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Charles Nungesser, fighter ace, adventurer, war hero.

Charles Eugène Jules Marie Nungesser (15 March 1892 – presumably on or after 8 May 1927) was a French ace pilot and adventurer, best remembered as a rival of Charles Lindbergh. Nungesser was a renowned ace in France, ranking third highest in the country with 43 air combat victories during World War I.

After the war, Nungesser mysteriously disappears on an attempt to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, flying with wartime comrade François Coli in L’Oiseau Blanc (The White Bird). Their aircraft takes off from Paris on 8 May 1927, is sighted once more over Ireland, and then is never seen again. The disappearance of Nungesser is considered one of the great mysteries in the history of aviation, and modern speculation is that the aircraft was either lost over the Atlantic or crashed in Newfoundland or Maine.

Wikipedia

Filled with an exceptionnal spirit and energy, Nungesser is very early confronted with the difficulties of life, he is not afraid to cross the Atlantic although he is not yet an adult. Once on the soil of the South American subcontinent, he will practice a whole series of trades. In turn boxer, gaucho or racing driver, Nungesser asserts himself as an adventurous heart. A thrill seeker, he already takes all the risks and does not hesitate to punch even with men, whose stature is much higher than his. It was in South America that he developed his passion for aviation and contracted the piloting virus. Therefore, all the elements are already in place to make Nungesser an extraordinary character, literally atypical and flamboyant. The Great War will give the young man the opportunity to find his vocation and become a legend ...

It is September 3, 1914, during a reconnaissance mission, Nungesser, freshly incorporated into the 2nd Hussar regiment, both rescues his wounded officer and with the help of a few infantrymen captures a Mors type automobile killing both its occupants and above all, recovering the documents it contained. Back in his regiment, after crossing enemy lines under heavy fire behind the wheel of the captured vehicle, his feat caused a sensation and rose to the ears of the general commanding his division. The latter immediately made him obtain the military medal and therefore gave him his nickname Hussard de la Mors, by reference to the Hussars of Death (”Hussards de la Mort”), a squadron created in 1792 and whose motto was "conquer or die".

He is then granted his request to be transferred to the Service Aéronautique, to Escadrille VB106. While there, in July 1915, he shoots down his first plane, a German Albatros, and is awarded the Croix de Guerre. This action initiates the Nungesser legend. On 31 July 1915, Nungesser and his mechanic Roger Pochon are on standby duty. The two take off in a Voisin 3LAS despite Nungesser's assignment to non-flying duties. In an encounter with five Albatros two-seaters, the French duo shoots one down near Nancy. Returning to their airfield, Nungesser is placed under house arrest for eight days for his insubordination. He is then decorated and forwarded to training in Nieuport fighters.

Assigned to N 65, Charles displays a fiery temper and a courage that strikes the minds of all his comrades in arms. He also willingly shows a certain independence of spirit and cannot help frequently ending his patrols with acrobatics above his airfield, which will earn him a few days off, that the command will lift just as quickly as it cannot do without the excellence of Nungesser's services while the position war is in full swing…

Charles isn’t one for strict military discipline. His rugged good looks, flamboyant personality, appetite for danger, women, wine and fast cars make him the embodiment of the stereotypical fighter ace and contribute to his legend. He is sometimes spotted arriving for morning patrol still dressed in the tuxedo he'd worn the night before and even occasionally with a female companion.

He is well liked by his comrades. Determined, fiery, excellent pilot, he is selected at the beginning of 2016 to test a prototype fighter plane, the Ponnier. Decided not to go easy on the machine, the indestructible Nungesser soars into the air and pushes the plane into its entrenchments. The result was immediate: the plane went into a spin and Charles crashed to the ground. The broomstick crosses his jaw and he suffers from multiple fractures, particularly in the legs and numerous bruises. You would believe his career is over ? Not at all! Barely out of the hospital and after a period in a coma, he refuses to be discharged and fights tooth and nail to return to Nancy.

He can’t go without a walking stick and has to be helped into his cockpit. It doesn’t stop him from fighting above Verdun (ten victories) and then over the Somme (nine victories) during 1916. He shows concern for the infantrymen, and often comes to help allied pilots, which will earn him many foreign decorations (from the UK, USA, Belgium, Serbia, Russia, Portugal..).

This is the year he famously decorates his plane with a black heart-shaped field, a macabre skull and bones, and a coffin and candles painted inside, in tribute in particular to his nickname as well as to his terrible accident of 1916. At the end of the Great War, Nungesser will accumulate forty-five approved victories and his war cross will count twenty-eight palms and two stars… Nothing and no one will have prevented him from flying and fighting until the last day.

His Officier de la Légion d'honneur citation, 19 May 1918, reads:

"Incomparable pursuit pilot, with exceptional knowledge and magnificent bravery, which reflect the power and inflexible will of his ancestry. In the cavalry, where during his first engagements he earned the Médaille militaire, then in a groupe de bombardement where for his daily prowess he was cited several times in orders and was decorated with the Legion of Honor, and finally with an Escadrille de chasse, for thirty months his exploits were prodigious, and he always presented himself as a superb example of tenacity and audacity, displaying an arrogant contempt for death. Absent from the front several times because of crashes and wounds, his ferocious energy was not dampened, and he returned each time to the fray, with his spirit undaunted gaining victory after victory, finally becoming famous as the most feared adversary for German aviation. 31 enemy aircraft downed, three balloons flamed, two wounds, fifteen citations."

By the end of the war, a succinct summary of Nungesser's wounds and injuries reads: "Skull fracture, brain concussion, internal injuries (multiple), five fractures of the upper jaw, two fractures of lower jaw, piece of anti-aircraft shrapnel imbedded [sic] in right arm, dislocation of knees (left and right), re-dislocation of left knee, bullet wound in mouth, bullet wound in ear, atrophy of tendons in left leg, atrophy of muscles in calf, dislocated clavicle, dislocated wrist, dislocated right ankle, loss of teeth, contusions too numerous to mention."

When the war ends, Captain Charles Nungesser is 26, and the third ranked French flying ace behind René Fonck and Georges Guynemer, in spite of his many wounds, accidents and physical disabilities.

Some anecdotes:

In 1915 he does a bunch of wild flying over a nearby town, and many people complains. The commander of the squadron tells Nungesser that if he was going to do aerobatics, do them over the German lines. Nungesser jumps into his plane, flies to the nearest German field, and gives them quite a show. He reports back to his commander, tells him what he did and is put under arrest again.

1916: during a flight, he runs out of ammunition and places himself in the middle of enemy planes, since they cannot shoot him if they risk hitting one of their own.

One of Nungesser's drinking buddies is Jean Navarre, another flamboyant ace. The two of them almost create the image of fighter pilots as handsome, reckless, hard-living, womanizing rakes. They dislike military discipline and enjoy Paris' many attractions as often as possible. Once, Nungesser is driving into Paris, amidst heavy traffic, when he spots his own aircraft heading that way. It is Navarre! He has borrowed Nungesser's airplane; he explains that his own has been shot up and that he "has forgotten what a woman looks like”.

On August 26, 1918 he gives his popularity a new boost by participating in the crossing of Paris by swimming, and, if he does not win the competition, asserts himself as the spokesman of the disabled veterans and attracts cheers from the public.

We still don’t know what really happened... but if he reached the land he was indeed the first man - with François Coli- to cross the Atlantic by plane.

Even though René Fonck ended up as the French Ace of Aces, both Georges Guynemer and Charles Nungesser have enjoyed a greater popularity, due to their personality, the legend that quickly built around them, and probably to their disappearance up in the sky while they were world famous.

Sources:

Opérationnels SLDS 38 39 hiver 2018 Nungesser le Résilient, article de Romain Petit

David Méchin, "Charles Nungesser, la rage de vaincre", dans Le Fana de l'Aviation no 551 et 552 (octobre et novembre 2015)

Wikipedia, French and English articles

#la grande guerre #ww1 #charles nungesser #french flying aces #le hussard de la mors #l'oiseau blanc #l'aventurier #ferocious energy #arrogant contempt for death #if i remember right the germans promised 500000 marks to shoot him down #there are just too many things to say about him i'm sure i forgot to mention a lot #maybe more to come?

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