Twitch
Staff Sergeant
WW I WILDMAN
5,000 feet above the French airfield at Verdun the two biplanes dueled. The high-pitched whine of the rotary engines was only interrupted by the sound of machine-gun fire.
Then one plane's wings collapsed and it came spinning down. It was a Nieuport of the Layfayette Escadrille- the all American squadron. The unfortunate pilot's mother had just arrived from the States to visit that afternoon in 1916.
But before the machine hit the ground a white French Nieuport was lifting off the grass. It quickly climbed to engage the German. With a single burst the enemy machine was set afire from gas tank hits. The fire spread over the fabric covering and the plane dropped to the ground. It was still burning when the Frenchman landed nearby.
Soon the intrepid flyer was introducing himself to the slain American's mother. "Madame, here is the murderer of your son," he said as he dumped the immolated body of the German at her feet while she gasped in shock.
The man responsible for this immediate revenge was Captain Charles Eugene Nungesser.
A WILD ONE
France's most colorful pilot of WW I had 47 confirmed victories with as many again unofficial. Much of the aerial combat took place one-on-one and confirmation was difficult if it occurred behind German lines. It was necessary for a witness to view the kill and that the downed enemy machine be located on the ground. While that worked for the Germans many Allied pilots claims were denied. Nungesser ranked third behind the small, insipid and moody Rene Fonck, who survived the war with 75 victories and the legendary Georges Guynemer with 53 who was weakened with tuberculosis and failed to return from a mission in 1917.
The debonair Nungesser was outgoing and always ready for a fight or fun. After a day in the air he would fly to Paris and spend the night in high-octane parties. He was well known on the boulevards and cafes and always accompanied by at least one beautiful mademoiselle. He even had an affair with the famed Mata Hari.
Born March 15, 1892, Charles became a skilled professional boxer known throughout Europe when he was but a teenager. But his wanderlust put him aboard a freighter to Argentina where he became a gaucho!
Arriving back in France at the outbreak of war, he enlisted in the Hussars cavalry outfit and won a medal within two weeks of fighting. From there his wartime escapades read like a Hollywood script.
Once his regiment was surrounded and reinforcements could only be secured from a garrison ten miles distant. Nungesser volunteered to go for help. He drove a powerful car at night without headlights at breakneck speeds over the country roads until enemy soldiers opened fire.
Wounded, he careened off the road, struck a tree and rolled over. He crawled out and hid till morning when he heard a vehicle approach. Throwing some branches across the road the Germans halted to investigate. Nungesser shot all four officers in the staff car; dressed in an Imperial German colonel's uniform and drove their car to the French garrison. Reinforcements arrived to save his beleaguered regiment.
IN THE AIR
Needing more adventure, he joined the Aviation Militaire in March of 1915. Assigned to a bombing wing, his job was to drop steel darts on German infantrymen. Nungesser had a better idea. He loaded up his feeble Maurice Farman Shorthorn S-11 with hand grenades and flew at near ground level to the German lines. The light aerial bombs of the time were terribly inaccurate anyway. Tossing grenades and shouting insults, he made the first ground attack and strafing run in history.
Given the machines of the time, flying was considered highly dangerous without being shot at. It is no wonder his plane's name was Express for Hell.
Once at twilight he strafed an ammo dump with his machine-gun and the machine caught fire in the subsequent explosion. German antiaircraft gunners painted him with a searchlight and opened up.
"Dead meat," they thought.
With a series of violent maneuvers he fanned out the fire and barreled in to destroy the gun battery, searchlight and the crew.
After 53 missions he transferred to Squadron No. 65 flying the Nieuport 11, known as the Baby (Bébé). The 11 could muster 104 MPH from its 80 HP Le Rhone rotary and mounted a .303 Hotchkiss or Lewis above the top wing. The Baby was ascendant over the Fokker E I and E II monoplane in part due to its lighter weight of 1,058 lbs.
On the evening of June 18, 1916 five Albatross D I's intruded. One carried the markings of 15-victory ace Oberleutnant Max Immelman. Nungesser rose to meet them. Though the D I had 150 HP, the 6-cylinder inline water-cooled Daimler-Benz engine could barely top out at 109 MPH due to its heavier weight of 1,422 lbs. Part of that weight a pair of 7.92 mm LMG 08/15 belt-fed machine guns however.
The Frenchman's gun jammed and he drew his revolver to continue the fight. A lucky round hit Immelman's engine and he dead-sticked into no man's land. As he scurried for his lines Nungesser continued to blaze away with his handgun, but to no avail.
IN THE BOUDOIR
Once while relaxing and performing his infamous stunt flying near his base, his engine quit and he crashed through the window of a house. The young lady inside was unharmed but figured the pilot was certainly dead.
Clambering from the wreck the suave ace removed his helmet and with a bow remarked, "Forgive the intrusion mademoiselle."
In Paris dancers and actresses competed to accompany Nungesser on his nightly party tour of the capitol. It was rumored that the skullcap beneath his flying helmet was made of Mata Hari's stockings.
Mata Hari was suspected of spying for the Germans. With American airman Bert Hall, passed off as a millionaire's son, they delighted in feeding Hari outlandish "classified intelligence" for several nights running in the cabaret where she danced. Berlin replied to her "information" in a coded message that she should lay off the liquor!
continued
5,000 feet above the French airfield at Verdun the two biplanes dueled. The high-pitched whine of the rotary engines was only interrupted by the sound of machine-gun fire.
Then one plane's wings collapsed and it came spinning down. It was a Nieuport of the Layfayette Escadrille- the all American squadron. The unfortunate pilot's mother had just arrived from the States to visit that afternoon in 1916.
But before the machine hit the ground a white French Nieuport was lifting off the grass. It quickly climbed to engage the German. With a single burst the enemy machine was set afire from gas tank hits. The fire spread over the fabric covering and the plane dropped to the ground. It was still burning when the Frenchman landed nearby.
Soon the intrepid flyer was introducing himself to the slain American's mother. "Madame, here is the murderer of your son," he said as he dumped the immolated body of the German at her feet while she gasped in shock.
The man responsible for this immediate revenge was Captain Charles Eugene Nungesser.
A WILD ONE
France's most colorful pilot of WW I had 47 confirmed victories with as many again unofficial. Much of the aerial combat took place one-on-one and confirmation was difficult if it occurred behind German lines. It was necessary for a witness to view the kill and that the downed enemy machine be located on the ground. While that worked for the Germans many Allied pilots claims were denied. Nungesser ranked third behind the small, insipid and moody Rene Fonck, who survived the war with 75 victories and the legendary Georges Guynemer with 53 who was weakened with tuberculosis and failed to return from a mission in 1917.
The debonair Nungesser was outgoing and always ready for a fight or fun. After a day in the air he would fly to Paris and spend the night in high-octane parties. He was well known on the boulevards and cafes and always accompanied by at least one beautiful mademoiselle. He even had an affair with the famed Mata Hari.
Born March 15, 1892, Charles became a skilled professional boxer known throughout Europe when he was but a teenager. But his wanderlust put him aboard a freighter to Argentina where he became a gaucho!
Arriving back in France at the outbreak of war, he enlisted in the Hussars cavalry outfit and won a medal within two weeks of fighting. From there his wartime escapades read like a Hollywood script.
Once his regiment was surrounded and reinforcements could only be secured from a garrison ten miles distant. Nungesser volunteered to go for help. He drove a powerful car at night without headlights at breakneck speeds over the country roads until enemy soldiers opened fire.
Wounded, he careened off the road, struck a tree and rolled over. He crawled out and hid till morning when he heard a vehicle approach. Throwing some branches across the road the Germans halted to investigate. Nungesser shot all four officers in the staff car; dressed in an Imperial German colonel's uniform and drove their car to the French garrison. Reinforcements arrived to save his beleaguered regiment.
IN THE AIR
Needing more adventure, he joined the Aviation Militaire in March of 1915. Assigned to a bombing wing, his job was to drop steel darts on German infantrymen. Nungesser had a better idea. He loaded up his feeble Maurice Farman Shorthorn S-11 with hand grenades and flew at near ground level to the German lines. The light aerial bombs of the time were terribly inaccurate anyway. Tossing grenades and shouting insults, he made the first ground attack and strafing run in history.
Given the machines of the time, flying was considered highly dangerous without being shot at. It is no wonder his plane's name was Express for Hell.
Once at twilight he strafed an ammo dump with his machine-gun and the machine caught fire in the subsequent explosion. German antiaircraft gunners painted him with a searchlight and opened up.
"Dead meat," they thought.
With a series of violent maneuvers he fanned out the fire and barreled in to destroy the gun battery, searchlight and the crew.
After 53 missions he transferred to Squadron No. 65 flying the Nieuport 11, known as the Baby (Bébé). The 11 could muster 104 MPH from its 80 HP Le Rhone rotary and mounted a .303 Hotchkiss or Lewis above the top wing. The Baby was ascendant over the Fokker E I and E II monoplane in part due to its lighter weight of 1,058 lbs.
On the evening of June 18, 1916 five Albatross D I's intruded. One carried the markings of 15-victory ace Oberleutnant Max Immelman. Nungesser rose to meet them. Though the D I had 150 HP, the 6-cylinder inline water-cooled Daimler-Benz engine could barely top out at 109 MPH due to its heavier weight of 1,422 lbs. Part of that weight a pair of 7.92 mm LMG 08/15 belt-fed machine guns however.
The Frenchman's gun jammed and he drew his revolver to continue the fight. A lucky round hit Immelman's engine and he dead-sticked into no man's land. As he scurried for his lines Nungesser continued to blaze away with his handgun, but to no avail.
IN THE BOUDOIR
Once while relaxing and performing his infamous stunt flying near his base, his engine quit and he crashed through the window of a house. The young lady inside was unharmed but figured the pilot was certainly dead.
Clambering from the wreck the suave ace removed his helmet and with a bow remarked, "Forgive the intrusion mademoiselle."
In Paris dancers and actresses competed to accompany Nungesser on his nightly party tour of the capitol. It was rumored that the skullcap beneath his flying helmet was made of Mata Hari's stockings.
Mata Hari was suspected of spying for the Germans. With American airman Bert Hall, passed off as a millionaire's son, they delighted in feeding Hari outlandish "classified intelligence" for several nights running in the cabaret where she danced. Berlin replied to her "information" in a coded message that she should lay off the liquor!
continued
