WAR

No successful pilot went through all the stages of training and apprenticeship
without something going wrong and Monsieur Sardier is no exception. On the
cross-country check-out flight from Buc to Chartres, a sensational error of navigation
found him at St-Cyr after one hour of flying time—a little over a half mile
from his point of departure!
To Pau again for aerobatics, he celebrated his graduation in
August 1916 by
an impromptu exhibition of stunting for the benefit of General Girod. For the
benefit of discipline, General Girod gave him 15 days close arrest.
In the fall of 1916 Sardier received his posting to N 77, then in process of
formation under the command of Capitaine de L'Hermite. The squadron was composed
mostly of sport celebrities—Maurice Boyau, an international rugby champion,
killed in action after 36 victories; Georges Boillot, an automobile racing
champion; Henri Decoin, a
swimming and boxing champion; Mouronval, another
rugbyman; Strolh; Felloneau—the unit was named "les Sport ifs" with good reason,
but Capitaine de L'Hermite regarded his command and the squadron's mission as
holy, like
a crusade. He chose their insignia—the Cross of Jerusalem.
The first victory for Sardier, in November 1916, was also the first victory
for the escadrille. It was not an easy victory—Sardier came back with 36 holes
in his Nieuport.
Among his numerous combats of the next two years, two stand out with
particular vividness. One of them, in the spring of 1918, was a single-handed encounter
with a flight of four German single-seaters, three of which he shot down.
The action earned him the Legion d'Honneur and the American Distinguished
Service Cross since it took place above the American lines at Montdidier.
Eventually, Sardier was appointed to the command of Spa 48, "Les Coqs",
and that in spite of his own objections, for he was barely 21 and it was a heavy
charge, particularly since he assumed command of officers older than himself.
One other combat that is especially memorable is one over Pagny-sur-Moselle
on March 16, 1917. Sardier and Boyau struggled inconclusively with an Albatros
. . .
whose pilot was defending himself with magnificent skill and courage
On the morning of March 16, 1917, Georges Guynemer shot down two
Albatros two-seaters in flames. In the afternoon he was out hunting along the
lines again in his Spad, "Vieux Charles," when he came upon a fight between
two Nieuports and an Albatros D II. He watched for a few seconds, then came
in like a whirlwind and with ten shots put the Albatros out of action, pilot
wounded, engine dead. The machine went down, Guynemer escorting it all the
way to the ground, almost before Sardier and Boyau knew what had happened.
One look at the stork and the blue-white-red riband on the fuselage made everything
clear.
The German prisoner was Leutnant von Hausen, nephew of General von
Hausen, commander of the German Second Army; his Albatros, almost undamaged,
was subsequently displayed in the Place Leczinski in Nancy.
On landing, Sardier was informed that there was a call for him. It was Guynemer,
who gave him a long lecture on tactics
over the telephone.
Spa 48.
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