Escadrille MS 48 / N 48 / SPA 48
Active1915–1918
Country France
Branch  French Air Service
TypeFighter Squadron
Mascot(s)The Crowing Rooster
Engagements
World War I

Escadrille SPA.48 was a unit of the French Air Force during World War I.[1]

Unit history

Escadrille 48 was created on 29 March 1915 at Villacoublay near Paris, flying the Morane-Saulnier L. Active throughout the war at various locations on the Western Front, the escadrille replaced its aircraft with Nieuports in early 1915, then with SPADs at the end of 1916. By 11 November 1918 the pilots of the escadrille had logged 9,826 flying hours, with 54 confirmed and 48 probable victories, at a cost of 11 killed and 12 wounded.[2]

Commanders

Sources[2]
Name Appointed Notes
Captain Paul Fernand du Peuty29 March 1915Served as Directeur du Service Aéronautique from 20 February to 20 August 1917. Returned to the infantry to command a battalion of Zouaves in October 1917 and was killed in action on 30 March 1918.
Captain François de Thonel d'Orgeix5 September 1915
Captain Jean Georges Fernand Matton[3]8 October 1916Killed in action on 10 September 1917 near Koekelare, Belgium, probably by Josef Jacobs of Jasta 7.
Captain Jacques Victor Sabattier de Vignolle[4]12 September 1917
Lieutenant Jean-Marie Thobie13 February 1918
Lieutenant Gilbert Sardier[5]23 July 1918

Notable members

Aircraft flown

The following aircraft were operated by the unit between 1915 and 1918.[2]

References

  1. Franks & Bailey (1992), p. 92.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Albin, Denis. "L'escadrille 48". L'histoire de l'aviation militaire française (in French). Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  3. "Jean Georges Fernand Matton". The Aerodrome. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  4. "Jacques Sabattier de Vignolle". The Aerodrome. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  5. "Jean Marie Luc Gilbert Sardier". The Aerodrome. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  6. "René Paul Louis Dousinelle". The Aerodrome. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  7. "Gilbert Marie de Guingand". The Aerodrome. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  8. "Auguste Joseph Marie Lahoulle". The Aerodrome. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  9. "René Montrion". The Aerodrome. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  10. "Jacques Raphaël Roques". The Aerodrome. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  11. The Aerodrome website http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/caillaux.php Retrieved 1 August 2020.
Bibliography
  • Franks, Norman & Bailey, Frank W. (1992). Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918. London, UK: Grub Street. ISBN 978-0-948817-54-0.

Further reading

  • Bailey, Frank W.; Cony, Christophe (2001). French Air Service War Chronology, 1914-1918: Day-to-Day Claims and Losses by French Fighter, Bomber and Two-Seat Pilots on the Western Front. London, UK: Grub Street. ISBN 978-1-90230-434-2.
  • Davilla, James J.; Soltan, Arthur M. (1997). French Aircraft of the First World War. Stratford, Connecticut: Flying Machines Press. ISBN 978-0-96371-104-5.
  • Lefèbvre, Jean-Michel (October 1976). "Escadron 2/7 "Argonne" historique (2): escadrilles de traditions" [Historic Squadron 2/7 Argonne, Part 3: Ancestral Flights]. Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French) (83): 16–19. ISSN 0757-4169.
  • Les escadrilles de l'aéronautique militaire française: symbolique et histoire, 1912-1920 (in French). Vincennes: Service historique de l'armée de l'air. 2004. ISBN 2-11-094692-X.
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