Luxeuil-St Saveur (France)

Commémoration de la disparition du Capitaine Guynemer

6 October 2017

All through 2017, the French Air Force has been remembering the French “aces” of World War 1. Perhaps the most famous of all was Capitaine Georges Guynemer, a member of the 3rd escadrille “Cigognes” (storks). In his career, he was credited with no fewer than 53 aerial victories. But on the 11th of september, 1917, he fought his last battle. He was shot down in his Spad VII over Poelkapelle, a small village in the west of Flanders in Belgium. His body was identified by a German soldier who found his military i/d, but after a fierce artillery battle during the following night in which the area was shelled incessantly,all traces of Guynemer and his aircraft vanished forever.

Nowadays, a hundred years later,the SPA3 “Cigogne de Guynemer” is one of the three escadrilles named after aces that make up the Groupe de Chasse 1/2 ; the others being SPA103 “Cicogne de Fonck” and SPA26 “Cigogne de Saint-Galmier”, “SPA” standing for their last aircraft during WW1, the Spad.

Based at BA116 Luxeuil-Saint Sauveur since 2011, having transferred from Dijon-Longvic, the unit is tasked with air defense and air policing, both over France and abroad. It operates the Mirage 2000-5F since 1999. To remember Guynemer and honour his achievements, the Groupe held an official ceremony at Luxeuil on 6 october. Apart from numerous officials, a few hundred (mostly French but also at least 20 Dutch) spotters were present as well. During the afternoon, they witnessed the formal parade, medal ceremonies, a flyby of two Mirages and the reading of the day order by the chief of the French Air Force. They could also photograph the aircraft on the flightline in most challenging light conditions, ranging from fierce backlight to light rain and finally a glorious sunset. From 17.45, the aircraft also flew a limited airshow: Mirage and Epsilon MASA “air policing demo”, Mirage, Rafale and Extra solo displays and of course the Patrouille de France.

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