Adjutant Jacques Gerard was a French World War I 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...

. He was credited with eight confirmed aerial victories before dying while battling to liberate his homeland.

Early life

Jacques Gerard was born in Paris, France on 26 October 1890. He joined the 113e Regiment d'Infanterie to defend his country during World War I.

World War I

Once he had joined the infantry, he found himself assigned as a mechanic and driver. This work brought him in contact with the truck-borne laboratories used for developing aerial photography

Aerial photography

Aerial photography is the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position. The term usually refers to images in which the camera is not supported by a ground-based structure. Cameras may be hand held or mounted, and photographs may be taken by a photographer, triggered remotely or...

. An assignment to Escadrille C18 of the Aéronautique Militaire followed. He subsequently entered pilot's training, and was licensed with his brevet in August 1917. He then rounded off his aviation education with advanced training at Pau

Pau

Pau is a commune on the northern edge of the Pyrenees, capital of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département in France. It was also the capital of the Béarn region. It forms the communauté d'agglomération of Pau-Pyrénées with 13 neighbouring communes to carry out local tasks together. The Université de...

 and Cazaux

Cazaux

Cazaux is a commune of the Ariège department in southwestern France....

. Upon completion of training, he was assigned to Escadrille N65 as a pilot on 10 November 1917. By this time, he had risen to caporal

Caporal

Caporal may refer to:*Caporal, a type of strong dark tobacco*Caporales, a Bolivian dance*Caporal in French, equivalent to Corporal...

.

He was promoted to sergent on 25 January 1918, and scored his first aerial victory on 30 January while flying a Spad VII. His victory tally mounted until he became an ace on 23 April, when he downed a brace of German reconnaissance

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

 planes. This action brought him the award of the Medaille Militaire. The accompanying citation read (in English translation):
On 25 June 1918, the date of his seventh confirmed victory, he was promoted to Adjutant. He would score one more confirmed victory. Then, on 3 July 1918, he was killed in action while battling five German airplanes.

List of aerial victories

See also Aerial victory standards of World War I

Aerial victory standards of World War I

During World War I, the national air services involved developed their own methods of assessing and assigning credit for aerial victories.The victory scores of the pilots represented at List of World War I flying aces often cannot be definitive, but are based on itemized lists that are the best...

Numbered victories in following table denote confirmed victories in chronological order. The notation "u/c" marks unconfirmed claims.

No.	Date/time	Aircraft	Foe	Result	Location	Notes
1	30 January 1918	Spad VII fighter serial number S4236	German airplane	Destroyed	Beine Beine Beine is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central France.... , France	Victory shared with Jules Covin Jules Covin Sous Lieutenant Jules Charles Covin was a World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories.-Reference:...  and two of his wingmen from Escadrille Spa31
2	31 March 1918	Spad VII s/n S4236	German fighter	Destroyed	Lagny Lagny, Oise Lagny, Oise is a small village in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.... , France	Victory shared with Charles Nungesser Charles Nungesser Charles Eugène Jules Marie Nungesser, MC was a French ace pilot and adventurer, best remembered as a rival of Charles Lindbergh...
3	21 April 1918	Spad VII s/n S4236	German reconnaissance two-seater	Destroyed	Etelfay Ételfay Ételfay is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:Ételfay is situated on the D135e road, some southeast of Amiens.-Population:-External links:*... , France	Victory shared with Georges Lienhart Georges Lienhart Adjutant Georges Frederic Lienhart was a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories.-References:...
4	23 April 1918	Spad VII s/n S4236	German reconnaissance two-seater	Destroyed	North of Le Ployron Le Ployron Le Ployron is a small village in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.... , France	Victory shared with another French pilot
5		Spad VII s/n S4236	German reconnaissance two-seater	Destroyed	Rollot Rollot Rollot is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:Rollot is situated southeast of Amiens, on the D935 road... , France
6	6 June 1918	Spad VII s/n S4236	German airplane	Destroyed	Longpont Longpont Longpont is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-See also:*Longpont Abbey*List of medieval bridges in France*Communes of the Aisne department... , France
7	25 June 1918	Spad VII s/n S4236	German airplane	Destroyed
8	28 June 1918	Spad VII s/n S4236	Albatros	Destroyed	Chaudun Chaudun Chaudun is a commune in the department of Aisne in Picardy in northern France.... , France
u/c		Spad VII s/n S4236
u/c		Spad VII s/n S4236

Reference

• Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918 Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey. Grub Street, 1992. ISBN 0948817542, 9780948817540.
• Spad VII Aces of World War I: Volume 39 of Aircraft of the Aces. Jon Guttman. Osprey Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1841762229, 9781841762227.