Adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

Paul Armand Petit (17 January 1890 – 18 September 1918) was a 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 seven aerial victories,The Aerodrome websit

Retrieved 26 August 2020 at least four of which were

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. He was killed when his SPAD S.XIII was shot down on 18 September 1918.

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 ...

Paul Armand Petit was born in Paris on 17 January 1890.''Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918'', p. 204 He began his required military service on 8 October 1911 as an infantryman. When the First World War began, his regiment was called to the colors. He served in the ground forces until 15 April 1917, when he was sent to pilot's training. On 25 June, he graduated with his Military Pilot's Brevet. After advanced training, he was posted to '' Escadrille Spa.154'' on 15 September 1917. His first aerial victory, on 2 April 1918, was a lone-hand destruction of an ''

Albatros An albatross is one of a family of large winged seabirds. Albatross or Albatros may also refer to: Animals * Albatross (butterfly) or ''Appias'', a genus of butterfly * Albatross (horse) (1968–1998), a Standardbred horse Literature * Albat ...

''. He was promoted to

on 2 June 1918. He began a string of victories while flying in a "wolfpack" with such other squadron aces as

Michel Coiffard Michel Joseph Callixte Marie Coiffard (16 July 1892 – 29 October 1918) was one of the leading French flying aces of World War I. He was notable for his success as a balloon buster shooting down enemy observation balloons, which were usually hea ...

, Louis Prosper Gros, and

Jacques Ehrlich Sous Lieutenant Jacques Louis Ehrlich (1893-1953) was a French World War I flying ace credited with 19 aerial victories; he was one of the leading balloon busters of the war. Biography Jacques Louis Ehrlich was born in Paris on 25 October 1893.' ...

. The pack approach was especially effective against that most hazardous of aerial targets,

s. Beginning 30 June 1918, he helped in shooting down three of the German observation balloons, as well as a

Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII is a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the '' Fokker-Flugzeugwerke''. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII ...

. Then, on 18 September 1918, a German trap closed on the French attackers as they streaked away from a balloon they had set aflame near Brimont. A '' Jagdstaffel 66'' formation of 11 Fokker D.VIIs dived on the Frenchmen's SPADs. At the same time, ground fire opened up on the French fighters. Caught between fires, Paul Petit fell, mortally wounded; Jacques Ehrlich also went down, into captivity.''Balloon Busting Aces of World War I'', pp. 15, 18

Honors and awards

* ''

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 ...

'': * ''

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'', an ''etoile de vermeil'', and an ''etoile de bronze''The Aerodrome website page for meda

Retrieved on 26 August 2020

End notes

References

* Norman Franks, 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. . * Jon Guttman (2005). ''Balloon-Busting Aces of World War 1 (Aircraft of the Aces)''. Oxford UK: Osprey Publishing. 1890 births 1918 deaths French World War I flying aces Knights of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) French military personnel killed in World War I {{france-mil-bio-stub