Adjutant René Montrion was a French flying ace

Flying ace

A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...

 during World War I. He was credited with eleven confirmed aerial and eight unconfirmed victories.

Montrion volunteered for duty while still only 18 years old. After extensive infantry combat experience, which brought a mention in dispatches on 26 September 1915, he transferred to aviation. On 9 October 1916, he began pilot's training at Dijon

Dijon

Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....

. Military Pilot's Brevet No. 5328 was awarded to him on 8 February 1917 before he underwent advanced training at Avord

Avord

Avord is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre region of France.-Geography:A farming area comprising the village and several hamlets situated by the banks of the river Yèvre, some east of Bourges at the junction of the D976 with the D36 and the D71 roads...

 and Pau. On 6 April 1917, he reported to Escadrille 48 as a Spad

Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés

SPAD was a French aircraft manufacturer between 1911 and 1921. Its SPAD S.XIII biplane was the most popular French fighter airplane in World War I.-Deperdussin:...

 pilot. On the 26th, he began a string of ten victories while teamed with such other aces as Jacques Roques

Jacques Roques

Adjutant Jacques Raphael Roques was a Swiss citizen who flew for the French during World War I. He was credited with five aerial victories. During World War II, he served with the French Resistance from the fall of France to war's end.-References:...

, Gilbert de Guingand

Gilbert de Guingand

Sous lieutenant Gilbert Marie de Guingand was a French World War I flying ace credited with eight aerial victories before being killed in action.-Early life:Gilbert Marie de Guingand was born at Viroflay, France on 21 July 1891...

, Armand de Turenne

Armand de Turenne

Capitaine Armand Jean Galliot Joseph de Turenne was a World War I flying ace credited with 15 aerial victories.The Marquis de Turenne was a pre-war cavalryman who transferred to aviation after the war began. In June 1916, he was assigned to Escadrille 48 as a Nieuport pilot. He scored his first...

, and René Dousinelle

René Dousinelle

Sous lieutenant René Paul Louis Dousinelle was a French World War I flying ace credited with nine confirmed and three unconfirmed aerial victories....

. By his eleventh victory on 17 June 1918, he had been proposed for the Legion d'Honneur

Légion d'honneur

The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...

. He was killed in action on 28 June 1918 before it could be awarded.

External links

• http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/montrion.php
• http://www.wwiaviation.com/aces/ace_Montrion.html
• http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/airplane%20at%20war/upload5/Rene%20Montrion.htm

Reference

• Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918 Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey. Grub Street, 1992. ISBN 0-948817-54-2, 9780948817540.

Endnotes

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