(France) Boyau Maurice @·AIRCRAFTUBE

  • Maurice Boyau Maurice Boyau
    Maurice Boyau
  • Rugby international (1912-1913) Rugby international (1912-1913)
    Rugby international (1912-1913)
  • With René Fonck<br>and other officers With René Fonck<br>and other officers
    With René Fonck
    and other officers
  • Boyau's dragon Nieuport 17<br>(Escadrille N 77) Boyau's dragon Nieuport 17<br>(Escadrille N 77)
    Boyau's dragon Nieuport 17
    (Escadrille N 77)
  • Nieuport 17 Nieuport 17
    Nieuport 17
  • At the controls<br>of his SPAD At the controls<br>of his SPAD
    At the controls
    of his SPAD
  • In front of his SPAD XIII No. 9<br>(SPA 77) In front of his SPAD XIII No. 9<br>(SPA 77)
    In front of his SPAD XIII No. 9
    (SPA 77)
  • SPAD XIII SPAD XIII
    SPAD XIII
  • SPA 77 insignia:<br>pennant with Cross of Lorraine SPA 77 insignia:<br>pennant with Cross of Lorraine
    SPA 77 insignia:
    pennant with Cross of Lorraine
  • German observation balloon (Drachen) German observation balloon (Drachen)
    German observation balloon (Drachen)
  • Statue by François Cogne<br>in Dax (1924) Statue by François Cogne<br>in Dax (1924)
    Statue by François Cogne
    in Dax (1924)
  • Airmail stamp (2018) Airmail stamp (2018)
    Airmail stamp (2018)

Maurice Boyau

Maurice Jean-Paul Boyau (8 May 1888, Mustapha, Algeria - 16 September 1918, Harville, Meuse) was a French international rugby union player and a leading French flying ace of the First World War. Captain of the French national rugby team in 1913, he became during the war one of the most successful balloon busters of the conflict. Credited with 35 confirmed victories, including 21 observation balloons, he ranks fifth among French aces of the Great War, behind René Fonck, Georges Guynemer, Charles Nungesser and Georges Madon.

Early life and sporting career

Maurice Boyau was born in Mustapha, a suburb of Algiers, into a well-off family of French settlers; his father was a contractor. The family left Algeria fairly early and in 1907 settled in Saint-Paul-lès-Dax, his father's home village. Registered at birth under the surname Johannès, he was authorised by a decree of 30 November 1912 to bear officially the name Boyau, by which the public already knew him.

Tall for his time (1.81 m) and an all-round athlete, he took part in running, jumping, boxing and above all cycling, winning many races, before devoting himself to rugby. A fast and powerful flanker who could also kick goals, he played for US Dax, which he captained in 1908-1909. During his national service with the 144th Infantry Regiment in Bordeaux, he joined Stade Bordelais Université Club (SBUC), with whom he won the French Championship in April 1911 (a 14-0 victory over SCUF, Boyau converting one of the tries).

Selected for France, he won six caps: four in the 1912 Five Nations Championship (Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England) and two in 1913 (Wales, then Ireland in Cork, where he captained a heavily beaten French side, 24-0). During the war he went on playing whenever his duties allowed, notably for Racing Club de France, and captained the French military team. On 10 February 1918 he led the North to a 31-10 victory over the South.

Joining the air service

Mobilised in August 1914, he first served in the colonial infantry in the Vosges, then as a driver with the 18th Escadron du Train des Équipages. Unhappy with this rear-area posting, he repeatedly applied for transfer to aviation, which he obtained at the end of 1915. He received his pilot's brevet on 28 November 1915, but his superiors kept him for nearly eight months as a flight instructor at the Buc flying school.

By dint of insistence, he was posted in September 1916, as a Caporal, to Escadrille N 77, newly formed at Lyon-Bron and sent to the Lorraine front near Toul in support of the VIIIe Armée. It was nicknamed "Les Sportifs" because of the many athletes in its ranks, and its insignia was a triangular pennant bearing a Cross of Lorraine. Boyau first flew a Nieuport 17, whose white fuselage was decorated with a large green dragon writhing along its whole length. Promoted to Sergent in December 1916, he then moved on to the SPAD VII when the unit was re-equipped and became Escadrille SPA 77.

Balloon buster

He scored his first victory on 16 March 1917, over a German two-seater near Metz. On 23 March he bombed the hangars of Marimbois airfield from very low altitude, earning a citation. He soon specialised in attacking German captive observation balloons, the "Drachen": heavily defended by anti-aircraft artillery and fighter patrols, these missions were among the most dangerous in air combat.

On 5 June 1917, after a photographic sortie over Sarrebourg, he set a Drachen on fire in spite of the flak. Running out of fuel, he had to land in a meadow in enemy territory; as two German armoured cars approached to capture him, he managed to take off again at the last moment and returned to the French lines. Having become an ace in June 1917, he received the Médaille militaire on 27 June. On 1 October 1917 he reached his tenth victory, six of them balloons, and was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur; he was commissioned Sous-lieutenant shortly afterwards. By the end of 1917 he was France's leading balloon-busting specialist.

In 1918 the escadrille was successively attached to Groupe de Combat 17, GC 13 and Escadre de Combat No. 2. Flying a SPAD XIII (bearing the individual number 9), Boyau had Le Prieur rockets fitted to the interplane struts of his aircraft in the spring to attack balloons. His greatest successes came during the summer offensives of 1918: four victories in June, nine in July and three in August, against balloons but also Albatros D.V, Pfalz D.III and Fokker D.VII fighters and Rumpler two-seaters. On 22 July 1918 he downed an aircraft and two balloons in a single day and was promoted Officier of the Légion d'honneur. Many of his victories were shared with fellow SPA 77 pilots, including Gilbert Sardier, Marcel Haegelen, Francis Guerrier and his commanding officer Henry Decoin.

Death

During the Saint-Mihiel offensive, Boyau destroyed three balloons on 14 and 15 September 1918. On 16 September he attacked another Drachen near Harville, some ten kilometres behind the lines, and set it ablaze: his 35th victory. On the way back, while trying to drive a Fokker D.VII off the tail of a fellow SPA 77 pilot, he was hit by the German fighter and by ground fire. His SPAD crashed in flames. The Germans credited Leutnant Georg von Hantelmann of Jasta 15 with the kill, while the French eyewitness account rather pointed to ground fire. Neither his body nor his aircraft was ever found. He was 30 years old.

On the Saturday after his death, Racing Club de France, which he was due to captain, played its match with only fourteen men, leaving his flanker position empty in his memory.

Record

Maurice Boyau scored 35 confirmed victories in 18 months of combat: 21 balloons (14 shared) and 14 aircraft (4 shared), plus several probables. He ranks fifth among French aces of the First World War and among the best balloon busters of the conflict, alongside Belgium's Willy Coppens, America's Frank Luke and his compatriots Léon Bourjade and Michel Coiffard.

Honours and awards

  • Officier of the Légion d'honneur (July 1918); Chevalier on 1 October 1917.
  • Médaille militaire (27 June 1917).
  • Croix de guerre 1914-1918 with numerous palms.

Legacy

  • A bronze statue by sculptor François Cogne, showing him in flying kit with his arm stretched towards the sky, was unveiled in Dax in 1924 after a public subscription. First placed in the Théodore-Denis park, it now stands at the entrance of the US Dax stadium. A statuette showing him as a rugby player, stolen several times, is placed in his hand during the 11 November commemorations.
  • The US Dax stadium, opened in 1958, bears his name: the Stade Maurice-Boyau.
  • In 2018, to mark the centenary of his death, La Poste issued an airmail stamp depicting him alongside Michel Coiffard.
  • In September 2018 the school of Saint-Félix-de-Sorgues (Aveyron) was named after him.

Sources: Wikipedia (English and French); Gareth Morgan, "The Balloon-Busting Flanker", Western Front Association (2015); World Rugby Museum, "Lest We Forget - Maurice Boyau" (2018); as14-18.net; Jean-Marc Binot, "Maurice Boyau, pilote rugbyman", Privat (2018).

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