what is much better, once when one of
+his comrades, who was a good student, had inadvertently made a foolish
+mistake which might have lowered his marks, I saw Georges accuse himself
+and take the punishment in his place. His comrade never knew anything
+about it, for Georges did that sort of thing almost clandestinely, and
+with the simplicity and modesty which were always the great charm of his
+character."
+
+This sense of honor he had drawn in with his mother's milk; and his
+father had developed it in him. Everything about him indicated pride:
+the upright carriage of his head, the glance of his black eyes which
+seemed to pierce the objects he looked at. He loved the Stanislas
+uniform which his father had worn before him, and which had been worn by
+Gouraud and Baratier, whose fame was then increasing, and Rostand, then
+in all the new glory of _Cyrano_ and _L'Aiglon_. He had an exact
+appreciation of his own dignity. Though he listened attentively in
+class, he would never ask for information or advice from his classmates.
+He hated to be trifled with, and made it understood that he intended to
+be respected. Never in all his life did he have a low thought. If he
+ever varied from the nobleness which was natural to him, silence was
+sometimes sufficient to bring him to himself.
+
+With a mobile face, full of contrasts, he was sometimes the roguish boy
+who made the whole class shake with laughter, and involved it in a
+whirlwind of games and tricks, and at others the serious, thoughtful
+pupil, who was considered to be self-absorbed, distant, and not inclined
+to reveal himself to anybody. The fierce soldier of the _petite guerre_
+was also a formidable adversary at checkers. Here, however, he became
+patient, only moving his pieces after long reflection. None of the
+students could beat him, and no one could take him by surprise. If he
+was beaten by a professor, he never rested until he had had his revenge.
+His power of will was far beyond his years, but it needed to be relaxed.
+To study and win to the head of his class was nothing for his lively
+intelligence, but his health was always delicate. He would appear
+wrapped in cloaks, comforters, waterproof coats, and then vanish into
+the infirmary. This boy who did not fear blows, bruises, or falls, was
+compelled to avoid draughts and to diet. Nobody ever heard him complain,
+nor was any one ever to do so. Often he had to give up work for whole
+months at a time; and in his baccalaureate year he was stopped by a
+return of the infantile enteritis. "Three months of rest," the doctor
+ordered at Christmas. "You will do your rhetoric over again next year,"
+said his father, who came to take him home. "Not at all," said the boy;
+"the boys shall not get ahead of me"--a childish boast which passed
+unnoticed. At the end of three months of rest and pleasant walks around
+Compiegne, the child remarked: "The three months are up, and I mean to
+present myself in July." "You haven't time; it is impossible." He
+insisted. So they discovered, at Compiegne, the Pierre d'Ailly school,
+in a building which since then has been ruined by a shell. It was his
+idea to attend these classes as a day scholar, just for the pleasure of
+it. He promised to continue to take care of himself at home. And in the
+month of July, at the age of fifteen, he took his bachelor degree, with
+mention.
+
+But the bow cannot long remain bent, and hence certain diversions of
+his, ending sometimes in storms, but not caused by any ill-will on his
+part, for it was repugnant to him to give others pain. The following
+autumn he returned to Stanislas College, and resumed his school
+exploits.
+
+"Vexed to find that a place had been reserved for him near the
+professor, under the certainly justified pretext that he was too much
+inclined to talk," again writes Abbe Chesnais, "he was resolved to talk
+all the same, whenever he pleased. With the aid of pins, pens, wires and
+boxes, he soon set up a telephone which put him into communication with
+the boy whose desk was farthest away. He possessed tools necessary for
+any of his tricks, and his desk was a veritable bazaar: copybooks,
+books, pen-holders and paper were mixed pell-mell with the most unlikely
+objects, such as fragments of fencing foils, drugs, chemical products,
+oil, grease, bolts, skate wheels, and tablets of chocolate. In one
+corner, carefully concealed, were some glass tubes which awaited a
+favorable moment for projecting against the ceiling a ball of chewed
+paper. Attached to this ball, a paper personage cut out of a copybook
+cover danced feverishly in space. When this grotesque figurine became
+quiet, another paper ball, shot with great skill, renewed the dancing
+to the great satisfaction of the young marksman. Airplanes made of paper
+were also hidden in this desk, awaiting the propitious hour for
+launching them; and the professor's desk sometimes served as their
+landing place.... Everything, indeed, was to be found there, but in such
+disorder that the owner himself could never find them. Who has not seen
+him hunting for a missing exercise in a copybook full of scraps of
+paper? It is time to go to class; with his head hidden in his desk, he
+turns over all its contents in great haste, upsetting a badly closed
+ink-bottle over his books and copybooks. The master calls him to order,
+and he rushes out well behind all the rest of the boys.
+
+"He was not one of those ill-intentioned boys whose sole idea is to
+disturb the class and hinder the work of his comrades. Nor was he a
+ringleader. He acted entirely on his own account, and for his own
+satisfaction. His practical jokes never lasted long, and did not
+interrupt the work of others. His upright, frank and honest nature
+always led him to acknowledge his own acts when the master attributed
+them by mistake to the wrong boys. He never allowed any comrade to take
+his punishment for him, but he knew very well how to extricate himself
+from the greatest difficulties. His candor often won him some
+indulgence. If he happened to be punished by a timorous master, he
+assumed a terrible facial expression and tried to frighten him. But
+when, on the contrary, he found himself in the presence of a man of
+energy, he pleaded extenuating circumstances, and persevered until he
+obtained the least possible punishment. He never resented the infliction
+of just punishment, but suffered very much when punished in public. On
+the day when the class marks were read aloud, if he suspected that his
+own were to be bad, he took refuge in the infirmary to avoid the shame
+of public exposure. Honor, for him, was not a vain word.
+
+"He was very sensitive to reproaches. He was an admirer of courage,
+audacity, anything generous. Who at Stanislas does not remember his
+proud and haughty attitude when a master vexed him in presence of his
+classmates, or interfered to end a quarrel in which his own self-respect
+was at stake? All his nerves were stretched; his body stiffened, and he
+stood as straight as a steel rod, his arms pressed against his legs, his
+fists tightly closed, his head held high and rigid, and his face as
+yellow as ivory, with its smooth forehead, and his compressed lips
+cutting two deep lines around his mouth; his eyes, fixed like two black
+balls, seemed to start from the sockets, shooting fire. He looked as if
+he were about to destroy his adversary with lightning, but in reality he
+retained the most imperturbable sang-froid. He stood like a marble
+statue, but it was easy to divine the storm raging within...."[10]
+
+[Footnote 10: Unpublished notes by Abbe Chesnais.]
+
+His tendency, after taking his bachelor's degree, was towards science;
+he was ambitious to enter the Ecole polytechnique, and joined the
+special mathematics class. Even when very young he had shown particular
+aptitude for mechanics, and a gift for invention which we have seen
+exercised in his practical jokes as a student. When he was only four or
+five years old he constructed a bed out of paper, which he raised by
+means of cords and pulleys.
+
+"He passed whole hours," says his Stanislas classmate, Lieutenant
+Constantin, "in trying to solve a mathematical problem, or studying some
+question which had interested him, without knowing what went on around
+him; but as soon as he had solved his problem, or learned something new,
+he was satisfied and returned to the present. He was particularly
+interested in everything connected with the sciences. His greatest
+pleasure was to make experiments in physics or chemistry: he tried
+everything which his imagination suggested. Once he happened to produce
+a detonating mixture which made a formidable explosion, but nothing was
+broken except a few windows."
+
+His choice of reading revealed the same tendency. He was not fond of
+reading, and only liked books of adventure which were food for his
+warlike sentiments and his ideas of honor and honesty. He preferred the
+works of Major Driant, and re-read them even during his mathematical
+year. Returning from a walk one Thursday evening, he knocked on the
+prefect's door to ask for a book. He wanted _La Guerre fatale_, _La
+Guerre de Demain_, _L'Aviateur du Pacifique_, etc. "But you have already
+read them." "That does not matter." Did he really re-read them? His
+dreams were always the same, and his eyes looked into the future.
+
+Somebody, however, was to exert over this impressionable, mobile, almost
+too ardent nature, an influence which was to determine its direction.
+His father had advised him to choose his friends with care, and not
+yield himself to the first comer. He was not only incapable of doing
+that, but equally incapable of yielding himself to anybody. Do we really
+choose our friends in early life? We only know our friends by finding
+them in our lives when we need them. They are there, but we have not
+sought them. A similarity of taste, of sensibility, of ambitions draw us
+to them, and they have been our friends a long time already before we
+perceive that they are not merely comrades. Thus Jean Krebs became the
+constant companion of Georges Guynemer. The father of Jean Krebs is that
+Colonel Krebs whose name is connected with the first progress made in
+aerostation and aviation. He was then director of the Panhard factories,
+and his two sons were students at Stanislas. Jean, the elder, was
+Guynemer's classmate. He was a silent, self-centered, thoughtful
+student, calm in speech and facial expression, never speaking one word
+louder than another, and the farthest possible removed from anything
+noisy or agitated. Georges broke in upon his solitude and attached
+himself to him, while Krebs endured, smiled, and accepted, and they
+became allies. It was Krebs, for the time, who was the authority, the
+one who had prestige and wore the halo. Why, he knew what an automobile
+was, and one Sunday he took his friend Georges to Ivry and taught him
+how to drive. He taught him every technical thing he knew. Georges
+launched with all his energy into this new career, and soon became
+acquainted with every motor in existence. During the school promenades,
+if the column of pupils walked up or down the Champs Elysees, he told
+them the names of passing automobiles: "That's a Lorraine. There is a
+Panhard. This one has so many horsepower," etc. Woe to any who ventured
+to contradict him. He looked the insolent one up and down, and crushed
+him with a word.
+
+He was overjoyed when the college organized Thursday afternoon visits to
+factories. He chose his companions in advance, sometimes compelling them
+to give up a game of tennis. Krebs was one of them. For Georges the
+visits to the Puteaux and Dion-Bouton factories were a feast of which he
+was often to speak later. He went, not as a sightseer, but as a
+connoisseur. He could not bring himself to remain with the engineer who
+showed the party through the works. He required more liberty, more time
+to investigate everything for himself, to see and touch everything. The
+smallest detail interested him; he questioned the workmen, asking them
+the use of some screw, and a thousand other things. The visit was too
+soon over for him; and when his comrades had already left, and the
+division prefect was calling the roll to make sure of all his boys,
+Guynemer as usual was missing, and was discovered standing in ecstasy
+before a machine which some workmen were engaged in setting up.
+
+"The opening weeks of the automobile and aviation exhibition were a
+period of comparative tranquillity for his masters, as Guynemer was no
+longer the same restless, nervous, mischievous boy, being too anxious to
+retain his privileges for the promenades. He was always one of those who
+haunted the prefect when the hour for departure drew near. He was
+impatient to know where they were to go: 'Where are we going?... Shall
+you take us to the Grand Palais? (The Automobile and Aviation
+Exhibition).... Wouldn't you be a brick!...' When they arrived, he was
+not one of those many curious people who circulate aimlessly around the
+stands with their hands in their pockets, without reaping anything but
+fatigue, like a cyclist on a circular track. His plans were all made in
+advance, and he knew where the stand was which he meant to visit. He
+went directly there, where his ardor and his free and easy behavior drew
+upon him the admonitions of the proprietor. But nothing stopped him, and
+he continued to touch everything, furnishing explanations to his
+companions. When he returned to the college his pockets bulged with
+prospectuses, catalogues, and selected brochures, which he carefully
+added to the heterogeneous contents of his desk."[11]
+
+[Footnote 11: Unpublished notes by Abbe Chesnais.]
+
+Jean Krebs crystallized Georges Guynemer's vocation. He developed and
+specialized his taste for mechanics, separating it from vague
+abstractions and guiding it towards material realities and the wider
+experiences these procure. He deserves to be mentioned in any biography
+of Guynemer, and before passing on, it is proper that his premature loss
+should be cited and deplored. Highly esteemed as an aviator during the
+war, he made the best use of his substantial and reliable faculties in
+the work of observation. Airplane chasing did not attract him, but he
+knew how to use his eyes. He was killed in a landing accident at a time
+almost coincident with the disappearance of Guynemer. One of his
+escadrille mates described him thus: "With remarkable intelligence, and
+a perfectly even disposition, his chiefs valued him for his sang-froid,
+his quick eye, his exact knowledge of the services he was able to
+perform. Every time a mission was intrusted to him, everybody was sure
+that he would accomplish it, no matter what conditions he had to meet.
+He often had to face enemy airplanes better armed than his own, and in
+the course of a flight had been wounded in the thigh by an exploding
+shell. Nevertheless he had continued to fly, only returning considerably
+later when his task was done. His death has left a great void in this
+escadrille. Men like him are difficult to replace...."
+
+Thus the immoderate Guynemer had for his first friend a comrade who knew
+exactly his own limits. Guynemer could save Jean Krebs from his excess
+of literal honesty by showing him the enchantment of his own ecstasies,
+but Jean Krebs furnished the motor for Guynemer's ambitious young wings.
+Without the technical lessons of Jean Krebs, could Guynemer later have
+got into the aviation field at Pau, and won so easily his diploma as
+pilot? Would he have applied himself so closely to the study of his
+tools and the perfecting of his machine?
+
+The war was to make them both aviators, and both of them fell from the
+sky, one in the fullness of glory, the other almost obscure. When they
+talked together on school outings, or as they walked along beside the
+walls of Stanislas, had they ever foreseen this destiny? Certainly not
+Jean Krebs, with his positive spirit; he only saw ahead the Ecole
+polytechnique, and thought of nothing but preparation for that. But
+Guynemer? In his very precious notes, Abbe Chesnais shows us the boy
+constructing a little airplane of cloth, the motor of which was a bundle
+of elastics. "At the next recreation hour, he went up to the dormitory,
+opened a window, launched his machine, and presided over its evolutions
+above the heads of his comrades." But these were only the games of an
+ingenious collegian. The worthy priest, who was division prefect, and
+watched the boy with a profound knowledge of psychology, never received
+any confidence from him regarding his vocation.
+
+Aviation, whose first timid essays began in 1906, progressed rapidly.
+After Santos Dumont, who on November 22, 1906, covered 220 meters while
+volplaning, a group of inventors--Bleriot, Delagrange, Farman,
+Wright--perfected light motors. In 1909 Bleriot crossed the Channel,
+Paulhan won the height record at 1380 meters, and Farman the distance
+record over a course of 232 kilometers. A visionary, Viscomte Melchior
+de Vogue, had already foreseen the prodigious development of air-travel.
+All the young people of the time longed to fly. Guynemer, studying the
+new invention with his customary energy, could hardly do otherwise than
+share the general infatuation. His comrades, like himself, dreamed of
+parts of airplanes and their construction. But the idea of Lieutenant
+Constantin is different: "When an airplane flew over the quarter,
+Guynemer followed it with his eyes, and continued to gaze at the sky for
+some time after its disappearance. His desk contained a whole collection
+of volumes and photographs concerning aviation. He had resolved to go up
+some day in an airplane, and as he was excessively self-willed he tried
+to bring this about by every means in his power. 'Don't you know anybody
+who could take me up some Sunday?' Of whom has he not asked this
+question? But at college it was not at all easy, and it was during
+vacation that he succeeded in carrying out his project. If I am not
+mistaken, his first ascension was at the aerodrome of Compiegne. At that
+time the comfortable cockpits of the modern airplanes were unknown, and
+the passenger was obliged to place himself as best he could behind the
+pilot and cling to him by putting his arms around him in order not to
+fall, so that it was a relief to come down again!..."
+
+The noticeable sentence in these notes is the first one: _When an
+airplane flew over the quarter, he followed it with his eyes, and
+continued to gaze at the sky for some time after its disappearance._ If
+Jean Krebs had survived, he could perhaps enlighten us still further;
+but, even to this reasonable friend, could Guynemer have revealed what
+was still confused to himself? Jean Constantin only saw him once in a
+reverie; and Guynemer must have kept silent about his resolutions.
+
+Soon afterwards, as Guynemer was obliged once more to renounce his
+studies--and this was the year in which he was preparing for the
+Polytechnique--his father left him with his grandmother in Paris, to
+rest. During this time he went to lectures on the social sciences,
+finally completing his education, which was strictly French, not one day
+having been passed with any foreign teacher. After this he traveled with
+his mother and sisters, leading the life of the well-to-do young man who
+has plenty of time in which to plan his future. Was he thinking of his
+future at all? The question occurred to his father who, worried at the
+thought of his son's idleness, recalled him and interrogated him as to
+his ideas of a future career, fully expecting to receive one of those
+undecided answers so often given by young men under similar
+circumstances. But Georges replied, as if it were the most natural thing
+in the world, and no other could ever have been considered:
+
+"Aviator."
+
+This reply was surprising. What could have led him to a determination
+apparently so sudden?
+
+"That is not a career," he was told. "Aviation is still only a sport.
+You travel in the air as a motorist rides on the highways. And after
+passing a few years devoted to pleasure, you hire yourself to some
+constructor. No, a thousand times no!"
+
+Then he said to his father what he had never said to anybody, and what
+his comrade Constantin had merely suspected:
+
+"That is my sole passion. One morning in the courtyard at Stanislas I
+saw an airplane flying. I don't know what happened to me: I felt an
+emotion so profound that it was almost religious. You must believe me
+when I ask your permission to be an aviator."
+
+"You don't know what an airplane is. You never saw one except from
+below."
+
+"You are mistaken; I went up in one at Corbeaulieu."
+
+Corbeaulieu was an aerodrome near Compiegne; and these words were spoken
+a very few months before the war.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Many years before Georges Guynemer was a student at Stanislas, a
+professor, who was also destined to become famous, taught rhetoric
+there. His name was Frederic Ozanam. He too had been a precocious child,
+prematurely sure of his vocation for literature. When only fifteen he
+had composed in Latin verse an epitaph in honor of Gaston de Foix, dead
+at Ravenna. This epitaph, if two words are changed--_Hispanae_ into
+_hostilis_, and _Gaston_ into _Georges_--describes perfectly the short
+and admirable career of Guynemer. Even the palms are included:
+
+     Fortunate heros! moriendo in saecula vives.
+     Eia, agite, o socii, manibus profundite flores,
+     Lilia per tumulum, violamque rosamque recentem
+     Spargite; victricis armis superaddite lauros,
+     Et tumulo tales mucrone inscribite voces:
+     Hic jacet hostilis gentis timor et decus omne
+         Gallorum, Georgius, conditus ante diem:
+     Credidit hunc Lachesis juvenem dum cerneret annos,
+         Sed palmas numerans credidit esse senem.[12]
+
+It is a paraphrase of the reply of the gods to the young Pallas, in
+Virgil.
+
+[Footnote 12:
+Fortunate hero! thou diest, but thou shalt live forever!
+Come, my companions! strew flowers
+And lilies over the tomb! violets and young roses
+Scatter; heap up laurels upon his arms,
+And on the stone write with the point of your sword:
+Here lieth one who was the terror of the enemy, and the glory
+Of the French, George, taken before his time.
+Lachesis from his face thought him a boy,
+But counting his victories she thought him full of years.]
+
+
+This young Frederic Ozanam died in the full vigor of manhood before
+having attained his fortieth year, of a malady which had already
+foretold his death. At that time he seemed to have achieved perfect
+happiness; it was the supreme moment when everything succeeds, when the
+difficult years are almost forgotten, and the road mounts easily upward.
+He had in his wife a perfect companion, and his daughter was a lovable
+young girl. His reputation was growing; he was soon to be received by
+the Academy, and fortune and fame were already achieved. And then death
+called him. Truly the hour was badly chosen--but when is it chosen at
+the will of mortals? Ozanam tried to win pity from death. In his private
+journal he notes death's approach, concerning which he was never
+deceived; and he asks Heaven for a respite. To propitiate it, he offers
+a part of his life, the most brilliant part; he is willing to renounce
+honors, fame, and fortune, and will consent to live humbly and be
+forgotten, like the poor for whom he founded the _Conferences de
+Saint-Vincent de Paul_, and whom he so often visited in their wretched
+lodgings; but let him at least dwell a little longer in his home, that
+he may see his daughter grow up, and pass a few years more with the
+companion of his choice. Finally, he is impassioned by his Faith, he no
+longer reasons with Heaven, but says: "Take all according to Thy wish,
+take all, take myself. Thy will be done...."
+
+Rarely has the drama of acceptance of the Divine Will been more freely
+developed. Now, in the drama which was to impassion Guynemer even to
+complete sacrifice, it is not the vocation of aviator that we should
+remark, but the absolute will to serve. Abbe Chesnais, who does not
+attach primary importance to the vocation, has understood this well. At
+the end of his notes he reminds us that Guynemer was a believer who
+accomplished his religious exercises regularly, without ostentation and
+without weakness. "How many times he has stopped me at night," he
+writes, "as I passed near his bed! He wanted a quiet conscience, without
+reproach. His usual frivolity left him at the door of the chapel. He
+believed in the presence of God in this holy place and respected it....
+His Christian sentiments were to be a sustaining power in his aerial
+battles, and he would fight with the more ardor if his conscience were
+at peace with his God...."
+
+These words of Abbe Chesnais explain the true vocation of Guynemer: "The
+chances of war brought out marvelously the qualities contained in such a
+frail body. In the beginning did he think of becoming a pilot? Perhaps.
+But what he wanted above everything was to fulfil his duty as a
+Frenchman. He wanted to be a soldier; he was ashamed of himself, he
+said, in the first days of September, 1914: 'If I have to sleep in the
+bottom of an automobile truck, I want to go to the front. I will go.'"
+
+He was to go; but neither love of aviation nor love of fame had anything
+to do with his departure, as they were to have nothing to do with his
+final fate.
+
+
+III. THE DEPARTURE
+
+In the month of July, 1914, Georges Guynemer was with his family at the
+Villa Delphine, Biarritz, in the northern part of the Anglet beach. This
+beach is blond with sunshine, but is refreshed by the ocean breezes. One
+can be deliciously idle there. This beach is besides an excellent
+landing-place for airplanes, because of the welcome of its soft sand.
+Georges Guynemer never left the Anglet beach, and every time an airplane
+descended he was there to receive it. He was the aviation sentry. But at
+this period airplanes were rare. Guynemer had his own thoughts, and
+tenacity was one of his dominant traits; he was already one of those who
+never renounce. The bathers who passed this everlasting idler never
+suspected that he was obstinately developing one single plan, and
+hanging his whole future upon it.
+
+Meanwhile the horizon of Europe darkened. Ever since the assassination
+of the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, at Sarajevo, electricity had
+accumulated in the air, and the storm was ready to burst. To this young
+man, the Archduke and the European horizon were things of nothing. The
+sea-air was healthful, and he searched the heavens for invisible
+airplanes. The conversations in progress all around him were full of
+anxiety; he had no time to listen to them. The eyes of the women began
+to be full of pain; he did not notice the eyes of women. On the second
+of August the order for mobilization was posted. It was war!
+
+Then Guynemer rid himself of his dream, as if it were something unreal,
+and broke off brusquely all his plans for the future. He was entirely
+possessed by another idea, which made his eyes snap fire, and wrinkled
+his forehead. He rushed to his father and without taking breath
+announced:
+
+"I am going to enlist."
+
+"You are lucky."
+
+"Well, then, you authorize me...."
+
+"I envy you."
+
+He had feared to be met with some parental objection on account of the
+uncertain health which had so often thwarted him, and had postponed his
+preparation for the Ecole Polytechnique. Now he felt reassured. Next day
+he was at Bayonne, getting through all the necessary formalities. He was
+medically examined--and postponed. The doctors found him too tall, too
+thin--no physiological defect, but a child's body in need of being
+developed and strengthened. In vain he supplicated them; they were
+pitiless. He returned home grieved, humiliated, and furious. The Villa
+Delphine was to know some very uncomfortable days. His family understood
+his determination and began to have fears for him. And he returned to
+the charge, and attacked his father with insistence, as if his father
+were all-powerful and could, if he would, compel them to accept his
+son's services for _la Patrie_.
+
+"If you would help me, I should not be put off."
+
+"But how?"
+
+"A former officer has connections in the army. You could speak for me."
+
+"Very well, I will."
+
+M. Guynemer, in his turn, went to Bayonne. From that date, indeed from
+the first day of war, he had promised himself never to set obstacles in
+the way of his son's military service, but to favor it upon all
+occasions. He kept his word, as we shall see later, at whatever cost to
+himself. The recruiting major listened to his request. It was the hour
+of quick enthusiasms, and he had already sustained many assaults and
+resisted many importunities.
+
+"Monsieur," he now said, "you may well believe that I accept all who can
+serve. I speak to you as a former officer: does your conscience assure
+you that your son is fit to carry a knapsack and be a foot-soldier?"
+
+"I could not say that he is."
+
+"Would he make a cavalryman?"
+
+"He can't ride on account of his former enteritis."
+
+"Then you see how it is; it's proper to postpone him. Build him up, and
+later on he'll be taken. The war is not finished."
+
+As Georges had been present at this interview, he now saw himself
+refused a second time. He returned with his father to Biarritz, pale,
+silent, unhappy, and altogether in such a state of anger and bitterness
+that his face was altered. Nothing consoled him, nothing amused him. On
+those magnificent August days the sea was a waste of sunshine, and the
+beach was an invitation to enjoy the soft summer hours; but he did not
+go to the beach, and he scorned the sea. His anxious parents wondered
+if, for the sake of his health, it would not be easier to see him
+depart. As for them, it was their fate to suffer in every way.
+
+Ever since the mobilization, Georges Guynemer had had only one thought:
+to serve--to serve, no matter where, no matter how, no matter in what
+branch of the service, but to leave, to go to the front, and not stay
+there at Biarritz like those foreigners who had not left, or like those
+useless old men and children who were now all that remained of the male
+population.
+
+Many trains had carried off the first recruits, trains decorated with
+flowers and filled with songs. The sons of France had come running from
+her farthest provinces, and a unanimous impulse precipitated them upon
+the assaulted frontier. But this impulse was perfectly controlled. The
+songs the men sang were serious and almost sacred. The nation was living
+through one of her greatest hours, and knew it. With one motion she
+regained her national unity, and renewed once more her youth.
+
+Meanwhile the news that sifted in, little by little, caused intense
+anguish--anguish, not doubt. The government had left Paris to establish
+itself at Bordeaux. The capital was menaced. The enemy had entered
+Compiegne. Compiegne was no longer ours. The Joan of Arc on the _place_
+of the Hotel de Ville had _pickelhauben_ on her men-at-arms. And then
+the victory of the Marne lifted the weight that oppressed every heart.
+At the Villa Delphine news came that Compiegne was saved. Meanwhile
+trains left carrying troops to reinforce the combatants. And Georges
+Guynemer had to live through all these departures, suffering and
+rebelling until he had a horror of himself. His comrades and friends
+were gone, or had asked permission to go. His two first cousins, his
+mother's nephews, Guy and Rene de Saint Quentin, had gone; one, a
+sergeant, was killed at the Battle of the Marne, the other, councilor to
+the Embassy at Constantinople, returning in haste when war was declared,
+had taken his place as lieutenant of reserves, and had been twice
+wounded at the Marne, by a ball in the shoulder and a shrapnel bullet in
+the thigh. Was it possible for him to stay there alone when the whole
+of France had risen?
+
+In the _Chanson d'Aspremont_, which is one of our most captivating
+_chansons de geste_, Charlemagne is leaving for Italy with his army, and
+passes by Laon. In the donjon five children, one of whom is his nephew
+Roland, are imprisoned under the care of Turpin. The Emperor, who knows
+them well, has had them locked up for fear they would join his troops.
+But when they hear the ivory horns sounding and the horses neighing,
+they are determined to escape. They try to cajole the porter, but he is
+adamant and incorruptible. This faithful servitor is immediately well
+beaten. They take away his keys, pass over his body, and are soon out of
+the prison. But their adventures are only beginning. To procure
+themselves horses they attack and unhorse five Bretons, and to get arms
+they repeat the same process. They are so successful that they manage to
+join the Emperor's army before it has crossed the Alps. Will our new
+Roland allow himself to be outdistanced by these terrible children of
+former ages? It is not the army with its ivory horns that he has heard
+departing, but the whole marching nation, fighting to live and endure,
+and to enable honor and justice and right to live and endure with her.
+
+So we find Guynemer once more on the Anglet beach, sad and discomfited.
+An airplane capsizes on the sand. What does he care about an
+airplane--don't they know that his old passion and dream are dead? Since
+August 2 he has not given them a thought. However, he begins a
+conversation with the pilot, who is a sergeant. And all at once a new
+idea takes possession of him; the old passion revives again under
+another form; the dream rises once more.
+
+"How can one enlist in the aviation corps?"
+
+"Arrange it with the captain; go to Pau."
+
+Georges runs at once to the Villa Delphine. His parents no longer
+recognize the step and the face of the preceding days; he looks like
+their son again; he is saved.
+
+"Father, I want to go to Pau to-morrow."
+
+"Why this trip to Pau?"
+
+"To enlist in the aviation corps. Before the war you wouldn't hear of my
+being an aviator, but in war aviation is no longer a sport."
+
+"In war--yes, it is certainly quite another thing."
+
+Next day he reached Pau, where Captain Bernard-Thierry was in command of
+the aviation camp. He forced his way through Captain Bernard-Thierry's
+door, over the expostulations of the sentries. He explained his case and
+pleaded his cause with such fire in his eyes that the officer was dazed
+and fascinated. From the tones of the captain's voice, when he referred
+to the two successive rejections, Guynemer knew he had made an
+impression. As he had done at Stanislas when he wanted to soften some
+punishment inflicted by his master, so now he brought every argument to
+bear, one after another; but with how much more ardor he made this plea,
+for his future was at stake! He bewitched his hearer. And then suddenly
+he became a child again, imploring and ready to cry.
+
+"Captain, help me--employ me--employ me at anything, no matter what. Let
+me clean those airplanes over there. You are my last resource. It must
+be through you that I can do something at last in the war."
+
+The captain reflected gravely. He felt the power hidden in this fragile
+body. He could not rebuff a suppliant like this one.
+
+"I can take you as student mechanician."
+
+"That's it, that's it; I understand automobiles."
+
+Guynemer exulted, as Jean Krebs' technical lessons flashed already into
+his mind; they would be of great help in his work. The officer gave him
+a letter to the recruiting officer at Bayonne, and he went back there
+for the third time. This time his name was entered, he was taken, and he
+signed a voluntary engagement. This was on November 21, 1914. There was
+no need for him to explain to the family what had occurred when he
+returned to the Villa Delphine: he was beaming.
+
+"You are going?" said his mother and sisters.
+
+"Surely."
+
+Next day he made his _debut_ at the aviation camp at Pau as student
+mechanician. He had entered the army by the back door, but he had got
+in. The future knight of the air was now the humblest of grooms. "I do
+not ask any favors for him," his father wrote to the captain. "All I ask
+is that he may perform any services he is capable of." He had to be
+tried and proved deserving, to pass through all the minor ranks before
+being worthy to wear the _casque sacre_. The petted child of Compiegne
+and the Villa Delphine had the most severe of apprenticeships. He slept
+on the floor, and was employed in the dirtiest work about camp, cleaned
+cylinders and carried cans of petroleum. In this _milieu_ he heard words
+and theories which dumbfounded him, not knowing then that men frequently
+do not mean all that they say. On November 26, he wrote Abbe Chesnais:
+"I have the pleasure of informing you that after two postponements
+during a vain effort to enlist, I have at last succeeded. _Time and
+patience_ ... I am writing you in the mess, while two comrades are
+elaborating social theories...."
+
+Would he be able to endure this workman's existence? His parents were
+not without anxiety. They hesitated to leave Biarritz and return to
+their home in Compiegne in the rue Saint-Lazare, on the edge of the
+forest. But, so far from being injured by manual labor, the child
+constantly grew stronger. In his case spirit had always triumphed over
+matter, and compelled it to obedience on every occasion. So now he
+followed his own object with indomitable energy. He took an airplane to
+pieces before mounting in it, and learned to know it in every detail.
+
+His preparation for the Ecole Polytechnique assured him a brilliant
+superiority in his present surroundings. He could explain the laws of
+mechanics, and tell his wonderstruck comrades what is meant by the
+resultant of several forces and the equilibrium of forces, giving them
+unexpected notions about kinematics and dynamics.[13] From the
+laboratory or industrial experiments then being made, he acquired, on
+his part, a knowledge of the resisting power of the materials used in
+aviation: wood, steel, steel wires, aluminum and its composites, copper,
+copper alloys and tissues. He saw things made--those famous wings that
+were one day to carry him up into the blue--with their longitudinal
+spars of ash or hickory, their ribs of light wood, their interior
+bracing of piano wire, their other bracing wires, and their wing
+covering. He saw the workmen prepare all the material for mortise and
+tenon work, saw them attach the tension wires, fit in the ends of poles,
+and finally connect together all the parts of an airplane,--wings,
+rudders, motor, landing frame, body. As a painter grinds his colors
+before making use of them, so Guynemer's prelude to his future flights
+was to touch with his hands--those long white hands of the rich student,
+now tanned and callous, often coated with soot or grease, and worthy to
+be the hands of a laborer--every piece, every bolt and screw of these
+machines which were to release him from his voluntary servitude.
+
+[Footnote 13: See _Etude raisonnee de l'aeroplane_, by Jules Bordeaux,
+formerly student at Ecole Polytechnique (Gauthier-Billars, edition
+1912).]
+
+One of his future comrades, _sous-lieutenant_ Marcel Viallet (who one
+day had the honor of bringing down two German airplanes in ten minutes
+with seven bullets), thus describes him at the Pau school: "I had
+already had my attention drawn to this 'little girl' dressed in a
+private's uniform whom one met in the camp, his hands covered with
+castor oil, his face all stains, his clothes torn. I do not know what he
+did in the workshop, but he certainly did not add to its brilliance by
+his appearance. We saw him all the time hanging around the 'zincs.' His
+highly interested little face amused us. When we landed, he watched us
+with such admiration and envy! He asked us endless questions and
+constantly wanted explanations. Without seeming to do so, he was
+learning. For a reply to some question about the art of flying, he would
+have run to the other end of the camp to get us a few drops of gasoline
+for our tanks...."[14]
+
+[Footnote 14: _Le Petit Parisien_, September 27, 1917.]
+
+He was learning, and when he saw his way clear, he wanted to begin
+flying. New Year's Day arrived--that sad New Year's Day of the first
+year of the war. What gifts would he ask of his father? He would ask for
+help to win his diploma as pilot. "Don't you know somebody in your class
+at Saint-Cyr who could help me?" He always associated his father with
+every step he took in advance. The child had no fear of creating a
+conflict between his father's love for him and the service due to
+France: he knew very well that he would never receive from his father
+any counsel against his honor, and without pity he compelled him to
+facilitate his son's progress toward mortal danger. Certain former
+classmates of M. Guynemer's at Saint-Cyr had, in fact, reached the rank
+of general, and the influence of one of them hastened Guynemer's
+promotion from student mechanician to student pilot (January 26, 1915).
+
+On this same date, Guynemer, soldier of the 2d Class, began his first
+journal of flights. The first page is as follows:
+
+     _Wednesday_, January 27: Doing camp chores.
+     _Thursday_,     "    28: ib.
+     _Friday_,       "    29: Lecture and camp chores.
+     _Saturday_,     "    30: Lecture at the Bleriot
+                                     aerodrome.
+     _Sunday_,       "    31: ib.
+                                     aerodrome.
+     _Monday_,   February  1: Went out twenty minutes
+                                     on Bleriot "roller."
+
+The Bleriot "roller," called the Penguin because of its abbreviated
+wings, and which did not leave the ground, was followed on Wednesday,
+February 17, by a three-cylinder 25 H.P. Bleriot, which rose only thirty
+or forty meters. These were the first ascensions before launching into
+space. Then came a six-cylinder Bleriot, and ascensions became more
+numerous. Finally, on Wednesday, March 10, the journal records two
+flights of twenty minutes each on a Bleriot six-cylinder 50 H.P., one at
+a height of 600 meters, the other at 800, with tacking and volplaning
+descents. This time the child sailed into the sky. Guynemer's first
+flight, then, was on March 10, 1915.
+
+This journal, with its fifty pages, ends on July 28, 1916, with the
+following statement:
+
+     _Friday_, July 28.--Round at the front. Attacked a group of four
+     enemy airplanes and forced down one of them. Attacked a second
+     group of four airplanes, which immediately dispersed. Chased one of
+     the airplanes and fired about 250 cartridges: the Boche dived, and
+     seemed to be hit. When I shot the last cartridges from the Vickers,
+     one blade of the screw was perforated with bullet-holes, the
+     dislocated motor struck the machine violently and seriously injured
+     it. Volplaned down to the aerodrome of Chipilly without accident.
+
+A marginal note states that the aeroplane which "seemed to be hit" was
+brought down, and that the English staff confirmed its fall. This
+victory of July 28, 1916, on the Somme, was Guynemer's eleventh; and at
+that time he had flown altogether 348 hours, 25 minutes. This journal of
+fifty pages enables us to measure the distance covered.
+
+Impassioned young people! You who in every department of achievement
+desire to win the trophies of a Guynemer, never forget that your
+progress on the path to glory begins with "doing chores."
+
+
+
+
+CANTO II
+
+LAUNCHED INTO SPACE
+
+
+I. THE FIRST VICTORY
+
+The apprentice pilot, then, left the ground for the first time at the
+Pau school on February 17, 1915, in a three-cylinder Bleriot. But these
+were only short leaps, though sufficiently audacious ones. His monitor
+accused him of breakneck recklessness: "Too much confidence, madness,
+fantastical humor." That same evening he wrote describing his
+impressions to his father: "Before departure, a bit worried; in the air,
+wildly amusing. When the machine slid or oscillated I was not at all
+troubled, it even seemed funny.... Well, it diverted me immensely, but
+it was lucky that _Maman_ was not there.... I don't think I have
+achieved a reputation for prudence. I hope everything will go well; I
+shall soon know...."
+
+During February he made many experimental flights, and finally, on March
+10, 1915, went up 600 meters. This won him next day a diploma from the
+Aero Club, and the day following he wrote to his sister Odette this hymn
+of joy--not long, but unique in his correspondence: "Uninterrupted
+descent, volplaning for 800 meters. Superb view (sunset)...."
+
+"Superb view (sunset)": in the hundred and fifty or two hundred letters
+addressed to his family, I believe this is the only landscape. Slightly
+later, but infrequently, the new aviator gave a few details of
+observation, the accuracy of which lent them some picturesqueness; but
+in this letter he yielded to the intoxication of the air, he enjoyed
+flying as if it were his right. He experienced that sensation of
+lightness and freedom which accompanies the separation from earth, the
+pleasure of cleaving the wind, of controlling his machine, of seeing,
+breathing, thinking differently from the way he saw and thought and
+breathed on the land, of being born, in fact, into a new and solitary
+life in an enlarged world. As he ascended, men suddenly diminished in
+size. The earth looked as if some giant hand had smoothed its surface,
+diversified only by moving shadows, while the outlines of objects became
+stronger, so that they seemed to be cut in relief.
+
+The land was marked by geometrical lines, showing man's labor and its
+regularity, an immense parti-colored checker-board traversed by the
+lines of highroads and rivers, and containing islands which were forests
+and towns and cities. Was it the chain of the Pyrenees covered with snow
+which, breaking this uniformity, wrested a cry of admiration from the
+aviator? What shades of gold and purple were shed over the scene by the
+setting sun? His half-sentence is like a confession of love for the joy
+of living, violently torn from him, and the only avowal this blunt
+Roland would allow himself.
+
+For the nature of his correspondence is somewhat surprising. Read
+superficially, it must seem extremely monotonous; but when better
+understood, it indicates the writer's sense of oppression, of
+hallucination, of being bewitched. From that moment Guynemer had only
+one object, and from its pursuit he never once desisted. Or, if he did
+desist for a brief interval, it was only to see his parents, who were
+part of his life, and whom he associated with his work. His
+correspondence with them is full of his airplanes, his flights, and then
+his enemy-chasing. His letters have no beginning and no ending, but
+plunge at once into action. He himself was nothing but action. Only
+that? the reader will ask. Action was his reason for existing, his
+heart, his soul--action in which his whole being fastened on his prey.
+
+A long and minutiose training goes to the making of a good pilot. But
+the impatient Guynemer had patience for everything, and the self-willed
+Stanislas student became the hardest working of apprentices. His
+scientific knowledge furnished him with a method, and after his first
+long flights his progress was very rapid. But he wanted to master all
+the principles of aviation. As student mechanician he had seen airplanes
+built. He intended to make himself veritably part of the machine which
+should be intrusted to him. Each of his senses was to receive the
+education which, little by little, would make it an instrument capable
+of registering facts and effecting security. His eyes--those piercing
+eyes which were to excel in raking the heavens and perceiving the first
+trace of an enemy at incalculable distances--though they could only
+register his motion in relation to the earth and not the air, could, at
+all events, inform him of the slightest deviations from the horizontal
+in the three dimensions: namely, straightness of direction, lateral and
+longitudinal horizontality, and accurately appreciate angular
+variations. When the motor slowed up or stopped, his ear would interpret
+the sound made by the wind on the piano wires, the tension wires, the
+struts and canvas; while his touch, still more sure, would know by the
+degree of resistance of the controlling elements the speed action of the
+machine, and his skillful hands would prepare the work of death. "In the
+case of the bird," says the _Manual_, by M. Maurice Percheron, "its
+feathers connect its organs of stability with the brain; while the
+experienced aviator has his controlling elements which produce the
+movement he wishes, and inform him of the disturbing motions of the
+wind." But with Guynemer the movements he wanted were never brought
+about as the result of reflex nervous action. At no time, even in the
+greatest danger, did he ever cease to govern every maneuver of his
+machine by his own thought. His rapidity of conception and decision was
+astounding, but was never mere instinct. As pilot, as hunter, as
+warrior, Guynemer invariably controlled his airplane and his gun with
+his brain. This is why his apprenticeship was so important, and why he
+himself attached so much importance to it--by instinct, in this case.
+His nerves were always strained, but he worked out his results. Behind
+every action was the power of his will, that power which had forced his
+entrance into the army, and itself closed the doors behind him, a
+prisoner of his own vocation.
+
+He familiarized himself with all the levers of the engine and every part
+of the controlling elements. When the obligatory exercises were
+finished, and his comrades were resting and idling, he remounted the
+airplane, as a child gets onto his rocking-horse, and took the levers
+again into his hands. When he went up, he watched for the exact instant
+for quitting the ground and sought the easiest line of ascension; during
+flights, he was careful about his position, avoiding too much diving, or
+nosing-up, maintaining a horizontal movement, making sure of his lateral
+and longitudinal equilibrium, familiarizing himself with winds, and
+adapting his motions to every sort of rocking. When he came down, and
+the earth seemed to leap up at him, he noted the angle and swiftness of
+the descent and found the right height at which to slow down. Although
+his first efforts had been so clever that his monitors were convinced
+for a long time that he had already been a pilot, yet it is not so much
+his talent that we should admire as his determination. He was more
+successful than others because he wore himself out during the whole of
+his short life in trying to do better--to do better in order to serve
+better. He worked more than any one else; when he was not satisfied with
+himself he began all over again, and sought the cause of his errors.
+There are many other pilots as gifted as Guynemer, but he possessed an
+energy which was extraordinary, and in this respect excelled all the
+rest.
+
+And there were no limits to the exercise of this energy. He gave his own
+body to complete so to speak, the airplane,--a centaur of the air. The
+wind that whistled through his tension wires and canvas made his own
+body vibrate like the piano wires. His body was so sensitive that it,
+too, seemed to obey the rudder. Nothing that concerned his voyages was
+either unknown or negligible to him. He verified all his
+instruments--the map-holder, the compass, the altimeter, the tachometer,
+the speedometer--with searching care. Before every flight he himself
+made sure that his machine was in perfect condition. When it was brought
+out of the hangar he looked it over as they look over race-horses, and
+never forgot this task. How would it be when he should have his own
+airplane?
+
+At Pau he increased the number of his flights, and changed airplanes,
+leaving the Bleriot Gnome for the Morane. His altitudes at this time
+varied from 500 to 600 meters. Going, on March 21, to the Avord school,
+he went up on the 28th to a height of 1500 meters, and on April 1 to
+2600. His flights became longer, and lasted one hour, then an hour and a
+half. The spiral descent from a height of 500 meters, with the motor
+switched off, triangular voyages, the test of altitude and that of
+duration of flight, which were necessary for his military diploma, soon
+became nothing more to him than sport. In May nearly every day he
+piloted one passenger on an M.S.P. (Morane-Saunier-Parasol). During all
+this period his record-book registers only one breakdown. Finally, on
+May 25, he was sent to the general Aviation Reserves, and on the 31st
+made two flights in a Nieuport with a passenger. This was the end of his
+apprenticeship, and on June 8 Corporal Georges Guynemer was designated
+as member of Escadrille M.S.3, which he joined next day at Vauciennes.
+
+This M.S.3 was the future N.3, the "Ciogognes" or Storks Escadrille. It
+was already commanded by Captain Brocard, under whose orders it was
+destined to become illustrious. Vedrines belonged to it.
+_Sous-lieutenant de cavalerie_ Deullin joined it almost simultaneously
+with Guynemer, whose friend he soon became. Later, little by little,
+came Heurtaux, de la Tour, Dorme, Auger, Raymond, etc., all the famous
+valiant knights of the escadrille, like the peers of France who followed
+Roland over the Spanish roads. This aviation camp was at Vauciennes,
+near Villers-Cotterets, in the Valois country with its beautiful
+forests, its chateaux, its fertile meadows, and its delicate outlines
+made shadowy by the humid vapor rising from ponds or woods. "Complete
+calm," wrote Guynemer on June 9, "not one sound of any kind; one might
+think oneself in the Midi, except that the inhabitants have seen the
+beast at close range, and know how to appreciate us.... Vedrines is very
+friendly and has given me excellent advice. He has recommended me to his
+'_mecanos_,' who are the real type of the clever Parisian, inventive,
+lively and good humored...." Next day he gives some details of his
+billet, and adds: "I have had a _mitrailleuse_ support mounted on my
+machine, and now I am ready for the hunt.... Yesterday at five o'clock I
+darted around above the house at 1700 or 2000 meters. Did you see me? I
+forced my motor for five minutes in hopes that you would hear me." He
+had recently parted from his family, and a happy chance had brought him
+to fight over the very lines that protected his own home. The front of
+the Sixth Army to which he was attached, extending from Ribecourt beyond
+the forest of Laigue, passed in front of Railly and Tracy-le-Val,
+hollowed itself before the enemy salient of Moulin-sous-Touvent,
+straightened itself again near Autreches and Nouvron-Vingre, covered
+Soissons, whose very outskirts were menaced, was obliged to turn back on
+the left bank of the Aisne where the enemy took, in January, 1915, the
+bridge-head at Conde, and Vailly and Chavonne, and crossed the river
+again at Soupir which belonged to us. Laon, La Fere, Coucy-le-Chateau,
+Chauny, Noyon, Ham, and Peronne were the objects of his reconnoitering
+flights.
+
+War acts more poignantly, more directly upon a soldier whose own home is
+immediately behind him. If the front were pierced in the sector which
+had been intrusted to him, his own people would be exposed. So he
+becomes their sentinel. Under such conditions, _la Patrie_ is no longer
+merely the historic soil of the French people, the sacred ground every
+parcel of which is responsible for all the rest, but also the beloved
+home of infancy, the home of parents, and, for this collegian of
+yesterday, the scene of charming walks and delightful vacations. He has
+but just now left the paternal mansion; and, not yet accustomed to the
+separation, he visits it by the roads of the air, the only ones which he
+is now free to travel. He does not take advantage of his proximity to
+Compiegne to go ring the familiar door-bell, because he is a soldier and
+respects orders; but, on returning from his rounds, he does not hesitate
+to turn aside a bit in order to pass over his home, indulging up there
+in the sky in all sorts of acrobatic caprioles to attract attention and
+prolong the interview. What lover was ever more ingenious and madder in
+his rendezvous?
+
+Throughout all his correspondence he recalls his air visits. "You must
+have seen my head, for I never took my eyes off the house...." Or, after
+an aerial somersault that filled all those down below with terror: "I am
+wretched to know that my veering the other day frightened _maman_ so
+much, but I did it so as to see the house without having to lean over
+the side of the machine, which is unpleasant on account of the wind...."
+Or sometimes he threw down a paper which was picked up in Count Foy's
+park: "Everything is all right." He thought he was reassuring his
+parents about his safety; but their state of mind can be conceived when
+they beheld, exactly over their heads, an airplane engaged apparently in
+performing a dance, while through their binoculars they could see the
+tiny black speck of a head which looked over its side. He had indeed a
+singular fashion of reassuring them!
+
+Meanwhile, at Vauciennes the newcomer was being tested. At first he was
+thought to look rather sickly and weak, to be somewhat reserved and
+distant, and too well dressed, with a "young-ladyish" air. He was known
+to be already an expert pilot, capable of making tail spins after barely
+three months' experience. But still the men felt some uncertainty about
+this youngster whom they dared not trifle with on account of his eyes,
+"out of which fire and spirit flowed like a torrent."[15] Later on they
+were to know him better.
+
+[Footnote 15: Saint-Simon.]
+
+A legend was current as to the large quantity of "wood broken" by
+Guynemer in his early days with the escadrille. This is radically
+untrue, and his notebook contradicts it. From the very first day the
+_debutant_ fulfilled the promise of his apprentice days. After one or
+two trial flights, he left for a scouting expedition on Sunday, June 13,
+above the enemy lines, and there met three German airplanes. On the 14th
+he described what he had seen in a letter to his father.--His
+correspondence still included some description at that time, the earth
+still held his attention; but it was soon to lose interest for
+him.--"The appearance of Tracy and Quennevieres," he wrote, "is simply
+unbelievable: ruins, an inextricable entanglement of trenches almost
+touching one another, the soil turned over by the shells, the holes of
+which one sees by thousands. One wonders how there could be a single
+living man there. Only a few trees of a wood are left standing, the
+others beaten down by the "_marmites_,"[16] and everywhere may be seen
+the yellow color of the literally plowed-up earth. It seems incredible
+that all these details can be seen from a height of over 3000 meters. I
+could see to a distance of 60 or 70 kilometers, and never lost sight of
+Compiegne. Saint-Quentin, Peronne, etc., were as distinct as if I were
+there...."
+
+[Footnote 16: Shells.]
+
+Next day, the 14th, another reconnaissance, of which the itinerary was
+Coucy, Laon, La Fere, Tergnier, Appily, Vic-sur-Aisne. Not a cannon shot
+disturbed these first two expeditions. But danger lurked under this
+apparent security, and on the 15th he was saluted by shells, dropping
+quite near. It was his "baptism by fire," and only inspired this
+sentence _a la Duguesclin_: "No impression, except satisfied curiosity."
+
+The following days were passed in a perfect tempest, and he only
+laughed. The new Roland, the bold and marvelous knight, is already
+revealed in the letters to be given below. On the 16th he departed on
+his rounds, carrying, as observer, Lieutenant de Lavalette. His airplane
+was hit by a shell projectile in the right wing. On the 17th his machine
+returned with eight wounds, two in the right wing, four in the body, and
+in addition one strut and one longitudinal spar hit. On the 18th he
+returned from a reconnaissance with Lieutenant Colcomb during which his
+machine had been hit in the right wing, the rudder, and the body. But
+his notebook only contains statements of facts, and we have to turn to
+his correspondence for more details.
+
+"Decidedly," he wrote on June 17 to his sister Odette, "the Boches have
+quite a special affection for me, and the parts of my '_coucou_' serve
+me for a calendar. Yesterday we flew over Chauny, Tergnier, Laon, Coucy,
+Soissons. Up to Chauny my observer had counted 243 shells; Coucy shot
+500 to 600; my observer estimated 1000 shots in all. All we heard was a
+rolling sound, and then the shells burst everywhere, below us, above, in
+front, behind, on the right and on the left, for we descended to take
+some photographs of a place which they did not want us to see. We could
+hear the shell-fragments whistling past; there was one that, after
+piercing the wing, passed within the radius of the propeller without
+touching it, and then to within fifty centimeters of my face; another
+entered by the same hole but stayed there, and I will send it to you.
+Fragments also struck the rudder, and one the body." (His journal
+mentions more.) "My observer, who has been an observer from the
+beginning, says that he never saw a cannonade like that one, and that he
+was glad to get back again. At one moment a bomb-head of 105
+millimeters, which we knew by its shape and the color of its explosion,
+fell on us and just grazed us. In fact, we often see enormous shells
+exploding. It is very curious. On our return we met Captain Gerard, and
+my observer told him that I had astounding nerve; _zim, boum boum!_ He
+said he knew it.... I will send you a photograph of my '_coucou_' with
+its nine bruises: it is superb."
+
+The next day, June 18, it was his mother who received his confidences.
+The enemy had bombarded Villers-Cotterets with a long-distance gun which
+had to be discovered. On this occasion he took Lieutenant Colcomb as
+observer: "At Coucy, terribly accurate cannonade: _toc, toc_, two
+projectiles in the right wing, one within a meter of me; we went on with
+our observations in the same place. Suddenly a formidable crash: a shell
+burst 8 to 10 meters under the machine. Result: three holes, one strut
+and one spar spoiled. We went on for five minutes longer observing the
+same spot, always encircled, naturally. Returning, the shooting was less
+accurate. On landing, my observer congratulated me for not having moved
+or zig-zagged, which would have bothered his observation. We had, in
+fact, only made very slight and very slow changes of altitude, speed,
+and direction. Compliments from him mean something, for nobody has
+better nerve. In the evening Captain Gerard, in command of army
+aviation, called me and said: 'You are a nervy pilot, all right; you
+won't spoil our reputation by lack of pluck--quite the contrary. For a
+beginner!--' and he asked me how long I had been a corporal. _Y a bon._
+My '_coucou_' is superb, with its parts all dated in red. You can see
+them all, for those underneath spread up over the sides. In the air I
+showed each hole in the wing, as it was hit, to the passenger, and he
+was enchanted, too. It's a thrilling sport. It is a bore, though, when
+they burst over our heads, because I cannot see them, though I can hear.
+The observer has to give me information in that case. Just now, _le roi
+n'est pas mon cousin_...."
+
+Lieutenant, now Captain, Colcomb, has completed this account. During the
+entire period of his observation, the pilot, in fact, did not make any
+maneuver or in any way shake the machine in order to dodge the firing.
+He simply sent the airplane a bit higher and calmly lowered it again
+over the spot to be photographed, as if he were master of the air. The
+following dialogue occurred:
+
+_The Observer_: "I have finished; we can go back."
+
+_The Pilot_: "Lieutenant, do me the favor of photographing for me the
+projectiles falling around us."
+
+Children have always had a passion for pictures; and the pictures were
+taken.
+
+The chasers and bombardiers in the history of aviation have attracted
+public attention to the detriment of their comrades, the observers,
+whose admirable services will become better known in time. It is by them
+that the battle field is exposed, and the preparations and ruses of the
+enemy balked: they are the eyes of the commanders, and also the friends
+of the troops. On April 29, 1916, Lieutenant Robbe flew over the
+trenches of the Mort-Homme at 200 meters, and brought back a detailed
+exposition of the entanglement of the lines. A year later, in nearly the
+same place, Lieutenant Pierre Guilland, observer on board a biplane of
+the Moroccan division, was forced down by three enemy airplanes just at
+the moment when his division, whose progress he was following in order
+to report it, started its attack on the Corbeaux Woods east of the
+Mort-Homme, on August 20, 1917. He fell on the first advancing lines and
+was picked up, unconscious and mortally wounded, by an artillery officer
+who proceeded to carry out the aviator's mission. When the latter
+reopened his eyes--for only a short while--he asked: "Where am
+I?"--"North of Chattancourt, west of Cumieres."--"Has the attack
+succeeded?"--"Every object has been attained."--"Ah! that's good, that's
+good." ... He made them repeat the news to him. He was dying, but his
+division was victorious.
+
+Near Frise, Lieutenant Sains, who had been obliged to land on July 1,
+1916, was rescued by the French army on July 4, after having hidden
+himself for three days in a shell-hole to avoid surrendering, his pilot,
+Quartermaster de Kyspotter, having been killed.
+
+During the battle of the Aisne in April, 1917, Lieutenant Godillot,
+whose pilot had also been killed, slid along the plane, sat on the knees
+of the dead pilot, and brought the machine back into the French lines.
+And Captain Mery, Lieutenant Viguier, Lieutenant de Saint-Severin, and
+Fressagues, Floret, de Niort, and Major Challe, Lieutenant Boudereau,
+Captain Roeckel, and Adjutant Fonck--who was to become famous as a
+chaser--how many of these elite observers furthered the destruction
+wrought by the artillery, and aided the progress of the infantry!
+
+On October 24, 1916, as the fog cleared away, I saw the airplane of the
+Guyot de Salins division fly over Fort Douaumont just at the moment when
+Major Nicolai's marines entered there.[17] The airplane had descended so
+low into the mist that it seemed as if magnetically drawn down by the
+earth, and the observer, leaning over the edge, was clapping his hands
+to applaud the triumph of his comrades. The latter saw his gesture, even
+though they could not hear the applause, and cheered him--a spontaneous
+exchange of soldierly confidence and affection between the sky and the
+earth.
+
+[Footnote 17: See _Les Captifs delivres_.]
+
+Almost exactly one year later, on October 23, 1917, I saw the airplane
+of the same division hovering over the Fort of the Malmaison just as the
+Giraud battalion of the 4th Zouaves Regiment took possession of it. At
+dawn it came to observe and note the site of the commanding officer's
+post, and to read the optical signals announcing our success. At each
+visit it seemed like the moving star of old, now guiding the new
+shepherds, the guardians of our dear human flocks--not over the stable
+where a God was born, but over the ruins where victory was born.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: THE FIRST FLIGHT IN A BLERIOT]
+
+Later on Captain Colcomb spoke of Guynemer as "the most sublime military
+figure I have ever been permitted to behold, one of the finest and
+most generous souls I have ever known." Guynemer was not satisfied to be
+merely calm and systematically immovable, and to display sang-froid,
+though to an extraordinary degree. He amused himself by counting the
+holes in his wings, and pointing them out to the observer. He was
+furious when the explosions occurred outside his range of vision,
+because he was not resigned to missing anything. He seemed to juggle
+with the shrapnel. And after landing, he rushed off to his escadrille
+chief, Captain Brocard, took him by the arm, and never left him until he
+had drawn him almost by force to his machine, compelling him to put his
+fingers into the wounds, exulting meanwhile and fairly bounding with
+joy. Captain, now Major Brocard, felt quite sure of him from that time,
+and referred to him later in these words: "Very young: his extraordinary
+self-confidence and natural qualities will very soon make him an
+excellent pilot...."
+
+His curiosity, indeed, was satisfied; and to whom would he confide all
+the risks that he ran? His mother and his sisters, the hearts which were
+the most troubled about him, and whose peace and happiness he had
+carried off into the air. He never dreamed of the torment he caused
+them, and which they knew how to conceal from him. Even the idea of such
+a thing never occurred to him. As they loved him, they loved him just as
+he was, in the raw. He was too young to dissimulate, too young to spare
+them. He knew nothing either of lies or of pity. He never thought that
+any one could suffer anguish about a son or a brother when this son and
+brother was himself supremely happy in his vocation. He was naively
+cruel.
+
+But the rounds and reconnaissances were not to hold him long; and he
+already scented other adventures. He had scented the odor of the beast,
+and he had his airplane furnished with a support for a machine-gun. That
+particular airplane, it is true, came to an untimely end in a ditch, but
+was already condemned by its body-frame, which was rotten with bullet
+holes. That was the only "wood" Guynemer "broke" during his early
+flights.
+
+But his next airplane was also armed, and in the young pilot could
+already be plainly seen that taste for enemy-chasing which was to
+bewitch and take possession of him. Though after this time he certainly
+carried over the lines Lieutenant de Lavalette, Lieutenant Colcomb and
+Captain Simeon, and always with equal calm, yet he aspired to other
+flights, further away from earth. Lieutenant de Beauchamp--the future
+Captain de Beauchamp, who was to die so soon after his audacious raids
+on Essen and Munich--divined what was hidden in this thin boy who was in
+such breathless haste to get on. He would not allow Corporal Guynemer to
+address him as lieutenant, feeling so surely his equality, and to-morrow
+perhaps his mastery. On July 6, 1915, he sent him a little guide for
+aviators in a few lines: "Be cautious. Look well at what is happening
+around you before acting. Invoke Saint Benoit every morning. But above
+all, write in letters of fire in your memory: _In aviation, everything
+not useful should be avoided._" Oh, of course! The "little girl" laughed
+at the advice as he laughed at the tempest. He had an admiration for
+Beauchamp, but when did a Roland ever listen to an Oliver? One day he
+went up in a wind of over 25 meters, and even by nosing-up a bit he
+could hardly make any progress. With the wind behind him he made over
+200 kilometers. Then he landed. Vedrines addressed a few warning remarks
+to him, and he was thought to be calmed. But off he went again before
+the frightened spectators. He would always do too much, and nothing
+could restrain him.
+
+The importance of the development of aviation in the war had been
+foreseen neither by the Germans nor ourselves. If before the beginning
+of the campaign the military chiefs had understood all the services
+which would be rendered by aerial strategic scouting, the regulation of
+artillery fire would not have still been in an experimental stage. No
+one knew the help which was to be derived from aerial photography. The
+air duel was regarded simply as a possible incident that might occur
+during a patrol or a reconnaissance, and in view of which the observer
+or mechanician armed himself with a gun or an automatic pistol.
+Airplanes armed with machine-guns were very exceptional, and at the end
+of 1914 there were only thirty. The Germans used them generally before
+we did; but it was the French aviators, nevertheless, who forced the
+Germans to fight in the air. I had the opportunity in October, 1914, to
+see, from a hill on the Aisne, one of these first airplane combats,
+which ended by the enemy falling on the outskirts of the village of
+Muizon on the left bank of the Vesle. The French champion bore the fine
+name of Franc, and piloted a Voisin. At that date it was not unusual to
+pick up messages dropped within our lines by enemy pilots, substantially
+to this effect: "Useless for us to fight each other; there are enough
+risks without that...."
+
+Meanwhile, strategic reconnaissance was perfected as the line of the
+front became firmly established, and more and more importance was
+accorded to the search for objectives. Remarkable results were attained
+by air photography from December, 1914; and after January, 1915, the
+regulation of artillery fire by wireless telegraphy was in general
+practice. It was necessary to protect the airplanes attached to army
+corps, and to clean up the air for their free circulation. This role
+devolved upon the most rapid airplanes, which were then the
+Morane-Saunier-Parasols, and in the spring of 1915 these formed the
+first _escadrilles de chasse_, one for each army. Garros, already
+popular before the war for having been the first air-pilot to cross the
+Mediterranean, from Saint-Raphael to Bizerto, forced down a large
+Aviatik above Dixmude in April, 1915. A few days later a motor breakdown
+compelled him to land at Ingelminster, north of Courtrai, and he was
+made prisoner.[18] The aviators, like the knights of ancient times,
+sent one another challenges. Sergeant David--who was killed shortly
+after--having been obliged to refuse to fight an enemy airplane because
+his machine-gun jammed, dropped a challenge to the latter on the German
+aerodrome, and waited at the place, on the day and hour fixed, at
+Vauquois (noon, in June, 1915, above the German lines), but his
+adversary never came to the rendezvous.
+
+[Footnote 18: The romantic circumstances under which he escaped in
+February, 1918, are well known.]
+
+The Maurice Farman and Caudron airplanes were used for observation. The
+Voisin machines, strong but slower, were more especially utilized for
+bombardments, which began to be carried out by organized expeditions.
+The famous raids on the Ludwigshafen factories and the Karlsruhe railway
+station occurred in June, 1915. It was at the battle of Artois (May and
+June, 1915) that aviation for the first time constituted a branch of the
+army; and the work was chiefly done by the escadrilles belonging to the
+army corps, which rendered very considerable services as scouts and in
+aerial photography and destructive fire. But as an enemy chaser, the
+airplane was still regarded with much distrust and incredulity. Some
+said it was useless; was it not sufficient that the airplanes of the
+army corps and those for bombardments could defend themselves? Others of
+less extreme opinions thought it should be limited to the part of
+protector. This opposition was overcome by the sudden development of the
+German enemy-chasing airplanes after July, 1915, subsequent to our raids
+on Ludwigshafen and Karlsruhe, which aroused furious anger in Germany.
+
+In the beginning the belligerent nations had collected the most
+heterogeneous group of all the airplane models then available. But the
+methodical Germans, without delay, supplied their constructors with
+definite types of machines in order to make their escadrilles
+harmonious. At that time they used monoplanes for reconnaissances,
+without any special arrangement for carrying arms, and incapable of
+carrying heavy weights; and biplanes for observation, unarmed, and
+possessing only a makeshift contrivance for launching bombs. The
+machines of both these series were two-seated, with the passenger in
+front. These were Albatros, Aviatiks, Eulers, Rumplers, and Gothas.
+Early in 1915 appeared the Fokkers, which were one-seated, and new
+two-seated machines, Aviatiks or Albatros, which were more rapid, with
+the passenger at the rear, and furnished with a revolving turret for the
+machine-gun. The German troops engaged in aerostation, aviation,
+automobile and railway service were grouped as communication troops
+(_Verkehrstruppen_), under the direction of the General Inspection of
+Military Communications. It was not until the autumn of 1916 that the
+aerostation, aviation, and aerial defense troops were made independent
+and, under the title of _Luftstreitkraefte_ (aerial combatant forces),
+took their position in the order of battle between the pioneers and the
+communication troops. But early in the summer of 1915 the progress
+realized in aviation resulted in its forming a separate branch of the
+army, with campaign and enemy-chasing escadrilles.
+
+Guynemer was now on the straight road toward aerial combat. Most of our
+pilots were still chasing enemy airplanes with one passenger armed with
+a simple musketoon. More circumspect than the others, Guynemer had his
+airplane armed with a machine-gun. Meanwhile the staff was preparing to
+reorganize the army escadrilles. The bold Pegoud had several times
+fought with too enterprising Fokkers or Aviatiks; Captain Brocard had
+forced down one of them in flames over Soissons; and the latest recruit
+of the escadrille, this youngster of a Guynemer, was burning to have his
+own Boche.
+
+The first entries in his notebook of flights for July, 1915, record
+expeditions without result, in company with Adjutant Hatin, Lieutenant
+de Ruppiere, in the region of Noyon, Roye, Ham, and Coucy-le-Chateau. On
+the 10th, the _chasseurs_ put to flight three Albatros, while a more
+rapid Fokker attempted an attack, but turned back having tried a shot at
+their machine-gun. On the 16th Guynemer and Hatin dropped bombs on the
+Chauny railway station; during the bombardment an Aviatik attacked them,
+they stood his fire, replying as well as they could with their
+musketoon, and returned to camp uninjured. Adjutant Hatin was decorated
+with the Military Medal. As Hatin was a _gourmet_, Guynemer went that
+same evening to Le Bourget to fetch two bottles of Rhine wine to
+celebrate this family fete. At Le Bourget he tried the new Nieuport
+machine, which was the hope of the fighting airplanes. Finally, on July
+19--memorable date--his journal records Guynemer's first victory:
+
+"Started with Guerder after a Boche reported at Couvres and caught up
+with him over Pierrefonds. Shot one belt, machine-gun jammed, then
+unjammed. The Boche fled and landed in the direction of Laon. At Coucy
+we turned back and saw an Aviatik going toward Soissons at about 3200
+meters up. We followed him, and as soon as he was within our lines we
+dived and placed ourselves about 50 meters under and behind him at the
+left. At our first salvo, the Aviatik lurched, and we saw a part of the
+machine crack. He replied with a rifle shot, one ball hitting a wing,
+another grazing Guerder's hand and head. At our last shot the pilot sank
+down on the body-frame, the observer raised his arms, and the Aviatik
+fell straight downward in flames, between the trenches...."
+
+This flight began at 3700 meters in the air, and lasted ten minutes, the
+two combatants being separated by a distance of 50 and sometimes 20
+meters. The statement of fact is characteristic of Guynemer. An
+unforgettable sight had been imprinted on his eyes: the pilot sinking
+down in his cock-pit, the arms of the observer beating the air, the
+burning airplane sinking. Such were to be his future landscape sketches,
+done in the sky. The wings of the bird of prey were unfurled definitely
+in space.
+
+The two fighting airmen had left Vauciennes at two o'clock in the
+afternoon, and at quarter-past three they landed, conquerors, at
+Carriere l'Eveque. From their opposing camps the infantry had followed
+the fight with their eyes. The Germans, made furious by defeat,
+cannonaded the landing-place. Georges, who was too thin for his clothes,
+and whose leather pantaloons lined with sheepskin, which he wore over
+his breeches, slipped and impeded his walking, sat down under the
+exploding shells and calmly took them off. Then he placed the machine in
+a position of greater safety, but broke the propeller on a pile of hay.
+During this time a crowd had come running and now surrounded the
+victors. Artillery officers escorted them off, sentinels saluted them, a
+colonel offered them champagne. Guerder was taken first into the
+commanding officer's post, and on being questioned about the maneuver
+that won the victory excused himself with modesty:
+
+"That was the pilot's affair."
+
+Guynemer, who had stolen in, was willing to talk.
+
+"Who is this?" asked the colonel.
+
+"That's the pilot."
+
+"You? How old are you?"
+
+"Twenty."
+
+"And the gunner?"
+
+"Twenty-two."
+
+"The deuce! There are nothing but children left to do the fighting."
+
+So, passed along in this manner from staff to staff, they finally landed
+at Compiegne, conducted by Captain Simeon. No happiness was complete for
+Guynemer if his home was not associated with it.
+
+"He will get the Military Medal," declared Captain Simeon, "because he
+wanted his Boche and went after him."
+
+Words of a true chief who knew his men. Always to go after what he
+wanted was the basic characteristic of Guynemer. And now various details
+concerning the combat came one by one to light. Guerder had been half
+out of the machine to have the machine-gun ready to hand. When the gun
+jammed, Georges yelled to his comrade how to release it. Guerder, who
+had picked up his rifle, laid it down, executed the maneuver indicated
+by Guynemer, and resumed his machine-gun fire. This episode lasted two
+minutes during which Georges maintained the airplane under the Aviatik,
+unwilling to change his position, as he saw that a recoil would expose
+them to the Boche's gun.
+
+Meanwhile Vedrines came in search of the victor, and piloted the machine
+back to head-quarters, with Guynemer on board seated on the body and
+quivering with joy.
+
+With this very first victory Guynemer sealed his friendship with the
+infantry, whom his youthful audacity had comforted in their trenches. He
+received the following letter, dated July 20, 1915:
+
+     Lieutenant-colonel Maillard, commanding the 238th Infantry, to
+     Corporal Pilot Guynemer and Mechanician Guerder of Escadrille M.S.
+     3, at Vauciennes.
+
+     The Lieutenant-colonel,
+     The Officers,
+     The whole Regiment,
+
+
+     Having witnessed the aerial attack you made upon a German Aviatik
+     over their trenches, spontaneously applauded your victory which
+     terminated in the vertical fall of your adversary. They offer you
+     their warmest congratulations, and share the joy you must have felt
+     in achieving so brilliant a success. Maillard.
+
+On July 21 the Military Medal was given to the two victors, Guynemer's
+being accompanied by the following mention: "Corporal Guynemer: a pilot
+full of spirit and audacity, volunteering for the most dangerous
+missions. After a hot pursuit, gave battle to a German airplane, which
+ended in the burning and destruction of the latter." The decoration was
+bestowed on August 4 at Vauciennes by General Dubois, then in command of
+the Sixth Army, and in presence of his father, who had been sent for.
+Then Guynemer paid for his newly won glory by a few days of fever.
+
+
+II. FROM THE AISNE TO VERDUN
+
+Guynemer's first victory occurred on July 19, 1915, and for his second
+he had to wait nearly six months. This was not because he had not been
+on the watch. He would have been glad to mount a Nieuport, but, after
+all, he had had his Boche, and at that time the exploit was exceptional:
+he had to be patient, and give his comrades a chance to do the same.
+
+When finally he obtained the longed-for Nieuport, he flew sixteen hours
+in five days, and naturally went to parade himself over Compiegne.
+Without this dedication to his home, the machine would never be
+consecrated.
+
+When the overwork incident to such a life forced him to take a little
+repose, he wandered back to his home like a soul in pain. It was in vain
+that his parents and his two sisters--whom he called his "kids" as if he
+were their elder--exhausted their ingenuity to amuse him. This home he
+loved so much, which he left so recently, and returned to so happily,
+bringing with him his young fame, no longer sufficed him. Though he was
+so comfortable there, yet on clear days the house stifled him. On such
+days he seemed like a school child caught in some fault: a little more
+and he would have condemned himself. Then his sister Yvonne, who had
+understood the situation, made a bargain with him.
+
+"What is it you miss here at home?"
+
+"Something you cannot give me. Or rather, yes, you can give it to me.
+Promise me you will."
+
+"Surely, if it will make you happy."
+
+"I shall be the happiest of men."
+
+"Then it's granted in advance."
+
+"Very well, this is it: every morning you must examine the weather. If
+it is bad, you will let me sleep."
+
+"And if it is fine?"
+
+"If it is fine, you will wake me up."
+
+His sister was afraid to ask more, as she guessed how he would use a
+fine day. As she was silent, he pretended to pout with that cajoling
+manner he could assume, and which fascinated everybody.
+
+"You won't do it? I could not stay home: _c'est plus fort que moi_."
+
+"But, I promise."
+
+And to keep him at home until he should be cured, more or less, the
+young girl opened her window every morning and inspected the sky,
+secretly hoping to find it thickly covered with clouds.
+
+"Clouds, waiting over there, motionless, on the edge of the horizon,
+what are you waiting for? Will you stand idle and let me awaken my
+brother, who is resting?"
+
+The clouds being indifferent, the sleeper had to be awakened. He dressed
+hastily, with a smile at the transparent sky, and soon reached
+Vauciennes by automobile, where he called for his machine, mounted,
+ascended, flew, hunted the enemy, and returned to Compiegne for
+luncheon.
+
+"And you can leave us like that?" remonstrated his mother. "Why, this is
+your holiday."
+
+"Yes, the effort to leave is all the greater."
+
+"Well?--"
+
+"I like the effort, _Maman_."
+
+His Antigone forced herself to keep her bargain with him. The sun never
+shone above the forest in vain, but nevertheless she detested the sun.
+What a strange Romeo this boy would have made! Without the least doubt
+he would have charged Juliet to wake him to go to battle, and would
+never have forgiven her for confounding the lark and the nightingale.
+
+On his return to the aviation camp, in the absence of his own
+longed-for victories, he took pleasure in describing those of others. He
+knew nothing of rivalry or envy. He wrote his sister Odette the
+following description of a combat waged by Captain Brocard, who
+surprised a Boche from the rear, approached him to within fifteen meters
+without being seen, and, just at the moment when the enemy pilot turned
+round his head, sent him seven cartridges from his machine-gun: "Result:
+one ball in the ear, and another through the middle of his chest. You
+can imagine whether the fall of the machine was instantaneous or not.
+There was nothing left of the pilot but one chin, one ear, one mouth, a
+torso and material enough to reconstitute two arms. As to the "_coucou_"
+(burned), nothing was left but the motor and a few bits of iron. The
+passenger was emptied out during the fall...." It cannot be said that he
+had much consideration for the nerves of young girls. He treated them as
+if they were warriors who could understand everything relating to
+battles. He wrote with the same freedom that Shakespeare's characters
+use in speech.
+
+Until the middle of September he piloted two-seated airplanes, carrying
+one passenger, either as observer or combatant. At last he went up in
+his one-seated Nieuport, reveling in the intoxication of being alone,
+that intoxication well known to lovers of the mountains and the air. Is
+it the sensation of liberty, the freedom from all the usual material
+bonds, the feeling of coming into possession of these deserts of space
+or ice where the traveler covers leagues without meeting anybody, the
+forgetfulness of all that interferes with one's own personal object?
+Such solitaries do not easily accommodate themselves to company which
+seems to them to encroach upon their domain, and steal a part of their
+enjoyment. Guynemer never enjoyed anything so much as these lonely
+rounds in which he took possession of the whole sky, and woe to the
+enemy who ventured into this immensity, which was now his park.
+
+On September 29, and October 1, 1915, he was sent on special missions.
+These special missions were generally confided to Vedrines, who had
+accomplished seven. The time is not yet ripe for a revelation of their
+details, but they were particularly dangerous, for it was necessary to
+land in occupied territory and return. Guynemer's first mission required
+three hours' flying. He ascended in a storm, just as the countermand
+arrived owing to the unfavorable weather. When he descended, volplaning,
+at daybreak, with slackened, noiseless motor, and landed on our invaded
+territory, his heart beat fast. Some peasants going to their work in the
+fields saw him as he ascended again, and recognizing the tricolor,
+showed much surprise, and then extended their hands to him. This mission
+won for Sergeant Guynemer--he had been promoted sergeant shortly
+before--his second mention: "Has proved his courage, energy and
+sang-froid by accomplishing, as a volunteer, an important and difficult
+special mission in stormy weather."--"This palm is worth while," he
+wrote in a letter to his parents, "for the mission was hard." On his way
+back an English aviator shot at him, but on recognizing him signaled
+elaborate excuses.
+
+Some rather exciting reconnaissances with Captain Simeon--one day over
+Saint-Quentin they were attacked by a Fokker and, their machine-gun
+refusing to work, they were subjected to two hundred shots from the
+enemy at 100 meters, then at 50 meters, so that they were obliged to
+dive into a cloud, with one tire gone--and a few bombardments of railway
+stations and goods depots did not assuage his fever for the chase.
+Nothing sufficed him but to explore and rake the heavens. On November 6,
+3000 meters above Chaulnes, he waged an epic combat with an L.V.G.
+(_Luft-Verkehr-Gesellschaft_), 150 H.P. Having succeeded in placing
+himself three meters under his enemy, he almost laughed with the surety
+he felt of forcing him down, when his machine-gun jammed. He immediately
+banked, but he was so near the enemy that the machines interlocked.
+Would he fall? A bit of his canvas was torn off, but the airplane held
+its own. As he drew away he saw the enormous enemy machine-gun aimed at
+him. A bullet grazed his head. He dived under the Boche, who retreated.
+"All the same," Guynemer added gaily, "if I ever get into a terrible
+financial fix and have to become a cab-driver, I shall have memories
+which are far from ordinary: a tire exploding at 3400 meters, an
+interlocking at 3000 meters. That rotten Boche only owed his life to a
+spring being slightly out of order, as was shown by the autopsy on the
+machine-gun. For my eighth combat, this was decidedly annoying...."
+
+It was annoying, but what could be done? Nothing, in fact, but return to
+one's apprenticeship. He was perfectly satisfied with his work as a
+pilot, but it was necessary to avoid these too frequent jammings which
+saved the enemy. At Stanislas College Guynemer was known as an excellent
+shot. He began to practice again with his rifle, and with the
+machine-gun; above all, he carefully examined every part of this
+delicate weapon, taking it apart and putting it together, and increasing
+his practice. He became a gunsmith. And there lies the secret of his
+genius: he never gave up anything, nor ever acknowledged himself beaten.
+If he failed, he began all over again, but after having sought the cause
+of his failure in order to remedy it. When he was asked one day to
+choose a device for himself, he adopted this, which completely expresses
+his character: _Faire face_. He always faced everything, not only the
+enemy, but every object which opposed his progress. His determination
+compelled success. In the career of Guynemer nothing was left to chance,
+and everything won by effort, pursuit, and implacable will.
+
+On Sunday, December 5, 1915, as he was making his rounds in the
+Compiegne region, he saw two airplanes more than 3000 meters above
+Chauny. As the higher one flew over Bailly he sprang upon it and
+attacked it: at 50 meters, fifteen shots from his machine-gun; at 20
+meters, thirty shots. The German fell in a tail spin, north of Bailly
+over against the Bois Carre. Guynemer was sure he had forced him down;
+but the other airplane was still there. He tacked in order to chase and
+attack him, but in vain, for his second adversary had fled. And when he
+tried to discover the spot where the first must have fallen, he failed
+to find it. This was really too much: was he going to lose his prey?
+Suddenly he had an idea. He landed in a field near Compiegne. It was
+Sunday, and just noon, and he knew that his parents would be coming home
+from mass. He watched for them, and as soon as he perceived his father
+rushed to him:
+
+"Father, I have lost my Boche."
+
+"You have lost your Boche?"
+
+"Yes, an airplane that I have forced down. I must return to my
+escadrille, but I don't want to lose him."
+
+"What can I do?"
+
+"Why, look for him and find him. He ought to be near Bailly, towards the
+Bois Carre."
+
+And he vanished, leaving to his father the task of finding the lost
+airplane as a partridge is found in a field of lucerne. The military
+authority kindly lent its aid, and in fact the body of the German pilot
+was discovered on the edge of the Bois Carre, where it was buried.
+
+This victory was ratified, but a few days later the authorities, failing
+to find the necessary material proof, refused to give Guynemer credit
+for it. Ah, the regulations refuse the hunter this game? Guynemer,
+turning very red, declared: "It doesn't matter, I will get another." He
+was always wanting another; and in fact he got one four days later, on
+December 8. This is the report in his notebook: "Discovering the
+strategic line Royne-Nesle. While descending, saw a German airplane
+high, and far within its own lines. As it passed the lines at
+Beuvraigne, I cut off its retreat and chased it. I caught up to it in
+five minutes, and fired forty-seven shots from my Lewis from a point 20
+meters behind and under it. The enemy airplane, an L.V.G. 165 H.P.
+probably, dived, caught fire, turned over, and, carried along by the
+west wind, fell on its back at Beuvraigne. The passenger fell out at
+Bus, the pilot at Tilloloy...."
+
+When the victor landed at Beuvraigne near his victim, the artillerymen
+belonging to a nearby battery of 95 mm. guns (47th battery of the 31st
+regiment of artillery), and who were already crowding around the enemy's
+body, rushed upon and surrounded Guynemer. But the commander, Captain
+Allain Launay, mustered his men, ordered a salute to Guynemer, made a
+speech to his command, and said: "We shall now fire a volley in honor of
+Sergeant Guynemer." The salvo demolished a small house where some Boches
+had taken refuge. Through the binoculars they could be seen to scatter
+when the first shell struck their shelter.
+
+"They owe that to me, too!" cried the enthusiastic urchin.
+
+Meanwhile Captain Allain Launay had patiently ripped the captain's
+stripes from his cap, and when he had finished handed them to Guynemer:
+
+"Promise me to wear them when you are appointed captain."
+
+This victory was not questioned, and there was even some discussion
+about making this youngster a Knight of the Legion of Honor. But even
+when he had been promoted sergeant there had been some objection, owing
+to his youth. "Nevertheless," Guynemer had observed angrily, "I am not
+too young to be hit by the enemy's shells." This time another objection
+arose: If he receives the "cross" for this victory, what can be given
+him for succeeding ones? The proud little Roland rebelled, revolted,
+rose up like a cock on its spurs. He did not see that everybody already
+foresaw his destiny. He would have his "cross," he would have it, and he
+would not wait long for it, either. He would know how to wring it out of
+them.
+
+Six days later, December 14, with his comrade, the sober and calm
+Bucquet, he attacked two Fokkers, one of which was dashed to pieces in
+its fall, while the other damaged his own machine. A letter to his
+father described the combat in his own brief and direct manner, without
+a superfluous word: "Combat with two Fokkers. The first, trapped, and
+his passenger killed, dived upon me without having seen me. Result: 35
+bullets at close quarters and '_couic_' [his finish]! The fall was seen
+by four other airplanes (3 plus 1 makes 4, and perhaps that will win me
+the 'cross'). Then combat with the second Fokker, a one-seated machine
+shooting through the propeller, as rapid and easily handled as mine. We
+fought at ten meters, both turning vertically to try to get behind.
+
+"My spring was slack: compelled to shoot with one hand above my head, I
+was handicapped; I was able to shoot twenty-one times in ten seconds.
+Once we almost telescoped, and I jumped over him--his head must have
+passed within fifty centimeters of my wheels. That disgusted him; he
+went away and let me go. I came back with an intake pipe burst, one
+rocker torn away: the splinters had made a number of holes in my
+over-coat and two notches in the propeller. There were three more in one
+wheel, in the body-frame (injuring a cable), and in the rudder."
+
+All these accounts of the chase, cruel and clear, seem to breathe a
+savage joy and the pride of triumph. The sight of a burning airplane, of
+an enemy sinking down, intoxicated him. Even the remains of his enemies
+were dear to him, like treasures won by his young strength. The
+shoulder-straps and decorations worn by his adversary who fell at
+Tilloloy were given over to him; and Achilles before the trophies of
+Hector was not more arrogant. These combats in the sky, more than nine
+thousand feet above the earth, in which the two antagonists are isolated
+in a duel to the death, scarcely to be seen from the land, alone in
+empty space, in which every second lost, every shot lost, may cause
+defeat--and what a defeat! falling, burning, into the abyss beneath--in
+which they fight sometimes so near together, with short, unsteady
+thrusts, that they see each other like knights in the lists, while the
+machines graze and clash together like shields, so that fragments of
+them fall down like the feathers of birds of prey fighting beak to
+beak--these combats which require the simultaneous handling of the
+controlling elements and of the machine-gun, and in which speed is a
+weapon, why should they not change these young men, these children, into
+demi-gods? Hercules, Achilles, Roland, the Cid--where shall we find
+outside of mythology or the epics any prototypes for the wild and
+furious Guynemer?
+
+On the day of his coming of age, December 24, 1915--earlier than his
+ancestor under the Empire--he received the Cross of the Legion of Honor,
+with this mention: "Pilot of great value, model of devotion and courage.
+Has fulfilled in the past six months two special missions requiring the
+finest spirit of sacrifice, and has waged thirteen aerial combats, two
+of which ended in the enemy airplanes falling in flames." This mention
+was already behindhand, having been based upon the report dated December
+8. To the two victories therein mentioned should be added those of the
+5th and the 14th of December. Decorated at the age of twenty-one, the
+enlisted mechanician of Pau continued to progress at breakneck speed.
+The red ribbon, the yellow ribbon and green War Medal with four palms,
+are very becoming to a young man's black coat. Georges Guynemer never
+despised these baubles, nor in any way concealed the pleasure they
+afforded him. He knew how high one has to climb to pick them. And he
+was eager for more and more, not because of vanity, but for what they
+signified.
+
+On the 3d and 5th of February, 1916, new combats took place, always in
+the region of Roy and Chaulnes. On February 3 he met three enemies
+within forty minutes, on the same round: "Attacked at 11.10 an L.V.G.,
+which replied with its machine-gun. Fired 47 shots at 100 meters; the
+enemy airplane dived swiftly down to its own lines, smoking. Lost to
+view at 500 meters from the ground. At 11.40 attacked an L.V.G. (with
+Parabellum) from behind, at 20 meters; it tacked and dived spirally,
+pursued neck to neck at 1300 meters. It fell three kilometers from its
+lines. I rose again and lost sight of it. (This airplane had wings of
+the usual yellow color, its body was blue like the N., and its outlines
+seemed similar to that of the _monococques_.) At 11.50 attacked an
+L.V.G., which immediately dived into the clouds and disappeared. Landed
+at Amiens." He cleared the sky of every Boche: one fallen and two put to
+flight is not a bad record. He always attacked. With his accurate eyes
+he tracked out the enemy in the mystery of space, and placing himself
+higher, tried to surprise him. On the 5th, near Frise, he closed the
+road to another L.V.G. which was returning to its lines, attacked it
+from above in front, tacked over it, reached its rear, and overwhelmed
+it like a thunder-clap. The Boche fell in flames between Assevillers and
+Herbecourt. One more victory, and this one had the honor of appearing
+in the official _communique_. Sometimes he got back with his machine and
+his clothes riddled with bullet-holes. He carried fire and massacre up
+into the sky. And all this was nothing as yet but the exercise of a
+knight-errant in his infancy. This became evident later when he had
+acquired complete mastery of his work.
+
+February, 1916--the month in which began the longest, the most stubborn
+and cruel, and perhaps the most significant battle of the Great War. In
+this month began Verdun, and the menacing German advance on the right of
+the Meuse (February 21-26), to the wood of Haumont, the wood of the
+Caures and Herbebois, then to Samogneux, the wood of the Fosses, the Le
+Chaume wood and Ornes, and finally, on February 25, the attack on
+Louvemont and Douaumont. The escadrilles, little by little, headed in
+the same direction, and Guynemer was about to leave the Sixth Army. He
+would dart no more above the paternal mansion, announcing his victories
+by his caracoles in the air; nor watch over his own household during his
+patrol of the region beyond Compiegne, over Noyon, Chauny, Coucy, and
+Tracy-le-Val. The cord which still linked him with his infancy and youth
+was now to be strained, and on March 11 the Storks Escadrille received
+orders to depart next day, and to fly to the Verdun region.
+
+The development of the German fighting airplanes had constantly
+progressed during 1915. Now, early in 1916, they appeared at Verdun,
+more homogeneous and better trained, and in possession of a series of
+new machines: small, one-seated biplanes (Albatros, Halberstadt, new
+Fokker, and Ago), with a fixed motor of 165-175 H.P. (Mercedes, and more
+rarely Benz and Argus), and two stationary machine-guns firing through
+the propeller. These chasing escadrilles (_Jagdstaffeln_) are
+essentially fighting units. Each _Jagdstaffel_ comprises eighteen
+airplanes, and sometimes twenty-two, four of which are reserves. These
+airplanes do not generally travel alone, at least when they have to
+leave their lines, but fly in groups (_Ketten_) of five each, one of
+them serving as guide (_Kettenfuhrer_), and conducted by the most
+experienced pilot, regardless of rank. German aviation tactics seek more
+and more to avoid solitary combat and replace it by squadron fighting,
+or to surprise an isolated enemy by a squadron, like an attack of
+sparrow-hawks upon an eagle.
+
+Ever since the establishment of our first autonomous group of fighting
+airplanes, which figured in the Artois offensives in May, 1915, but
+which did not take the offensive (having their cantonments in the
+barriers and limiting themselves to keeping off the enemy and cruising
+above our lines and often behind them), our fighting airplanes gradually
+overcame prejudice. They were not, it is true, so promptly brought to
+perfection as our army corps airplanes, which proved so useful in the
+Champagne campaign of September, 1915; but it was admitted that the
+aerial combat should not be regarded as a result of mere chance, but as
+inevitable, and that it constituted, first, a protection, and
+afterwards an effective obstruction to an enemy forbidden to make raids
+in our aerial domain. The next German offensive--against Verdun--had
+been foreseen. In consequence, the staff had organized a safety service
+to avoid all surprise by the enemy, to meet attacks, and prepare the way
+for the reinforcing troops. But the violence of the Verdun offensive
+exceeded all expectations.
+
+Our escadrilles had done their duty as scouts before the attack. After
+it began, they were overwhelmed and numerically unable to perform all
+the aerial missions required. The fighting enemy escadrilles, with their
+new series of machines and their improvements, won for a few days the
+complete mastery of the air. Our own airplanes were forced off the
+battle-field, and driven from their landing-places by cannon. Meanwhile
+the Verdun battle was changing its character. General Petain, who took
+command on February 26, restored the order which had been compromised by
+the bending of the front, and established the new front against which
+the Germans hurled their forces. It was also necessary for him to
+reconquer the mastery of the air. He asked for and obtained a rapid
+concentration of all the available escadrilles, and demanded of them
+vigorous offensive tactics. To economize and cooerdinate strength, all
+the fighting escadrilles at Verdun were grouped under the sole command
+of Major de Rose. They operated by patrols, sometimes following very
+distant itineraries, and attacking all the airplanes they met. In a
+short time we regained our air supremacy, and our airplanes which were
+engaged in regulating artillery fire and in taking aerial photographs
+could work in safety. Their protection was assured by raids even into
+the German lines.
+
+The Storks Escadrille, then, flew in the direction of Verdun. In the
+course of the voyage, Guynemer brought down his eighth airplane, which
+fell vertically in flames. This was a good augury. Hardly had he arrived
+on March 15 when he began to explore the battle-field with his
+conqueror's eyes. The enemy at that time still thought himself master,
+and dared to venture within the French lines. Guynemer chased, over
+Revigny, a group of five airplanes, drove another out of Argonne, and
+while returning met two others, almost face to face. He engaged the
+first one, tacking under it and firing from a distance of ten meters.
+But the adversary answered his fire, and Guynemer's machine was hit: the
+right-hand rear longitudinal spar was cut, the cable injured, the right
+forward strut also cut, and the wind-shield shattered. The airman
+himself was wounded in the face by fragments of aluminum and iron, one
+lodging in the jaw, from which it could never be extracted, one in the
+right cheek, one in the left eyelid, miraculously leaving the eye
+unhurt, while smaller fragments peppered him generally, causing
+hemorrhages which clogged his mask and made it adhere to the flesh. In
+addition, he had two bullets in his left arm. Though blinded by blood,
+he did not lose his sang-froid, and hastily dived, while the second
+airplane continued firing, and a third, furnished with a turret, which
+had come to the rescue of its comrades, descended after him and fired
+down upon his machine. Nevertheless, he had escaped by his maneuver, and
+in spite of his injuries made a good landing at Brocourt. On the 14th he
+was evacuated to Paris, to the Japanese ambulance in the Hotel Astoria,
+and with despair in his soul was obliged to let his comrades fight their
+battle of Verdun without his help.
+
+
+III. "LA TERRE A VU JADIS ERRER DES PALADINS...."[19]
+
+At Verdun our aerial as well as our land forces underwent sudden and
+almost prodigious reverses. Within a few days the Storks Escadrille had
+been decimated: its chief, Captain Brocard, had been wounded in the face
+by a bullet and compelled to land; Lieutenant Perretti had been killed,
+Lieutenant Deullin wounded, Guynemer wounded and nearly all its best
+pilots put _hors de combat_. The lost air-mastery was only regained by
+the tenacity of Major de Rose, Chief of Aviation of the Second Army, and
+by a rapid reconcentration of forces.
+
+[Footnote 19: "Once knightly heroes wandered over earth...."]
+
+Major de Rose ordered enemy-chasing, and electrified and inspired his
+escadrilles. The part he played during those terrible Verdun months can
+never be sufficiently praised. Guynemer's comrades held the sky under
+fire, as their brothers, the infantrymen, held the shifting ground
+which protected the ancient citadel. Chaput brought down seven
+airplanes, Nungesser six, and a drachen, Navarre four, Lenoir four,
+Auger and Pelletier d'Oisy three, Puple, Chainat, and Lesort two. The
+observation airplanes rivaled the fighting machines, often defending
+themselves, and not infrequently forcing down their assailants in
+flames. Twice Sergeant Fedoroff rid himself in this manner of
+troublesome adversaries. But other pilots deserve to be mentioned,
+pilots such as Stribick and Houtt, Captain Vuillemin, Lieutenant de
+Laage, Sergeants de Ridder, Viallet and Buisse, and such observers as
+Lieutenant Liebmann, who was killed, and Mutel, Naudeau, Campion,
+Moulines, Dumas, Robbe, Travers, _sous-lieutenant_ Boillot, Captain
+Verdurand--admirable squadron chief--and Major Roisin, expert in
+bombardments. The lists of names are always too short, but these, at
+least, should be loudly acclaimed.
+
+Meanwhile the battle of Verdun shattered trees, knocked down walls,
+annihilated villages, hollowed out the earth, dug up the plains,
+distorted the hills, and renewed once more that chaos of the third day,
+according to Genesis, on which the Creator separated the waters from the
+earth. Almost the entire French army filed through this extraordinary
+epic battle, and Guynemer, wounded and weeping with rage, was not there.
+
+But there was another period in the Great War in which the grouping of
+our fighting escadrilles and their employment in offensive movements
+gave us triumphant superiority in the aerial struggle, and this was the
+battle of the Somme, particularly during its first three months--a
+splendid and heroic time when our airmen sprang up in the sky, spreading
+panic and fear, like the knights-errant of _La Legende des siecles_.
+Victor Hugo's verses seem to describe them and their vertiginous rounds
+rather than the too slow horsemen of old:
+
+     La terre a vu jadis errer des paladins;
+     Ils flamboyaient ainsi que des eclairs soudains,
+     Puis s'evanouissaient, laissant sur les visages
+     La crainte, et la lueur de leurs brusques passages...
+     Les noms de quelques-uns jusqu'a nous sont venus....
+     Ils surgissaient du Sud ou du Septentrion,
+     Portant sur leur ecu l'hydre ou l'alerion,
+     Couverts des noirs oiseaux du taillis heraldique,
+     Marchant seuls au sentier que le devoir indique,
+     Ajoutant au bruit sourd de leur pas solennel
+     La vague obscurite d'un voyage eternel,
+     Ayant franchi les flots, les monts, les bois horribles,
+     Ils venaient de si loin qu'ils en etaient terribles,
+     Et ces grands chevaliers melaient a leurs blasons
+     Toute l'immensite des sombres horizons....
+
+These new knights-errant who wandered above the desolate plains of the
+Somme, no longer on earth but in the sky, mounted on winged steeds, who
+started up with a "heavy sound" from south or north, will be immortal
+like those of the ancient epics. It will be said that it was Dorme or
+Heurtaux, or Nungesser, Deullin, Sauvage, Tarascon, Chainat, or it was
+Guynemer, who accomplished such and such an exploit. The Germans,
+without knowing their names, recognized them, not by their armor and
+their sword-thrust, but by their machines, their maneuvers and methods.
+Almost invariably their enemies desperately avoided a fight with them,
+retreating far within their own lines, where, even then, they were not
+sure of safety. Those who accepted their gage of battle seldom returned.
+The enemy aviation camps from Ham to Peronne watched anxiously for the
+return of their champions who dared to fight over the French lines. None
+of them cared to fly alone, and even in groups they appeared timid. In
+patrols of four, five, and six, sometimes more, they flew beyond their
+own lines with the utmost caution, fearful at the least alarm, and
+anxiously examining the wide and empty sky where these mysterious
+knights mounted guard and might at any moment let loose a storm. But in
+the course of these prodigious first three months of the battle of the
+Somme, our French chasing-patrols not infrequently flew to and fro for
+two hours over German aviation camps, forcing down all those who
+attempted to rise, and succeeding in spreading terror and consternation
+in the enemy's lines.
+
+The Franco-British offensive began on July 1, 1916, on the flat lands
+lying along both banks of the Somme River. The general plan of these
+operations had been agreed upon in the preceding December. The battle of
+Verdun had not prevented its execution which, on the contrary, was
+expected to relieve Verdun. The attack was made on a front of 40
+kilometers between Gommecourt on the north and Vermandovillers on the
+south of the river. From the beginning the French penetrated the enemy's
+first lines, the 20th Corps took the village of Curlu and held the
+Faviere wood, while the 1st Colonial Corps and one division of the 35th
+Corps passed the Fay ravine and took possession of Bacquincourt,
+Dompierre and Bussus. On the third, this successful advance continued
+into the second lines. Within just a few days General Fayolle's army had
+taken 10,000 prisoners, 75 cannon, and several hundred machine-guns. But
+the Germans, who were concentrated in the Peronne region, with strong
+positions like Maurepas, Combles, and Clery, and, further in the rear,
+Bouchavesnes and Sailly-Saillisel on the right bank, and Estrees,
+Belloy-en-Santerre, Barleux, Albaincourt and Pressoire on the left bank,
+made such desperate resistance that the struggle was prolonged into
+mid-winter. The German retreat in March, 1917, to the famous Hindenburg
+line was the strategic result of this terrible battle, the tactics of
+which were continuously successful and the connection between the
+different arms brought to perfection, while the infantry made an
+unsurpassed record for suffering and endurance and will power in such
+combats as Maurepas (August 12), Clery (September 3), Bouchavesnes
+(September 12)--where, when evening came, the enemy was definitely
+broken--and the taking of Berny-en-Santerre, of Deniecourt, of
+Vermandovillers (September 13) on the left bank, and on the right bank
+the entry into Combles (surrounded on September 26), the advance on
+Sailly-Saillisel and the stubborn defense of this ruined village whose
+chateau and central district had already been occupied on October 15,
+and in which a few houses resisted until November 12. Then, there was
+the fight for the Chaulnes wood, and La Maisonnette and Ablaincourt and
+Pressoire; and everywhere it was the same as at Verdun: the woods were
+razed to the ground, villages disappeared into the soil, and the earth
+was so plowed and crushed and martyred that it was nothing but one
+immense wound.
+
+Now, the air forces had had their part in the victory. Obliged, as they
+were at Verdun, to resist the numerical superiority of the enemy, they
+had thrown off the tyranny of atmospheric conditions and accepted and
+fulfilled diverse missions in all kinds of weather. Verdun had hardened
+them, as it had "burned the blood" of the infantry who had never known a
+worse hell than that one. But as our operations now took the initiative,
+the aviation corps was able to prepare its material more effectively, to
+organize its aerodromes and concentrate its forces beforehand. Its
+advantage was evident from the first day of the Somme offensive, not
+only in mechanical power, but in a method which cooerdinated and
+increased its efforts under a single command. Though this arm of the
+service was in continuous evolution, more subject than any other to the
+modifications of the war, and the most susceptible of all to progress
+and improvement, it had nevertheless finished its trial stages and
+acquired full development as connecting agent for all the other arms,
+whom it supplied with information. Serving at first for strategic
+reconnaissance, and then almost exclusively for regulating artillery
+fire, the aerial forces now performed complex and efficient service for
+every branch of the army. By means of aerial photography they furnished
+exact knowledge of the ground and of the enemy's defenses, thus
+preceding the execution of military operations. They regulated artillery
+fire, followed the program laid down for the destruction of the enemy,
+and supplied such information as was necessary to set the time for the
+attack. They then accompanied the infantry in the attack, observed its
+progress, located the conquered positions, revealed the situation of the
+enemy's new lines, betrayed his defensive works, and announced his
+reinforcements and his counter-attacks. They were the conducting wire
+between the command, the artillery, and the troops, and everybody felt
+them to be sure and faithful allies, for they were able to see and know,
+to speak and warn. But the air forces, during all their useful missions,
+were themselves in need of protection, and there must be no enemy
+airplanes about if they were to make their observations in security. But
+how to rid them of these enemies, and render the latter incapable of
+harm? Here the air cavalry, the airplanes built for distant scouting and
+combats, intervened. The safety of observation machines could only be
+insured by long-distance protection, that is to say, by aerial patrols
+taking the offensive, not by a solitary guard, too often disappointing,
+and ineffective against a resolute adversary. Their safety near to the
+army could be guaranteed only by carrying the aerial struggle over into
+the enemy's lines and preventing all raids upon our own. The groups
+belonging to our fighting escadrilles on both banks of the Somme
+achieved this result.
+
+The one-seated Nieuport, rapid, easily managed, with high ascensional
+speed, and capable, by its solid construction and air-piercing power, of
+diving from a height upon an enemy and falling upon him like a bird of
+prey, was then the chasing airplane _par excellence_, and remained so
+until the appearance of the terrible Spad, which made its _debut_ in the
+course of the Somme campaign, Guynemer and Corporal Sauvage piloting the
+first two of these machines in early September, 1916. They were armed
+with machine-guns, firing forward, and invariably connected with the
+direction of the machine's motion. The Spad is an extraordinary
+instrument of attack, but its defense lies only in its capacity for
+rapid displacement and the swiftness of its evolutions. Its rear is
+badly exposed: its field of visibility is very limited at the sides, and
+objects can be seen only above and below,--below, minus the dead angle
+of the motor and the cock-pit. The pilot can easily lose sight of the
+airplanes in his own group or that of the enemy, so that if he is alone,
+he is in danger of being surprised. On the other hand, one condition of
+his own victory is to surprise the enemy, especially if he attacks a
+two-seated machine whose range of fire is much broader, or if he does
+not hesitate to choose his victim from among a group. The Spad pilot
+makes use of the sun, of fog, of clouds. He flies high in order to hold
+the advantage of being able to pounce down upon his enemy while the
+enemy approaches prudently, timidly, suspecting no danger.
+
+The battle of the Somme was the most favorable for solitary airplanes,
+or airplanes coupled like hunting-dogs. Since then methods have changed,
+and the future belongs to fighting escadrilles or groups of machines.
+But at that time the one-seated airplane was king of the air. One of
+them was enough to intimidate enemy airplanes engaged in regulating
+artillery fire and in short-distance scouting, making them hesitate to
+leave their lines, and to frighten barrier patrols of two or even four
+two-seated airplanes, in spite of their shooting superiority, into
+turning back and disbanding. The one-seated enemy machines never
+ventured out except in groups, and even with the advantage of two
+against one refused to fight. So the one-seated French machine was
+obliged to fly alone, for if it was accompanied by patrols, the enemy
+fled and there was no one to attack; whereas, when free to maneuver at
+will, the solitary pilot could plan ruses, hide himself in the light or
+in the clouds, take advantage of the enemy's blind sides, and carry out
+sudden destructive attacks which are impossible for groups. Our airmen
+never speak of the Somme without a smile of satisfaction: they have
+retained heroic memories of that campaign. Afterwards, the Germans
+drilled their one-seated or two-seated patrols, trained them in
+resistance to isolated attacks, and taught them in turn how to attack
+the solitary machine which had ventured out beyond its own lines. We
+were obliged to alter our tactics and adopt group formation. But the
+strongest types of our enemy-chasing pilots were revealed or developed
+during the battle of the Somme.
+
+Moreover, our aviators at that time were incomparable; and in citing the
+most illustrious among them one risks injustice to their companions
+whose opportunities were less fortunate and whose exploits were less
+brilliant but not less useful. The cavalry, artillery, and infantry were
+drawn upon for recruits for the aviation branch of the army, and it
+appeared a difficult undertaking to fuse such different elements; but as
+all shared the same life and the same dangers, had similar tastes, and a
+passion for attaining the same result, and as their officers were
+necessarily recruited from among themselves, and chosen for services
+rendered, an atmosphere of _camaraderie_ and friendly rivalry was
+created. A great novelist said that the origin of our friendships dates
+"from those hours at the beginning of life when we dream of the future
+in company with some comrade with the same ideals as our own, a chosen
+brother."[20] What difference does it make, then, if they depart in
+company for glory or for death? These young men gave themselves with the
+same willingness to the same service, a service full of constant
+danger. They were not gathered together by chance, but by their vocation
+and by selection, and they spoke the same language. For them, friendship
+easily became rivalry in courage and energy, and a school of mutual
+esteem, in which each strove to outdo the other. Friendship kept them
+alert, drove away inertia and weakness, and they became confident and
+generous, so that each rejoiced in the success of the others. In the
+mountains, on the sea, in every place where men feel most acutely their
+own fragility, such friendship is not rare; but war brings it to
+perfection.
+
+[Footnote 20: Paul Bourget, _Une Idylle tragique_.]
+
+The patrols of the Storks Escadrille, in the beginning of the Somme
+campaign, consisted of a single airplane, or airplanes in couples.
+Guynemer, whom everybody called "the kid," always took Heurtaux with him
+when he carried a passenger; for Heurtaux, as blond as Guynemer was
+brown, thin and slender, very delicate and young, seemed to give
+Guynemer the rights of an elder. Heurtaux was the Oliver of this Roland.
+In character and energy they were the same. Dorme used to take Deullin
+with him, or de la Tour. Or the choice was made alternately. This was
+the quartet of whom the enemy had cause to beware, and woe to the Boche
+who met any one of them! There was at that time at Bapaume a group of
+five one-seated German machines which never maneuvered singly. If they
+perceived a pair of Nieuports, they immediately tacked about and fled in
+haste. But if one of our chasers was cruising alone, the whole group
+attacked him. Heurtaux, attacked in this way, had been compelled to dive
+and land, and on his return had to submit to the jests of Guynemer, for
+at that age friendship is roughish. "Go there yourself," advised
+Heurtaux, "and you will see." Next day Guynemer went alone, but in his
+turn was forced down. After these two trials, which might have ended in
+disaster--but knights must amuse themselves--the five one-seated planes
+at Bapaume were methodically but promptly beaten down.
+
+Friendship demands equality between souls. If one has to protect the
+other, if one is manifestly superior, it is no longer friendship. In the
+Storks Escadrille friendship reigned in peace in the midst of war, so
+surely did each take his turn in surpassing the others. Which one was,
+finally, to be the greatest, not because of the number of his mentions,
+nor his renown or public fame, but according to the testimony of his
+comrades--the surest and most clearsighted of testimony--for no one can
+deceive his peers? Would it be the cold and calm Dorme, who went to
+battle as a fisher goes to his nets, who never spoke of his exploits,
+and whose heart, under this modest, gentle, kind exterior, was filled
+with hatred for the invader who occupied his own countryside, Briey, and
+for six months had held in custody and ill-treated his parents? In the
+Somme battle alone his official victories numbered seventeen, but the
+enemy could recount many others, doubtless, for this silent,
+well-balanced young man possessed quite improbable audacity. He would
+fly more than fifteen or twenty kilometers above the German lines,
+perfectly tranquil under the showers of shells which rose from the
+earth. At such a distance within their lines the Boche airplanes thought
+themselves safe when, suddenly, _du Sud ou du Septentrion_, appeared
+this knightly hero. And he would return smilingly, as fresh as when he
+had started out. It was only with difficulty that a very brief statement
+could then be extracted from him. His machine would be inspected, and
+not a trace of any fragment found; he might have been a tourist
+returning from a promenade. In more than a hundred combats his airplane
+received only three very small wounds. His cleverness in handling his
+machine was incredible: his close veering, his twistings and turnings,
+made it impossible for the adversary to shoot. He also knew how to quit
+the combat in time, if his own maneuvers had not succeeded. He seemed
+invulnerable. But later, much later, while he was fighting on the Aisne
+in May, 1917, Dorme, who had penetrated far within the enemy's lines,
+never came back.
+
+[Illustration: IN THE AIR]
+
+Was Heurtaux the greatest, whose method was as delicate as himself--a
+virtuoso of the air, clever, supple and quickwitted, whose hand and eye
+equaled his thought in rapidity? Was it Deullin, skilled in approach,
+and prompt as the tempest? Or the long-enduring, robust, admirable
+_sous-lieutenant_ Nungessor, or Sergeant Sauvage, or Adjutant Tarascon?
+Was it Captain Menard, or Sangloer, or de la Tour? But the reader knows
+very well that it was Guynemer. Why was it Guynemer, according to the
+testimony of all his rivals? History and the epic have coupled many
+names of friends, like Achilles and Patroclus, Orestes and Pylades,
+Nisus and Euryalus, Roland and Oliver. In these friendships, one is
+always surpassed by the other, but not in intelligence, nor courage nor
+nobility of character. For generosity, or wisdom of council, one might
+even prefer a Patroclus to an Achilles, an Oliver to a Roland. In what,
+then, lies the superiority? That is the secret of temperament, the
+secret of genius, the interior flame which burns the brightest, and
+whose appearances cause astonishment and almost terror, as if some
+mystery were divulged.
+
+It is certain that Georges Guynemer was a mechanician and a gunsmith. He
+knew his machine and his machine-gun, and how to make them do their
+utmost. But there were others who knew the same. Dorme and Heurtaux were
+perhaps more skillful in maneuvering than he. (It was interesting to
+watch Guynemer when he was preparing to mount his Nieuport. First the
+bird was brought out of the shed; then he minutely examined and fingered
+it. This tall thin young man, with his amber-colored skin, his long oval
+face and thin nose, his mouth with its corners falling slightly, a very
+slight moustache, and crow-black hair tossed backward, would have
+resembled a Moorish chief had he been more impassive. But his features
+constantly showed his changing thoughts, and this play of expression
+gave grace and freshness to his face. Sometimes it seemed strained and
+hardened, and a vertical wrinkle appeared on his forehead above the
+nose. His eyes--the unforgettable eyes of Guynemer--round like agates,
+black and burning with a brilliance impossible to endure, for which
+there is only one expression sufficiently strong, that of Saint-Simon
+concerning some personage of the court of Louis XIV: "The glances of his
+eyes were like blows"--pierced the sky like arrows, when his practiced
+ear had heard the harsh hum of an enemy motor. In advance he condemned
+the audacious adversary to death, seeming from a distance to draw him
+into the abyss, like a sorcerer.)
+
+After examining his machine he put on his fur-lined _combinaison_ over
+his black coat, and his head-covering, the _passe-montagne_, fitting
+tightly over his hair, and framing the oval of his face, and over this
+his leather helmet. Plutarch spoke of the terrible expression of
+Alexander when he went to battle. Guynemer's face, when he rose for a
+flight, was appalling.
+
+What did he do in the air? His flight journals and statements tell the
+story. On each page, a hundred times in succession, and several times on
+a page, his flight notebooks contain the short sentences which seem to
+bound from the paper, like a dog showing its teeth: "I attack ... I
+attack ... I attack...." At long intervals, as if ashamed, appears the
+phrase: "I am attacked." On the Somme more than twenty victories were
+credited to him, and to these should be added, as in the case of Dorme,
+others taking place at too great distances to receive confirmation. In
+the first month of the Somme battle, on September 13, 1916, the Storks
+Escadrille, Captain Brocard, was mentioned before the army: "Has shown
+unequaled energy and devotion to duty in the operations of Verdun and
+the Somme, waging, from March 19 to August 19, 1916, 338 combats,
+bringing down 36 airplanes, 3 drachen, and compelling 36 other badly
+damaged airplanes to land." Captain Brocard dedicated this mention to
+Lieutenant Guynemer, writing under it: "To Lieutenant Guynemer, my
+oldest pilot, and most brilliant Stork. Souvenir of gratitude and
+warmest friendship." And all the pilots of the escadrille, in turn, came
+to sign it. His comrades had often seen what he did in the air.
+
+When Guynemer came back and landed, what a spectacle! Although a victor,
+his face was not appeased. It was never to be appeased. He never was
+satisfied, never waged enough battles, never burned or destroyed enough
+enemies. When he landed he was still under the influence of nervous
+effort, and seemed as if electrified by the fluid still passing through
+his frame. However, his machine bore traces of the struggle: four
+bullets in the wing, the body, and the elevator. And he himself was
+grazed by the missiles, his _combinaison_ scratched and the end of his
+glove torn. By what miracle had he escaped?--He had passed through
+encircling death as a man leaps through a hoop.
+
+His method was one of the wildest temerity and impetuosity, and can be
+recommended to nobody. The number and strength of the enemy, so far from
+repelling, attracted him. He flew to vertiginous heights, and taking his
+place in the sunshine, watched and waited. In an attack he did not make
+use of the aerial acrobatic maneuvers with which, however, he was
+perfectly familiar. He struck without delay,--what is known in fencing
+as the cut direct. Without trying to maintain his machine within his
+adversary's dead angles, he fell on him as a stone falls. He shot as
+near to the enemy as he could, at the risk of being shot first himself,
+and even of interlocking their machines, though in that respect the
+sureness of his maneuvering sufficed to disengage him. If he failed to
+take the enemy by surprise, he did not quit the combat as prudence
+exacted; but returned to the charge, refusing to unhook his clutch from
+the enemy airplane, and held him, and wanted him, and got him.
+
+His passion for flying never diminished. On rainy days, when it was
+unreasonable and useless to attempt to fly, he wandered around the sheds
+where the winged horses took their repose. He could not resist it: he
+entered, and mounted his own machine, settling himself in his cock-pit
+and handling the controls, holding mysterious conferences with his
+faithful steed.
+
+In the air, he had a higher power of resistance than the most robust
+men. This frail, sickly Guynemer, twice refused by the army because of
+feebleness of constitution, never gave up. In proportion as the
+requirements of aviation became more severe, as the higher altitudes
+reached made it more exhausting, Guynemer seemed to prolong his flights
+to the point where overwork and nervous depression compelled him to go
+away and take a little rest--which made him suffer still more. And
+suddenly, before he had taken the necessary repose, he threw it off like
+ballast, and returning to camp, reappeared in the air, like the falcon
+in the legend of Saint Julien the Hospitaller: "The bold bird rose
+straight in the air like an arrow, and there could be seen two spots of
+unequal size which turned and joined, and then disappeared in the
+heights of heaven. The falcon soon descended, tearing some bird to
+pieces, and returned to his perch on the gauntlet, with his wings
+quivering."[21] Thus the victorious Guynemer came back, quivering, to
+the aviation field. Truly, a god possessed him.
+
+[Footnote 21: Flaubert.]
+
+Apart from all that, he was just a boy, simple, gay, tender, and
+charming.
+
+
+IV. ON THE SOMME (JUNE, 1916, TO FEBRUARY, 1917)
+
+Georges Guynemer, then, was wounded on March 15, 1916, at Verdun. On
+April 26, he arrived again at the front, with his arm half-cured and the
+wounds scarcely healed. He had escaped from the doctors and nurses.
+Between times, he had been promoted _sous-lieutenant_. But he had to be
+sent back, to his bandages and massage.
+
+He returned to Compiegne. The bargain he had made with his sister Yvonne
+was continued, and when the weather was clear he went to Vauciennes,
+where his machine awaited him. The first time he met an airplane after
+his fall and his wound, he experienced a quite natural but very painful
+sensation. Would he hesitate? Was he no longer the stubborn Guynemer?
+The Boche shot, but he did not reply. The Boche used up all his
+machine-gun belt, and the combat was broken off. Was it to be believed?
+What had happened?
+
+Guynemer returned to his home. In the spring dawn comes very soon, and
+he had left so early that it was still morning. Was his sister awake? He
+waited, but waiting was not his forte. So he opened the door again, and
+his childish face appeared in the strip of light that filtered through.
+This time the sleeper saw him.
+
+"Already back? Go back to bed. It is too early."
+
+"Is it really so early?"
+
+Her sisterly tenderness divined that he had something to tell her,
+something important, and that it would be necessary to help him to tell
+it. "Come in," she said.
+
+He opened the blinds and sat down at the foot of the bed.
+
+"What scouting have you done this morning?"
+
+But he was following his own thoughts: "The men had warned me that under
+those circumstances one receives a very disagreeable impression."
+
+"Under what circumstances?"
+
+"When one goes up again after having been wounded, and meets a Boche. As
+long as you have not been wounded you think nothing can happen to you.
+When I saw that Boche this morning I felt something quite new. Then...."
+
+He stopped and laughed, as if he had played some schoolboy joke.
+
+"Then, what did you do?"
+
+"Well, I made up my mind to submit to his shots. Calmly."
+
+"Without replying?"
+
+"Surely: I ordered myself not to shoot. That is the way one masters
+one's nerves, little sister. Mine are entirely mastered: I am now
+absolutely in control. The Boche presented me with five hundred shots
+while I maneuvered. They were necessary. I am perfectly satisfied."
+
+She looked at him, sitting at the foot of the bed with his head resting
+against the post. Her eyes were wet and she kept silent. The silence
+continued.
+
+Finally she said softly, "You have done well, Georges."
+
+But he was asleep.
+
+Later, referring to this meeting in which he offered himself to the
+enemy's fire, he said gravely:
+
+"That was the decisive moment of my life. If I had not set things right
+then and there, I was done for...."
+
+When he reappeared at his escadrille's head-quarters on May 18, quite
+cheerful but with a set face and flaming eyes, no one dared discuss his
+cure with him.
+
+The Storks returned for a few days to the Oise region, and once more the
+contented pilot of a Nieuport flew over the country from Peronne to
+Roye. He had not lost the least particle of his determination; quite the
+reverse. One day (May 22) he searched the air desperately for three
+hours, and though he finally discovered a two-seated enemy machine over
+Noyon, he was obliged to give over the combat for lack of gasoline in
+his motor.
+
+Meanwhile they were preparing the Somme battle; the escadrilles
+familiarized themselves with their ground, and new machines were tried.
+The enemy, who suspected our preparations, sent out long-distance
+scouting airplanes. Near Amiens, above Villers-Bretonneux, Guynemer,
+making his rounds with Sergeant Chainat, attacked one of these groups on
+June 22, isolated one of the airplanes and, maneuvering with his
+comrade, set it afire. That was, I believe, his ninth. This combat took
+place at a height of 4200 meters. The advantage went more and more to
+the pilot who mounted highest.
+
+After July 1 there was a combat almost every day. Would Guynemer be put
+out of action from the beginning, as at Verdun? Returning on the 6th,
+after having put to flight an L.V.G., he surprised another Boche
+airplane which was diving down on one of our artillery-regulating
+machines. He immediately drew the enemy's attention to himself; but the
+enemy (Guynemer pays him this homage in his flight notebook) was keen
+and supple. His well-aimed shots passed through the propeller of the
+Nieuport and cut two cables in the right cell. Guynemer was obliged to
+land. He was forced down eight times during his flying career, once
+under fantastic conditions. He passed through every form of danger
+without ever losing the self-possession, the quickness of eye, and
+rapidity of decision which his passion for conquest had developed.
+
+What battles he fought in the air! On July 9 his journal notes a combat
+of five against five; on the 10th a combat of three against seven, in
+which Guynemer disengaged Deullin, who was followed by an Aviatik at a
+distance of a hundred meters. On the 11th, at 10 o'clock, he attacked an
+L.V.G. and cut its cable; the enemy dived but appeared to be in control
+of the machine. A few moments later he and Deullin attacked an Aviatik
+and an L.V.G., Guynemer damaging the Aviatik, and Deullin forcing down
+the L.V.G.; and before returning to their base, the two comrades
+attacked a group of seven machines and dispersed them. On the 16th
+Guynemer forced down, with Heurtaux, an L.V.G., which fell with its
+wheels in the air. After a short absence, during which he got a more
+powerful machine for his own use, he began on the 25th a repetition of
+his former program. On the 26th he waged five combats with enemy groups
+consisting of from five to eleven airplanes. On the 27th he fought three
+L.V.G.'s, and then groups of from three to ten machines. On the 28th he
+successively attacked two airplanes within their own lines, then a
+drachen which was obliged to land, then a group of four airplanes one of
+which was forced down, and then a second group of four which were
+dispersed, Guynemer pursuing one of the fugitives and bringing him down.
+One blade of his own propeller was riddled with bullets, and he was
+compelled to land. Such was his work for three days, taken at random
+from the notebook.
+
+Open his journal at any page, and it reads the same. On August 7
+Guynemer got back with seven shell fragments in his machine: he had been
+cannonaded from the ground while in chase of four enemy airplanes. On
+the same day he started off again, piloting Heurtaux, who attacked the
+German trenches north of Clery and fired on some machine-guns. From its
+place up in the air the airplane encouraged the infantry, and shared in
+their assaults. The recital of events became, however, more and more
+brief: the fighting pilot had not time enough to write details; nobody
+had any time in the Storks Escadrille, constantly engaged as it was in
+its triumphant flights. We must turn then to Guynemer's letters--strange
+letters, indeed, which contain nothing, absolutely nothing about the
+war, or the battle of the Somme, or about anything else except _his_ war
+and _his_ battle. The earth-world no longer existed for him: the earth
+was a place which received the dead and the vanquished. So this is the
+way in which he wrote his two sisters, then sojourning in Switzerland
+(Fritz meaning any enemy airplane):
+
+     Dear Kids,
+
+     Some sport: the 17, attacked a Fritz, three shots and gun jammed;
+     Fritz tumbled. The 18th, _idem_, but in two shots: two Fritzes in
+     five shots, record.
+
+     Day before yesterday, attacked Fritz at 4.30 at ten meters: killed
+     the passenger and perhaps the rest, prevented from seeing what
+     happened by a fight at half-past four: the Boche ran.
+
+     At 7.40 attacked an Aviatik, carried away by the impetus, passed it
+     at fifty centimeters; passenger "_couic_" (killed), the machine
+     fell and was got under control again at fifty meters above the
+     ground.
+
+     At 7.35, attacked an L.V.G.; at fifteen meters; just ready to
+     shoot, when a bullet in my fingers made me let go the trigger;
+     reservoir burst, good landing two kilometers from the trenches
+     between two shell-holes. Inventory of the "taxi": one bullet right
+     in the face of my Vickers; one perforative bullet in the motor; the
+     steel stone had gone clear through it as well as the oil reservoir,
+     the gasoline tank, the cartridge chest, my glove ... where it
+     stayed in the index finger: result, about as if my finger had been
+     slightly pinched in a door; not even skinned, only the top of the
+     nail slightly blackened. At the time I thought two fingers had been
+     shot. To continue the inventory: one bullet in the reservoir, in
+     the direction of my left lung, having passed through four
+     millimeters of copper and had the good sense to stop, but one
+     wonders why.
+
+     One bullet in the edge of the back of my seat, one in the rudder,
+     and a dozen in the wings. They knocked the "taxi" to pieces with a
+     hatchet at two o'clock in the morning, under shell-fire. On
+     landing, received 86 shots of 105, 130 and 150, for nothing. They
+     will pay the bill.
+
+     For a beginning, La Tour has his fourth mention.
+
+     A hug for each of you.
+
+     Georges.
+
+     P.S.--It could not be said now that I am not strong; I stop steel
+     bullets with the end of my finger.
+
+Is this a letter? At first, it is a bulletin of victory: two airplanes
+for five bullets, plus one passenger "_couic_." Then it becomes a
+recital of the golden legend--the golden legend of aviation: he stops
+the enemy's bullets with his fingers; Roland would write in that style
+to the beautiful Aude: "Met three Saracens, Durandal cleft two, the
+third tried to settle the affair with his bow, but the arrow broke on
+the cord." Young Paul Bailly was right: "The exploits of Guynemer are
+not a legend, like those of Roland; in telling them just as they
+happened we find them more beautiful than any we could invent." That is
+why it is better to let Guynemer himself relate them. He says only what
+is necessary, but the right accent is there, the rapidity and the
+"_couic_." The following letter is dated September 15, 1916.
+
+
+     _From the same to the same_
+
+     Some sport.
+
+     On the 16th, in a group of six, four of them squeezed at 25 meters.
+
+     In four days, six combats at 25 meters: filled a few Boches with
+     holes, but they did not seem to tumble down, though some were hard
+     hit all the same; then five boxing rounds up between 5100 and 5300
+     (altitude). To-day five combats, four of them at less than 25
+     meters, and the fifth at 50 meters. In the first, gun jammed at 50
+     meters. In the second, at 5200, the Boche in his excitement lost
+     his wings, and descended on his aerodrome in a wingless coach; his
+     ears must be humming (16th). The third was a nose-to-nose combat
+     with a fighting Aviatik. Too much impetus: I failed to hammer him
+     hollow. In the fourth, same joke with an L.V.G. in a group of
+     three: I failed to hammer him, I lurched: _pan_, a bullet near my
+     head. In the fifth, I cleaned up the passenger (that is the third
+     this week), then knocked up the pilot very badly at 10
+     meters,--completely disabled, he landed evidently with great
+     difficulty, and he must be in hospital....
+
+Three lines to describe a victory, the sixteenth. And what boarding of
+the adversary, from above and from below! He springs upon the enemy, but
+fails to go through him. Both speeds combined, he does not make much
+less than 400 kilometers an hour when he dives on him. The meeting and
+shooting hardly last one second, after which the combat continues, with
+other maneuvers. Some savant should calculate the time allowed for sight
+and thought in fighting such duels!
+
+This was the period of the great series of combats on the Somme. The
+Storks Escadrille, which was the first to arrive, waged battle
+uninterruptedly for eight months. Other escadrilles came to the rescue.
+Altogether they were divided into two groups, one under the command of
+Major Fequant, the other under that of Captain Brocard, appointed chief
+of battalion. It becomes impossible to enumerate all Guynemer's
+victories, and we can merely emphasize the days on which he surpassed
+himself. September 28 was a remarkable day, on which he brought down two
+enemies and had a fall from a height of 3000 meters. Little Paul Bailly
+would hardly have believed that; he would have said it was surely a
+legend, the golden legend of aviation. Nevertheless, here is Guynemer's
+statement, countersigned by the escadrille commandant:
+
+"_Saturday, September 23._--Two combats near Eterpigny. At 11.20 forced
+down a Boche in flames near Aches; at 11.21 forced a Boche to land,
+damaged, near Carrepuy; at 11.25 forced down a Boche in flames near
+Roye. At 11.30, was forced down myself by a French shell, and smashed my
+machine near Fescamps...."
+
+These combats occurred between Peronne and Montdidier. To his father he
+wrote with more precision, but in his usual elliptical style.
+
+"_September 22_: Asphyxiated a Fokker in 30 seconds, tumbled down
+disabled.
+
+"_September 23_: 11.20.--A Boche in flames within our lines.
+
+"11.21.--A Boche disabled, passenger killed.
+
+"11.25.--A Boche in flames 400 meters from the lines.
+
+"11.25 and a half.--A 75 blew up my water reservoir, and all the linen
+of the left upper plane, hence a superb tail spin. Succeeded in changing
+it into a glide. Fell to ground at speed of 160 or 180 kilometers:
+everything broken like matches, then the 'taxi' rebounded, turned around
+at 45 degrees, and came back, head down, planting itself in the ground
+40 meters away like a post; they could not budge it. Nothing was left
+but the body, which was intact: the Spad is strong; with any other
+machine I should now be thinner than this sheet of paper. I fell 100
+meters from the battery that had demolished me; they had not aimed at
+me, but they brought me down all the same, which they had no difficulty
+in recognizing; the shell struck me hard some time before exploding. The
+Boche fell close by Major Constantin's post. I picked up the pieces."
+
+The group which he had attacked was composed of five airplanes, flying
+in _echelon_, three above, two below. The two which flew lowest were
+assaulted by one of our escadrilles, and the pilots, seeing a machine
+fall in flames, thought at first it was their own victory. "It was my
+first one, falling from the upper story," Guynemer explained drolly, in
+his Stanislas-student manner. With his "_terrible oiseau_" he had waged
+battle with the three pilots "of the upper story," and had forced them
+down one after the other. "The first one," he said, "had a half-burned
+card in his pocket which had certainly been given him that same morning,
+judging by the date, which read in German: 'I think you are very
+successful in aviation.' I have his photograph with his Gretchen. What
+German heads! He wore the same decorations as that one who fell in the
+Bus wood...." Is this not Achilles setting his foot on Hector and
+taking possession of his trophies? Guynemer's heart was stone to his
+enemies. He saw in them the wrongs done to France, the invasion of our
+country, the destruction of our towns and villages, our desolation, and
+our dead, so many of our dead whose deserted homes weep for them. His
+was not to give pity, but to do justice. And in doing justice, when an
+adversary whom he had forced down was wounded, he brought him help with
+all his native generosity.
+
+For him, thirty seconds had separated the Capitol from the Tarpeian
+Rock. After his triple victory came his incredible fall, unheard of,
+fantastic, from a height of 3000 meters, the Spad falling at the highest
+speed down to earth, and rebounding and planting itself in the ground
+like a picket. "I was completely stupefied for twenty-four hours, but
+have escaped with merely immense fatigue (especially where I wear my
+looping-the-loop straps, which saved my life), and a gash in my knee
+presented to me by my magneto. During that 3000-meter tumble I was
+planning the best way to hit the ground (I had the choice of sauces): I
+found the way, but there were still 95 out of 100 chances for the wooden
+cross. _Enfin_, all right!" And this postscript followed: "Sixth time I
+have been brought down: record!"
+
+Lieutenant V.F., of the Dragon Escadrille, colliding with a comrade's
+airplane at a height of 3000 meters, had a similar fall onto the
+Avocourt wood, and was similarly astounded to find himself whole. He
+had continued maneuvering during the five or six minutes of the descent.
+"Soon," he wrote, "the trees of the Hesse forest came in sight; in fact,
+they seemed to approach at a dizzy rate of speed. I switched off so as
+not to catch fire, and a few meters before reaching the trees I nosed up
+my machine with all my strength so that it would fall flat. There was a
+terrible shock! One tree higher than the rest broke my right wings, and
+made me turn as if I were on a pivot. I closed my eyes. There was a
+second shock, less violent than I could have hoped: the machine fell on
+its nose like a stone, at the foot of the tree which had stopped me. I
+unfastened my belt which, luckily, had not broken, and let myself slip
+onto the ground, amazed not to be suffering intense agony. The only bad
+effects were that my head was heavy, and blood was flowing through my
+mask. I breathed, coughed, and shook my arms and legs, and was
+dumbfounded to find that all my faculties functioned normally...."
+Guynemer did not tell us so much; but, as a mathematician, he calculated
+his chances. He too had switched off, and with the greatest sang-froid
+superintended, so to speak, his fall. Its result was no less magical.
+
+The infantrymen had observed this rainfall of airplanes. The French
+plane reached the earth just before its pilot's last victim fell also,
+in flames. The soldiers pitied the poor victor, who had not, as they
+thought, survived his conquest! They rushed to his aid, expecting to
+pick him up crushed to atoms. But Guynemer stood up without aid. He
+seemed like a ghost; but he was standing, he was alive, and the excited
+soldiers took possession of him and carried him off in triumph. A
+division general approached, and immediately commanded a military salute
+for the victor, saying to Guynemer:
+
+"You will review the troops with me."
+
+Guynemer did not know how to review troops, and would have liked to go.
+He was suffering cruelly from his knee:
+
+"I happen to be wounded, General."
+
+"Wounded, you! It's impossible. When a man falls from the sky without
+being broken, he is a magician, no doubt of that. You cannot be wounded.
+However, lean upon me."
+
+And holding him up, almost indeed carrying him, he walked with the young
+_sous-lieutenant_ in front of the troops. From the neighboring trenches
+rose the sound of singing, first half-suppressed, and then swelling into
+a formidable roar: the _Marseillaise_. The song had sprung spontaneously
+to the men's lips.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Cerebral commotion required Guynemer to rest for a few days. But on
+October 5 he started off again. The month of October on the Somme was
+marked by an improvement in German aviation, their numbers being
+considerably reinforced and supplied with new tactics. Guynemer defied
+the new tactics of numbers, and in one day, October 17, attacked a group
+of three one-seated planes, and another group of five. A second time he
+made a sortie, and attacked a two-seated plane which was aided by five
+one-seated machines. On another occasion, November 9, he waged six
+battles with one-seated and two-seated machines, all of which made their
+escape, one after another, by diving. Still this was not enough, and he
+set forth again and attacked a group of one Albatros and four one-seated
+planes. "Hard fight," says the journal, "the enemy has the advantage."
+He broke off this combat, but only to engage in another with an Albatros
+which had surprised Lieutenant Deullin at 50 meters. On the following
+day, November 10, he added two more items to his list (making his
+nineteenth and twentieth): his first victim, at whom he had shot fifteen
+times from a distance less than ten meters, fell in flames south of
+Nesle; the other, a two-seated Albatros, 220 H.P. Mercedes, protected by
+three one-seated machines, fell and was crushed to pieces in the
+Morcourt ravine. This double stroke he repeated on the twenty-second of
+the same month (making his twenty-second and twenty-third), and again on
+January 23, 1917 (his twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh), and still again
+the next day, the twenty-fourth (his twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth
+victories). In addition, here is one of his letters with a statement of
+the results of three chasing days. There are no longer headings or
+endings to his letters; he makes a direct attack, as he does in the
+air.
+
+     26-1-'17
+
+     _January_ 24, 1917.--Fell on a group of five Boches at 2300. I
+     brought them back, with drums beating, at 800 meters (one wire stay
+     cut, one escape pot broken). At the end of the boxing-round, 400
+     meters above Roye, I succeeded in getting behind a one-seated
+     machine of the group. My motor stopped; obliged to pump and let the
+     Boche go.
+
+     11.45.--Attacked a Fritz, let him go at 800 meters, my motor
+     spattered, but the Boche landed, head down, near Goyancourt. I only
+     count him as damaged.
+
+     At this instant, I see a Boche cannonaded at 2400, hence at 11.50 a
+     boxing round necessary with a little Rumpler armed with two
+     machine-guns. The pilot got a bullet in his lung; the passenger,
+     who fired at me, got one in his knee. The two reservoirs were hit,
+     and the whole machine took fire and tumbled down at Lignieres,
+     within our lines. I landed alongside; in starting in again one
+     wheel was broken in the plowed frozen earth. In taking away the
+     "taxi" the park people completely demolished it for me. It was
+     rushed to Paris for repairs.
+
+     25.--I watch the others fly, and fume.
+
+     26.--Bucquet loaned me his "taxi." No view-finder; only a
+     wretchedly bad (oh, how bad!) sight-line.
+
+     At 12 o'clock.--Saw a Boche at 3800; took the lift.--Arrived at the
+     sun.--In turning, was caught in an eddy-wind, rotten tail
+     spin.--While coming down again I saw the Boche aiming at me 200
+     meters away; sent him ten shots: gun jammed; but the Boche seemed
+     excited and dived with his motor in full blast straight south. Off
+     we go! But I took care not to get too near so that he would not see
+     that my gun was out of action. The altimeter tumbled: 1600
+     Estrees-Saint-Denis came in sight. I maneuvered my Boche as well as
+     I could. Suddenly he righted himself and departed in the direction
+     of Rheims, banging away at me.
+
+     I tried bluffing; I rose 500 meters and let myself fall on him like
+     a pebble. When I began to think my bluff had not succeeded, he
+     seemed impressed and began to descend again. I placed myself at a
+     distance of 10 meters, but every time I showed my nose the
+     passenger aimed at me. The road to Compiegne: 1000 ... 800 meters.
+     When I showed my nose, the passenger, standing, stopped aiming and
+     made a sign that he gave himself up. All right! I saw under his
+     belly that four shells had struck the mark. 400 meters: the Boche
+     slowed up his "_moulin_" (motor). 200 meters, 20 meters. I let him
+     go and watched him land. At 100 meters I circled and found I was
+     over an aerodrome. But, having no more cartridges, I could not
+     prevent them from setting fire to their "taxi," a magnificent 200
+     H.P. Albatros. When I saw they had been surrounded, I landed and
+     showed the Boches my broken machine-gun. Sensation. They had fired
+     at me two hundred times: my bullets, before the breakdown, had gone
+     through their altimeter and their tachometer, which had caused
+     their excitement. The pilot said that an airplane had been forced
+     down two days before at Goyancourt: passenger killed, pilot wounded
+     in legs--had to have one amputated above the knee. I hope this
+     original confirmation will be accepted, which will make 30.
+
+Thirty victories, twenty or twenty-one of which occurred on the Somme:
+such is the schedule of these extraordinary flights. The last one
+surpassed all the rest. He fought unarmed, with nothing but his machine,
+like a knight who, with sword broken, manages his horse and brings his
+adversary to bay. What a scene it was when the German pilot and
+passenger, prisoners, became aware that Guynemer's machine-gun had been
+out of action! Once more he had imposed his will upon others, and his
+power of domination had fascinated his enemies.
+
+In the beginning of February, 1917, the Storks Escadrille left the Somme
+after six months' fighting, and flew into Lorraine.
+
+
+
+
+CANTO III
+
+AT THE ZENITH
+
+
+I. ON THE 25TH OF MAY, 1917
+
+The destiny of a Guynemer is to surpass himself. Part of his power,
+however, must lie in the perfection of his weapons. Why could he not
+forge them himself? In him, the mechanician and the gunsmith were
+impatient to serve the pilot and the fighter. Nothing in the science of
+aviation was unknown to him, and Guynemer in the factory was always the
+same Guynemer. He worked with the same nervous tension when he
+overhauled his machine-guns to avoid the too frequent and too
+troublesome jamming, or when he improved the arrangement of the
+instruments and tools in his airplane in accordance with his superior
+practical experience, as when he chased an enemy. He wanted to compel
+the obedience of matter, as he compelled the enemy to surrender.
+
+In the Somme campaign he had forced down two airplanes in a single day,
+and then four in two days. In Lorraine he was to do even better. At that
+time, the beginning of 1917, the German aerial forces were very active
+in Lorraine, but the city of Nancy paid no attention to them. In 1914
+Nancy had seen the invading army broken against the mountain of Saint
+Genevieve and the Grand Couronne; she had withstood a bombardment by
+gigantic shells and visits from air squadrons, and all without losing
+her good humor and her animation. She was one of those cities on the
+front who are accustomed to danger, and who find in it an inspiration
+for courage, for commerce, and even for pleasure which does not belong
+to cities behind the lines. Sometimes people who were dining on the
+Place Stanislas left their tables to watch some fine battle in the air,
+after which they resumed their seats and their appetites, merely
+replacing Rhenish by Moselle wines. Nevertheless, the frequency of
+raids, and the destruction caused by bombs, began to make the existence
+of both native and visiting Nancyites decidedly unpleasant. The Storks
+Escadrille, which arrived in February, very promptly punished these
+aerial brigands, by a police policy both rapid and severe. The enemy
+airplanes which flew over Nancy were vigorously chased, and less than a
+month later the framework of a good dozen of them, arranged in an
+orderly manner around the statue of Stanislas Leczinski, reassured the
+population and served as an interesting spectacle for the visitor who
+could no longer have the pleasure of admiring, behind Lamour's gates,
+the two monumental fountains consecrated to Neptune and Amphitrite, by
+Guibal, and which were then covered by coarse sacks of earth.
+
+Guynemer had contributed his share of these _spolia opima_. On March 16
+he alone had forced down three Boches, and a fourth on the 17th. Three
+victories in one day constituted a novel exploit. Navarre had achieved a
+double victory on February 26, 1916, at Verdun, and Guynemer had the
+same success on the Somme; in this campaign Nungesser had burned a
+drachen and two airplanes in one morning; but three airplanes destroyed
+in one day had never been seen before.
+
+On that same evening Guynemer wrote to his family, and I transcribe the
+letter just as it is, with neither heading nor final formula. The King
+of Spain, in _Ruy Blas_, talks of the weather before he tells of the six
+wolves he has killed; but the new Cid fought in all weathers and speaks
+of nothing but his chase:
+
+     9 o'clock.--Rose from the ground on hearing shell explosions.
+     Forced down in flames a two-seated Albatros at 9.08.
+
+     9.20.--Attacked with Deuillin a group of three one-seated Albatros,
+     famous on the Lorraine front. At 9.26 I brought one down almost
+     intact: pilot wounded, Lieutenant von Hausen, nephew of the
+     general. And Deullin brought down another in flames at the same
+     time. About 9 o'clock Dorme and Auger had attacked and grilled a
+     two-seated plane. These four Boches were in a quadrilateral, the
+     sides of which measured five kilometers, four and a half
+     kilometers, three kilometers and three kilometers. Those who were
+     in the middle need not have bothered themselves, but they were
+     completely distracted.
+
+     14.30.--Forced down a two-seated Albatros in flames.
+
+     Three Boches within our lines for my day's work.... Ouf! G.G.
+
+Guynemer, who had been promoted lieutenant in February and was to be
+made captain in March, treated this Lieutenant von Hausen humanely and
+courteously as soon as he had landed. In all his mentions up to that
+time Guynemer had been described as a "brilliant chasing pilot"; he was
+now mentioned as an "incomparable chasing pilot."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Early in April the Storks left Lorraine and went to make their nests on
+a plateau on the left bank of the Aisne, back of Fismes. New events were
+in preparation. After the German retreat to the Hindenburg line, the
+French army in connection with the English army--which was to attack
+Vimy cliffs (April 9-10, 1917)--was about to undertake that vast
+offensive operation which, from Soissons to Auberive in Champagne, was
+to roll like an ocean wave over the slopes of the Chemin des Dames, the
+hills of Sapigneul and Brimont, and the Moronvillers mountain. Hearts
+were filled with hope, and the men were inspired by a sacred joy. Their
+sufferings and their wounds did not prevent the hearts of the soldiers
+in that spring of 1917 from flowering in sublime sacrifices for the
+cause of liberty.
+
+As at the battle of the Somme, so at the battle of the Aisne our aerial
+escadrilles were in close touch with the general staff and the other
+arms of the service. Their success was no doubt dependent upon the
+quality of the airplanes, and the factory output, and limited by the
+enemy's power in the air. But though they were unable to achieve the
+mastery of the air from the very first, they continued obstinately to
+increase their force, and little by little their successes increased.
+They had to oppose an enemy who had just accomplished an immense
+improvement in his aviation corps.
+
+In September, 1916, the German staff, profiting by the lessons of the
+Somme campaign during which its aviation forces had been so terribly
+scourged, resolved upon an almost complete reorganization of its
+aeronautical service. Hindenburg's program arranged for a rehandling of
+both the direction and the technical services. A decree dating from
+November, 1916, announced the separation from the other services of the
+Air Fight Forces (_Luftstreitkraefte_), which were to be placed under a
+staff officer, the _Kommandeur der Luftstreitkraefte_. This new
+_Kommandeur_, who was to superintend the building of the machines as
+well as the training of the pilots, was Lieutenant General von Hoeppner,
+with Lieutenant Colonel Tjomsen as an assistant. The squadrons,
+numbering more than 270, were divided into bombing, chasing, patrolling
+and field escadrilles, these last being intrusted with scouting,
+photographing, and artillery work, in constant touch with the infantry.
+Most of these novelties were servilely copied from French aviation. The
+Germans had borrowed the details of _liaison_ service, as well as those
+for the regulation of artillery fire, from the French regulations. The
+commander of the aeronautical section of the Fifth German Army (Verdun)
+said in a report that "a conscientious aviator was the only reliable
+informant in action." And his supreme chief, the Kronprinz, commenting
+upon this sentence, drew the following conclusions: "All this shows once
+more that through methodical use of Infantry Aviation, the command can
+be kept informed of developments through the whole battle. But the
+necessary condition for fruitful work in the field lies in a previous
+training carried on with the infantry, machine-guns, artillery, and
+_liaison_ units. The task of the Infantry Flyer is apt to become more
+difficult as the weather grows worse, and ground more deeply plowed up,
+the enemy more pressing, or our own troops yielding ground. When all
+these unfavorable circumstances are united, the Infantry Aviator can
+only be effective if he has perfect training. So he must be in constant
+contact with the other services, and the Infantry must know him
+personally. At a pinch he ought to make himself understood by the
+troops, even without any of the usual signals."
+
+But these airplanes, while doing this special work, must be protected by
+patrolling escadrilles. The best protection is afforded by the chasing
+units, fitted to spread terror and death far afield, or to stop enemy
+escadrilles bound on a similar errand. Here again, copying the French
+services, Germany strengthened her chasing escadrilles during the whole
+winter of 1916-1917, and by the following spring she possessed no less
+than forty. Before the war she had given her attention almost
+exclusively to heavy airplanes. French types were plagiarized: as the
+Morane had been altered into the Fokker, the Nieuport became an
+Albatros. Their one-seated 160 H.P. Albatros, with a Benz or Mercedes
+fixed engine and two Maxim guns shooting through the propeller, was
+henceforth the typical chasing machine. However, the powerful two-engine
+Gothas (520 H.P.) and the Friedrichshafen and A.E.G. (450 H.P.) soon
+made their appearance in bombing escadrilles.
+
+At the same time, the defensive attitude adopted at the beginning of the
+Somme campaign was repudiated. The order of the day became strong
+concentration, likely to secure, at least in one sector, decided
+superiority in the air, even if other sectors must be left destitute or
+battle shirked. The flying men were never to be over-worked, so as to be
+fresh in an emergency. The subordination of aviation to the other
+services was evidently an inspiration from the French regulation saying:
+"The aviation forces shall be always ready to attack, but in perfect
+subordination to the orders of the commanding officers."
+
+In spite of this _readiness to attack_, the enemy recommended prudence
+in scouting and patrolling work. The airman was not to engage in a fight
+without special orders. He seldom cruises by himself, and most often is
+one of five. To one Boelcke, fond of high altitudes and given to
+pouncing falconlike on his prey, like Guynemer, there are scores of
+Richtofens who, under careful protection from other airplanes, circle
+round and round trying to attract the enemy, and unexpectedly getting
+behind him by a spiral or a loop. It should be said here that the German
+controlling boards take the pilot's word concerning the number of his
+victories instead of requiring, as the French do, the evidence of eye
+witnesses. The high figures generously allowed to a Richtofen or a
+Werner Voss are less creditable than the strictly controlled record of a
+Guynemer, a Nungesser, or a Dorme.
+
+The enemy expected in April, 1917, a massive attack from the French air
+forces in the Aisne, and had taken measures to evade it. An order from
+the staff of the Seventh Army says that all flying units shall be given
+the alarm whenever a large number of French airplanes are sighted. The
+German machines must return to camp at once, refusing combat except on
+equal terms; and balloons must be lowered, or even pulled down to the
+ground. If, on the contrary, the German machines took the offensive, the
+order was that, at the hour determined upon, all available machines must
+rise together to a low altitude, and divide into two distinct fleets,
+the chasing units flying above the rest. These two fleets must then make
+for the point of attack, gaining height as they go, and must engage the
+enemy above the lines with the utmost energy, never giving up the
+pursuit until they reach the French lines, when the danger from
+anti-aircraft batteries becomes too great.
+
+From this it is evident that the preference of German Aviation for
+taking the offensive was not sufficient to induce it to offer battle
+above the enemy lines, and the tendency of the staff was to group
+squadrons into overpowering masses. The French had preceded their
+opponents in the way of technical progress, but the Germans made up for
+the inferiority, as usual, by method and system. The French were
+unrivaled for technical improvements, and the training of their pilots.
+Their new machine, the Spad, was a first-rate instrument, superior in
+strength, speed, and ease of control to the best Albatros, and the
+Germans knew that this inferiority must be obviated. All modern battles
+are thus preceded by technical rivalry. The preparation in factories,
+week after week, and month after month, ultimately results in living
+machinery which the staff uses as it pleases.
+
+Living machinery it is, but it is in appearance only that it seems to be
+independent of man. A battle is a collective work, to which each
+participant, from the General-in-chief to the road-mender behind the
+lines, brings his contribution. Colossal though the whole seems, perfect
+as the enormous machine seems to be, it would not work if there were not
+behind it a weak man made of poor flesh. A humble gunner, the anonymous
+defenders of a trench, a pilot who purges the air of the hostile
+presence, an observer who secures information in good time, some poor
+soldier who has no idea that his individual action was connected with
+the great drama, has occasionally brought about wonderful results--as a
+stone falling into a pool makes its presence felt to the remotest banks.
+
+Amidst the fighters on the Aisne, Guynemer was at his post in the
+Storks Escadrille. "All right! (sic) they tumble down," he wrote
+laconically to his family. There were indeed some five tumbling down: on
+May 25 he had surpassed all that had been done so far in aerial fights,
+bringing down four German machines in that one day. His notebook states
+the fact briefly:
+
+     8.30.--Downed a two-seater, which lost a wing as it fell and was
+     smashed on the trees 1200 meters NNE. of Corbeny.
+
+     8.31.--Another two-seater downed, in flames, above
+     Juvincourt.--With Captain Auger, forced another two-seater to dive
+     down to 600 meters, one kilometer from our lines.
+
+     Downed a D.F.W.[22] in flames above Courlandon.
+
+     Downed a two-seater in flames between Guignicourt and
+     Conde-sur-Suippes. Dispersed with Captain Auger a squadron of six
+     one-seaters.
+
+[Footnote 22: The D.F.W. (_Deutsche Flugzeug Werke_) is a scouting
+machine provided with two machine-guns, one shooting through the
+propeller, the other mounted on a turret aft. It is thirty-nine feet
+across the wings, and twenty-four in length. One Benz six-cylinder
+engine of 200/225 H.P. Its speed at an altitude of 3000 meters supposed
+to be 150 kilometers an hour. One of these machines has been on view at
+the Invalides since July, 1917.]
+
+
+Now, his Excellency, Lieutenant General von Hoeppner, _Kommandeur der
+Luftstreitkraefte_, being interviewed two days later by newspaper men he
+had summoned for the purpose, told them and through them told Germany
+and, if possible, the whole world, that the German airplanes and the
+German airmen were unrivaled. "As for the French aviators," he went on
+to say remarkably apropos, "they only engage our men when they are sure
+of victory. When they have doubts about their own superiority, they
+prefer to desist rather than take any risks." This solemn lie the
+newspaper men repeated at once in their issues of May 28.
+
+A few months later one of these same reporters, reverting to the subject
+of French aviation, took Guynemer himself to task in the _Badische
+Presse_ for August 8, 1917, as follows: "The airman you see flying so
+high is the famous Guynemer. He is the rival of the most daring German
+aviators, an _as_, as the French call their champions. He is undoubtedly
+to be reckoned with, for he handles his machine with absolute mastery,
+and he is an excellent shot. But he only accepts an air fight when every
+chance is on his side. He flies above the German lines at altitudes
+between 6000 and 7000 meters, quite out of range of our anti-aircraft
+artillery. He cannot make any observations, for from that height he sees
+nothing clearly, not even troops on the march. He is exclusively a
+chasing flyer bent on destroying our own machines. He has been often
+successful, though he cannot be compared to our own Richtofen. He is
+very prudent; always flying, as I said above, at an altitude of at least
+6000 meters, he waits till an airplane rises from the German lines or
+appears on its way home. Then he pounces upon it as a falcon might, and
+opens fire with his machine-gun. When he only wounds the pilot, or if
+our airman seems to show fight, Guynemer flies back to his own lines at
+the incredible speed of 250 kilometers an hour, which his very powerful
+machine makes possible. He never accepts a fair fight. Every man chases
+as he can."
+
+"Every man chases as he can." Quite so. To revert to that 25th of May,
+the "very prudent" Guynemer, on his morning patrol, met three German
+airplanes flying towards the French lines. They were two-seaters, less
+nimble, no doubt, than one-seaters, but provided with so much more
+dangerous arms. Naturally he could not think of attacking them, "not
+feeling sure of victory," and "always avoiding a risky contest!" Yet he
+pounced upon his three opponents, who promptly turned back. However, he
+overtook one, began making evolutions around him, succeeded in getting
+slightly below him, fired, and with his first volley succeeded in
+bringing him down in flames north of Corbeny (northeast of Craonne).
+
+The danger for a one-seater is to be surprised from behind. Just as
+Guynemer veered round, he saw another machine flying after him. He again
+fired upwards, and the airplane fell in flames, like the first, only a
+few seconds having elapsed between the two fights. Guynemer then
+returned to camp.
+
+But he was excited by these two fights; his nerves were strained and his
+will was tense. He soon started again. Towards noon a German machine
+appeared above the camp itself. How had it been able to get there? This
+is what the airmen down below were asking themselves. It was useless to
+chase it, for it would take any of them longer to rise than the German
+to escape. So they had to content themselves with looking up, some of
+them searching the sky with binoculars. Everybody was back except
+Guynemer, when somebody suddenly cried:
+
+"Here comes Guynemer!"
+
+"Then the Boche is done for."
+
+Guynemer, in fact, was coming down upon his prey like lightning, and the
+instant he was behind and slightly beneath him, he fired. Only one shot
+from the machine-gun was heard, but the enemy airplane was already
+spinning down, its engine going full speed, and was dashed into the
+earth at Courlandon near Fismes. The pilot had been shot through the
+head.
+
+In the afternoon the very prudent Guynemer started for the third time,
+and towards seven o'clock, above the Guignicourt market gardens (that is
+to say, in the enemy lines), he brought down another machine in flames.
+
+"Very prudent" is the last epithet one could have expected to see in
+connection with the name of Guynemer. For he rarely came home without
+bullet-holes in his wings or even in his clothes. The Boche, being the
+Boche, had shown his usual respect for truth and generosity towards an
+adversary.
+
+Guynemer, when returning to camp after a victory, generally announced
+his success by making his engine work to some tune. This time the
+cadence was the tune of the _Lampions_. All the neighboring airplane
+sheds understood, also the cantonments, parks, depots, dugouts, field
+hospitals and railway stations; in a word, all the communities scattered
+behind the lines of an army. This time the motor was singing so
+insistently that everybody, with faces upturned, concluded that their
+Guynemer had been "getting them."
+
+In fact, the news was already spreading like wildfire, as news has the
+mysterious capacity for doing. No, it was not simply one airplane he had
+set ablaze; it was two, one above Corbeny, the other above Juvincourt.
+And people had hardly realized the wonderful fact before the third
+machine was seen falling in flames near Fismes. It was seen by hundreds
+of men who thought it was about to fall upon them, and ran for shelter.
+Meanwhile, Guynemer's engine was singing.
+
+And for the fourth time it was heard again at twilight. Could it be
+possible? Had Guynemer really succeeded four times? Four machines
+brought down in one day by one pilot was what no infantryman, gunner,
+pioneer, territorial, Anamite or Senegalese had ever seen. And from the
+stations, field hospitals, dugouts, depots, parks and cantonments, while
+the setting sun lingered in the sky on this May evening, whoever handled
+a shovel, a pickaxe or a rifle, whoever laid down rails, unloaded
+trucks, piled up cases, or broke stones on the road, whoever dressed
+wounds, gave medicine or carried dead men, whoever worked, rested, ate
+or drank--whoever was alive, in a word--stepped out, ran, jostled
+along, arrived at the camp, got helterskelter over the fences, broke
+into the sheds, searched the airplanes, and called to the mechanicians
+in their wild desire to see Guynemer. There they were, a whole town of
+them, knocking at every door and peeping into every tent.
+
+Somebody said: "Guynemer is asleep."
+
+Whereupon, without a word of protest, without a sound, the crowd
+streamed out and scattered in the darkening fields, threading its way
+back to the quiet dells behind the lines.
+
+So ended the day of the greatest aerial victory.
+
+
+II. A VISIT TO GUYNEMER
+
+_Sunday, June 3, 1917._ To-day, the first Sunday of June, the women from
+the neighboring villages came to visit the camp. Nobody is allowed to
+enter, but from the road you can see the machines start or land. The day
+was glorious, and the broad sun transfiguring these French landscapes,
+with their elongated valleys, their wooded ranges of hills, and
+generally harmonious lines suggested Greece, and one looked around for
+the colonnades of temples.
+
+Beyond the rolling country rose the Aisne cliffs, where the fighting was
+incessant, though its roar was scarcely perceived.
+
+Why had these villages been attracted to this particular camp? Because
+they knew that here, in default of Greek temples, were young gods. They
+wanted to see Guynemer.
+
+The news had flown on rapid wings from hamlet to hamlet, from farm to
+farm, of what had happened on the 25th, and on the next day Guynemer had
+been almost equally successful.
+
+Several aviators had already landed, men with famous names, but the
+public cannot be expected to remember them all. Finally an airplane
+descended in graceful spirals, landing softly and rolling along close to
+the railings.
+
+"_Guynemer!_"
+
+But the pilot, unconscious of the worshiping crowd, took off his helmet,
+disclosed a frowning face, and began discontentedly to examine his gun.
+Twice that day it had jammed, saving two Germans. Guynemer was like the
+painters of old who, by grinding their colors themselves, insured the
+duration of their works. He resented not being able to make all his
+weapons himself, his engine, his Vickers, and his bullets. At length he
+seemed willing to leave his machine, and pulled off his heavy war
+accouterment, which revealed a tall, flexible young man. As he rapidly
+approached his tent, his every motion watched by the onlookers, a
+private turned on him a small camera, with a beseeching--
+
+"You'll permit me, _mon capitaine_?"
+
+"Yes, but quick."
+
+He was cross and impatient, and as he stopped he noticed all the eyes of
+the women watching him ecstatically. He made a despairing gesture. His
+frown deepened, his figure stiffened, and the snapshot was another
+failure.
+
+Hardly any of his portraits are like him. Does the fact that he was tall
+and spare, almost beardless, with an amber-colored, oval face and a
+regular profile, and raven-hair brushed backwards, give any idea of the
+force that was in him? If his eyes, dark with golden reflections, could
+have been painted, they might no doubt have given a more accurate notion
+of him: his capacity for surveying all space, and his prompt decision,
+were visible in them, as well as his carefulness and his courage. Their
+glance was so direct, almost brutal, that it could be felt, so to speak,
+physically; and yet it could suddenly express a cheerful, boyish nature,
+or disclose his close attention to the technical problems which
+everlastingly engrossed his mind.
+
+Guynemer was very different from Navarre, with his powerful profile and
+broad chest like an eagle in repose, and different from Nungesser, the
+Nungesser before his wounds had so devastated his body that a medical
+board wanted to declare him unfit, a decision which he heroically
+resisted, adding to his thirty victories another triumph over physical
+disability. Guynemer differed from them mentally, too, possessing
+neither their instinct nor their intuitiveness. These he replaced with
+scientific accuracy based on study, by a passion for flying, by method
+allied to fervor, by violent logic. His power was nervous and almost
+electric. The vicinity of danger drew sparks from him.
+
+His most daring exploits were prepared by meditation beforehand, and he
+never indulged in recklessness without having pondered and calculated.
+His action was so swift that it might seem instinctive, but under
+appearances the reasoning element was always present.
+
+It was now late, but he was willing to talk to us about that wonderful
+25th of May, for he had no objection to talking about his enemy-chasing;
+on the contrary, he would tell us details with the same amusement as if
+he related lucky plays at poker, and with the same knowing ways. There
+was not the least shade of affectation or of posing in his narrative,
+but he talked with the simplicity of a child. He told us that his third
+encounter had been the most enjoyable. He was coming back to lunch, had
+seen the impudent German soaring above the camp, had fired, and the man
+had gone down dead. After this exceedingly brief account he laughed as
+usual, a fresh laugh like a girl's, and his eyes closed. He said he was
+sleepy; he had been out twice, and before he went again he wanted a
+little rest.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I remember how bustling the camp looked! It was half-past six, and the
+weather was wonderful, with not a cloud in the sky, for some floating
+white flakes in the blue could not be called clouds. But these white
+flakes began to multiply; they were, in fact, an enemy patrol, which had
+succeeded in crossing the lines and was now above us. We counted two,
+three, four machines, which the sparks of our exploding shells promptly
+surrounded, while three French Spads rose at full speed to meet them.
+
+As we stood watching and wondering if the enemy would accept the fight,
+Guynemer suddenly appeared. He had been called, and now he and his
+comrades, Captain Auger and Lieutenant Raymond, came running to their
+machines. I watched Guynemer as he was being put into his leather suit.
+His whole soul was in his eyes, which glared at one moving point in
+space as if they themselves could shoot. Three of the German machines
+had already turned back, but the remaining one went on, insolently
+counting on his own power and speed. I shall never forget Guynemer, his
+face lifted, his eyes illuminated as if hypnotized by this point in
+space, his figure upright and stiffened like an arrow waiting to be
+released by the bow. Before pulling down his helmet he gave the order:
+
+"Straight at him."
+
+The engines snorted and snored, the propellers began to move, the
+machines rolled along, and suddenly were seen climbing almost
+vertically. Up above the fight was beginning, and it seemed as if the
+three starting airplanes could never reach in time the altitude of four
+or five thousand meters at which it was taking place.
+
+The attacking Spad was obviously trying to get its opponent within
+firing range, but the German was a first-rate pilot and dodged without
+losing height, banking, looping, taking advantage of the Frenchman's
+dead angles, and striving to get him under his machine-gun. Round and
+round the two airplanes circled, when suddenly the German bolted in the
+direction of the Aisne cliffs. But the Spad partly caught up with him
+and the aerial circling began anew, while two other Spads appeared--a
+pack after a deer. The German cleverly took advantage now of the sun,
+now of the evening vapors, but he was within range, and the tack-tack of
+a machine-gun was heard. Guynemer and the other two were coming nearer,
+when the Spad dropped beneath its adversary and fired upwards. The
+German plunged, and we expected would sink, but he righted himself and
+was off in an instant. However, this was Guynemer's chance: three shots,
+not more, from his gun, and the German airplane crashed down somewhere
+near Muizon, on the banks of the Vesle.[23]
+
+[Footnote 23: This victory was not put down to Guynemer's account,
+because another airman had shot first--which gives an idea of the French
+controlling board's severity.]
+
+One after another, the victorious birds came back to cover from every
+part of the violet and rosy sky. But joy over their success must show
+itself, and they indulged in all the fanciful caprioles of acrobatic
+aviation, spinning down in quick spirals, turning somersaults, looping
+or plunging in a glorious sky-dance. Last of these young gods, Guynemer
+landed after one final circle, and took off his helmet, offering to the
+setting sun his illuminated face, still full of the spirit of battle.
+
+
+III. GUYNEMER IN CAMP
+
+On the Somme Guynemer was one of the great French champions; on the
+Aisne he became their king. No enemy could resist him, and his daring
+appeared without bounds. On May 27 he attacked alone a squadron of six
+two-seaters above Auberive at an altitude of 5000 meters, and compelled
+them to go down to an altitude of 3600 meters. Before landing, he
+pounced on another group of eight, scattering them and bringing down
+one, completely smashed, with its fuselage linen in rags, among the
+shell-holes in a field. He was like the Cid Campeador, to whom the Sheik
+Jabias said:
+
+     ...Vous eclatiez, avec des rayons jusqu'aux cieux,
+     Dans une preseance eblouissante aux yeux;
+     Vous marchiez, entoure d'un ordre de bataille;
+     Aucun sommet n'etait trop haut pour votre taille,
+     Et vous etiez un fils d'une telle fierte
+     Que les aigles volaient tous de votre cote....
+
+His feats exceeded all hopes, and his appearance in the sky fairly
+frightened the enemy. On June 5, after bringing down an Albatros east of
+Berry-au-Bac, he chased to the east of Rheims a D.F.W., which had
+previously been attacked by other Spads. "My nose was right on him,"
+says Guynemer's notebook, "when my machine-gun jammed. But just then the
+observer raised his hands. I beckoned to him several times to veer
+towards our lines, but noticing that he was making straight for his own,
+I went back to my gun, which now worked, and fired a volley of fifteen
+(at 2200 altitude). Immediately the machine upset, throwing the observer
+overboard, and sank on Berru forest." However, Guynemer's day's work was
+not done to his satisfaction after these two victories (his forty-fourth
+and forty-fifth): he attacked a group of three, and later on a group of
+four, and came back with bullets in his machine.
+
+Meanwhile he had been made, on June 11, 1917, an Officer of the Legion
+of Honor with the following citation:
+
+     A remarkable officer, a daring and dexterous chaser. Has been of
+     exceptional service to the country both by the number of his
+     victories and by the daily example of his never-flagging courage
+     and constantly increasing mastery. Careless of danger, he has
+     become, by the infallibility of his methods, the most formidable
+     opponent of German flyers. On May 25 achieved unparalleled success,
+     bringing down two machines in one minute, and two more in the
+     course of the same day. By these exploits has contributed to
+     maintaining the courage and enthusiasm of the men who, from the
+     trenches, have witnessed his triumphs. Forty-five machines brought
+     down; twenty citations; twice wounded.
+
+This document, eloquent and accurate and tracing facts to their causes,
+praises in Guynemer at the same time will-power, courage, and the
+contagion of example. Guynemer loved the last sentence, because it
+associated with his fights their daily witnesses, the infantrymen in the
+trenches.
+
+The badge of an Officer in the Legion of Honor was given to him at the
+aviation camp on July 5 by General Franchet d'Esperey, in command of the
+Northern Armies. But this solemn ceremony had not prevented Guynemer
+from flying twice, the first time for two hours, the second flight one
+hour, on a new machine from which he expected wonders. He attacked three
+D.F.W.'s, and had to land with five bullets in his engine and radiator.
+
+His new decoration was given him at four o'clock on a beautiful summer
+afternoon. Guynemer's comrades were present, of course, and as pleased
+as if the function had concerned themselves. The 11th Company of the 82d
+Regiment of Infantry took its station opposite the imposing row of
+squadron machines, sixty in number, which stood there like race horses
+as if to take part in the fete. Guynemer's well-known airplane, the
+_Vieux-Charles_, was the fifth to the left, its master having required
+its presence, though it had been injured that very day. In front of the
+aviation and regimental flags the young aviator stood by himself in his
+black _vareuse_, looking slight and pale, but upright, with eyes
+sparkling. At a little distance a few civilians--his own people, whom
+the general had invited--watched the proceedings.
+
+General Franchet d'Esperey appeared, a robust, energetic man, and the
+following scene, described by one of the trench papers--the _Brise
+d'entonnoirs_ of the 82d Infantry--took place: "The general stopped
+before the young hero and eyed him with evident pleasure; then he
+proclaimed him a gallant soldier, touched his two shoulders with his
+sword, as they did to champions of past ages, pinned the _rosette_ on
+his coat, and embraced him. Then to the stirring tune of
+'_Sambre-et-Meuse_' the band and the soldiers marched in front of the
+new officer who, the ceremony now being over, joined his relatives some
+distance away."
+
+General d'Esperey, looking over Guynemer's _Vieux-Charles_, noticed the
+damaged parts.
+
+"How comes it that your foot was not injured?" he asked, pointing to one
+of the bullet-holes.
+
+"I had just removed it, _mon general_," said Guynemer, with his usual
+simplicity.
+
+None of the airmen with whom Guynemer shared his joy ever forgot that
+afternoon of July 5, 1917. The summer sun, the serene beauty of the
+hills bordering the Aisne, the distant bass of the battle, lent to the
+scene an enchanting but solemn interest. Tragic memories were in the
+minds of all the bystanders, and great names were on their lips--the
+names of retiring, noble, hard-working Dorme, reported missing on May
+25, and of Captain Lecour-Grandmaison, creator of the three-seaters,
+who, on one of these machines, brought down five Germans, but was killed
+in a combat on May 10 and brought back to camp dead by a surviving
+comrade. Guynemer's red _rosette_ meant glory to the great chasers, to
+wounded Heurtaux, to Menard and Deullin, to Auger, Fonck, Jailler,
+Guerin, Baudouin, and all their comrades! And it meant glory to the
+pilots and observers who, always together in the discharge of duty, are
+not infrequently together in meeting death: to Lieutenant Fressagues,
+pilot, and sous-lieutenant Bouvard, observer, who once fought seven
+Germans and managed to bring one down; to Lieutenant Floret and
+Lieutenant Homo, who, placed in similar circumstances, set two machines
+on fire; to Lieutenant Viguier who, on April 18, had the pluck to come
+down to twenty-five meters above the enemy's lines and calmly make his
+observations; and to so many others who did their duty with the same
+daring, intelligence, and conscientiousness, to the hundreds of more
+humble airmen who, while the infantry says the sanguinary mass, throw
+down from above, like the chorister boys in the _corpus Christi_
+procession, the red roses of epics!
+
+The whole Storks Escadrille had received from General Duchene the
+following _citation_: "Escadrille No. 3. Commander: Captain Heurtaux. A
+brilliant chasing escadrille which for the past two years has fought in
+every sector of the front with wonderful spirit and admirable
+self-sacrifice. The squadron has just taken part in the Lorraine and
+Champagne operations, and during this period its members have destroyed
+fifty-three German machines which, added to others previously brought
+down, makes a total of one hundred and twenty-eight certainly
+demolished, and one hundred and thirty-two partly disabled."
+
+This battle on the Aisne, with its famous climax at the Chemin des
+Dames, began to slacken in July; and it was decided that the chasing
+squadrons, including the Storks, should be transferred to one of the
+British sectors where another offensive was being prepared. But before
+leaving the Fismes or Rheims district, Guynemer was active. He had not
+been given his new rank in the Legion of Honor to be idle: that was not
+his way. On the contrary, his habit was to show, after receiving a
+distinction as well as before, that he was worthy of it. On July 6 he
+engaged five two-seaters, and brought down one in flames. The next day
+his notebook records two more victories:
+
+"Attacked with Adjutant Bozon-Verduraz, four Albatros one-seaters, above
+Brimont. Downed one in flames north of Villers-Franqueux, in our own
+lines. Attacked a D.F.W. which spun down in our lines at Moussy."
+
+These victories, his forty-sixth, forty-seventh, and forty-eighth, were
+his farewell to the Aisne. But these excessive exertions brought on
+nervous fatigue. The escadrille had only just reached its new station,
+when Guynemer had to go into hospital, whence he wrote his father on
+July 18 as follows:
+
+     Dear Father:
+
+     Knocked out again. Hospital. But this time I'm flourishing. No more
+     wooden barracks, but a farmhouse right in the fields. I have a room
+     all to myself. Quite correct: I downed three Fritzes, one ablaze,
+     and the next day again great sport: mistook four Boches for
+     Frenchmen. At first fought three of them, then one alone at 3200 to
+     800 meters. He took fire. They will have to wait till the earth
+     dries so they can dig him out. An hour later a two-seater turned up
+     at 5500. He blundered, and fell straight down on a 75, which died
+     of the shock. But so did the passenger. The pilot was simply a bit
+     excited, for which he couldn't be blamed. His machine had not
+     plunged, but came down slowly, with its nose twirling, and I got
+     his two guns intact....
+
+     The _toubib_ (doctor) says I shall be on my feet in three or four
+     days. Don't see many Boches just now, but that won't last. I read
+     in a newspaper that I had been mobbed in a friendly manner in
+     Paris. I must be ubiquitous without knowing it. Modern science
+     brings about marvels, modern journalism also.
+
+     Raymond has two strings (officer's stripes) and the cross of the
+     Legion. Please congratulate him.
+
+     Good night, father.
+
+     Georges.
+
+     P.S. I, who get seasick over nothing at all, have just been out to
+     sea for the first time. The water was very rough, especially for a
+     little motor-boat, but I smiled serenely through it all. Wasn't I
+     proud!...
+
+In fact, some newspaper had announced that Guynemer would carry the
+aviation flag in the Parade of the Fourteenth of July in Paris, and this
+was enough to persuade the crowd that some other airman was Guynemer.
+Indeed, there had been talk of sending him to Paris on that solemn
+occasion, but he had declined. He loved glory, but hated show, and he
+had followed his squadron to Flanders, where he had taken to his bed.
+
+The foregoing letter bears Guynemer's mark unmistakably. The son of rich
+parents rejoicing over having a room to himself, after having renounced
+all comfort from the very first day of his enlistment, and willing to
+begin as _garcon d'aerodrome_; the joke about the German airplane sunk
+so deep in the wet ground that it would have to be dug out, and the
+surprise of the pilot; the delight over Raymond's promotion; the amusing
+allusion to sea-sickness by the man who had no equal in air navigation,
+are all characteristic details.
+
+Sheik Jabias thus sums up his impressions after visiting the Cid in his
+camp:
+
+     Vous dominiez tout, grand, sans chef, sans joug, sans digue,
+     Absolu, lance au poing, panache, au front....
+
+And that Cid had never fought up in the air.
+
+
+IV. GUYNEMER IN HIS FATHER'S HOUSE
+
+To quote him once more, Sheik Jabias, after being dazzled by the Cid in
+his camp, is supposed to see him in his father's castle at Bivar, doing
+more humble work.
+
+     ...Que s'est-il donc passe? Quel est cet equipage?
+     J'arrive, et je vous trouve en veste, comme un page,
+     Dehors, bras nus, nu-tete, et si petit garcon
+     Que vous avez en main l'auge et le cavecon,
+     Et faisant ce qu'il sied aux ecuyers de faire,
+     --Cheick, dit le Cid, je suis maintenant chez mon pere.
+
+Those who never saw Guynemer at his father's at Compiegne cannot know
+him well. Of course, even in camp he was the best of comrades, full of
+his work, but always ready to enjoy somebody else's success, and
+speaking about his own as if it were billiards or bridge. His renown
+had not intoxicated him, and he would have been quite unconscious of it
+had he not sometimes felt that unresponsiveness on the part of others
+which is the price of glory: anything like jealousy hurt him as if it
+had been his first discovery of evil. In Kipling's _Jungle Book_,
+Mowgli, the man cub, noticing that the Jungle hates him, feels his eyes
+and is frightened at finding them wet. "What is this, Bagheera?" he asks
+of his friend the panther. "Oh, nothing; only tears," answers Bagheera,
+who had lived among men.
+
+One who, on occasion, told Guynemer _not to mind_ knows how deep was his
+sensitiveness, not to the presence of real hostility, which he
+fortunately never encountered, but even to an obscure germ of jealousy.
+The moment he felt this he shrank into himself. His native exuberance
+only displayed itself under the influence of sympathy.
+
+Friendship among airmen is manly and almost rough, not caring for
+formulas or appearances, but proving itself by deeds. To these men the
+games of war are astonishingly like school games, and are spoken of as
+if they were nothing else. When a comrade has not come back, and dinner
+has to begin without him, no show of sorrow is tolerated: only these
+young men's hearts feel the absence of a friend, and the casual visitor,
+not knowing, might take them for sporting men, lively and jolly.
+
+Guynemer was living his life in perfect confidence, feeling no personal
+ambition, not inclined to enjoy honors more than work, ignoring all
+affectation or attitudinizing, never politic, and naturally unconscious
+of his own simplicity. Yet he loved and adored what we call glory, and
+would tell anybody of his successes, even of his decorations, with a
+childlike certitude that these things must delight others as much as
+himself. His French honors were of course his great pride, but he highly
+appreciated those which he had received from allied governments, too:
+the Distinguished Service order, the Cross of St. George, the Cross of
+Leopold, the Belgian war medal, Serbian and Montenegrin orders, etc. All
+these ribbons made a bright show, and although he generally wore only
+the _rosette_ of the Legion of Honor, he would sometimes deck himself
+out in them all, or carry them in his pocket and occasionally empty them
+out on a table, as at school he used to tumble out the untidy contents
+of his desk in search of his task.
+
+When he went to Paris to see to his machines, he first secured a room at
+the Hotel Edouard VII, and immediately posted to the Buc works. When he
+had time he would invite himself to dinner at the house of his
+schoolmate at the College Stanislas, Lieutenant Constantin. "Every time
+he came," this officer writes, "some new exploit or a new decoration had
+been added to his list. He never wore all his medals, his 'village-band
+banner,' as he amusingly called them; but when people asked to see them,
+he immediately searched his pockets and produced the whole disorderly
+lot. When he became officer in the Legion, he appeared at my mother's
+quite radiant, so that she asked him the reason of this unusual joy.
+'Regardez bien, madame, there is something new.' The new thing which my
+mother discovered was a tiny _rosette_ ornamenting his red ribbon."
+
+This _rosette_ was so very small that nobody noticed it, and Guynemer
+felt that he must complain to the shopman at the Palais Royal who had
+sold it to him.
+
+"Give me a larger one, a huge one," he said; "nobody sees this."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The tradesman spread a number of _rosettes_ on his counter, but Guynemer
+only took back again the one of which he had complained, and went out
+laughing as if the whole thing had been a good joke.
+
+His officer's stripes gave him as much pleasure as his decorations.
+Every time he was promoted, he wanted his stripes sewn on, not in a day
+or an hour, or even five minutes, but immediately. He received his
+captain's commission the same day he had been given the Distinguished
+Service order, and he promptly went to see his friend, Captain de la
+Tour, who was wounded in the hospital at Nancy. This officer had lost
+three brothers in action, and loved Guynemer as if he had been another
+younger brother. Indeed, Guynemer said later that La Tour loved him more
+than any other did.
+
+"Don't you see any change in me?" Guynemer asked.
+
+"No, you're just as usual."
+
+"No, there's a change!"
+
+"Oh, I see; you mean your English order; it does look well."
+
+"There's something else. Look closer."
+
+La Tour at last discovered the three stripes on the cap and sleeves.
+
+"What! Are you a captain?"
+
+"Yes, a captain," and Guynemer laughed his boyish laugh.--This kid a
+captain! So I am not an impressive captain, then? I haven't run risks
+enough to be a captain, probably!--His laugh said all this.
+
+Lieutenant Constantin also says in his notes: "Guynemer disliked walking
+about Paris, because people recognized him. When he saw them turn to
+look at him, he would grumble at the curse of having a face that was
+public property. So he preferred waiting for evening, and then drove his
+little white car up the Champs Elysees to the Bois. He enjoyed this
+peaceful recreation thoroughly, and forgot the excitement of his life at
+the front. Memories of our boyhood days came back to him, and he dwelt
+on them with delight: 'Do you remember one day in _seconde_ when we
+quarreled and fought like madmen? You made such a mark on my arm that it
+is there yet.' He did not mind, but I was ashamed of having been such a
+young brute. Another day, in May, 1917, coming home on leave I met
+Georges just as he stepped out of his hotel, and as I had just been
+mentioned in dispatches I told him about it. Immediately he dragged me
+into a shop, bought a _croix de guerre_, pinned it on my _vareuse_, and
+hugged me before everybody."
+
+Guynemer had a genius for graciousness, and his imagination was
+inexhaustible when he wished to please, but his temper was hot and
+quick. One day he had left his motor at the door of the hotel, and some
+practical joker thought it clever to leave a note in the car with this
+inscription in large letters: AVIATORS TO THE FRONT! Guynemer did not
+take the joke at all, and was boiling with rage.
+
+His complete freedom from conceit has often been remarked. At a luncheon
+given in his honor by the well-known deputy, Captain Lasies, he would
+not say a word about himself, but extolled his comrades until somebody
+said: "You are really modesty itself."
+
+Whereupon another guest asked: "Could you imagine him bragging?"
+
+Guynemer was delighted, and when the party broke up he went out with the
+gentleman who had said this and thanked him warmly. "Don't you see how
+little they understand? I don't say I am modest, but if I weren't I
+would be a fool, and I should not like to be that. I know quite well
+that just now some of us are getting so much admiration and so many
+honors that one may get more than one's share. Whereas the men in the
+trenches--how different it is with them!"[24]
+
+[Footnote 24: _Journal des Debats_ for September 26, 1917.]
+
+But it was inevitable that he should be lionized. People came to him
+with albums and pictures. He wrote to his father that a Madame de B.
+wanted something, just one sentence, in an album which was to be sold in
+America. "I am to be alongside the Generalissimo. What on earth can I
+write?"
+
+An American lady who was also a guest at the Hotel Edouard VII wanted to
+have at any price some souvenir of the young hero. She ordered her maid
+to bring away an old glove of Guynemer's which was lying on a chest of
+drawers, and replace it by a magnificent bouquet. "This lady put me in a
+nice dilemma," Guynemer explained, "as it was Sunday and there was no
+way of getting any more gloves."[25]
+
+[Footnote 25: Anecdote related in the _Figaro_ for September 29, 1917.]
+
+He had no affectation, least of all the kind that pretends to be
+ignorant of one's own popularity; but surely he cared little for
+popularity. Here again he puts us in mind of a medieval poem. In
+_Gilbert de Metz_, one of our oldest epics, the daughter of Anseis is
+described seated at the window, "fresh, slim, and white as a lily" when
+two knights, Garin and his cousin Gilbert, happen to ride near. "Look
+up, cousin Gilbert," says Garin, "look. By our lady, what a handsome
+dame!" "Oh," answers Gilbert, "what a handsome creature my steed is! I
+never saw anything so lovely as this maiden with her fair skin and dark
+eyes. I never knew any steed that could compare with mine." And so on,
+while Gilbert still refuses to look up at the beautiful daughter of
+Anseis. Also in _Girard de Viane_, Charlemagne, holding his court at
+the palace of Vienne, has just placed the hand of the lovely Aude in
+that of his nephew Roland. Both the girl and the great soldier are
+silent and blushing while the date of the wedding is being discussed,
+when a messenger suddenly rushes in: "The Saracens are in France! War!
+war!" shout the bystanders. Then without a word Roland drops the white
+hand of the girl, springs to arms, and is gone. So Guynemer would have
+praised his Nieuport or his Spad as Gilbert praised his steed, and
+_belle Aude_ herself could not have kept him away from the fight.
+
+[Illustration: COMBAT]
+
+One day his father felt doubts about the capacity of such a young man to
+resist the intoxication of so much flattery from men and women.
+
+"Don't worry," Guynemer answered, "I am watching my nerves as an acrobat
+watches his muscles. I have chosen my own mission, and I must fulfil
+it."
+
+After his death, one of his friends, the one who spoke to him last, told
+me: "He used to put aside heaps of flattering letters which he did not
+even read. 'Read them if you like,' he said to me, and I destroyed them.
+He only read letters from children, schoolboys and soldiers."
+
+In _L'Aiglon_ Prokesch brings the mail to the Prince Imperial, and
+handing him letters from women, he says:
+
+                            Voila
+     Ce que c'est d'avoir l'aureole fatale.
+
+As soon as Prokesch begins to read them, the Prince stops him with the
+words: "_Je dechire_." Even when a woman whom he has nicknamed "Little
+Spring"--"because the water sleeping in her eyes or purling in her voice
+has often cooled his fever"--announces her departure, hoping he may
+detain her, he lets her go, whispering again like a refrain, "_Je
+dechire_."
+
+Did Guynemer deal with hearts as he dealt with the besieging letters, or
+as the falcon of St. Jean l'Hospitalier dealt with birds?--No "Little
+Spring," had her voice been ever so rill-like, could have detained him
+when a sunny morning invited him skywards.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Safe from the admiring public, Guynemer would relax and breathe freely
+with his people at Compiegne, where he became once more a lively, noisy,
+indulged, but coaxing and charming boy, except when absorbed in work,
+from which nothing could distract him. He spent hours in pasting and
+classifying the snapshots he took of his enemies just before pulling the
+trigger of his machine-gun and bringing them down. One of his greatest
+pleasures when on leave was to arrange and show these photographs.
+
+His eyes, which saw everything, were keen to detect the least changes in
+the arrangement of his home, even when mere knickknacks had been moved
+about. At each visit he found the house ornamented with some new trophy
+of his exploits. He was delighted to find that a miniature barkentine,
+which he had built with corks, paper, and thread when he was seven years
+old, still stood on his mother's mantelpiece. Even at that age his
+powers of observation had been evident, and he had forgotten no detail
+of sails or rigging.
+
+He had taken again so naturally his old place in the family circle that
+his mother forgot once and called the tall, famous young man by his old
+familiar name, "_Bebe_." She quickly corrected herself, but he said:
+
+"I am always that to you, Mother."
+
+"I was happier when you were little," she observed.
+
+"I hope you are not vexed with me, Mother."
+
+"Vexed for what?"
+
+"For having grown up."
+
+He was naturally full of the one subject that interested him, airplanes
+and chasing, and he would go round the house collecting audiences.
+Strange bits of narration could be overheard from different rooms as he
+held forth:
+
+"Then I _embusqued_ myself became a slacker...."
+
+"What!"
+
+"Oh! I _embusqued_ myself behind a cloud."
+
+Or, "The light dazzled me, so I hid the sun with my wing."
+
+He never forgot his sisters' birthdays, but he could not always give
+them the present he preferred. "Sorry I could not present you with a
+Boche."
+
+He was hardly different when his mother received company: he was never
+seen to play the great man. Only on one subject he always and instantly
+became serious, namely, when the future was mentioned. "Do not let us
+make any plans," he would say.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A page from one of my own notebooks will help to show Guynemer as I used
+to see him in his home.
+
+     _Wednesday, June 27, 1917._--Compiegne. Called on the Guynemers. He
+     is fascination itself with his "goddess on the clouds" gait--as if
+     he remembered when walking that he could also fly--with his
+     incomparable eyes, his perpetual movement, his interior
+     electricity, his admixture of elegance and ardor, and with that
+     impulse of his whole being towards one object which suggests the
+     antique runner, even when he is for an instant in repose. His
+     parents and sisters do not miss a single gesture, a single motion
+     he makes. They drink in his every word, and his life seems to
+     absorb them. His laugh echoes in their souls. They believe in him,
+     are sure of him, sure of his future, and that all will be well.
+     Noticing this certitude, whether real or assumed, I could not help
+     stealing a glance at the frail god of aviation, made like the
+     delicate statuettes that we dread breaking. He talks passionately,
+     as usual, of his aerial fights. But just now one thought seems to
+     supersede every other. He is expecting a new machine, a magic
+     machine which he planned long ago, found difficult to get built,
+     and with which he must do more damage than ever.
+
+     Then he showed us his photographs with the white blotches of
+     bursting shells, or the gray wings of German airplanes. One of
+     these is seen as it falls in flames, the pilot falling, too, some
+     distance away from it. Thus the victim was registered, and the
+     memory of it made him happy.
+
+     I swallowed a question I was going to ask: What about
+     yourself--some day? because he looked so full of life that the
+     notion of death could never present itself to him. But he seemed to
+     have read my thoughts, for he said:
+
+     "You have plenty of time in the air, except when you fight, and
+     then you have no time at all. I've been brought down six times, and
+     I always had plenty of time to realize what was happening." And he
+     laughed his clear, boyish laugh.
+
+     As a matter of fact, he has been incredibly lucky. In one fight he
+     was hit three times, and each time the bullet was deadened by some
+     unexpected obstacle.
+
+     Finally I was shown photographs of himself, chronologically
+     arranged. Needless to say, it was not he who showed them. There was
+     the half-nude baby, with eyes already sparkling and eager, then the
+     schoolboy with the fine carriage of the head, then the lad fresh
+     from school with a singularly calm expression, and well filled-out
+     cheeks. A little later the expression appeared more mature and
+     tense, though still ingenuous. Later again there was a decidedly
+     stern look, with the face less oval and thinner. The rough fingers
+     of war had chiseled this face, and sharpened and strengthened it. I
+     looked from the picture to him, and I realized that, compared to
+     his former pictures, his expression had now indeed acquired
+     something terrible. But just then he laughed, and the laughter
+     conjured away all phantasies.
+
+
+V. THE MAGIC MACHINE
+
+As a tiny boy who had invented an enchanted bed for his sisters' dolls,
+as a boy who, at College Stanislas, had rigged up a telephone to send
+messages to the last forms in the schoolroom, or manufactured miniature
+airplanes, as a recruit who, at Pau, had gladly accepted the work of
+cleaning, burnishing, and overhauling engines, Guynemer had always shown
+a passion for mechanics. Becoming a pilot, and later on a chaser, he
+exhibited in the study and perfecting of his airplanes the same
+enthusiasm and perseverance as in his flights. He was everlastingly
+calling for swifter or more powerful machines, and not only strove to
+communicate his own fervor to technicians, but went into minute details,
+suggested improvements, and whenever he had a chance visited the
+workshops and assisted at trials. Such trials are sometimes dangerous.
+One of his friends, Edouard de Layens, was killed in this kind of
+accident, and Guynemer was enraged that a gallant airman should perish
+otherwise than in battle. He was in reality an inventor, though this
+statement may cause surprise, and though it may not be wise at present
+to bear it out by facts.
+
+Every part of his machine or of his gun was familiar to him. He had
+handled them all, taking them apart and putting them together again.
+There are practical improvements in modern airplanes which would not be
+there had it not been for him. And there is a "Guynemer visor."
+
+Confidence and authoritativeness had not come to him along with glory,
+for from the first he talked as one engrossed by his ideas, and it is
+because he was thus engrossed that he found persuasive words to bring
+others round to his views. But, naturally enough, he had not at first
+the prestige which he possessed when he became Captain Guynemer, had
+high rank in the Legion of Honor, and enjoyed world-wide fame. In his
+'prentice days when, in workshops or in the presence of well-known
+builders, he would make confident statements, inveigh against errors, or
+demand modifications, people thought him flippant and saucy. Once
+somebody called him a raw lad. The answer came with crushing rapidity:
+"When you blunder, raw lads like myself pay for your mistakes."
+
+It must be admitted that, like most people brought up with wealth, he
+was apt to be unduly impatient. Delays or objections irritated him. He
+wanted to force his will upon Time, which never admits compulsion, and
+tried to over-ride obstacles. His peculiar fascination gradually won its
+way even in workshops, and his appearance there was greeted with
+acclamation, not only because the men were curious to see him, but
+because they were in sympathy with him and had put his ideas to a
+successful test. The workmen liked to see him sit in a half-finished
+machine, and explain in his short, decisive style what he wanted and
+what was sure to give superiority to French aviation. The men stopped
+work, came round, and listened eagerly. This, too, was a triumph for
+him. What he told them on such occasions he had probably whispered to
+himself many times before when, on rainy days, he would sit in his
+airplane under the hangar, and think and talk to himself, while
+strangers wondered if he was not crazy.
+
+However, he had made friends with well-known engineers, especially Major
+Garnier of Puteaux and M. Bechereau of the Spad works. These two,
+instead of dismissing him as a snappish airman continually at variance
+with the builder, took his inventions seriously and strove to meet his
+requirements. When M. Bechereau, after long delays, was at last
+decorated for his eminent services, the Secretary of Aeronautics, M.
+Daniel Vincent, came to the works and was going to place the medal and
+red ribbon on the engineer's breast, when he saw Guynemer standing near.
+He graciously handed the medal over to the airman, saying:
+
+"Give M Bechereau his decoration; it is only fair you should."
+
+In September, 1916, Guynemer had tried at the front one of the first two
+Spads. On the 8th he wrote to M. Bechereau: "Well, the Spad has had her
+_bapteme du feu_. The others were six: an Aviatik at 2800, an L.V.G. at
+2900, and four Rumplers jostling one another with barely 25 meters in
+between at 3000 meters. When the four saw me coming (at 1800 on the
+speedometer) they no doubt took me for a meteorite and funked, and when
+they got over it and back to their shooting (fine popping, though) it
+was too late. My gun never jammed once." Here he went into
+technicalities about his new machine-gun, but further on reverted to the
+Spad: "She loops wonderfully. Her spin is a bit lazy and irregular, but
+deliciously soft." The letter concludes with many suggestions for minor
+improvements.
+
+His correspondence with M. Bechereau was entirely devoted to a study of
+airplanes: he never wandered from the subject. Thus he collaborated with
+the engineer by constantly communicating to him the results of his
+experience. His machine-gun was the great difficulty. "Yesterday," he
+wrote on October 21, 1916, "five Boches, three of them above our lines,
+came within ten meters of the muzzle of my gun, and impossible to shoot.
+Four days ago I had to let two others get away. Sickening.... The
+weather is wonderful. Perhaps the gun will work now." In fact, a few
+days later he wrote exultingly, having discovered that the jamming was
+due to cold and having found an ingenious remedy.
+
+     _November 4, 1916._ Day before yesterday I bagged a Fokker
+     one-seater biplane. It was two meters off, but as it tumbled into a
+     group of our Nieuports, the controlling board would not give the
+     victory to anybody. Yesterday got an Aviatik ten meters off;
+     passenger shot dead by the first bullet; the plane, all in rags,
+     went down in slow spirals and must have been knocked flat somewhere
+     near Berlincourt. Heurtaux, who had seen it beginning to fall,
+     brought one down himself ten minutes later, like a regular ball.
+
+On November 18 next, after going into particulars concerning his engine
+which he wanted made stronger, he told M. Bechereau of his 21st and 22d
+victories:
+
+     As for the 21st, it was a one-seater I murdered as it twirled in
+     elegant spirals down to its own landing ground. No. 22 was a 220
+     H.P., one of three above our lines. I came upon it unawares in a
+     somersault. Passenger stood up, but fell down again in his seat
+     before even setting his gun going. I put some two hundred or two
+     hundred and fifty bullets into him twenty meters away from me. He
+     had taken an invariable angle of 45 deg. on the first volley. When I
+     let him go, Adjutant Bucquet took him in hand--which would have
+     helped if he hadn't already been as full of holes as a strainer. He
+     kept his angle of 45 deg. till about 500 meters, when he adopted the
+     vertical, and blazed up on crashing to the ground....
+
+The Spad ravished him. It was the heyday of wonderful flights on the
+Somme. Yet he wanted something even better; but before pestering M.
+Bechereau he began with an inspiring narrative.
+
+     _December 28, 1916._ I can't grumble; yet yesterday I missed my
+     camera badly. I had a high-class round with an Albatros, a fine,
+     clever fellow, between two and ten meters away from me. We only
+     exchanged fifteen shots, and he snapped my right fore-cable--just a
+     few threads still held--while I shot him in the small of his back.
+     A fine spill! (No. 25).
+
+     Now, to speak of serious things, I must tell you that the Spad 150
+     H.P. is not much ahead of the Halberstadt. The latter is not
+     faster, I admit, but it climbs so much more quickly that it
+     amounts to the same thing. However, our latest model knocks them
+     all out....
+
+The letter adds only some recommendations as to the necessity for more
+speed and a better propeller.
+
+But much more important improvements were already filling his mind. He
+had conceived plans for a magic airplane that would simply annihilate
+the enemy, and as he would doggedly carry on a fight, so he ruminated,
+begged, and urged until his idea was realized. But he was forced to
+practice exhausting perseverance, and on several occasions the lack of
+comprehension or sympathy which he encountered infuriated him. Yet he
+never gave up. It was not his way in a workshop, any more than in the
+air; and when, after some ten months' struggling, trying, and frequent
+beginning over again, he saw himself at last in possession of the
+wonderful machine, he rejoiced as a warrior may after forging his own
+weapons.
+
+In January, 1917, he wrote to M. Bechereau urging him to make all
+dispatch: "Spring will soon be here, and the Germans are working like
+niggers. If we go to sleep, it will be '_couic_' for us." Henceforth his
+correspondence, sometimes rather dictatorial, with the engineer was
+entirely devoted to the magic airplane,--its size, controls, wing-tips,
+tank, weight, etc. The margins of his letters were covered with
+drawings, and every detail was minutely discussed. In February he wrote
+to his father as if he had been a builder: "My machine surpasses all
+expectations, and will soon be at work. In Paris I go to bed early and
+rise ditto, spending all day at Spad's. I have no other thought or
+occupation. It is a fixed idea, and if it goes on I shall become a
+perfect idiot. When peace is signed, let nobody dare to mention a weapon
+of any kind in my presence for six months."
+
+He thought himself within reach of his goal; but unexpected obstacles
+would come in his way, and it was not till July 5, 1917--the same day on
+which he received the _rosette_ of the Legion of Honor from General
+Franchet d'Esperey at the Aisne Aviation Camp--that he could at last try
+the long-dreamed-of, long-hoped-for airplane. But in a fight against
+three D.F.W.'s, the splendid new machine got riddled with bullets, he
+had to land, and everything had to be begun over again. But Guynemer was
+not afraid of beginning over again, and in fact he was to give the
+airplane another chance in Flanders, and to see all his expectations
+fulfilled. The 49th, 50th, 51st and 52d victories of Guynemer were due
+to the magic airplane.
+
+He managed to impose his will on matter, and on those who adapt it to
+the warlike conceptions of man, as he imposed it on the enemy. Then,
+spreading out his wings on high, he might well think himself
+invincible.
+
+
+
+
+CANTO IV
+
+THE ASCENSION
+
+
+I. THE BATTLE OF FLANDERS
+
+After the battle on the Aisne Georges Guynemer was ordered to Flanders,
+but he had to take to his bed as soon as he arrived (July, 1917) and
+only left the hospital on the 20th. He then repaired to the new aviation
+camp outside Dunkirk, which at that time consisted of a few rows of
+tents near the seaside. He was to take part in the contemplated
+offensive, on his own magic airplane--which he brought from Fismes on
+the 23d--for the Storks Escadrille had been incorporated into a fighting
+unit under Major Brocard. No disease could be an obstacle to a Guynemer
+when an offensive was in preparation. In fact, all the Storks were on
+the spot: Captain Heurtaux, now recovered from his wound received in
+Champagne in April, was in command, and Captain Auger (soon to be
+killed), Lieutenant Raymond, Lieutenant Deullin, Lieutenant Lagache and
+_sous-lieutenant_ Bucquet were there; while Fonck and Verduraz,
+newcomers to the squadron but not by any means unknown, Adjutants
+Guillaumat, Henin, and Petit-Dariel, Sergeants Gaillard and Moulines,
+Corporals de Marcy, Dubonnet, and Risacher, completed the staff. As
+early as June 24 Guynemer had soared again.
+
+In order to realize the importance of this new battle of Flanders which,
+begun on July 31, was to rage till the following winter, it may not be
+out of place to quote a German appreciation. In an issue of the _Lokal
+Anzeiger_, published at the end of September, 1917, after two months'
+uninterrupted fighting, Doctor Wegener wrote as follows:
+
+     How can anybody talk of anything but this battle of Flanders? Is it
+     possible that some people actually grow hot over the
+     parliamentarization, or the loan, or the cost of butter, or the
+     rumors of peace, while every heart and every eye ought to be fixed
+     on these places where soldiers are doing wonderful deeds! This
+     battle is the most formidable that has yet been fought. It was
+     supposed to be ended, but here it is, blazing afresh and promising
+     a tremendous conflagration. The Englishman goes on with his usual
+     doggedness, and the last bombardment has excelled in horrible
+     intensity all that has been known so far. Even before the signal
+     for storming, the English were drunk with victory, so gigantic was
+     their artillery, so dreadful their guns, so intense their
+     firing....
+
+These lines help us to realize how keen was the anxiety caused in
+Germany by the new offensive coming so soon after the battles of
+Champagne in April. But the lyricism of Dr. Wegener stood in the way of
+his own judgment, and prevented him from seeing that the battle on the
+Marne which drove the enemy back, the battle on the Yser which brought
+him to a standstill, and the battle round Verdun which effectually wore
+him out, were each in succession the greatest of the war. The second
+battle of Flanders ought rather to be compared to the battle on the
+Somme, the real consequences of which were not completely visible till
+the German recoil on the Siegfried line took place in March, 1917. While
+the first battle of Flanders had closed the gates of Dunkirk and Calais
+against the Germans, and marked the end of their invasion, the second
+one drove a wedge at Ypres into the German strength, made formidable by
+three years' daily efforts, secured the Flemish heights, pushed the
+enemy back into the bog land, and threatened Bruges. In the first
+battle, the French under Foch had been supported by the English under
+Marshal French; this time the English, who were the protagonists, under
+Plumer (Second Army) and Gough (Fifth Army), were supported by the First
+French Army under General Anthoine.
+
+It was as late as June that General Anthoine's soldiers had taken their
+stand to the left of the British armies, and after the tremendous fights
+along the Chemin des Dames and Moronvillers in April, it might well be
+believed that they were tired. They had borne the burden from the very
+first; they had been on the Marne and the Yser in 1914, at the
+numberless and costly offensives of 1915 in Artois, Champagne, Lorraine
+and Alsace; and in 1916, after the Verdun epic, they had had to fight on
+the Somme. Indeed, they had only ceased repelling the enemy's attacks in
+order to attack in their turn. Among the Allies, they represented
+invincible determination, as well as a perfected military method. Those
+troops arriving on June 15, on ground they had never seen before, might
+well have been anxious for a respite; yet on July 31 they were in the
+fighting line with the British. Two days before the attack they crossed
+the Yser canal by twenty-nine bridges without losing one man, and showed
+an intelligence and spirit which added to their ascendancy over the
+enemy and increased the prestige of the French army. And while Marshal
+Haig was finding such an exceptional second in General Anthoine, Petain,
+now commander-in-chief, was aiding the British offensive by attacking
+the Germans at other points on the front: on August 20 the Second Army
+under Guillaumat was victorious on the Meuse, near Verdun, while the
+Sixth Army under Maistre was preparing for the Malmaison offensive which
+on October 23 secured for the French the whole length of the Chemin des
+Dames to the river Ailette.
+
+General Anthoine had had less than six weeks in which to see what he
+could do with the ground, organize the lines of communication, and post
+his batteries and infantry. But he had no idea of delaying the British
+offensive, and on the appointed day he was ready. The line of attack for
+the three armies was some 20 kilometers long, namely, from the
+Ypres-Menin road to the confluence of the Yperlee and Martje-Vaert, the
+French holding the section between Drie Grachten and Boesinghe. It had
+been settled that the offensive should be conducted methodically, that
+its objective should be limited, and that it might be interrupted and
+resumed as often as should seem advisable. The troops were engaged on
+the 31st of July, and the first rush carried the French onward a
+distance of 3 kilometers, not only to Steenstraete, which was the
+objective, but further on to Bixchoote and the Korteker Tavern. The
+British on their side had advanced 1500 yards over heavily fortified or
+wooded ground, and their new line lay along Pilkem, Saint-Julien,
+Frezenberg, Hooge, Sanctuary Wood, Hollebeke and Basse-Ville. Stormy
+weather on the first of August, and German counter-attacks on
+Saint-Julien, prevented an immediate continuation of the offensive, but
+on August 16 a fresh advance took the French as far as Saint-Jansbeck,
+while they seized the bridge-head of Drie Grachten. General Anthoine had
+been so careful in his artillery preparation that one of the attacking
+battalions had not a single casualty, and no soldier was even wounded.
+The French then had to wait until the English had advanced in their turn
+to the range of hillocks between Becelaere and Poelcapelle (September 20
+and 26), but the brilliant British successes on those two dates were
+making another collective operation possible; and this operation took
+place on October 9, and gave the French possession of the outskirts of
+Houthulst forest, while the British fought on till they captured the
+Passchendaele hills.
+
+Every great battle is now preceded and accompanied by a battle in the
+air, because if chasing or bombarding squadrons did not police the air
+before an attack, no photographs of the enemy's lines could be taken;
+and if they did not afford protection for the observers while the troops
+are engaged, the batteries would shoot and the infantry progress
+blindly. It is not surprising, therefore, that the enemy, who could not
+be deceived as to the importance of the French and British preparations
+in Flanders, had as early as mid-June brought additional airplanes and
+"sausages," and throughout July terrible contests took place in the air.
+Sometimes these engagements were duels, oftener they were fought by
+strong squadrons, and on July 13 units consisting of as many as thirty
+machines were seen on either side, the Germans losing fifteen airplanes,
+and sixteen more going home in a more or less damaged condition.
+
+While in hospital, Guynemer had heard of these tremendous encounters,
+and wondered if the enchanting cruises he used to make by himself or
+with just one companion must be things of the past. Was he to be
+involved in the new tactics and to become a mere unit in a group, or a
+chief with the responsibility of collective maneuvers? The air knight
+was incredulous; he thought of his magic airplane and could not persuade
+himself that, whatever the number of his opponents, he could not single
+one out for his thunder-clap attack.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Meanwhile the artillery preparation had begun, towards the fifteenth of
+July, and the earth was quaking to the thundering front at a distance
+of 50 kilometers. These are flat regions, and there would be no beauty
+in them if the light radiating from the vapors rising from the fields or
+the sea did not lend brilliance and relief to the yellow stone villages,
+the straggling woods or copses, the well-to-do farms, the low hedges, or
+the tall calvaries at the crossroads.
+
+Guynemer was in splendid condition. His indisposition of the previous
+month had been caused by his refusing to sleep at Dunkirk, as the others
+did, until their new quarters were ready. He wanted to be near his
+machine the moment there was light enough to see by, and slept in some
+unfinished hangar or under canvas in order not to miss any enterprising
+German who might take advantage of the dusk to sneak over the lines, spy
+on our preparations, or bombard our rear. He had paid for his imprudence
+by a severe cold. But now, comfortable-looking wooden houses stood along
+the shore, and Guynemer was himself again.
+
+On July 27, while patrolling with Lieutenant Deullin, his chum of Somme
+and of Aisne days--in fact, his friend of much older times--he brought
+down in flames, between Langemarck and Roulers, a very powerful
+Albatros, apparently a 220 H.P. of the latest model. This fell far
+within the enemy lines, but enthusiastic British soldiers witnessed the
+scene. Guynemer had chosen this Albatros for his victim among eight
+other machines, and had pulverized it at a distance of a few yards.
+
+This victory was his forty-ninth. He secured his fiftieth the very next
+day, bringing down a D.F.W. in flames over Westrobeke, the enemy showing
+fight, for Guynemer's magic airplane was hit in the tail, in one of the
+longitudinal spars, the exhaust pipe, and the hood, and had to be
+repaired. This day of glory was also one of mourning for the Storks.
+Captain Auger who, trusting his star after seven triumphs, had gone
+scouting alone, was shot in the head, and, after mustering energy enough
+to bring his machine back to the landing-ground, died almost
+immediately.
+
+Fifty machines destroyed! This had been Guynemer's dream. The apparently
+inaccessible figure had gradually seemed a possibility. Finally it had
+become a fact. Fifty machines down, without taking into account those
+which fell too far from the official observers, or those which had been
+only disabled, or those which had brought home sometimes a pilot,
+sometimes a passenger, dead in their seats. What would Guynemer do now?
+Was he not tired of hunting, killing, or destroying in the high regions
+of the atmosphere? Did he not feel the exhaustion consequent on the
+nervous strain of unlimited effort? Could he be entirely deaf to voices
+which advised him to rest, now that he was a captain, an officer in the
+Legion of Honor, and, at barely twenty-two, could hardly hope for more
+distinction? On the other hand, he had shown in his unceasing effort
+towards an absolutely perfect machine a genius for mechanics which might
+profitably be given play elsewhere. The occasion was not far to seek,
+for he had to take his damaged airplane back to the works; and what
+with this interruption and the precarious state of his health--for he
+had left the hospital too soon--he might reasonably have applied for
+leave. Nor was this all. The adoption of the new tactics of fighting in
+numbers might change the nature of his action: he might become the
+commanding officer of a unit, run less risk, indulge his temerity only
+once in a while, and yet make himself useful by infusing his own spirit
+into aspiring pilots.
+
+Slowly all these ideas occurred, if not to him, at all events to his
+friends. Guynemer has slain his fifty--they must have thought--Guynemer
+can now rest. What would it matter if some envious people should make
+remarks? "It is a pleasure worthy of a king," Alexander once said after
+Antisthenes, "to hear evil spoken of one while one is doing good." But
+Guynemer never knew this royal enjoyment; he never even suspected that
+well-wishers were plotting for his safety. He took his machine to the
+works, supervised the repairs with his customary attention, and by
+August 15 he was back again at his sport in Flanders.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Meanwhile his comrades had added to their laurels. Auger was dead, it is
+true; but Captain Derode, Adjutant Fonck--a perfect Aymerillot, the
+smallest and youngest of these knights-errant, Heurtaux, Deullin (both
+wounded, and the latter now risen to a captaincy), Lieutenant Gorgeus
+and Corporal Collins--all had done well. Besides them many, too many,
+bombarding aviators ought to be mentioned, but we must limit ourselves
+to those who are now laid low in Flemish graveyards: Lieutenant Mulard,
+Sergeant Thabaud-Deshoulieres, _sous-lieutenant_ Bailliotz,
+_sous-lieutenant_ Pelletier, who saved his airplane if he could not save
+his own life, and was heard saying to himself before expiring: "For
+France--I am happy...."; finally Lieutenant Ravarra, and Sergeant
+Delaunay, who had specialized in night attacks and disappeared without
+ever being heard of again.
+
+Guynemer had reported at the camp on August 15. On the seventeenth, at
+9.20 o'clock, he brought down a two-seated Albatros which fell in flames
+at Wladsloo, and five minutes later a D.F.W. which collapsed, also in
+flames, south of Dixmude. This double execution avenged the death of
+Captain Auger and of another Stork, Sergeant Cornet, killed the day
+before. On the eighteenth, Guynemer poured a broadside, at close
+quarters, into a two-seated machine above Staden; and on the twentieth,
+flying this time on his old _Vieux-Charles_, he destroyed a D.F.W. in a
+quick fight above Poperinghe. This meant three undoubted victories in
+four days under circumstances which the number of enemy machines and the
+high altitude made more difficult than they had ever been. The weather
+during this month of August was constantly stormy, and the Germans were
+taking every precaution to avoid surprise; but Guynemer was quick as
+lightning, took advantage of the shortest lulls, and baffled German
+prudence.
+
+The British or Belgian airmen of the neighborhood called on him, and he
+liked to return their politeness. He loved to talk about his methods,
+especially his shooting methods, for flying to him was only the means of
+shooting, and once he defined his airplane as a flying machine-gun.
+Captain Galliot, a specialist in gunsmithery, who overheard this remark,
+also heard him say to the Minister of Aviation, M. Daniel Vincent, who
+was inspecting the camp at Buc: "It is not by clever flying that you get
+rid of a Boche, but by hard and sharp shooting."
+
+It is not surprising, therefore, that he began his day's work by
+overhauling his machine-gun, cartridges, and visor. He did not mind
+trusting his mechanicians where his airplane and motor were concerned,
+but his weapon and ammunition were his own special care. He regarded as
+an axiom the well-known maxim of big-game hunters, that "it is not
+enough to hit, but you must shoot down your enemy with lightning
+rapidity if you do not wish to perish with him...."[26]
+
+[Footnote 26: _Guynemer tireur de combat_ (_Guerre aerienne_ for October
+18, 1917, special number consecrated to Guynemer).]
+
+Of his machine itself Guynemer made a terrible weapon, and he soon
+passed his fiftieth victory. On August 20 his record numbered
+fifty-three, and he was in as good condition as on the Somme. On the
+24th he was on his way to Paris, planning not only to have his airplane
+repaired, but to point out to the Buc engineers an improvement he had
+just devised.
+
+
+II. OMENS
+
+"Oh, yes, the dog always manages to get what he wants," Guynemer's
+father had once said to him with a sad smile, when Georges, regardless
+of his two previous failures, insisted at Biarritz upon enlisting.
+
+"The dog? what dog?" Guynemer had answered, not seeing an apologue in
+his father's words.
+
+"The dog waiting at the door till somebody lets him in. His one thought
+is to get in while the people's minds are not concentrated on keeping
+him out. So he is sure to succeed in the end."
+
+It is the same thing with our destiny, waiting till we open the door of
+our life. Vainly do we try to keep the door tightly shut against it: we
+cannot think of it all the time, and every now and then we fall into
+trustfulness, and thus its hour inevitably comes, and from the opening
+door it beckons to us. "What we call fatalism," M. Bergson says, "is
+only the revenge of nature on man's will when the mind puts too much
+strain upon the flesh or acts as if it did not exist. Orpheus, it is
+true, charmed the rivers, trees and rocks away from their places with
+his lyre, but the Maenades tore him to pieces in his turn."
+
+We cannot say that the Guynemer who flew in Flanders was not the same
+Guynemer who had flown over the Somme, Lorraine or Aisne battle-fields.
+Indeed, his mastery was increasing with each fresh encounter, and with
+his daring he cared little whether the enemy was gaining in numbers or
+inventing unsuspected tactics. His victories of August 17 and 20 showed
+him at his boldest best. Yet his comrades noticed that his nerves seemed
+overstrained. He was not content with flying oftener and longer than the
+others in quest of his game, but fretted if his Boche did not appear
+precisely when he wanted him. When an enemy did not turn up where he was
+expected, he made up his mind to seek him where he himself was not
+expected, and he became accustomed to scouting farther and farther away
+into dangerous zones. Was he tired of holding the door tight against
+destiny, or feeling sure that destiny could not look in? Did it not
+occur to him that his hour, whether near or not, was marked down?
+
+Indeed, it is certain that the thought not only presented itself to him
+sometimes, but was familiar. "At our last meeting," writes his
+school-fellow of Stanislas days, Lieutenant Constantin, "I had been
+struck by his melancholy expression, and yet he had just been victorious
+for the forty-seventh time. 'I have been too lucky,' he said to me, 'and
+I feel as if I must pay for it.' 'Nonsense,' I replied, 'I am absolutely
+certain that nothing will happen to you.' He smiled as if he did not
+believe me, but I knew that he was haunted by the idea, and avoided
+everything that might uselessly consume a particle of his energy or
+disturb his sang-froid, which he intended to devote entirely to Boche
+hunting."[27]
+
+[Footnote 27: Unpublished notes by J. Constantin.]
+
+When had he ceased to think himself invincible? The reader no doubt
+remembers how he recovered from his wound at Verdun, and the shock it
+might have left, merely by flying and offering himself to the enemy's
+fire with the firm resolve not to return it. Eight times he had been
+brought down, and each time with full and prolonged consciousness of
+what was happening. On many occasions he had come back to camp with
+bullets in his machine, or in his combination. Yet these narrow escapes
+never reacted on his imagination, damped his spirit, or diminished his
+_furia_. But had he thought himself invincible? He believed in his star,
+no doubt, but he knew he was only a man. One of his most intimate
+friends, his rival in glory, the nearest to him since the loss of Dorme,
+the one who was the Oliver to this Roland, once received this confidence
+from Guynemer: "One of the fellows told me that when he starts up he
+only thinks of the fighting before him; he found that sufficiently
+absorbing; but I told him that when the men start my motor I always make
+a sign to the fellows standing around. 'Yes, I have seen it,' he
+answered; 'the handshake of the airman. It means _au revoir_.' But maybe
+it is farewell I am inwardly saying," Guynemer added, and laughed, for
+the boy in him was never far from the man.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Towards the end of July, while he was in Paris seeing to the repairs for
+his machine after bringing down his fiftieth enemy, he had gone to
+Compiegne for a short visit. His father, knowing his technical ability
+and his interest in all mechanical improvements, and on the other hand
+noticing a nervousness in his manner, dared for the first time to hint
+timidly and allusively at the possibility of his being useful in some
+other field.
+
+"Couldn't you be of service with respect to making engines, etc.?"
+
+But he was embarrassed by his son's look of questioning surprise. Every
+time Guynemer had used his father's influence in the army, it had been
+to bring himself nearer to danger.
+
+"No man has the right to get away from the front as long as the war
+lasts," he said. "I see very well what you are thinking, but you know
+that self-sacrifice is never wasted. Don't let us talk any more about
+it...."
+
+On Tuesday, August 28, Guynemer, having been obliged to come to Paris
+again for repairs to his airplane, went to Saint-Pierre de Chaillot. It
+was not exceptional for him to visit this old church; he loved to
+prepare himself there for his battle. One of the officiating priests has
+written since his death of "his faith and the transparency of his
+soul."[28] The Chaillot parishioners knew him well, but pretended not to
+notice him, and he thought himself one in a crowd. After seeing the
+priest in the confessional, he usually enjoyed another little chat in
+the sacristy, and although he was no man for long prayers and
+meditations, he expressed his thoughts on such occasions in heartfelt
+and serious language.
+
+[Footnote 28: _La Croix_, October 7, 1917, article by Pierre l'Ermite.]
+
+"My fate is sealed," he once said in his playful, authoritative way; "I
+cannot escape it." And remembering his not very far away Latin, he
+added: "_Hodie mihi, cras tibi_...."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Early in September he made up his mind to go back to Flanders, although
+his airplane was not yet entirely repaired. The day before leaving he
+was standing at the door of the Hotel Edouard VII when one of his
+schoolmates at the College Stanislas, Lieutenant Jacquemin, appeared.
+"He took me to his room," this officer relates, "and we talked for more
+than an hour about schooldays. I asked him whether he had some special
+dodge to be so successful." "None whatever," he said, "but you remember
+I took a prize for shooting at Stanislas. I shoot straight, and have
+absolute confidence in my machine." He showed me his numberless
+decorations, and was just as simple and full of good fellowship as he
+was at Stanislas. It was evident that his head had not been in the least
+turned by his success; he only talked more and enjoyed describing his
+fights. He told me, too, that in spite of opposition from airplane
+builders he had secured a long-contemplated improvement; and that he had
+had a special camera made for him with which he could photograph a
+machine as it fell. His parting words were: "I hope to fly to-morrow,
+but don't expect to see my name any more in the _communiques_. That's
+all over: I have bagged my fifty Boches."
+
+Were not these strange words, if indeed Guynemer attached any meaning to
+them? At all events, they expressed his innermost longing, which was to
+go on flying, even if he should fly for nothing.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Before reporting at Dunkirk, Guynemer spent September 2, 3, and 4 with
+his people at Compiegne. Never was he more fascinatingly affectionate,
+boyish, and bright than during those three days. But he seemed agitated.
+"Let us make plans," he said repeatedly, in spite of his old aversion to
+castle-building. His plans that day were for the amusement of his
+sisters. He reminded the younger, Yvonne, that he had quarreled once
+with her. It was at Biarritz, when he wanted her to make a _novena_
+(nine days' special prayers) that he might not be rejected by the
+recruiting board again; his sister did not like to promise, and he had
+threatened to sulk forever, which he had proceeded to do--for five
+minutes.
+
+His mother and sisters thought him more enchanting than ever, but his
+father felt that he was overstrained, and realized that his almost
+morbid notion of his duty as a chaser who could no longer wait for his
+chance but wanted to force a victory, was the result of fatigue. M.
+Guynemer no longer hesitated to speak, adding that the period of rest he
+advised was in the very interest of his son's service. "You need
+strengthening; you have done too much. If you should go on, you would be
+in great danger of falling below yourself, or not really being
+yourself."
+
+"Father, war is nothing else. One must pull on, even if the rope should
+threaten to snap."
+
+It was the first time that M. Guynemer had given undisguised advice, and
+he urged his point.
+
+"Why not stop awhile? Your record is pretty good; you might form younger
+pilots, and in time go back to your squadron."
+
+"Yes, and people would say that, hoping for no more distinctions, I have
+given up fighting."
+
+"What does it matter? Let people talk, and when you reappear in better
+condition they will understand. You know I never gave you a word of
+advice which the whole world could not hear. I always helped you, and
+you always found the most disinterested approval here in your home. But
+you will admit that human strength has its limits."
+
+"Yes," Georges interposed, "a limit which we must endeavor to leave
+behind. We have given nothing as long as we have not given everything."
+
+M. Guynemer said no more. He felt that he had probed his son's soul to
+the depths, and his pride in his hero did not diminish his sorrow. When
+they parted he concealed his anguish, but he watched the boy, thinking
+he would never see him again. His wife and daughters, too, stood on the
+threshold oppressed by the same feelings, trying to suppress their
+anxiety and finding no words to veil it.
+
+In the Iliad, Hector, after breaking into the Greek camp like a dark
+whirlwind unexpectedly sweeping the land, and which the gods alone could
+stop, returns to Troy and stopping at the Scaean gates waits for
+Achilles, who he knows must be wild to avenge Patroclus. Old Priam sees
+his son's danger, and beseeches him not to seek his antagonist. Hecuba
+joins her tears to his supplications. But tears and entreaties avail
+little, and Hector, turning a deaf ear to his parents, walks out to meet
+Achilles, as he thinks, but indeed to meet his own fate.
+
+On September 4, Guynemer was at the flying field of Saint-Pol-sur-Mer
+near Dunkirk. His old friend, Captain Heurtaux, so long Commander of the
+Storks, was not there; he had been wounded the day before by an
+explosive bullet, and the English had picked up and evacuated him.
+Heurtaux possessed infinite tact, and had not infrequently succeeded in
+influencing the rebellious Guynemer; but nobody was there to replace
+him. September 5 was a day of extraordinary activity for Guynemer. His
+magic airplane was still at the works, where he had complained of not
+having another in reserve; and not being able to wait for it, he sent
+for his old machine and immediately attacked a D.F.W. at close quarters,
+as usual; but the Boche was saved by the jamming of both of Guynemer's
+guns, and the aviator had to get back to his landing-ground. Furious at
+this failure, he promptly soared up again and attacked a chain of five
+one-seated planes, hitting two, which however managed to protect each
+other and escape. After two hours and a half, Guynemer went home again,
+overhauled his guns, found a trigger out of order, and for the third
+time went up again, scouring the sky for two more hours, indignant to
+see nothing but prudent Germans keeping far out of his reach. So, he had
+flown five hours and a half in that one day. What nerves could stand
+such a strain? But Guynemer, seeking victory, cared little for strain or
+nerves. Everything seemed to go against him: Heurtaux away, his best
+machine not available, his machine-guns out of order, and Germans
+refusing his challenge. No wonder if he fretted himself into increased
+irritation.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Guynemer liked Lieutenant Raymond, and every now and then flew with him.
+This officer being on leave, Guynemer on September 8 asked another
+favorite comrade, _sous-lieutenant_ Bozon-Verduraz, to accompany him.
+The day was sullen, and a thick fog soon parted the two aviators, who
+lost their way and only managed to get clear of the fog when
+Bozon-Verduraz was over Nieuport and Guynemer over Ostend.
+
+September 9 was a Sunday, and Guynemer over-slept and had to be roused
+by a friend.
+
+"Aren't you coming to mass?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+The two officers went to mass at Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, and the weather
+having grown worse Guynemer did not fly; but instead of enjoying the
+enforced rest, he resented it as a personal wrong. Next day he flew
+three times, and was unlucky again every time. On his first flight, on
+his two-gun machine, he found that the water-pump control did not work,
+and had to land on a Belgian aerodrome, where he was welcomed and
+asked to sit for his photograph. The picture shows a worried, tense,
+disquieting countenance under the mask ready to be pulled down. After
+frightening the enemy so long, Guynemer was now frightening his friends.
+
+[Illustration: "GOING WEST"]
+
+The photograph taken, Guynemer flew back to camp. The best for him,
+under the circumstances, would have been to wait. Was he not hourly to
+hear that he might go to the Buc works for his machine? And what was the
+use of flying on an unsatisfactory airplane? But Guynemer was not in
+Flanders to wait. He wanted his quarry, and he wanted to set an example
+to and galvanize his men, and even the infantry. So, Deullin being
+absent, Guynemer borrowed his machine, and at last discovered a chain of
+German flyers, whom he attacked regardless of their number. But four
+bullets hit his machine and one damaged the air-pump, an accident which
+not only compelled him to land but to return by motor to the aerodrome.
+Once more, instead of listening to the whisper of wisdom, he started, on
+Lieutenant Lagache's machine; and this time the annoyance was the
+gasoline spurting over the loose top of the carburetor. The oil caught
+fire, and Guynemer had to give in, having failed three times, and having
+been in the air five hours and a half on unsatisfactory airplanes. No
+wonder if, with the weather, the machines, and circumstances generally
+against him, he felt tired and nervous. He had never done so much with
+such poor results. But his will, his will cannot accept what is forced
+upon him, and we may be sure that he will not acknowledge himself
+beaten.
+
+
+III. THE LAST FLIGHT
+
+On Tuesday, September 11, the weather was once more uncertain. But
+morning fogs by the seaside do not last, and the sun soon began to
+shine. Guynemer had had a restless night after his failures, and had
+brooded, as irritable people do, over the very things that made him
+fretful. Chasing without his new airplane--the enchanting machine which
+he had borne in his mind so many months, as a women bears her child, and
+which at last he had felt soaring under him--was no pleasure. He missed
+it so much that the feeling became an obsession, until he made up his
+mind to leave for Buc before the day was over. Indeed, he would have
+done so sooner had he not been haunted by the idea that he must first
+bring down his Boche. But since the Boche did not seem to be willing....
+Now he is resolved, and more calm; he will go to Paris this very
+evening. He has only to while away the time till the train is due. The
+prospect in itself is quieting, and besides Major du Peuty, one of the
+chiefs of Aviation at Headquarters, and Major Brocard, recently
+appointed attache to the Minister of Aeronautics, were coming down by
+the early train. They were sure to arrive at the camp between nine and
+ten, and a conversation with them could not but be instructive and
+illuminating; so, better wait for them.
+
+But, in spite of these tranquillizing thoughts, Guynemer was restless,
+and his face showed the sallow color which always foreboded his physical
+relapses. His mind was not really made up, and he would come and go,
+strolling from his tent to the sheds and from the sheds to his tent. He
+was not cross, only nervous. Suddenly he went back to the shed and
+examined his _Vieux-Charles_. Why, the machine was not so bad after all;
+the motor and guns had been repaired, and yesterday's accident was not
+likely to happen again. If so, why not fly? In the absence of Heurtaux,
+Guynemer was in command, and once more the necessity of setting a good
+example forced itself upon him. Several flyers had started on scouting
+work already; the fog was quickly lifting, the day would soon be
+resplendent, and the notion of duty too quickly dazzled him, like the
+sun. For duty had always been his motive power; he had always
+anticipated it, from the day when he was fighting to enlist at Biarritz
+to this 11th of September, 1917. It was neither the passion for glory
+nor the craze to be an aviator which had caused him to join, but his
+longing to be of use; and in the same way his last flights were made in
+obedience to his will to serve.
+
+All at once he was really resolved. _Sous-lieutenant_ Bozon-Verduraz was
+requested to accompany him, and the mechanicians wheeled the machines
+out. One of his comrades asked with assumed negligence: "Aren't you
+going to wait till Major du Peuty and Major Brocard arrive?" Guynemer's
+only answer was to wave towards the sky then freeing itself from its
+veils of fog as he himself was shaking off his hesitancy, and his friend
+felt that he must not be urgent. Everybody of late had noticed his
+nervousness, and Guynemer knew it and resented it; tact was more
+necessary than ever with him. Let it be remembered that he was the pet,
+almost the spoiled child, of his service, and that it had never been
+easy to approach him.
+
+Meanwhile, the two majors, who had been met at the station, were told of
+his nervous condition, and hurried to speak to him. They expected to
+reach the camp by nine o'clock, and would send for him at once. But
+Guynemer and Bozon-Verduraz had started at twenty-five minutes past
+eight.
+
+They had left the sea behind them, flying south-east. They had reached
+the lines, following them over Bixchoote and the Korteker Tavern which
+the French troops had taken on July 31, over the Bixchoote-Langemarck
+road, and finally over Langemarck itself, captured by the British on
+August 16. Trenches, sections of broken roads, familiar to them from
+above, crossed and recrossed each other under them, and they descried to
+the north of Langemarck road the railway, or what used to be the
+railway, between Ypres and Thourout and the Saint-Julien-Poelkapelle
+road. No German patrol appeared above the French or British lines, which
+Guynemer and his companion lost sight of above the Maison Blanche, and
+they followed on to the German lines over the faint vestiges of
+Poelkapelle.
+
+Guynemer's keen, long-practiced eye then saw a two-seated enemy airplane
+flying alone lower down than himself, and a signal was made to attract
+Bozon-Verduraz' notice. A fight was certain, and this fight was the one
+which Fate had long decided on.
+
+The attack on a two-seater flying over its own lines, and consequently
+enjoying unrestricted freedom of movement, is known to be a ticklish
+affair, as the pilot can shoot through the propeller and the passenger
+in his turret rakes the whole field of vision with the exception of two
+angles, one in front, the other behind him under the fuselage and tail.
+Facing the enemy and shooting directly at him, whether upwards or
+downwards, was Guynemer's method; but it is not easy on account of the
+varying speeds of the two machines, and because the pilot as well as the
+passenger is sheltered by the engine. So it is best to get behind and a
+little lower than the tail of the enemy plane.
+
+Guynemer had frequently used this maneuver, but he preferred a front
+attack, thinking that if he should fail he could easily resort to the
+other, either by turning or by a quick tail spin. So he tried to get
+between the sun and the enemy; but as ill-luck would have it, the sky
+clouded over, and Guynemer had to dive down to his opponent's level, so
+as to show him only the thin edges of the planes, hardly visible. But by
+this time the German had noticed him, and was endeavoring to get his
+range. Prudence advised zigzagging, for a cool-headed gunner has every
+chance of hitting a straight-flying airplane; the enemy ought to be
+made to shift his aim by quick tacking, and the attack should be made
+from above with a full volley, with the possibility of dodging back in
+case the enemy is not brought down at once. But Guynemer, regardless of
+rules and stratagems, merely fell on his enemy like a cannon ball. He
+might have said, like Alexander refusing to take advantage of the dark
+against Darius, that he did not want to steal victory. He only counted
+on his lightning-like manner of charging, which had won him so many
+victories, and on his marksmanship. But he missed the German, who
+proceeded to tail spin, and was missed again by Bozon-Verduraz, who
+awaited him below.
+
+What ought Guynemer to do? Desist, no doubt. But, having been imprudent
+in his direct attack, he was imprudent again on his new tack, and his
+usual obstinacy, made worse by irritation, counseled him to a dangerous
+course. As he dived lower and lower in hopes of being able to wheel
+around and have another shot, Bozon-Verduraz spied a chain of eight
+German one-seaters above the British lines. It was agreed between him
+and his chief that on such occasions he should offer himself to the
+newcomers, allure, entice, and throw them off the track, giving Guynemer
+time to achieve his fifty-fourth success, after which he should fly
+round again to where the fight was going on. He had no anxiety about
+Guynemer, with whom he had frequently attacked enemy squadrons of five,
+six, or even ten or twelve one-seaters. The two-seater might, no doubt,
+be more dangerous, and Guynemer had recently seemed nervous and below
+par; but in a fight his presence of mind, infallibility of movement, and
+quickness of eye were sure to come back, and the two-seater could hardly
+escape its doom.
+
+The last image imprinted on the eyes of Bozon-Verduraz was of Guynemer
+and the German both spinning down, Guynemer in search of a chance to
+shoot, the other hoping to be helped from down below. Then
+Bozon-Verduraz had flown in the direction of the eight one-seaters, and
+the group had fallen apart, chasing him. In time the eight machines
+became mere specks in the illimitable sky, and Bozon-Verduraz, seeing he
+had achieved his object, flew back to where his chief was no doubt
+waiting for him. But there was nobody in the empty space. Could it be
+that the German had escaped? With deadly anguish oppressing him, the
+airman descended nearer the ground to get a closer view. Down below
+there was nothing, no sign, none of the bustle which always follows the
+falling of an airplane. Feeling reassured, he climbed again and began to
+circle round and round, expecting his comrade. Guynemer was coming back,
+could not but come back, and the cause of his delay was probably the
+excitement of the chase. He was so reckless! Like Dorme--who one fine
+morning in May, on the Aisne, went out and was never heard of
+afterwards--he was not afraid of traveling long distances over enemy
+country. He must come back. It is impossible he should not come back;
+he was beyond the reach of common accidents, invincible, immortal! This
+was a certitude, the very faith of the Storks, a tenet which never was
+questioned. The notion of Guynemer falling to a German seemed hardly
+short of sacrilege.
+
+So Bozon-Verduraz waited on, making up his mind to wait as long as
+necessary. But an hour passed, and nobody appeared. Then the airman
+broadened his circles and searched farther out, without, however,
+swerving from the rallying-point. He searched the air like Nisus the
+forest in his quest of Euryalus, and his mind began to misgive him.
+
+After two hours he was still waiting, alone, noticing with dismay that
+his oil was running low. One more circle! How slack the engine sounded
+to him! One more circle! Now it was impossible to wait any more: he must
+go back alone.
+
+On landing, his first word was to ask about Guynemer.
+
+"Not back yet!"
+
+Bozon-Verduraz knew it. He knew that Guynemer had been taken away from
+him.
+
+The telephone and the wireless sent their appeals around, airplanes
+started on anxious cruises. Hour followed hour, and evening came, one of
+those late summer evenings during which the horizon wears the tints of
+flowers; the shadows deepened, and no news came of Guynemer. From
+neighboring camps French, British, or Belgian comrades arrived, anxious
+for news. Everywhere the latest birds had come home, and one hardly
+dared ask the airmen any question.
+
+But the daily routine had to be dispatched, as if there were no mourning
+in the camp. All the young men there were used to death, and to sporting
+with it; they did not like to show their sorrow; but it was deep in
+them, sullen and fierce.
+
+At dinner a heavy melancholy weighed upon them. Guynemer's seat was
+empty, and no one dreamed of taking it. One officer tried to dispel the
+cloud by suggesting hypotheses. Guynemer was lucky, had always been;
+probably he was alive, a prisoner.
+
+Guynemer a prisoner!... He had said one day with a laugh, "The Boches
+will never get me alive," but his laugh was terrible. No, Guynemer could
+not have been taken prisoner. Where was he, then?
+
+On the squadron log, _sous-lieutenant_ Bozon-Verduraz wrote that evening
+as follows:
+
+     _Tuesday, September 11, 1917._ Patrolled. Captain Guynemer started
+     at 8.25 with _sous-lieutenant_ Bozon-Verduraz. Found missing after
+     an engagement with a biplane above Poelkapelle (Belgium).
+
+That was all.
+
+
+IV. THE VIGIL
+
+Before Guynemer, other knights of the air, other aces, had been reported
+missing or had perished--some like Captain Le Cour Grandmaison or
+Captain Auger in our lines, others like Sergeant Sauvage and
+_sous-lieutenant_ Dorme in the enemy's. In fact, he would be the
+thirteenth on the list if the title of ace is reserved for aviators to
+whom the controlling board has given its vise for five undoubted
+victories. These were the names:
+
+     Captain Le Cour Grandmaison         5 victories
+     Sergeant Hauss                      5  "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Delorme           5  "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Pegoud            6  "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Languedoc         7  "
+     Captain Auger                       7  "
+     Captain Doumer                      7  "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Rochefort         7  "
+     Sergeant Sauvage                    8  "
+     Captain Matton                      9  "
+     Adjutant Lenoir                    11  "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Dorme            23  "
+
+Would Guynemer's friends now have to add: Captain Guynemer, 53? Nobody
+dared to do so, yet nobody now dared hope.
+
+A poet of genius, who even before the war had been an aviator, Gabriele
+d'Annunzio, has described in his novel, _Forse che si forse che no_, the
+friendship of two young men, Paolo Tarsis and Giulio Cambasio, whose
+mutual affection, arising from a similar longing to conquer the sky, has
+grown in the perils they dare together. If this book had been written
+later, war would have intensified its meaning. Instead of dying in a
+fight, Cambasio is killed in a contest for altitude between Bergamo and
+the Lake of Garda. As Achilles watched beside the dead body of
+Patroclus, so Tarsis would not leave to another the guarding of his lost
+friend:
+
+"In tearless grief Paolo Tarsis kept vigil through the short summer
+night. So it had broken asunder the richest bough on the tree of his
+life; the most generous part of himself ruined. For him the beauty of
+war had diminished, now that he was no longer to see, burning in those
+dead eyes, the fervor of effort, the security of confidence, the
+rapidity of resolution. He was no longer to taste the two purest joys of
+a manly heart: steadiness of eye in attack, and the pride of watching
+over a beloved peer."
+
+_For him the beauty of war had diminished_.... War already so long, so
+exhausting and cruel, and laden with sorrow! Will war appear in its
+horrid nakedness, now that those who invested it with glory disappear,
+now, above all, when the king of these heroes, the dazzling young man
+whose luminous task was known to the whole army, is no more? Is not his
+loss the loss of something akin to life? For a Guynemer is like the
+nation's flag: if the soldiers' eyes miss the waving colors, they may
+wander to the wretchedness of daily routine, and morbidly feed on blood
+and death. This is what the loss of a Guynemer might mean.
+
+But can a Guynemer be quite lost?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, _September_, 1917
+     (From the author's diary)
+
+     Visited the Storks Escadrille.
+
+The flying field occupies a vast space, for it is common to the French
+and the British. A dam protecting the landing-ground screens it from
+the sea. But from the second floor of a little house which the bombs
+have left standing, you can see its moving expanse of a delicate, I
+might say timid blue, dotted with home-coming boats. The evening is
+placid and fine, with a reddish haze blurring the horizon.
+
+Opposite the sheds, with their swelling canvas walls, a row of airplanes
+is standing before being rolled in for the night. The mechanicians feel
+them with careful hands, examining the engines, propellers, and wings.
+The pilots are standing around, still in their leather suits, their
+helmets in their hands. In brief sentences they sum up their day's
+experiences.
+
+Mechanically I look among them for the one whom the eye invariably
+sought first. I recalled his slight figure, his amber complexion, and
+dark, wonderful eyes, and his quick descriptive gestures. I remembered
+his ringing, boyish laugh, as he said:
+
+"And then, '_couic_'...."
+
+He was life itself. He got out of his seat panting but radiant,
+quivering, as it were, like the bow-string when it has sent its shaft,
+and full of the sacred drunkenness of a young god.
+
+Ten days had passed since his disappearance. Nothing more was known than
+on that eleventh of September when Bozon-Verduraz came back alone.
+German prisoners belonging to aviation had not heard that he was
+reported missing. Yet it was inconceivable that such a piece of news
+should not have been circulated; and, in fact, yesterday a message
+dropped by a German airplane on the British lines, concerning several
+English aviators killed or in hospital, was completed by a note saying
+that Captain Guynemer had been brought down at Poelkapelle on September
+10, at 8 A.M. But could this message be credited? Both the day
+and hour it stated were wrong. On September 10 at 8 A.M.
+Guynemer was alive, and even the next day he had not left the camp at
+the hour mentioned. An English newspaper had announced his
+disappearance, and perhaps the enemy was merely using the information.
+The mystery remained unsolved.
+
+As we were discussing these particulars, the last airplanes were
+landing, one after another, and Guynemer's companions offered their
+reasons for hoping, or rather believing; but none seemed convinced by
+his own arguments. Their inner conviction must be that their young chief
+is dead; and besides, what is death, what is life, to devoting one's all
+to France?
+
+Captain d'Harcourt had succeeded Major Brocard pro tem as commandant of
+the unit. He was a very slim, very elegant young man, with the grace and
+courtesy of the _ancien regime_ which his name evoked, and the
+perfection of his manners and gentleness seemed to lend convincing power
+to all he said. Guynemer being missing and Heurtaux wounded, the Storks
+were now commanded by Lieutenant Raymond. He belonged to the cavalry, a
+tall, thin man, with the sharp face and heroic bearing of Don Quixote, a
+kindly man with a roughness of manner and a quick, picturesque way of
+expressing himself. Deullin was there, too, one of Guynemer's oldest and
+most devoted friends. Last of all descended from the high regions
+_sous-lieutenant_ Bozon-Verduraz, a rather heavy man with a serious
+face, and more maturity than belonged to his years, an unassuming young
+man with a hatred for exaggeration and a deep respect for the truth.
+
+Once more he went through every detail of the fatal day for me, each
+particular anticipating the dread issue. But in spite of this narrative,
+full of the idea of death, I could not think of Guynemer as dead and
+lying somewhere under the ground held by the enemy. It was impossible
+for me not to conjure up Guynemer alive and even full of life, Guynemer
+chasing the enemy with strained terrible eyes, Guynemer of the
+superhuman will, the Guynemer who never gave up,--in short, a Guynemer
+whom death could not vanquish.
+
+A wonderful atmosphere men breathe here, for it relieves death of its
+horror. One officer, Raymond, I think, said in a careless manner:
+
+"Guynemer's fate will be ours, of course."
+
+Somebody protested: "The country needs men like you."
+
+To which Deullin answered: "Why does it? There will be others after us,
+and the life we lead...."
+
+But Captain d'Harcourt broke in gaily: "Come on; dinner's ready--and
+with this bright moon and clear sky we are sure to get bombed."
+
+Bombed, indeed, we were, and pretty severely, but in convenient time,
+for we had just drunk our coffee. A few minutes before, the practiced
+ear of one of us had caught the sound of the _bimoulins_, the bi-motor
+German airplanes, and soon they were near. We gained the sheltering
+trench. But the night was so entrancingly pure, with the moon riding
+like an airship in the deep space, that it seemed to promise peace and
+invited us to enjoy the spectacle. We climbed upon the parapet and
+listened to the breathing of the sea, accompanying with its bass the
+music of the motors. There were still a few straggling reddish vapors
+over the luminous landscape, and the stars seemed dim. But other stars
+took their place, those of the French _Voisins_ returning from some
+bombing expedition, their lights dotting the sky like a moving
+constellation, while at intervals a rocket shot from one or the other
+who was anxious not to miss the landing-ground. Over Dunkirk, eight or
+ten searchlights stretched out their long white arms, thrusting and
+raking to and fro after the enemy machines. Suddenly one of these
+appeared, dazzled by the revealing light, as a moth in the circle of a
+lamp; our batteries began firing, and we could see the quick sparks of
+their shells all around it. Flashing bullets, too, drew zebra-like
+stripes across the sky, and with the cannonade and the rumbling of the
+airplanes we heard the lament of the Dunkirk sirens announcing the
+dreaded arrival of the huge 380 shells upon the town, where here and
+there fires broke out. Meanwhile the German airplanes got rid of their
+bombs all around us, and we could feel the ground tremble.
+
+The Storks looked on with the indifference of habit, thinking of their
+beds and awaiting the end. One of them, a weather prophet, said:
+
+"It will be a good day to-morrow; we can start early."
+
+As I spun towards Dunkirk in the motor, these young men and their
+speeches were in my mind, and I seemed to hear them speaking of their
+absent companion without any depression, with hardly any sorrow. They
+thought of him when they were successful, referred to him as a model,
+found an incentive in his memory,--that was all. Their grief over his
+loss was virile and invigorating.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After watching his friend's body through the night, the hero of
+d'Annunzio goes to the aerodrome where the next trials for altitude are
+to take place. He cannot think of robbing the dead man of his victory.
+As he rises into the upper regions of the air he feels a soothing
+influence and an increase of power: the dead man himself pilots his
+machine, wields the controls, and helps him higher, ever higher up in
+divine intoxication.
+
+In the same way the warlike power of Guynemer's companions is not
+diminished. Guynemer is still with them, accompanying each one, and
+instilling into them the passionate longing to do more and more for
+France.
+
+
+V. THE LEGEND
+
+In seaside graveyards, the stone crosses above the empty tombs say only,
+after the name, "Lost at sea." I remember also seeing in the churchyards
+of the Vale of Chamonix similar inscriptions: "Lost on Mont-Blanc." As
+the mountains and the sea sometimes refuse to give up their victims, so
+the air seems to have kept Guynemer.
+
+"He was neither seen nor heard as he fell," M. Henri Lavedan wrote at
+the beginning of October; his body and his machine were never found.
+Where has he gone? By what wings did he manage thus to glide into
+immortality? Nobody knows: nothing is known. He ascended and never came
+back, that is all. Perhaps our descendants will say: "He flew so high
+that he could not come down again."[29]
+
+[Footnote 29: _L'Illustration_, October 6, 1917.]
+
+I remember a strange line read in some Miscellany in my youth and never
+forgotten, though the rest of the poem has vanished from memory:
+
+     Un jet d'eau qui montait n'est pas redescendu.
+
+Does this not embody the upspringing force of Guynemer's brilliant
+youth?
+
+Throughout France some sort of miracle was expected: Guynemer must
+reappear--if a prisoner he must escape, if dead he must come to life.
+His father said he would go on believing even to the extreme limits of
+improbability. The journalist who signs his letters from the front to
+_Le Temps_ with the pseudonym d'Entraygues recalled a passage from
+Balzac in which some peasants at work on a haystack call to the postman
+on the road: "What's the news?" "Nothing, no news. Oh! I beg your
+pardon, people say that Napoleon has died at St. Helena." Work stops at
+once, and the peasants look at one another in silence. But one fellow
+standing on the rick says: "Napoleon dead! psha! it's plain those people
+don't know him!" The journalist added that he heard a speech of the same
+kind in the bush-region of Aveyron. A passenger on the motor-bus read in
+a newspaper the news of Guynemer's death; everybody seemed dismayed. The
+chauffeur alone smiled skeptically as he examined the spark plugs of his
+engine. When he had done, he pulled down the hood, put away his
+spectacles, carefully wiped his dirty hands on a cloth still dirtier,
+and planting himself in front of the passenger said: "Very well. I tell
+you that the man who is to down Guynemer is still an apprentice. Do you
+understand?..."
+
+The credulity of the poor people of France with regard to their hero was
+most touching. When the death of Guynemer had to be admitted, there was
+deep mourning, from Paris to the remote villages where news travels
+slowly, but is long pondered upon. Guynemer had been brought down from a
+height of 700 meters, northeast of Poelkapelle cemetery, in the Ypres
+sector. A German noncommissioned officer and two soldiers had
+immediately gone to where the machine was lying. One of the wings of the
+machine was broken; the airman had been shot through the head, and his
+leg and shoulder had been broken in the fall; but his face was
+untouched, and he had been identified at once by the photograph on his
+pilot's diploma. A military funeral had been given to him.
+
+Nevertheless, it seemed as if Guynemer's fate still remained somewhat
+obscure. The German War Office published a list of French machines
+fallen in the German lines, with the official indications by which they
+had been recognized. Now, the number of the _Vieux-Charles_ did not
+appear on any of these lists, although having only one wing broken the
+number ought to have been plainly visible. Who were the noncommissioned
+officer and the two soldiers? Finally, on October 4, 1917, the British
+took Poelkapelle, but the enemy counter-attacked, and there was furious
+fighting. On the 9th the village was completely occupied by the British,
+and they searched for Guynemer's grave. No trace of it could be found in
+either the military or the village graveyard.
+
+In fact, the Germans had to acknowledge in an official document that
+both the body and the airplane of Guynemer had disappeared. On November
+8, 1917, the German Foreign Office replied as follows to a question
+asked by the Spanish Ambassador:
+
+     Captain Guynemer fell in the course of an air fight on September 11
+     at ten A.M. close to the honor graveyard No. 2 south of
+     Poelkapelle. A surgeon found that he had been shot through the
+     head, and that the forefinger of his left hand had been shot off by
+     a bullet. The body could neither be buried nor removed, as the
+     place had been since the previous day under constant and heavy
+     fire, and during the following days it was impossible to approach
+     it. The sector authorities communicate that the shelling had plowed
+     up the entire district, and that no trace could be found on
+     September 12 of either the body or the machine. Fresh inquiries,
+     which were made in order to answer the question of the Spanish
+     Embassy, were also fruitless, as the place where Captain Guynemer
+     fell is now in the possession of the British.
+
+     The German airmen express their regret at having been unable to
+     render the last honors to a valiant enemy.
+
+     It should be added that investigation in this case was only made
+     with the greatest difficulty, as the enemy was constantly
+     attacking, fresh troops were frequently brought in or relieved, and
+     eye witnesses had either been killed or wounded, or transferred.
+     Our troops being continually engaged have not been in a position to
+     give the aforesaid information sooner.
+
+So there had been no military funeral, and Guynemer had accepted nothing
+from his enemies, not even a wooden cross. The battle he had so often
+fought in the air had continued around his body; the Allied guns had
+kept the Germans away from it. So nobody can say where lies what was
+left of Guynemer: and no hand had touched him. Dead though he was, he
+escaped. He who was life and movement itself, could not accept the
+immobility of the tomb.
+
+German applause, like that with which the Greeks welcomed the dead body
+of Hector, did not fail to welcome Guynemer's end. At the end of three
+weeks a coarse and discourteous paean was sung in the _Woche_. In its
+issue of October 6, this paper devoted to Guynemer, under the title
+"Most Successful French Aviator Killed," an article whose lying
+cowardice is enough to disgrace a newspaper, and which ought to be
+preserved to shame it. A reproduction of Guynemer's diploma was given
+with the article, which ran as follows:
+
+     Captain Guynemer enjoyed high reputation in the French army, as he
+     professed having brought down more than fifty airplanes, but many
+     of these were proved to have got back to their camps, though
+     damaged it is true. The French, in order to make all verification
+     on our side impossible, have given up stating, in the past few
+     months, the place or date of their so-called victories. Certain
+     French aviators, taken prisoner by our troops, have described his
+     method thus: sometimes, when in command of his squadron, he left it
+     to his men to attack, and when he had ascertained which of his
+     opponents was the weakest, he attacked that one in turn. Sometimes
+     he would fly alone at very great altitudes, for hours, above his
+     own lines, and when he saw one of our machines separated from the
+     others would pounce upon it unawares. If his first onset failed, he
+     would desist at once, not liking fights of long duration, in the
+     course of which real gallantry must be displayed.[30]
+
+[Footnote 30: Der Erfolgreichste Franzoesische Kampfflieger Gefallen.
+Kapitaen Guynemer genoss grossen Ruhm im franzoesischen Heere, da er 50
+Flugzeuge abgeschossen haben wollte. Von diesen ist jedoch
+nachgewiesenermassen eine grosse Zahl, wenn auch beschaedigt, in ihre
+Flughaefen zurueckgekert. Um deutscherseits eine Nachpruefung unmoeglich zu
+machen, wurden in den letzten Monaten Ort und Datum seiner angeblichen
+Luftsiege nicht mehr angegeben. Ueber seine Kampfmethode haben gefangene
+franzoesische Flieger berichtet: Entweder liess er, als Geschwaderfuehrer
+fliegend, seine Kameraden zuerst angreifen un stuerzle sich dann erst auf
+den schwaechsten Gegner; oder er flog stundenlang in groessten Hoehe,
+allein hinter der franzoesischen Front und stuerzte sich von oben herab
+ueberraschend auf einzeln fliegende deutsche Beobachtungsflugzeuge. Hatte
+Guynemer beim ersten Verstoss keinen Erfolg, so brach er das Gefecht
+sofort ab; auf den laenger dauernden, wahrhaft muterprobenden Kurvenkampf
+liess er sich nicht gern ein.--Extract from the _Woche_ of October 6,
+1917.]
+
+This is the filth the German paper was not ashamed to print. Repulsive
+though it is, I must analyze some of its details. An enemy's abuse
+reveals his own character. So this German denied the fifty-three
+victories of Guynemer, all controlled, and with such severity that in
+his case, as in that of Dorme, he was not credited with fully a third of
+his distant triumphs, too far away to be officially recognized; so this
+German also vilified Guynemer's fighting methods, Guynemer the
+foolhardy, the wildly, madly foolhardy, whose machines and clothes were
+everlastingly riddled with bullets, who fought at such close quarters
+that he was constantly in danger of collisions--this Guynemer the German
+journalist makes out to be a prudent and timid airman, shirking fight
+and making use of his comrades. What sort of story had the German who
+brought him down told? Was it not obvious that if Guynemer had engaged
+him at 4000 meters, and had been killed at 700, that he must have
+prolonged the struggle, and prolonged it above the enemy's lines?
+Finally, the German journalist had the unutterable meanness and infamy
+to saddle on imprisoned French aviators this slander of their comrade,
+insinuated rather than boldly expressed. After all, this document is
+invaluable, and ought to be framed and preserved. How Guynemer would
+have laughed over it, and how youthfully ringing and honest the laugh
+would have sounded! Villiers de l'Isle Adam, remembering the Hegelian
+philosophy, once wrote: "The man who insults you only insults the idea
+he has formed of you, that is to say, himself."
+
+As a whole army (the Sixth) marched on May 25 towards that hill of the
+Aisne valley where Guynemer had brought down four German machines, and
+acclaimed his triumph, so the whole French nation would take part in
+mourning him.
+
+At the funeral service held at Saint Antony's Compiegne, the Bishop of
+Beauvais, Monseigneur Le Senne, spoke, taking for his text the Psalm in
+which David laments the death of Saul and his sons slain _on the
+summits_, and says that this calamity must be kept secret lest the
+Philistines and their daughters should rejoice over it. This service was
+attended by General Debeney, staff major-general, representing the
+generalissimo, and by all the surviving members of the Storks
+Escadrille, with their former chief, Major Brocard. His successor,
+Captain Heurtaux, whose unexpected appearance startled the
+congregation--he seemed so pale and thin on his crutches--had left the
+hospital for this ceremony, and looked so ill that people were surprised
+that he had the strength to stand.
+
+A few hours before the service took place, Major Garibaldi, sent by
+General Anthoine, commander of the army to which Guynemer belonged, had
+brought to the Guynemer family the twenty-sixth citation of their hero,
+the famous document which all French schoolboys have since learned by
+heart and which was as follows:
+
+     Fallen on the field of honor on September 11, 1917. A legendary
+     hero, fallen from the very zenith of victory after three years'
+     hard and continuous fighting. He will be considered the most
+     perfect embodiment of the national qualities for his indomitable
+     energy and perseverance and his exalted gallantry. Full of
+     invincible belief in victory, he has bequeathed to the French
+     soldier an imperishable memory which must add to his
+     self-sacrificing spirit and will surely give rise to the noblest
+     emulation.
+
+On the motion of M. Lasies, in a session which reminded us of the great
+days of August, 1914, the Chamber decided on October 19 that the name of
+Captain Guynemer should be graven on the walls of the Pantheon. Two
+letters, to follow below, were read by M. Lasies, to whom they had been
+written. One came from Lieutenant Raymond, temporary commandant of the
+Storks, and was as follows:
+
+     Having the honor to command Escadrille 3 in the absence of Captain
+     Heurtaux, still wounded in hospital, I am anxious to thank you, in
+     the name of the few surviving Storks, for what you are doing for
+     the memory of Guynemer.
+
+     He was our friend as well as our chief and teacher, our pride and
+     our flag, and his loss will be felt more than any that has thinned
+     our ranks so far.
+
+     Please be sure that our courage has not been laid low with him; our
+     revenge will be merciless and victorious.
+
+     May Guynemer's noble soul remember us fighting our aerial battles,
+     that we may keep alight the flame he bequeathed to us.
+
+     Raymond
+     Commanding Escadrille 3.
+
+The other letter came from Major Brocard:
+
+     My dear Comrade:
+
+     I am profoundly moved to hear of the thought you have had of giving
+     the highest consecration to Guynemer's memory by a ceremony at the
+     Pantheon.
+
+     It had occurred to all of us that only the lofty dome of the
+     Pantheon was large enough for such wings.
+
+     The poor boy fell in the fullness of triumph, with his face towards
+     the enemy. A few days before he had sworn to me that the Germans
+     should never take him alive. His heroic death is not more glorious
+     than that of the gunner defending his gun, the infantryman rushing
+     out of his trench, or even that of the poor soldier perishing in
+     the bogs. But Guynemer was known to all. There were few who had not
+     seen him in the sky, whether blue or cloudy, bearing on his frail
+     linen wings some of their own faith, their own dreams, and all that
+     their souls could hold of trust and hope.
+
+     It was for them all, whether infantrymen or gunners or pioneers,
+     that he fought with the bitter hatred he felt for the invader, with
+     his youthful daring and the joys of his triumphs. He knew that the
+     battle would end fatally for him, no doubt, but knowing also that
+     his war-bird was the instrument of saving thousands of lives, and
+     seeing that his example called forth the noblest imitation, he
+     remained true to his idea of self-sacrifice which he had formed a
+     long time before, and which he saw develop with perfect calm.
+
+     Full of modesty as a soldier, but fully conscious of the greatness
+     of his duties, he possessed the national qualities of endurance,
+     perseverance, indifference to danger, and to these he added a most
+     generous heart.
+
+     During his short life he had not time enough to learn bitterness,
+     or suffering, or disillusionment.
+
+     He passed straight from the school where he was learning the
+     history of France to where he himself could add another page to it.
+     He went to the war driven by a mysterious power which I respect as
+     death or genius ought to be respected.
+
+     He was a powerful thought living in a body so delicate that I, who
+     lived so close beside him, knew it would some day be slain by the
+     thought.
+
+     The poor boy! Other boys from every French school wrote to him
+     every day. He was their legendary ideal, and they felt all his
+     emotions, sharing his joys as well as his dangers. To them he was
+     the living copy of the heroes whose exploits they read in their
+     books. His name is constantly on their lips, for they love him as
+     they have been taught to love the purest glories of France.
+
+     _Monsieur le depute_, gain admittance for him to the Pantheon,
+     where he has already been placed by the mothers and children of
+     France. There his protecting wings will not be out of place, for
+     under that dome where sleep those who gave us our France, they will
+     be the symbol of those who have defended her for us.
+
+     Major Brocard.
+
+These letters roused the enthusiasm of the Chamber, and the following
+resolution was passed by acclamation:
+
+     The government shall have an inscription placed in the Pantheon to
+     perpetuate the memory of Captain Guynemer, the symbol of France's
+     highest aspirations.
+
+On November 5 the foregoing letters were solemnly read aloud in every
+school, and Guynemer was presented as an example to all French
+schoolboys.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The army then prepared to celebrate Guynemer as a leader, and in default
+of any place suitable for such a ceremony they selected the camp of
+Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, whence Guynemer had started on his last flight. On
+November 30 General Anthoine, commanding the First Army, before leaving
+the Flemish British sector where he had so brilliantly assisted in the
+success, decided to associate his men with the glorification of
+Guynemer.
+
+The ceremony took place at ten in the morning. A raw breeze was blowing
+off the sea, whose violence the dam, raised to protect the
+landing-ground, was not sufficient to break. In front of the battalion
+which had been sent to render the military honors, waved the colors of
+the twenty regiments that had fought in the Flemish battles, glorious
+flags bearing the marks of war, some of them almost in rags. To the
+left, in front of the airmen, two slight figures were visible, one in
+black, one in horizon blue: Captain Heurtaux still on his crutches, the
+other _sous-lieutenant_ Fonck. The former was to be made an officer, the
+latter a chevalier in the Legion of Honor. Heurtaux, a fair-haired,
+delicate, almost girlish young man, but so phenomenally self-possessed
+in danger, had been, as we have said, our Roland's Oliver, his companion
+of old days, his rival and his confidant. Fonck, whom I called
+Aymerillot because of his smallness, his boyish simplicity and his
+daring, the hope of the morrow and already a glorious soldier, had
+perhaps avenged Guynemer's death already. For Lieutenant Weissman,
+according to the _Koelnische Zeitung_, had boasted in a letter to his
+people of having brought down the most famous French aviator. "Don't be
+afraid on my account," he added, "I shall never meet such a dangerous
+enemy again." Now, on September 30 Fonck had shot this Lieutenant
+Weissman through the head as the latter was piloting a Rumpler machine
+above the French lines.
+
+While the band was playing the _Marseillaise_, accompanied by the
+roaring of the gale and of the sea, as well as of the airplanes circling
+above, General Anthoine stepped out in front of the row of flags. His
+powerful frame seemed to suggest the cuirass of the knights of old, as,
+silhouetted against the cloudy sky, he towered above the two diminutive
+aviators near whom he was standing. The band stopped playing, and the
+general spoke, his voice rising and falling in the wind, and swelling to
+a higher pitch when the elements were too rebellious. He was speaking
+almost on the spot where Guynemer had departed from the soil of his own
+country on his final flight.
+
+"I have not summoned you," he said, "to pay Guynemer the last homage he
+has a right to from the First Army, over a coffin or a grave. No trace
+could be found in Poelcapelle of his mortal remains, as if the heavens,
+jealous of their hero, had not consented to return to earth what seems
+to belong to it by right, and as if Guynemer had disappeared in empyrean
+glory through a miraculous assumption. Therefore we shall omit, on this
+spot from which he soared into Infinity, the sorrowful rites generally
+concluding the lives of mortals, and shall merely proclaim the
+immortality of the Knight of the Air, without fear or reproach.
+
+"Men come and go, but France remains. All who fall for her bequeath to
+her their own glory, and her splendor is made up of their worth. Happy
+is he who enriches the commonwealth by the complete gift of himself.
+Happy then the child of France whose superhuman destiny we are
+celebrating! Glory be to him in the heavens where he reigned supreme,
+and glory be to him on the earth, in our soldiers' hearts and in these
+flags, sacred emblems of honor and of the worship of France!
+
+"Ye flags of the second aeronautical unit and of the First Army, you
+keep in the mystery of your folds the memory of virtue, devotion, and
+sacrifice of every kind, to hand down to future generations the
+treasures of our national traditions!
+
+"Flags, the souls of our heroes live in you, and when your fluttering
+silk is heard, it is indeed their voice bidding us go from the same
+dangers to the same triumphs!
+
+"Flags, keep the soul of Guynemer forever. Let it raise up and multiply
+heroes in his likeness! Let it exalt to resolution the hearts of
+neophytes eager to avenge the martyr by imitating his lofty example, and
+let it give them power to revive the prowess of this legendary hero!
+
+"For the only homage he expects from his companions is the continuation
+of his work.
+
+"In the brief moment during which dying men see, as in a vision, the
+whole past and the whole future, if Guynemer knew a comfort it was the
+certainty that his comrades would successfully complete what he had
+begun.
+
+"You, his friends and rivals, I know well; I know that, like Guynemer,
+you can be trusted, that you meet bravely the formidable task he has
+bequeathed to you, and that you will fulfil the hopes which France had
+reposed in him.
+
+"It is to confirm this certitude in presence of our flags, brought to
+witness it, that I am glad to confer on two of his companions, two of
+our bravest fighters, distinctions which are at the same time a reward
+for the past and an earnest of future glory."
+
+Then the general gave the accolade and embraced Heurtaux, now less
+dependent on his crutches, and Fonck, suddenly grown taller, children of
+glory, both of them, and still pale from the emotion caused by the
+evocation of their friend's glory. He pinned the badges on their coats.
+After this he added, in a lull of the conflicting elements:
+
+"Let us raise our hearts in respectful and grateful admiration for the
+hero whom the First Army can never forget, of whom it was so proud, and
+whose memory will always live in History.
+
+"Dead though he be, a man like Guynemer guides us, if we know how to
+follow him, along the triumphal way which, over ruins, tombs, and
+sacrifices, leads to victory the good and the strong."
+
+Of itself, thanks to this religious conclusion of the general's ode, the
+ceremony had assumed a sort of sacred character, and the word which
+concludes prayers, the Amen of the officiating priest, naturally came to
+our lips while the general saluted with his sword the invisible spirit
+of the hero, and the blasts of the bugles rose above the gale and the
+sea.
+
+
+VI. IN THE PANTHEON
+
+In the Pantheon crypt, destined, as the inscription says, for the burial
+of great men, the name of Guynemer will be graven on a marble slab
+cemented in the wall. The proper inscription for this slab will be the
+young soldier's last citation:
+
+     FALLEN ON THE FIELD OF HONOR ON SEPTEMBER 11, 1917. A LEGENDARY
+     HERO, FALLEN FROM THE VERY ZENITH OF VICTORY AFTER THREE YEARS'
+     HARD AND CONTINUOUS FIGHTING. HE WILL BE CONSIDERED THE MOST
+     PERFECT EMBODIMENT OF THE NATIONAL QUALITIES FOR HIS INDOMITABLE
+     ENERGY AND PERSEVERANCE AND HIS EXALTED GALLANTRY. FULL OF
+     INVINCIBLE BELIEF IN VICTORY, HE HAS BEQUEATHED TO THE FRENCH
+     SOLDIER AN IMPERISHABLE MEMORY WHICH MUST ADD TO HIS
+     SELF-SACRIFICING SPIRIT AND WILL SURELY GIVE RISE TO THE NOBLEST
+     EMULATION.
+
+"To deserve such a citation and die!" exclaimed a young officer after
+reading it.
+
+In his poem, _Le Vol de la Marseillaise_, Rostand shows us the twelve
+Victories seated at the Invalides around the tomb of the Emperor rising
+to welcome their sister, the Victory of the Marne. At the Pantheon, in
+the crypt where they rest, Marshal Lannes and General Marceau, Lazare
+Carnot, the organizer of victory, and Captain La Tour d'Auvergne will
+rise in their turn on this young man's entrance. Victor Hugo, who is
+there too, will recognize at once one of the knights in his _Legende des
+Siecles_, and Berthelot will look upon his coming as an evidence of the
+fervor of youth for France as well as for science. But of them all,
+Marceau, his elder brother, killed at twenty-seven, will be the most
+welcoming.
+
+Traveling in the Rhine Valley some ten or twelve years ago, I made a
+pilgrimage to Marceau's tomb, outside Coblenz, just above the Moselle.
+In a little wood stands a black marble pyramid with the following
+inscription in worn-out gilt letters:
+
+     Here lieth Marceau, a soldier at sixteen, a general at twenty-two,
+     who died fighting for his country the last day of the year IV of
+     the Republic. Whoever you may be, friend or foe, respect the ashes
+     of this hero.
+
+The French prisoners who died in 1870-71 at the camp of Petersberg have
+been buried, on the same spot. Marceau was not older than these
+soldiers, who died without fame or glory, when his brief and wonderful
+career came to an end. Without knowing it, the Germans had completed the
+hero's mausoleum by laying these remains around it; for it is proper
+that beside the chief should be represented the anonymous multitude
+without whom there would be no chiefs.
+
+In 1889 the remains of Marceau were transferred to the Pantheon in
+Paris, and the Coblenz monument now commemorates only his name. It will
+be the same with Guynemer, whose remains will never be found, as if the
+earth had refused to engulf them; they will never be brought back,
+amidst the acclamations of the people, to the mount once dedicated to
+Saint Genevieve. But his legendary life was fitly crowned by the mystery
+of such a death.
+
+One of the frescoes of Puvis de Chavannes in the Pantheon, the last to
+the left, represents an old woman leaning over a stone terrace and
+gazing at the town beneath her with its moonlit roofs and its
+surrounding plain, looking bluish in the night. The city is asleep, but
+the holy woman watches and prays. She stands tall and upright as a lily.
+Her lamp, which is seen at the entrance of her house, is one long stem
+illuminated by the flame. She, too, is like this lamp. Her emaciated
+body would be nothing without her ardent face. Her serenity can only
+come from work well done and confidence in the future. Lutetia,
+represented in this picture by Genevieve, is not anxious; yet she
+listens as if she might hear once more the threatening approach of
+Attila. It is because she knows that the barbarians may come back again,
+and can only be stopped by invincible faith.
+
+As long as France keeps her belief, she is secure. The life and death of
+a Guynemer are an act of faith in immortal France.
+
+
+ENVOI
+
+The _ballades_ of olden times used to conclude with an _envoi_ addressed
+to some powerful person and invariably beginning with King, Queen,
+Prince or Princess. But the poet was occasionally at a loss, for, as
+Theodore de Banville observes in his _Petit traite de Poesie Francaise_,
+"everybody has not a prince handy to whom to dedicate his _ballade_."
+
+Guynemer's biography is of such a nature that it must seem like a poem:
+why not, then, conclude it with an _envoi_? I have no difficulty in
+finding a Prince, for I shall select him from among the French
+schoolboys. There is a little Paul Bailly, not quite twelve years old,
+from Bouclans, a village in Franche-Comte, who wrote a beautiful theme
+on Guynemer: he shall be my Prince. And through him I shall address all
+the French schoolboys or girls, in all the French towns and villages.
+
+Little Prince, I have no doubt that you love arithmetic, and I will give
+you accurate figures which will satisfy your taste. You will like to
+know that Guynemer flew for 665 hours and 55 seconds in all, which I
+added up from his flying notebooks: his last flight is not recorded in
+them, because it never stopped.
+
+As for the number of fights in which he was engaged, that is difficult
+to ascertain. Guynemer himself did not seem anxious to be sure about it.
+But it must be more than 600, and might well be 700 or 800. Your
+Guynemer, our Guynemer, will never be surpassed: not because he forgot
+to hand over to his successors, rivals, and avengers the sacred flame
+which in France can never go out, but because genius is an exceptional
+privilege, and because the present methods of fighting in the air are
+not in favor of single combats but engage whole units.
+
+You will also love to hear about Guynemer as an inventor, and the
+creator of a magic airplane. Some day this airplane will be exhibited;
+and perhaps some of your little friends have already seen at the
+Invalides the machine in which Guynemer brought down nineteen German
+airplanes. On November 1, 1917, thousands of Parisians visited it; and
+it was strewn with magnificent bunches of chrysanthemums, to which many
+people added clusters of violets.
+
+In Guynemer the technician and the marksman equaled and perhaps
+surpassed the pilot. Captain Galliot, who is a specialist, has called
+him "the thinker-fighter," thereby emphasizing that his excellence as a
+gunner arose from meditation and preparation. The same officer adds that
+"accuracy was Guynemer's characteristic; he never shot at random as
+others occasionally do, but always took long and careful aim. Perfect
+weapons and perfect mastery of them were dogmas with him. His
+marksmanship, the result of perseverance and intelligence, multiplied
+tenfold the capacity of his machine-gun, and accounts for his
+overwhelming superiority."[31]
+
+[Footnote 31: _Guerre aerienne_, October 18, 1917.]
+
+But when you have realized the technical superiority of our Guynemer,
+you will have yet to learn one thing, one great thing, the essential
+thing. You have heard that Guynemer's frame was not robust; that he was
+delicate, and the military boards refused him several times as unfit.
+Yet no aviator ever showed more endurance than he did, even when
+developments made long cruising necessary in altitudes of 6000 or 7000
+meters. There have been pilots as quickwitted and gunners as accurate as
+Guynemer, but there has never been anybody who equaled him in the
+flashlike rapidity of his attack, or for doggedness in keeping up a
+fight. We must conclude that he had a special gift, and this gift--his
+own genius--must be ultimately reduced to his decision, that is, his
+will-power. His will, to the very end, was far above his physical
+strength. There are two great dates in his short life: November 21,
+1914, when he joined the army, and September 11, 1917, when he left camp
+for his last flight. Neither a passion for aviation nor thirst for glory
+had any part in his action on those two dates. Will-power in itself is
+sometimes dangerous, enviable though it be, and must be wisely directed.
+Now, Guynemer regulated his will by one great object, which was to
+serve, to serve his country, even unto death.
+
+Finally, do not place Guynemer apart from his comrades: even in his
+grave, even in the region where there is no grave, he would resent it. I
+hope you will learn by heart the names of the French aces, at any rate
+those names which I am going to give you, whatever may become of those
+who bear them:[32]
+
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Nungesser     30 airplanes brought down
+     Captain Heurtaux                21     "        "
+     Lieutenant Deullin              17     "        "
+     Lieutenant Pinsard              16     "        "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Madon         16     "        "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Chaput        12     "        "
+     Adjutant Jailler                12     "        "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Ortoli        11     "        "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Tarascon      11     "        "
+     Chief Adjutant Fonck            11     "        "
+     _sous-lieutenant_ Lufbery       10     "        "
+
+[Footnote 32: List made September 11, 1917.]
+
+These names will become more and more glorious--some have already done
+so--and others will be added to the list which you will learn also. But
+however tenacious your memory may be, you will never remember, nobody
+will ever remember, the thousands of names we ought to save from
+oblivion, the names of those whose patience, courage, and sufferings
+have saved the soil of France. The fame of one man is nothing unless it
+represent the obscure deeds of the anonymous multitude. The name of
+Guynemer ought to sum up the sacrifice of all French youth--infantrymen,
+gunners, pioneers, troopers, or flyers--who have given their lives for
+us, as we hear the infinite murmur of the ocean in one beautiful shell.
+
+The enthusiasm and patience, the efforts and sacrifices, of the
+generations which came before you, little boy, were necessary to save
+you, to save your country, to save the world, born of light and born
+unto light, from the darkness of dread oppression. Germany has chosen to
+rob war of all that, slowly and tentatively, the nations had given to it
+of respect for treaties, pity for the weak and defenseless, and of honor
+generally. She has poisoned it as she poisons her gases. This is what we
+should never forget. Not only has Germany forced this war upon the
+world, but she has made it systematically cruel and terrifying, and in
+so doing she has sown the seeds of horrified rebellion against anything
+that is German. Parisian boys of your own age will tell you that during
+their sleep German squadrons used to fly over their city dropping bombs
+at random upon it. And to what purpose? None, beyond useless murder.
+This is the kind of war which Germany has waged from the first,
+gradually compelling her opponents to adopt the same methods. But while
+this loathsome work was being done, our airplanes, piloted by soldiers
+not much older than you, cruised like moving stars above the city of
+Genevieve, threatened now with unheard-of invasion from on high.
+
+Little boy, do not forget that this war, blending all classes, has also
+blended in a new crucible all the capacities of our country. They are
+now turned against the aggressor, but they will have to be used in time
+for union, love, and peace. _Omne regnum divisum contra se desolabitur;
+et omnis civitas vel domus divisa contra se non stabit._ You can read
+this easy Latin, but if necessary your teacher or village priest will
+help you. The house, the city, the nation ought not to be divided. The
+enemy would have done us too much evil if he had not brought about the
+reconciliation of all Frenchmen. You, little boy, will have to wipe away
+the blood from the bleeding face of France, to heal her wounds, and
+secure for her the revival she will urgently need. She will come out of
+the formidable contest respected and admired, but oh, how weary! Love
+her with pious love, and let the life of Guynemer inspire you with the
+resolve to serve in daily life, as he served, even unto death.
+
+_December_, 1917, to _January_, 1918.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+GENEALOGY OF GEORGES GUYNEMER
+
+
+In _Huon de Bordeaux_, a _chanson de geste_ with fairy and romantic
+elements, Huon leaves for Babylon on a mission confided to him by the
+Emperor, which he was told to fulfil with the aid of the dwarf sorcerer,
+Oberon. At the chateau of Dunotre, in Palestine, where he must destroy a
+giant, he meets a young girl of great beauty named Sebile, who guides
+him through the palace. As he is astonished to hear her speak French,
+she replies: "I was born in France, and I felt pity for you because I
+saw the cross you wear." "In what part of France?" "In the town of
+Saint-Omer," replied Sebile; "I am the daughter of Count Guinemer." Her
+father had lately come on a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, bringing
+her with him. A tempest had cast them on shore near the town of the
+giant, who had killed her father and kept her prisoner. "For more than
+seven years," she added, "I have not been to mass." Naturally Huon kills
+the giant, and delivers the daughter of Count Guinemer.
+
+In an article by the learned M. Longnon on _L'Element historique de Huon
+de Bordeaux_,[33] a note is given on the name of Guinemer:
+
+"In _Huon de Bordeaux_," writes M. Longnon, "the author of the _Prologue
+des Lorrains_ makes Guinemer the son of Saint Bertin, second Abbot of
+Sithieu, an abbey which took the name of this blessed man and was the
+foundation of the city of Saint-Omer, which the poem of _Huon de
+Bordeaux_ makes the birthplace of Count Guinemer's daughter. It is
+possible that this Guinemer was borrowed by our _trouveres_ from some
+ancient Walloon tradition; for his name, which in Latin is Winemarus,
+appears to have occurred chiefly in those countries forming part, from
+the ninth to the twelfth century, of the County of Flanders. The
+chartulary of Saint Vertin alone introduces us to: 1st, a deacon named
+Winidmarus, who in 723 wrote a deed of sale at Saint-Omer itself
+(Guerard, p. 50); 2d, a knight of the County of Flanders, Winemarus, who
+assassinated the Archbishop of Rheims, Foulques, who was then Abbot of
+Saint-Bertin (Guerard, p. 135); 3d, Winemarus, a vassal of the Abbey,
+mentioned in an act dated 1075 (_ib._, p. 195); 4th, Winemarus, Lord of
+Gand, witness to a charter of Count Baudouin VII in 1114 (_ib._, p.
+255). The personage in _Huon de Bordeaux_ might also be connected with
+Guimer, Lord of Saint-Omer, who appears in the beginning of _Ogier le
+Danios_, if the form, Guimer, did not seem rather to derive from
+Withmarus."[34]
+
+[Footnote 33: _Romania_, 1879, p. 4.]
+
+[Footnote 34: With this note may be connected the following page of the
+Wauters, a chronological table of Charters and printed Acts, Vol. II, p.
+16, 1103: "Balderic, Bishop of the Tournaisiens and the Noyonnais,
+confirms the cession of the tithe and patronage of Templeuve, which was
+made to the Abbey of Saint-Martin de Tournai by two knights of that
+town, Arnoul and Guinemer, and by the canon _Geric. Actum Tornaci, anno
+domenice incarnationis M.C. III, regnante rege Philippo, episcopante
+domo Baldrico pontifice_. Extracts for use in the ecclesiastic history
+of Belgium, 2d year, p. 10."]
+
+Leaving the _chansons de geste_, Guinemer reappears in the history of
+the Crusades. Count Baudouin of Flanders and his knights, while making
+war in the Holy Land (1097), see a vessel approaching, more than three
+miles from the city of Tarsus. They wait on the shore, and the vessel
+casts anchor. "Whence do you come?" is always the first question asked
+in like circumstances. "From Flanders, from Holland, and from
+Friesland." They were repentant pirates, who after having combed the
+seas had come to do penance by a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The Christian
+warriors joyously welcome these sailors whose help will be useful to
+them. Their chief is a Guinemer, not from Saint-Omer but Boulogne. He
+recognizes in Count Baudouin his liege lord, leaves his ship and decides
+to remain with the crusaders. "_Moult estait riche de ce mauvais
+gaeng._" The whilom pirate contributes his ill-gotten gains to the
+crusade.[35]
+
+[Footnote 35: _Receuil des Historiens des Croisades_, Western
+Historians, Volume I, Book III and XXIII, p. 145: _Comment Guinemerz et
+il Galiot s'accompaignierent avec Baudouin_.]
+
+In another chapter of the _Histoire des Croisades_, this Guinemer
+besieged Lalische, which "is a most noble and ancient city situated on
+the border of the sea; it was the only city in Syria over which the
+Emperor of Constantinople was ruler." Lalische or Laodicea in Syria,
+_Laodicea ad mare_--now called Latakia--was an ancient Roman colony
+under Septimus Severus, and was founded on the ruins of the ancient
+Ramitha by Seleucus Nicator, who called it Laodicea in honor of his
+mother Laodice. Guinemer, who expected to take the city by force, was in
+his turn assaulted and taken prisoner by the garrison. Baudouin, with
+threats, demanded him back and rescued him; but esteeming him a better
+seaman than a combatant on the land, he invited him to return to his
+ship, take command of his fleet, and navigate within sight of the coast,
+which the former pirate "very willingly did."
+
+A catalogue of the Deeds of Henri I, King of France (1031-1060)[36]
+mentions in this same period a Guinemer, Lord of Lillers, who had
+solicited the approval of the king for the construction of a church in
+his chateau, to be dedicated to Notre-Dame and Saint-Omer. The royal
+approval was given in 1043, completing the authorization of Baudouin,
+Count of Flanders, and of Dreu, Bishop of Therouanne at the request of
+Pope Gregory VI, to whom the builder had gone in person to ask consent
+for his enterprise. Was this Guinemer, like the pirate of Jerusalem,
+doing penance for some wrong? Thus we find two Guinemers in the eleventh
+century, one in Palestine, the other in Italy. About this same period
+the family probably left Flanders to settle in Brittany, where they
+remained until the Revolution. The corsair of Boulogne became a
+ship-builder at Saint-Malo, having his own reasons for changing
+parishes. The Flemish tradition then gives place to that of Brittany,
+which is authenticated by documents. One Olivier Guinemer gave a receipt
+in 1306 to the executors of Duke Jean II de Bretagne. He held a fief
+under Saint-Sauveur de Dinan, "on which the duke had settled tenants
+contrary to agreements." The executors, to liquidate the estate, had to
+pay immense sums for "indemnification, restitution and damages," and
+took care to "take receipts from all those to whom their commission
+obliged them to distribute money."[37] The Treaty of Guerande (April 11,
+1365), which ended the war for the Breton succession and gave the Duchy
+to Jean de Montfort, though under the suzerainty of the King of France,
+is signed by thirty Breton knights, among whom is a Geoffrey Guinemer. A
+Mathelin Guinemer, squire, is mentioned in an act received at Bourges in
+1418; while in 1464, an Yvon Guynemer, man-at-arms, is promoted to full
+pay, and he already spells his name with a _y_.
+
+[Footnote 36: _Catalogue des actes d'Henri I, Roi de France_
+(1031-1060), by Frederic Soehnee, archivist at the National Archives.]
+
+[Footnote 37: _Histoire de Bretagne_, by Dom Lobineau (1707), Vol. I, p.
+293. _Recherches sur la chevalerie du duche de Bretagne, by A. de
+Couffon de Kerdellech_, Vol. II (Nantes, Vincent Forest and Emile
+Grimaud, Printers and Publishers).]
+
+It is somewhat difficult to trace the history of this lesser provincial
+nobility, engaged sometimes in petty wars, sometimes in the cultivation
+of their domains. In a book glorifying the humble service of ancient
+French society, _Gentilshommes Campagnards_, M. Pierre de Vaissiere has
+shown how this race of rural proprietors lived in the closest contact
+with French agriculture, counseling and defending the peasant, clearing
+and cultivating their land, and maintaining their families by its
+produce. In his _Memoires_, the famous Retif de la Bretonne paints in
+the most picturesque manner the patriarchal and authoritative manners of
+his grandfather who, by virtue of his own unquestioned authority
+prevented his descendant from leaving his native village and
+establishing in Paris. Paris was already exercising its fascination and
+uprooting the youth of the time. The Court of Versailles had already
+weakened the social authority of families still attached to their lands.
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note:
+
+The following typographical errors in the original were corrected:
+
+batallion (to battalion)
+Fleugzeg (to Flugzeug)
+eclaties (to eclatiez)
+Kamfflieger (to Kampfflieger)]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Georges Guynemer, by Henry Bordeaux
+
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