#4407430 - 02/25/18 09:38 PM
Re: Spa 103 and René Fonck.
[Re: DukeIronHand]
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,743
Hasse
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,743
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Well, in his left-handed defense, if I shot down 75 planes, had to walk doubled over because of all my medals, and survived the war, you probably couldn’t shut me up either! Heck you can’t now and I am only an electronic ace! When my computer is working that is.... He did have to carry a heavy burden on his chest: The pic dates probably from early 1918, and Fonck is still missing some of the awards he was decorated with later in the war and soon after, most notably the commandeur class of the Légion d'honneur, which is worn on a ribbon around the neck. Fonck remains the Allied ace of aces. He approached air combat with an uncommonly scientific method, and when off-duty, avoided all the usual vices of the fighter jockeys' of his day, like regular visits to prostitutes and consumption of huge amounts of alcohol. I imagine that was enough to alienate him from many of his colleagues, and his arrogant attitude can't have helped things.
"Upon my word I've had as much excitement on a car as in the air, especially since the R.F.C. have had women drivers."
James McCudden, Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps
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#4407466 - 02/26/18 12:37 AM
Re: Spa 103 and René Fonck.
[Re: DukeIronHand]
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 7,532
DukeIronHand
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Hotshot
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 7,532
High over the Front
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He was actually, in my opinion, a bit ahead of his time in many ways. Reportedly, besides the things you already mentioned, was careful in what he ate (apparently difficult at an airfield - even a French one), did calisthenics, and went to bed early.
Somewhat similar to the way MvR approached life at the front and acedom. Not as some carefree game and prostitute-laden booze fest but as a serious and almost scientific business.
Be curious if his reported reputation was well deserved. I live thru the literary period of the “anti-hero” where authors like to paint the grimmest picture of any “hero.” Albert Ball, MvR, Mannock, Bishop, Fonck, and others - even Guynemer and Rickenbacker - were certainly targets in some books. Became trendy for a while to be a...doubter of virtue? Some Vietnam War left over I am thinking. Anyways given the above quote by Marcel Hagen(sp) I guess there was some fire with the smoke.
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