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as escort. Now on their own, Dubois and Betis fought off the German attackers, d'Aische, manning a Lewis machine-gun, shooting down two of them. However their Dorand was badly damaged and Betis was wounded. They managed to reach Allied territory before crash-landing. Betis later died of his injuries but d'Aische survived unhurt. For this exploit, d'Aische was promoted to
Sergeant.
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two-seaters. On the 24th of that month, d'Aische and a pilot named Henri Betis flew a Dorand accompanied by three others on a patrol over German lines. Attacked by seven German fighters from above, one Dorand was shot down and another was damaged and forced to retreat, a third Dorand flying alongside
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two-seaters and d'Aische, flying as an observer with a pilot named Pierre Weiss, achieved his first confirmed aerial victory when he shot down a German
Albatros over Varvinay on 22 May 1916. In January 1917, F.71 was transferred to Sainte-Menehould to support General Nivelle's coming spring offensive
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d'Aische was born in
Brussels in 1874. He was a scion (lineal descendant) of Walloon nobility whose lineage dated back to the 15th century. d'Aische moved to the Belgian Congo when his father opposed his desire to study engineering and attempted to arrange a suitable bride for his son. In 1904, he
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d'Aische worked in civil aviation in the inter-war period. He lived in France during the German
Occupation in the Second World War. His ability to speak German saw him employed by the occupiers as a translator and administrator until he was caught passing on information to the French Resistance.
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two-seaters. On 3 June, d'Aische and pilot
Jacques Fontaine were flying a patrol in a Sopwith when they were attacked by five German fighters. DuBois reported that he destroyed two of the enemy fighters and damaged a third which force-landed but he was officially credited with only one victory.
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in a single sortie. Awarded the military medal, d'Aische was now officially an ace and, at the age of 43, was the oldest ace of the Great War. d'Aische wanted to become a pilot and he managed to secure a waiver on the normal age limit of 30 to train as a pilot. He left F71 in
December 1917 and
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and it was whilst flying as an observer in one of these that he achieved his final two victories. On 22 September, accompanied by pilot
Jacques Fontaine and rear-seat gunner Lt Marcel Meunier, d'Aische destroyed an
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enlisted in the French
Foreign Legion where he learnt to speak German and became a French citizen. d'Aische was living in Paris and working as an engineer when the Great War began in August 1914.
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commenced his pilots training, securing his brevet in June 1918. However whilst undergoing advanced operational training in
October 1918, he was injured in an accidental crash whilst piloting a
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Imprisoned by the
Germans, he survived to be liberated by the Allies in 1944. He spent the remainder of his life employed as a Municipal Councillor. He died on 7 October 1958, age 84.
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three-seat bombers and the unit experienced considerable action during this period. In early June, the SM1s were replaced with British-built
189:. d'Aische, with the rank of Corporal, was assigned to an operational unit, Escadrille F.71, in April 1916 which was based at
340:
Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918
177:, the Argonne and at Vauquois. He was wounded in action in April 1915. After his recovery, he enlisted in the French
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156:, he was the oldest ace in the war, scoring his fifth (and sixth) victories when he was 43 years of age.
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d'Aische enlisted in the French army in 1914 and fought as an infantryman, seeing action on the
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fighter. The war ended the following month and d'Aische was demobilized in December 1918.
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197:. The unit was assigned to fly reconnaissance duties for the VIII French army corps at
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Adolphe Alois de Gonzague Marie Hubert Ghislain du Bois d'Aische
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aviation school and later training to be an observer/gunner at
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Later in the summer of 1917, F71 was issued with three-seat
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Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)
152:credited with six aerial victories. Serving in the
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181:in July 1915, first serving as a mechanic at the
302:Reconnaissance and Bomber Aces of World War One
209:at Chemin des Dames. The squadron received the
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22:Adolphe Aloys Marie Hubert du Bois d'Aische
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221:In July 1917, the unit received the new
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379:Soldiers of the French Foreign Legion
304:. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015. p14-15
270:List of World War I aces from Belgium
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342:London, UK: Grub Street Publishing.
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374:Belgian World War I flying aces
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242:and an enemy two-seater over
204:The unit was equipped with
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338:; Bailey, Frank (1993).
291:Retrieved 4 August 2020.
313:Guttman, Jon. p. 15–16.
288:The Aerodrome website
179:AĂ©ronautique Militaire
67:Saint-Quay-Portrieux
322:Guttman, Jon. p-17
154:French Air Service
129:MĂ©daille militaire
348:978-0-948817-54-0
240:Cernay-en-Dormois
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62:(1958-10-07)
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369:1958 deaths
364:1874 births
231:Letord 1A3s
215:Sopwith 1A2
211:Salmson SM1
358:Categories
276:References
255:Later life
223:Dorand AR1
206:Farman F40
160:Early life
150:flying ace
74:Allegiance
43:1874-03-18
140:Sergeant
100:Air Force
52:, Belgium
264:See also
244:Vouziers
236:Albatros
191:Commercy
110:Sergeant
94:Service/
69:, France
50:Brussels
146:Belgian
127:French
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199:Verdun
187:Cazaux
144:was a
124:Awards
96:branch
87:France
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193:near
183:Avord
175:Marne
344:ISBN
249:SPAD
131:and
116:Unit
106:Rank
57:Died
37:Born
119:F71
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