The Belgian Air Force during WW1
WW1 in the air over Belgium is a wide subject to cover in a few words..
The country was on the frontline from the first to the last day of conflict.
Some new use of air warfare was experimented in Belgium : strategic bombing, the first Zeppelins raids to London …
Some aces of both sides were based or flow over the country.
The war started on 3 August 1914 and on the 4th Farmans of the Belgian Air service were involved in air reconnaissance over the German and
Dutch border to detect the invading Germans troops.
During the first weeks of the war, the main effort of the Germans was driven to defeat the French Army. During their march to the south, their first
confrontation with the British army happened during the battle of Mons. The preliminary phase of this battle was the occasion of the first actions
of the RFC. During these operations, the two first British airmen were killed in action between Brussels and Mons. The first of many airmen to fall
in Belgium during two world wars.
The story of these two pilots has been covered in 
N°10.
Civil aviators who enlisted with their own machines supplemented the four original squadrons of the Belgian Air Arm. A fifth squadron was so
created with a mix of Deperdussin monocoques, Bleriot XI's and a Morane H. Amongst the volunteers who joined the Army Air component there
were many pre-war celebrities as Crombez, Tyck, Olieslagers with his brothers and De Caters.
After the first battles along the Meuse river, the Belgian army slowly retreated to Antwerp. Aerial
reconnaissance missions were mounted every day.
Aeroplanes were also used to bomb the advancing Germans troops with iron arrows. Germans considered these attacks as "aerial
terrorism", these crude weapons having the reputation to pass trough an horse and his rider to kill both.
After being defeated during the battle of the Marne, the Germans turned their eyes to the sea and besieged Antwerpen where the Belgian Army
and its air service had retreated. During the siege of the town, the Belgian Farmans were extensively used to detect Germans artillery positions.
French supplied aircraft and personal to reinforce the Belgian air service. Crews by a Belgian and a French were constituted, the first example of
a multinational squadron. British send also troops and aeroplanes to help Belgium.
Winston Churchill being first Lord of the Admiralty send
RNAS detachment to Oostende and Antwerpen.
The British decided also to mount the first aerial attacks on the zeppelin sheds in Germany (Keulen & Dusseldorf) from Antwerpen on 8 October
1914. The raid was a mitigated success but it was the first strategic bombing of the history.
The superiority of the German artillery leaded the Belgian Army to retreat again along the North Sea cost. A new defence line was established on
the IJzer river during the first Battle of the IJzer. The villages and small towns of this region will became world know during the following three years
: Ieper, Diksmuide, Ploegsteert, Poelkappele …
A Farman from the Belgian Air service captured after the fall of Antwerpen
The Belgian Air Arm retreated with the Army and tried to help as much as much as possible with the aeroplanes still available with air
observation in support of the artillery. However the bad weather of the winter season did not help and reduce air activity.
The stabilisation of the front during the last months of 1914 permitted the Air corps to repair and replace existing machines. The French
delivered new Bleriots and Farmans. A depot and rear base was established in Calais Beaumarais on the French territory and operational
airfields in Houtem & Koksijde (where Seaking helicopters are still based today) on the Belgian soil.
In the first months on 1915 the Air Corps to received the first Voisin aeroplanes from the French, acquired cameras designed for air to ground
pictures and to started to equip the existing fleet with machine guns and bombing equipment.
In March 1915, Roland Garros operated from Dunkerke on the Flanders Front with a Morane Saulnier specially equipped to permit him to fire
his machine gun through the propeller circle.
This invention was decisive in the development of the fighter. However, after many initial successes Garros was finally captured with his
aeroplane on 18 April 1915 a few kilometers of Kortrijk.
See
11 for more information Garros victories on the Flanders Front
In March 1915, the term of Belgian "Military Aviation" was also used officially for the first time.
The squadron constituted in Antwerpen with both French & Belgian crews evolved to form the French C74 squadron. The unit was based in
Hondschoote on the French territory flying Caudron GIII and later GIV and RXI under French colour with mixed French-Belgian crews. It was self
American crewmen in this unit.
Squadrons of the British RNAS were also based in Dunkerke and sometime operated from Koksijde. These units operated all long the Belgian
coast against the installations of the German Navy. British pilots operated also deep inside the country against the Zeppelin bases and airfields
Germans had established in towns like Oostende, Gent or Brussels. It is the case in June 1915 when the Zeppelin LZ37 was shoot down near
Gent on the way back from a bombing mission in Great Britain.
The Calais Beaumarais Air depot in France
All during the conflict, the Belgian military aviation had some trouble to acquire last technology aircraft from French or British sources. However
BE2c's, various mark of Farman, RE8's, Nieuport X, XI were finally delivered. The first Nieuport fighter arrived on June 1915. Lieutenant
Crombez flew the first true fighter mission on 26 August 1915.
Due to his small force, the Belgian Military Aviation mainly specialised in air to ground photography and observation for the support of the Army.
Some bombing and audacious raids were sometime mounted. This is the case in July 1915, when the Belgians, French and British military
aviation united their forces to bomb the Germans airfields near the front.
At the start of 1916, the Belgian air force was strong of 6 squadrons: 4 for air observation, air photography and bombing, 2 operating as fighter
squadrons. With the appearance of increasingly sophisticated Germans fighters, the Belgians received some Nieuport XI & XVII.
Some individuals as Jan Olieslagers or Commandant Fernand Jacquet (flying Farmans) shot down some German aircraft in protection of
Belgian observation aircraft.
During 1916, the belligerents started to attack the observation captive balloons used to direct the artillery. In October, two Belgian balloons were
so shot down by German fighters. Amongst the observers killed in such engagement, a relative of one of the BAHA member.
In March 1917, the first German Gotha bombers arrived in Gent to form the England Geschwader. The main task of this unit was to bomb Great
Britain. 1917 saw also the appearance of the Fokker Dr1 in the German Air Force and the Sopwith Triplane in the RNAS squadrons based in
Dunkerke and operating on the Belgian front.
The Belgian observation squadrons were still flying mostly outdated Farmans. Some squadrons were working exclusively for great Army units.
The first operational use of radio transmissions between observation aircraft and ground force in the Belgian Air Corps also occurred in 1917.
On 1 may 1917, the future ace, Willy Coppens, took part in his first air combat. He started the war as an infantryman. He transferred to the Air
Corps in 1915 and was trained in Hendon (UK) and in Etampes where a Belgian flying school was installed. He joined the front first as an
observer pilot flying Sopwith Strutter before to join a fighter squadron.
Another future ace won his first victory on 15 march 1917. Edmond Thieffry will finish the war with 10 victories. He also started the war as an
infantryman being a lawyer in the civil life. He joined the Belgian Air Corp in July 1915 in Etampe where he learned to fly.
The period 1916 - 1917 saw the appearance of personal insignias painted on aeroplane to ease recognition in flight. Amongst the insignias
used were comets, thistles, little paper horses and dragons… Some of these personal insignias still survive today as squadron insignias of the
modern Belgian Air Force.
In the first months of 1917, Germans Jastas were very active on the Northern France front and in the
Ieper sector. Some Belgians aircraft fall
victims of the German fighters. The Belgians were also facing fighters from the Marine-Feldjagdstaffel N°1 based in Nieuwmunster and operating
along the coast.
On 4 May, the crew Henri Crombez - Louis Robin from the 6th Squadron mounted a daring raid to Brussels. They take off at dawn and reached
the town to drop a Belgian flag. They came back overflowing German airfields in Sint Agatha Berchem and Gontrode.
To better understand the situation on the front, King Albert did not hesitate to fly in a Sopwith Strutter as observer on 6 July 1917. He was surely
the only chief of state to have flow over the front during WW1.
July 1917 saw intense air activity above the Flanders frontline with the Belgian Air corps flying an average of 120 sorties by day. Germans
installed new airfields in small Flemish villages as Aartrijke, Varsenare, Wijnendale and Snellegem. Observation aircraft were extensively used
to watch railway activities, troops movements and artillery moves behind the frontlines to detect premises of ground offensives.
In August 1917, Belgian pilots received their first Hanriot HD1. The small fighter was not in great favour with the French but will prove to be a
good acquisition for the Belgian aces especially Willy Coppens who will win most of his victories on this single machine gun biplane.
Hanriot HD1 of the Thistle squadron. The squadron still exit and now flies F16's from Florennes Air Base.
On 15 August 1917,
the third battle of Ieper started. Although this sector was defended by
Commonwealth troops, the Belgian Army and his Air Corps was implied in the
fights as the Belgian sector is close to the British sector.
The French ace Georges Guynemer also operated over the Flanders front and was
finally shot down near Poelkapelle on 11 September. Another Ace, German this
time, was killed on 30 July. Werner Voss credited of 48 victories was shot down
near his base in Marke (Kortrijk).
In September, Sopwith Camels were delivered to the Belgians. Jan Olieslagers
will fly Camels until the end of the war.
With the bad season arriving, the frontline went again calmer. However in the
sky, the British were still very active seeking confrontation with the Germans
by means of offensive patrols over and behind the frontline. They moved some
squadrons to airfields in Poperinge, Abele and Proven to be close to the front.
On 23rd December 1917, the French squadron C74 who had co-operated with the
Belgians since the dark days of 1914 left the Belgian sector to be a full French
operated unit.
Begin 1918, the British, French and Belgian Headquarters organised themselves to
better use air observation and air photography. Each army became responsible of
the observation on one sector of the front. The Belgians received the
responsibility of the sector at the west of Oostende-Vijfwegen railroads.
Co-operation and information exchange in the air was not new but it was the
first time it was such organised.
Some Belgian crews specialised in air to ground photography as Jaumotte had
developed such expertise, British or French HQ asked on many occasions pictures
taken by Jaumotte.
In 1918 the Germans tried for the last time to obtain decision on the Western
front before the American troops can be available in force. In the air before
the arrival in mass of the US Air Service the balance was already in favour of
the allies with the following figures in June 1918 :
France: 3857 aircraft
Commonwealth: 2630 aircraft
USA : 180 aircraft
Belgium 127 aircraft
Germany 2551 aircraft
The most significant fact for the Belgian Air Corps in the first month of 1918
was the establishment of the "Groupe de Chasse Jacquet" (Fighter group
Jacquet) in February 1918.
Under the command of Commandant Fernand Jacquet already an ace himself, the
Belgian fighter squadrons were grouped together to offer fighters cover to Army
units and observation aircraft, as the French already practised. Fighters
patrols were also organised to interdict the presence of German observation
aeroplane along the Belgian frontline. The Group flying Camel, Spad VII, Hanriot
HD1 and Pup grouped some skilled fighter pilots as Coppens, Olieslagers,
Demeulemeester. Thieffry was shot down and taken prisoner on 23rd April. Until
then the use of fighter in the Belgian Air Corps was very empirical. It was
fighter squadrons with individuals operating on their own or flying missions on
behalf of the Army. Observation squadron sometime had their own fighters to
their disposal to protect themselves. This is the case with some Sopwith Pup's
detached within observation squadrons.
Pilots from the Jacquet fighter group. Willy Coppens is the first the right, Fernand Jacquet, the third.
The group was just established when the Germans started their last offensive of the war on 21 March. The German air service was again present
in great number in the sky of Flanders from airfields in Vlissegem, Gontrode, Oostakker en Mariakerhe.
However, the reaction of the Allies was very strong. On the Belgian front, the fighters of RAF conducted offensive patrols and succeed in keeping
air superiority.
On the ground the situation stayed confuse until May when the German offensive was at last stopped.
After the Allies won the battle on the Somme in August, the Belgians prepared to participate in the offensive in the Flanders. On 28 September at
05:30 local time, Belgian, British and French troops assaulted the German trenches. A few minutes before the start of the offensive, Breguet
XIV's and Spad XI's of the observation squadrons took off to support the infantry.
French and Belgian observation squadrons co-operated to offer full advantage of the air support. Some aeroplanes were used to bomb and to
machinegun the German positions. Ammunitions and supplies were also dropped from the air to advancing troops. On 14th October, Coppens
was heavily wounded in shooting down his 37 victim, another observation balloon. He successfully came back to his base but he lost one of his
legs in the adventure.
On 17 October, some pilots of the Groupe Jacquet flying of Spad VII, Spad XIII, Spad XI two-seat landed in Oostende, being the first Belgian
army members to enter the town after the four years of German occupation.
The French and British also operated aircraft to support the advancing troops. In November 1918, French Breguet XIV
and Salmson's operated
from advanced airstrips along the Leie river. British DH4's, Camels and SE5's conducted daily attacks in the sector Mons-Tournai-Enghien in
the last days of the War. Remembrances of these daily missions are not so vivid as the actions of the fighter-bombers after D-Day 1944 but
traces can be found in contemporary testimonies. There was self some US squadrons operating in Flanders in November.
When advancing in Belgium, Allies aviators found huge amount of aeronautical material left by retreating troops. Some WW1 aircraft displayed
today in Museums all around the war were captured in Belgium. After the war the US Air Corps used Antwerpen until at last 1920 to load into
ships German aircraft to the USA. Germans also left airfields still used today as Schaffen near Diest. It seem Kurt Tank, the future designer of the
FW190, was working on this airfield. The town of Namur housed a Zeppelin shed build by the Germans. Albert Einstein was one on the
engineers in charge of erecting the installation there.
In the minds of the Belgian Army high rank officers, the Belgian army air corps had been a very useful auxiliary force during all the conflict. Their
approach of the use of air power was deeply influenced by the French strategy. The tactics use by the Belgian air corps was far way from the
tactics used by the RAF. All during the comings years the situation will not change.
Commandant Nelis, one of the first pilots of the Belgian Air Corps, commanded the Calais Beaumarais Depot throughput the war. Aircraft were
there maintained and repaired. New aircraft were also delivered in this place. In the last months of the war, Nellis started thinking about the
developments of Aviation in Belgium after the War but this is another story. One of the assistant of Nellis in
Calais was the great father of another
member of the BAHA.
World War 1 had others consequences over further aviation history in Belgium.
Marcel Lobelle was an infantryman with the elite grenadier regiment in August 1914. He was heavily wounded during the battle of Tervaete
in 1914. He was then transferred to the rear front services before being discharged due to his wounds. He went to the UK, where he first
worked with Tarrant and Martinsyde before to join Fairey Aircraft where he became Chief designer in the year thirties.
Amongst the Belgian refugees in Great Britain, some were also employed with Sopwith and Fairey in Aircraft manufacturing. Other Belgian
workers were employed in the French aircraft industry. Count de Monge was one of the founders of the "Helice lumière" company which
equipped many French aircraft with propellers.
Another refugee in Great Britain E.O. Tips also joined Fairey. He will come back in Belgium during the thirties in Belgium as a director of
Avion Fairey in Gosselies and designer of the Tipsy aeroplanes. Some Tipsy Nippers designed by Tips are still flying today.
Jean Stampe was another obscure pilot of the Belgian Air Corps during WW1. He was born in Antwerpen and flow dangerous observation
missions during the war. King Albert 1 selected Stampe as one of his personal pilots after the war. After he had left the Army, Jean Stampe
created the Stampe & Vertongen aircraft manufacturing company in Deurne with another pilot of WW1. The Stampe & Vertongen company
designed the world famous SV4 biplane in the thirties.
César Battaille also joined the Military Aviation at war outbreak. He served mainly with the Calais Beaumarais Depot designing bombs,
bombsights and machine guns mountings.
During the whole conflict the Belgian Air Corps lost 65 airmen killed and many more wounded.
By their proximity of the front, some towns and villages of Flanders suffered heavy civil casualties due to air attacks. These innocents victims
needs also remembrance. If ever you visit the Ieper town (Ieper) please take the time to visit the museum "in the Flanders fields" where the
consequences of WW1 on the life of civilians is well explained.
Belgian Air Corps August 1914
