René Fonck
Encyclopedia
René Paul Fonck was a French
aviator who ended the First World War as the top Allied
fighter ace
, and when all succeeding aerial conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries are also considered, Fonck still holds the title of "all-time Allied Ace of Aces". He received confirmation for 75 victories (72 solo and three shared) out of 142 claims. Taking into account his probable claims, Fonck's final tally could conceivably be nearer 100 or above. He was made an Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1918 and later a Commander of the Legion of Honor after the war.
in the Vosges
region of north eastern France
. Although he had been interested in aviation from his youth, he declined an assignment in the air service when conscripted on 22 August 1914, instead choosing service in the trenches as a combat engineer. His duties consisted of digging trenches, and of road and bridge repair.
On 25 May 1916 Fonck's observer was killed by an anti-aircraft shell burst, a fate that almost befell Fonck a few weeks later. Fonck claimed his first enemy aircraft in July 1916, but his win was unconfirmed.
On 6 August, he attacked a German Rumpler C.III, and by maneuvering over and around the reconnaissance plane, staying out of its fields of fire, forced it lower and lower until the German crew landed behind French lines. It was his first verified victory, though shared with his observer, Lieutenant Thiberge. It brought him the Medaille Militaire
in late August 1916.
At age of 23, on 15 April 1917 (the "Bloody April
"), Fonck received a coveted invitation to join the famous Escadrille les Cigognes. Group de Combat 12, with its four escadrilles (or squadrons), was the world's first fighter wing. The leading French ace Georges Guynemer
served at the time in one of its escadrilles, N3, and had just scored his 36th victory.
Fonck was assigned to another escadrille in the group, Spa 103. Flying the SPAD VII, he quickly made a name for himself, attaining flying ace
status by 13 May. He picked off another target on 12 June, then went on hiatus until 9 August. He scored twice more in August, on the 21st and 22nd.
On the 14th, he killed the pilot of a German observation plane and watched as the plane inverted and dropped the thrashing observer almost through the wing of Fonck's Spad. He even went to the extreme of tearing the barograph
out of the cockpit of that day's victim, his twelfth, so its readout would confirm his combat report. On 30 September, he and Adjutant Dupre jointly shot down a German two-seater. The dead pilot's identification papers were salvaged from his corpse. He turned out to be Leutnant Kurt Wisseman
, who had allegedly shot down Guynemer (although it may have been a different Wissemann, as Kurt Wisseman was serving with Jasta 3, a single-seat fighter unit, and was killed in combat on 28 September, probably against No. 56 Squadron ). A journalist reported that Fonck had boasted of revenging the death of his good friend Guynemer.
September and October had added four victories apiece to Fonck's score. Thus, by year's end, Fonck had raised his tally to nineteen, had been commissioned as an officer, and had received the Légion d'honneur
.
Fonck only got better. Known for his clinical professionalism, he applied mathematical principles to combat flying and his engineering knowledge regarding the capabilities of the aircraft he flew was unsurpassed among his fellow pilots. Fonck took few chances, patiently stalking his intended victims from higher altitudes. He then used deflection shooting with deadly accuracy on enemy pilots at close range, resulting in an astonishing economy of ammunition per kill. More often than not, a single burst of less than 5 rounds from his Vickers machine gun was sufficient . His preferred method of aerial combat was not to engage into dogfights, but to carry out surgically merciless executions. He was also reputed to spot enemy observation aircraft very far away in the distance, where most other pilots would have perceived nothing.
Fonck, like France's leading ace, Capt. Georges Guynemer
, also flew a limited production SPAD XII fighter, distinguished by the presence of a hand-loaded 37mm Puteaux cannon firing through the propeller boss. He is apparently credited with downing 11 German airplanes with this type of armament called "moteur-canon". This was made possible by the gear-reduction version of the Hispano-Suiza
V8 SOHC engine first used in that model of SPAD fighter. It offset the now-hollow propeller shaft above the crankshaft axis and the 37mm cannon was lodged in the V space between the two rows of cylinders. Fonck would later fly the highly successful SPAD XIII, which was the first SPAD fighter model to use twin Vickers machine gun
s.
Then came a spectacular performance on 9 May. It was sparked by a disagreement between Fonck and two of his squadronmates, Edwin C. Parsons
and Frank Baylies
. Perturbed by Fonck's lectures on aerial success, the two Americans bet Fonck a bottle of champagne that one of them would shoot down an enemy plane before Fonck. Baylies took off despite hazy weather and shot down a Halberstadt CL.II
. Back at the airfield, rather than pay off the bet, a sulky Fonck badgered the Americans to change the terms of the bet so that whoever shot down the most Germans that day would win. Lingering fog kept Fonck grounded most of the day. It was well into the afternoon before it cleared enough for him to take off at 1500 hours. Between 1600 and 1605 hours, he shot down three enemy two-seater reconnaissance planes. A couple of hours later, he repeated the feat. Understanding the importance of reconnaissance planes, with their potential to direct intensive artillery fire onto French troops, Fonck concentrated his attentions upon them; six shot down within a three hour span proved it.
He added a double victory on 19 May and five more in June. By now, he was shooting doubles frequently, and with 49 on his score sheet, he was rapidly closing in on Guynemer's record.
On 18 July 1918, he shot another double, to bring his total to 53 and a tie with Guynemer. The following day he shot down three more enemy aircraft and surpassed the score of the legendary Guynemer, who had remained the leading French ace since his death on 11 September 1917.
He added four more victories to his list in August, raising his total to 60. Then, on 26 September, he repeated his feat of knocking down six enemy airplanes in a day, although this time 3 of his 6 victories were over Fokker D.VII
fighters.
Another success two days later and double winners on 5 October put his score at 69, very close to the 72 of Major William Avery Bishop, then the leading Allied ace. On 30 October, he tied up the score with 3 more victories. He shot down 2 more the following day, and another the day after that. That was his final credit; he had closed off his list with 75 confirmed victories.
To summarize, he claimed 56 victories during the whole of 1918, attaining a total of 36 kills before May 1918. His 1918 list by itself would have made him France's leading ace. By the end of the war, he had accounted for all but 36 of Escadrille SPA.103's 111 claimed victories. Unlike many leading French aces, Fonck's score contained only a few (three) shared victories. Also unlike most aces, he remained unwounded; indeed, only a single enemy bullet had ever hit his aircraft. He had also forgone the most hazardous air to air combat; he had shot down no balloons.
Yet for all his skill and success, Fonck never captured the heart of the French public as Guynemer had. Fonck was ascetic and withdrawn. Instead of drinking or socializing with the other pilots, he planned his flying missions and tactics, ironed his uniforms, and stayed physically fit through calisthenics. He seemed to overcompensate for his shyness by constantly mentioning his exploits. As a result, he seemed distant, arrogant, even abrasive. His comrades respected his skills, but even one of his few friends, Marcel Haegelen, considered him a braggart and shameless self promoter. Fonck may have resented the fact that Georges Guynemer
remained more popular in the French press even after he surpassed him in victories.. Fonck also seemed to lack insight into the effect his personality had upon his image or career.
, in 1920.
During the 1920s, Fonck persuaded Igor Sikorsky
to redesign the Sikorsky S.35 for the transatlantic race or Orteig Prize
. On 21 September 1926, Fonck crashed on takeoff when the landing gear collapsed, killing two of his three crew members. Charles Lindbergh
shortly afterward won the prize in 1927.
Fonck eventually returned to military aviation and rose to Inspector of French fighter forces from 1937 to 1939. His inter-wars contact with the likes of former World War I foe Hermann Göring
and Ernst Udet
cast a shadow upon Fonck's reputation during the German occupation of France and led to allegations of collaboration with the Nazi occupying forces and the Vichy regime
. On 10 August 1940, Vichy Foreign Minister Pierre Laval
announced that Fonck had recruited 200 French pilots to fight on the Nazi side. However, the truth is more complicated.
Marshal Philippe Pétain
wished to use the Goering - Fonck relationship in order to meet Adolf Hitler
and thus gave Colonel
Fonck the order to talk to Goering. A meeting was planned at Montoire but after discovering evidence about the pro-Nazi politics of Pierre Laval
, Fonck tried to convince Pétain not to attend. Initially Pétain appeared to heed Fonck's advice, but for some reason Petain eventually decided not to follow Fonck's warnings and he met Hitler at Montoire on 24 October 1940. Fonck's loyalties were thus questioned by the Vichy regime, and thus he returned home to Paris where he was eventually arrested by the Gestapo
and imprisoned in Drancy internment camp
.
After the war, a French police inquiry about his supposed collaboration with the Vichy regime completely cleared Fonck. The conclusion was that his loyalty was proved by his close contacts with recognised resistance leaders such as Alfred Heurtaux
during the war.
Additionally, he was awarded the Certificate of Resistance in 1948. Citation reads "Mr. Fonck, René, a member of the fighting French forces without uniform, took part, in territory occupied by the enemy, to glorious fights for the liberation of the nation".
Fonck remained in Paris but also visited frequently his native Lorraine where he had business interests. He died at age 59 and is buried in the cemetery of his native village of Saulcy-sur-Meurthe.
Médaille militaire citation, 1916
Légion d'honneur citation, 1917
Officier de la Légion d'honneur citation, 12 May 1918
Rene Fonck was also awarded the British Military Cross
and the British Distinguished Conduct Medal
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
aviator who ended the First World War as the top Allied
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
fighter ace
Flying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...
, and when all succeeding aerial conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries are also considered, Fonck still holds the title of "all-time Allied Ace of Aces". He received confirmation for 75 victories (72 solo and three shared) out of 142 claims. Taking into account his probable claims, Fonck's final tally could conceivably be nearer 100 or above. He was made an Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1918 and later a Commander of the Legion of Honor after the war.
Early life
Fonck was born on 27 March 1894 in the village of Saulcy-sur-MeurtheSaulcy-sur-Meurthe
Saulcy-sur-Meurthe is a commune in the Vosges department in Lorraine in northeastern France.-External links:*...
in the Vosges
Vosges
Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...
region of north eastern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Although he had been interested in aviation from his youth, he declined an assignment in the air service when conscripted on 22 August 1914, instead choosing service in the trenches as a combat engineer. His duties consisted of digging trenches, and of road and bridge repair.
1915–1916
He eventually changed his mind and was trained at St. Cyr and then at Le Crotoy on a Blériot Penguin, a flightless aircraft that gave the sensation of flying while still on the ground. He completed his pilot training in May 1915 and flew Caudron G III observation aircraft with Escadrille C 47.On 25 May 1916 Fonck's observer was killed by an anti-aircraft shell burst, a fate that almost befell Fonck a few weeks later. Fonck claimed his first enemy aircraft in July 1916, but his win was unconfirmed.
On 6 August, he attacked a German Rumpler C.III, and by maneuvering over and around the reconnaissance plane, staying out of its fields of fire, forced it lower and lower until the German crew landed behind French lines. It was his first verified victory, though shared with his observer, Lieutenant Thiberge. It brought him the Medaille Militaire
Médaille militaire
The Médaille militaire is a decoration of the French Republic which was first instituted in 1852.-History:The creator of the médaille was the emperor Napoléon III, who may have taken his inspiration in a medal issued by his father, Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland...
in late August 1916.
1917
On 17 March 1917, Fonck scored the second time, downing an Albatros in conjunction with his observer, Sergeant Huffer. By this time, Fonck had amassed over 500 hours flight time, an incredible amount in those early days of aviation.At age of 23, on 15 April 1917 (the "Bloody April
Bloody April
During the First World War, the month of April 1917 was known as Bloody April by the Royal Flying Corps . The RFC suffered particularly severe losses — about three times as many as the Imperial German Army Air Service over the same period — but continued its primary role in support of the ground...
"), Fonck received a coveted invitation to join the famous Escadrille les Cigognes. Group de Combat 12, with its four escadrilles (or squadrons), was the world's first fighter wing. The leading French ace Georges Guynemer
Georges Guynemer
Georges Guynemer was a top fighter ace for France during World War I, and a French national hero at the time of his death.-Early life and military career:...
served at the time in one of its escadrilles, N3, and had just scored his 36th victory.
Fonck was assigned to another escadrille in the group, Spa 103. Flying the SPAD VII, he quickly made a name for himself, attaining flying ace
Flying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...
status by 13 May. He picked off another target on 12 June, then went on hiatus until 9 August. He scored twice more in August, on the 21st and 22nd.
On the 14th, he killed the pilot of a German observation plane and watched as the plane inverted and dropped the thrashing observer almost through the wing of Fonck's Spad. He even went to the extreme of tearing the barograph
Barograph
A barograph is a recording aneroid barometer. It produces a paper or foil chart called a barogram that records the barometric pressure over time....
out of the cockpit of that day's victim, his twelfth, so its readout would confirm his combat report. On 30 September, he and Adjutant Dupre jointly shot down a German two-seater. The dead pilot's identification papers were salvaged from his corpse. He turned out to be Leutnant Kurt Wisseman
Kurt Wisseman
Leutnant Kurt Wissemann was a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories.Born in Elberfeld, Wissemann trained at Jastaschule 1 before being posted to Jasta 3 on 28 May 1917. He claimed 5 victories during 1917, one of which was reputed to be top French ace Georges Guynemer on 11...
, who had allegedly shot down Guynemer (although it may have been a different Wissemann, as Kurt Wisseman was serving with Jasta 3, a single-seat fighter unit, and was killed in combat on 28 September, probably against No. 56 Squadron ). A journalist reported that Fonck had boasted of revenging the death of his good friend Guynemer.
September and October had added four victories apiece to Fonck's score. Thus, by year's end, Fonck had raised his tally to nineteen, had been commissioned as an officer, and had received the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
.
Fonck only got better. Known for his clinical professionalism, he applied mathematical principles to combat flying and his engineering knowledge regarding the capabilities of the aircraft he flew was unsurpassed among his fellow pilots. Fonck took few chances, patiently stalking his intended victims from higher altitudes. He then used deflection shooting with deadly accuracy on enemy pilots at close range, resulting in an astonishing economy of ammunition per kill. More often than not, a single burst of less than 5 rounds from his Vickers machine gun was sufficient . His preferred method of aerial combat was not to engage into dogfights, but to carry out surgically merciless executions. He was also reputed to spot enemy observation aircraft very far away in the distance, where most other pilots would have perceived nothing.
Fonck, like France's leading ace, Capt. Georges Guynemer
Georges Guynemer
Georges Guynemer was a top fighter ace for France during World War I, and a French national hero at the time of his death.-Early life and military career:...
, also flew a limited production SPAD XII fighter, distinguished by the presence of a hand-loaded 37mm Puteaux cannon firing through the propeller boss. He is apparently credited with downing 11 German airplanes with this type of armament called "moteur-canon". This was made possible by the gear-reduction version of the Hispano-Suiza
Hispano-Suiza
Hispano-Suiza was a Spanish automotive and engineering firm, best known for its luxury cars and aviation engines in the pre-World War II period of the twentieth century. In 1923, its French subsidiary became a semi-autonomous partnership with the parent company and is now part of the French SAFRAN...
V8 SOHC engine first used in that model of SPAD fighter. It offset the now-hollow propeller shaft above the crankshaft axis and the 37mm cannon was lodged in the V space between the two rows of cylinders. Fonck would later fly the highly successful SPAD XIII, which was the first SPAD fighter model to use twin Vickers machine gun
Vickers machine gun
Not to be confused with the Vickers light machine gunThe Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a name primarily used to refer to the water-cooled .303 inch machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army...
s.
1918
He didn't reopen his tally sheet until 19 January 1918, when he scored a double victory. February added another five, March seven more, and another three in April.Then came a spectacular performance on 9 May. It was sparked by a disagreement between Fonck and two of his squadronmates, Edwin C. Parsons
Edwin C. Parsons
Edwin Charles Parsons aka Ted Parsons, was a Rear Admiral of the United States Navy, and former French Foreign Legionnaire, flying ace, Hollywood aviation technical advisor, FBI Special Agent, and author.-Early life:...
and Frank Baylies
Frank Baylies
Lieutenant Frank Leaman Baylies was a World War I flying ace credited with twelve aerial victories.-Early life and ground service:Baylies was the son of Lydia Terry Paige and Charles S. Baylies. He volunteered for the Ambulance Corps in May 1916 and originally saw service on the Western Front and...
. Perturbed by Fonck's lectures on aerial success, the two Americans bet Fonck a bottle of champagne that one of them would shoot down an enemy plane before Fonck. Baylies took off despite hazy weather and shot down a Halberstadt CL.II
Halberstadt CL.II
|-See also:-Bibliography:*Angelucci, Enzo . World Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft. London: Jane's, 1981. ISBN 0 7106 0148 4.*Gray, Peter and Thetford, Owen. German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putnam, 1962....
. Back at the airfield, rather than pay off the bet, a sulky Fonck badgered the Americans to change the terms of the bet so that whoever shot down the most Germans that day would win. Lingering fog kept Fonck grounded most of the day. It was well into the afternoon before it cleared enough for him to take off at 1500 hours. Between 1600 and 1605 hours, he shot down three enemy two-seater reconnaissance planes. A couple of hours later, he repeated the feat. Understanding the importance of reconnaissance planes, with their potential to direct intensive artillery fire onto French troops, Fonck concentrated his attentions upon them; six shot down within a three hour span proved it.
He added a double victory on 19 May and five more in June. By now, he was shooting doubles frequently, and with 49 on his score sheet, he was rapidly closing in on Guynemer's record.
On 18 July 1918, he shot another double, to bring his total to 53 and a tie with Guynemer. The following day he shot down three more enemy aircraft and surpassed the score of the legendary Guynemer, who had remained the leading French ace since his death on 11 September 1917.
He added four more victories to his list in August, raising his total to 60. Then, on 26 September, he repeated his feat of knocking down six enemy airplanes in a day, although this time 3 of his 6 victories were over Fokker D.VII
Fokker D.VII
The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft...
fighters.
Another success two days later and double winners on 5 October put his score at 69, very close to the 72 of Major William Avery Bishop, then the leading Allied ace. On 30 October, he tied up the score with 3 more victories. He shot down 2 more the following day, and another the day after that. That was his final credit; he had closed off his list with 75 confirmed victories.
To summarize, he claimed 56 victories during the whole of 1918, attaining a total of 36 kills before May 1918. His 1918 list by itself would have made him France's leading ace. By the end of the war, he had accounted for all but 36 of Escadrille SPA.103's 111 claimed victories. Unlike many leading French aces, Fonck's score contained only a few (three) shared victories. Also unlike most aces, he remained unwounded; indeed, only a single enemy bullet had ever hit his aircraft. He had also forgone the most hazardous air to air combat; he had shot down no balloons.
Yet for all his skill and success, Fonck never captured the heart of the French public as Guynemer had. Fonck was ascetic and withdrawn. Instead of drinking or socializing with the other pilots, he planned his flying missions and tactics, ironed his uniforms, and stayed physically fit through calisthenics. He seemed to overcompensate for his shyness by constantly mentioning his exploits. As a result, he seemed distant, arrogant, even abrasive. His comrades respected his skills, but even one of his few friends, Marcel Haegelen, considered him a braggart and shameless self promoter. Fonck may have resented the fact that Georges Guynemer
Georges Guynemer
Georges Guynemer was a top fighter ace for France during World War I, and a French national hero at the time of his death.-Early life and military career:...
remained more popular in the French press even after he surpassed him in victories.. Fonck also seemed to lack insight into the effect his personality had upon his image or career.
After the war
Fonck returned to civilian life after World War I, and published his war memoirs Mes Combats, prefaced by Marechal FochFerdinand Foch
Ferdinand Foch , GCB, OM, DSO was a French soldier, war hero, military theorist, and writer credited with possessing "the most original and subtle mind in the French army" in the early 20th century. He served as general in the French army during World War I and was made Marshal of France in its...
, in 1920.
During the 1920s, Fonck persuaded Igor Sikorsky
Igor Sikorsky
Igor Sikorsky , born Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was a Russian American pioneer of aviation in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft...
to redesign the Sikorsky S.35 for the transatlantic race or Orteig Prize
Orteig Prize
The Orteig Prize was a $25,000 reward offered on May 19, 1919, by New York hotel owner Raymond Orteig to the first allied aviator to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris or vice-versa. On offer for five years, it attracted no competitors...
. On 21 September 1926, Fonck crashed on takeoff when the landing gear collapsed, killing two of his three crew members. Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
shortly afterward won the prize in 1927.
Fonck eventually returned to military aviation and rose to Inspector of French fighter forces from 1937 to 1939. His inter-wars contact with the likes of former World War I foe Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
and Ernst Udet
Ernst Udet
Colonel General Ernst Udet was the second-highest scoring German flying ace of World War I. He was one of the youngest aces and was the highest scoring German ace to survive the war . His 62 victories were second only to Manfred von Richthofen, his commander in the Flying Circus...
cast a shadow upon Fonck's reputation during the German occupation of France and led to allegations of collaboration with the Nazi occupying forces and the Vichy regime
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
. On 10 August 1940, Vichy Foreign Minister Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval was a French politician. He was four times President of the council of ministers of the Third Republic, twice consecutively. Following France's Armistice with Germany in 1940, he served twice in the Vichy Regime as head of government, signing orders permitting the deportation of...
announced that Fonck had recruited 200 French pilots to fight on the Nazi side. However, the truth is more complicated.
Marshal Philippe Pétain
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
wished to use the Goering - Fonck relationship in order to meet Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and thus gave Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Fonck the order to talk to Goering. A meeting was planned at Montoire but after discovering evidence about the pro-Nazi politics of Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval was a French politician. He was four times President of the council of ministers of the Third Republic, twice consecutively. Following France's Armistice with Germany in 1940, he served twice in the Vichy Regime as head of government, signing orders permitting the deportation of...
, Fonck tried to convince Pétain not to attend. Initially Pétain appeared to heed Fonck's advice, but for some reason Petain eventually decided not to follow Fonck's warnings and he met Hitler at Montoire on 24 October 1940. Fonck's loyalties were thus questioned by the Vichy regime, and thus he returned home to Paris where he was eventually arrested by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
and imprisoned in Drancy internment camp
Drancy internment camp
The Drancy internment camp of Paris, France, was used to hold Jews who were later deported to the extermination camps. 65,000 Jews were deported from Drancy, of whom 63,000 were murdered including 6,000 children...
.
After the war, a French police inquiry about his supposed collaboration with the Vichy regime completely cleared Fonck. The conclusion was that his loyalty was proved by his close contacts with recognised resistance leaders such as Alfred Heurtaux
Alfred Heurtaux
Alfred Marie-Joseph Heurtaux was a French World War I fighter ace credited with 21 victories. Later in his life, he joined the French Resistance during World War II, and survived imprisonment in Buchenwald death camp to become a brigadier general in the post war Armée de l'Air.-Early military...
during the war.
Additionally, he was awarded the Certificate of Resistance in 1948. Citation reads "Mr. Fonck, René, a member of the fighting French forces without uniform, took part, in territory occupied by the enemy, to glorious fights for the liberation of the nation".
Fonck remained in Paris but also visited frequently his native Lorraine where he had business interests. He died at age 59 and is buried in the cemetery of his native village of Saulcy-sur-Meurthe.
Quotes
- "I put my bullets into the target as if I placed them there by hand."
- "I prefer to fly alone... when alone, I perform those little coups of audacity which amuse me..."
Medaille Militaire
"A pilot of remarkable bravery and skill, having already engaged in a great number of aerial combats. On 6 August 1916, he resolutely attacked two strongly armed enemy planes, took on one in pursuit, and by a series of bold and skillful maneuvers, forced it to land uninjured within our lines. He has been cited in orders twice."Médaille militaire citation, 1916
Legion d'Honneur
"A fighting pilot of great value, combining outstanding bravery and exceptional qualities of skill and sang-froid. He came to pursuit aviation after 500 hours of flight on army corps aircraft and became, in a short time, one of the best French combat pilots. On 19, 20 and 21 August 1917, he shot down his 8th, 9th and 10th enemy aircraft. He has already been cited seven times in orders, and has received the Médaille Militaire for feats of war."Légion d'honneur citation, 1917
Officier de la Legion d'Honneur
"Remarkable officer from every point of view; of admirable fighting ardor. Pilot of the highest order, for reconnaissance missions and artillery range intelligence, as well as for surveillance service that he completed many times despite very unfavorable atmospheric conditions. He demonstrated, during the course of an uninterrupted series of aerial combats, an exceptional strength and will to win, which sets an example for the French chasse pilots of today. Has downed thirty six enemy planes. Seventeen citations, Médaille militaire and Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur for feats of war."Officier de la Légion d'honneur citation, 12 May 1918
Rene Fonck was also awarded the British Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
and the British Distinguished Conduct Medal
Distinguished Conduct Medal
The Distinguished Conduct Medal was an extremely high level award for bravery. It was a second level military decoration awarded to other ranks of the British Army and formerly also to non-commissioned personnel of other Commonwealth countries.The medal was instituted in 1854, during the Crimean...
.
See also
- List of World War I flying aces
- List of people on the cover of Time Magazine: 1920s - 23 Aug. 1926