WAR

twins jean and Pierre navarre were born August 8, 1895, at Jouy-sur-Morin
(Seine-et-Marne). Jean was fascinated by aeroplanes as a boy and when he was
called up at Mobilization he applied for aviation training. Although they had
been inseparable as boys, Jean and Pierre went separate ways in the army, Jean
to the Service d'Aeronautique, Pierre to the Genie, or Army Engineers.
Jean was brevetted a pilot in September 1914 and sent to MF 8, a squadron
equipped with Maurice Farman machines. The squadron, based near Amiens,
was one of the first to see action in the war, and the early exploits of its members
were legendary. There was Poinsard, the iron man, who flew back to the base
after having been shot clean through the
body; there was Perrin de Brichambaut,
one of the earliest Aces; there was Sallier, who was shot down in flames, but
who managed to destroy his papers before crashing. It was Poinsard who first
led Navarre up to the lines.
The first time he ever saw a Boche, in December 1914, Navarre was flying
alone. The German was flying alone too, and he flew up alongside Navarre and
waved. Navarre waved back and then snatched up his carbine, letting go of the
controls. He threw a shot at the other man who quickly dived away. The Farman
lurched up toward a stall and Navarre dropped the carbine and grabbed the
controls. As he continued his flight, his thoughts were abstracted. When he
landed back at base he had made up his mind that he must fight. To fly was not
enough—one must fly and fight. There was a war on.
He immediately requested a transfer to a Morane squadron, for the trim
and speedy Moranes were enjoying a reputation as the best machines at the
Front. The request was refused because the commander of the squadron did not
feel he could spare any pilots. Navarre persisted until the commander tired of
his importunities and decided that there was, indeed, one man he could spare.
Navarre was sent to the rear and a citation for which he had been named was
suppressed.
He was ordered to report to St-Cyr for reassignment and he decided to make
his own luck. When he presented himself to the capitaine he lied his way into a
Morane squadron, figuring that the truth would not catch up with him until
he had had a chance to prove himself and he might as well let the red tape work
for him instead of against him.
"Ah-ha!" said the capitaine, "you have been kicked out of your escadrille"
"I, mon capitaine (with perfect innocence) You must be mistaken. I was
proposed for a citation. I have, on the contrary, applied for a transfer to a Morane
squadron and have been accepted by the Director of Army Aviation. So here I am."
"Impossible. You come from a Farman squadron and you want to be
transferred to Moranes My poor boy .
.
."
"You forget, mon capitaine, that for three years in Chile and Argentina I
flew
every kind of crate. Because there was such a need for Farman pilots I hurried
back to offer my services, but I was faithfully promised a transfer to Moranes at
the first opportunity."
22
"Er, well . . . that is, of course, different ."
. .
And that, either because the capitaine was convinced or indifferent, was that.