'' Maréchal-des-logis'' Gilbert Jean Uteau was a French World War I

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

credited with five aerial victories.The Aerodrome website page on Utea

Retrieved4 September 2020.

Biography

See also

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. For various reasons, all belligerents engaged in overclaiming aerial victories to a greater or lesser degre ...

Gilbert Jean Uteau volunteered for military service as an artilleryman about a year after World War I began, on 10 July 1915. The next notice of Uteau in the archives is his posting to '' Escadrille Spa.315'' on 24 November 1917. Flying in defense of

Belfort Belfort (; archaic , ) is a city in northeastern France, situated approximately from the Swiss border. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Territoire de Belfort. Belfort is from Paris and from Basel. The residents of the city ...

,''Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918'', p. 109 he shot down two German airplanes and two

observation balloon An observation balloon is a type of balloon that is employed as an aerial platform for gathering intelligence and spotting artillery. The use of observation balloons began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World ...

s between 11 July and 21 October 1918. On 14 September, after his fourth triumph, Uteau was awarded the'' Medaille Militaire'' for valor. By the war's end on 11 November 1918, he had also earned the ''

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

'' with six ''palmes'' and an ''etoile''.''Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918'', p. 222 Postwar, he was taken into the ''

Legion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

''. He became a journalist, writing under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

of Le Bailli. He died in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

on 5 April 1963.

Sources of information

References

* Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank (1993). ''Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918''. London, UK: Grub Street Publishing. . 1897 births 1963 deaths French World War I flying aces {{france-mil-bio-stub