Roland Garros

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Notable

French pioneering aviator and fighter pilot during World War I and the early days of aviation. In 1928, the Roland Garros tennis stadium in Paris was named in his memory; the French Open tennis tournament takes the name of Roland-Garros from the stadium in which it is held. At the age of 12, he contracted pneumonia, and was sent to Cannes to recuperate. He took up cycling to restore his health, and was also keen on football, rugby and tennis. When he was 21 he started a car dealership in Paris. He started his aviation career in 1909 flying a Demoiselle (Dragonfly) monoplane, an aircraft that only flew well with a small lightweight pilot. He gained Ae.C.F. licence no. 147 in July 1910. In 1911 Garros graduated to flying Blériot monoplanes and entered a number of European air races with this type of aircraft, including the 1911 Paris to Madrid air race and the Circuit of Europe (Paris–London–Paris), in which he came second. On 4 September 1911, he set an altitude record of 3,950 m (12,960 ft). The following year, on 6 September 1912, after Austrian aviator Philipp von Blaschke had flown to 4,360 m (14,300 ft), he regained the height record by flying to 5,610 m (18,410 ft). By 1913 he had switched to flying the faster Morane-Saulnier monoplanes, and on 23 September gained fame for making the first non-stop flight across the Mediterranean Sea from Fréjus-Saint Raphaël in the south of France to Bizerte in Tunisia in a Morane-Saulnier G. The flight commenced at 5:47 am and lasted nearly eight hours during which Garros had to solve two engine malfunctions. In 1914, Garros joined the French army at the outbreak of World War I. He achieved the first ever shooting-down of an aircraft by a fighter firing through a tractor propeller, on 1 April 1915; two more victories over German aircraft were achieved on 15 and 18 April 1915. On 18 April 1915, Garros's fuel line clogged or his aircraft was hit by ground fire, and he glided to a landing on the German side of the lines. After almost three years in captivity in various German POW camps Garros managed to escape on 14 February 1918 together with fellow aviator lieutenant Anselme Marchal. Via the Netherlands they made it to London, England and from there back to France where he rejoined the French army. He settled into Escadrille 26 to pilot a SPAD, and claimed two victories on 2 October 1918, one of which was confirmed. On 5 October 1918, he was shot down and killed near Vouziers, Ardennes, a month before the end of the war and one day before his 30th birthday. His adversary was probably German ace Hermann Habich from Jasta 49, flying a Fokker D.VII. Link to Wikipedia biography