Marcel Haegelen

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Marcel Haeglen
Born(1896-09-13)13 September 1896
Belfort, France
Died24 May 1950(1950-05-24) (aged 53)
Hospital of Val-de-Grâce, Paris, France
Buried
Cemetery of Ris-Orangis
AllegianceFrance
Service/branchAir Service
RankColonel
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II
AwardsLegion of Honour (Grand Officer)
Médaille militaire
Croix de Guerre with 15 palmes and three etoiles de vermeile

Colonel Marcel Émile Haegelen

Légion d'honneur, Médaille militaire, Croix de Guerre, was a World War I French flying ace
credited with 22 victories.

Biography

Early life and military service

Claude Marcel Haeglen was born on 13 September 1896 in Belfort, France.[2]

On 15 September 1914, he volunteered for military service as an infantryman. On 27 May 1915, he was forwarded for pilot training. He graduated training with a Military Pilot's Brevet on 10 January 1916. On 10 April, he was posted to Escadrille 8. After service with this reconnaissance squadron, he went to fighter training on 8 February 1917, and was assigned to Escadrille 3 a month later. He shot down two German airplanes, on 27 and 28 May, being wounded on the latter day.[2]

During his lengthy convalescence, he was promoted out of the enlisted ranks to become a

Sous lieutenant on 25 January 1918. On 11 March 1918, he was posted to Escadrille Spa.100. Joining in this unit's "wolf pack" tactics, Haeglen would shoot down another 20 enemy aircraft by war's end, including 12 observation balloons.[2]

After World War I

After the war, he became a

Lorraine Hanriot LH.41/2 aircraft. On the second one, he set a world record for 2000 km with a speed of 263.900 km/h.[citation needed
]

Haeglen also became president of the French Civil Pilots Union.[2]

World War II and beyond

Mobilised as

Curtiss H 75, shooting down a German airplane on 14 June 1940.[citation needed
]

After the fall of France in World War II, he became a member of the French Resistance,[2] and was arrested by the Germans in 1943 and jailed in Bourges.[citation needed]

When he died on 24 May 1950 at

Val-de-Grace, he held the rank of Colonel, and was a Grand officier of Légion d'honneur.[citation needed
]

Honors and awards

End notes

  1. ^ [dead link] Real identity and exact surname attested by Military Records from French Flying Service of First World War.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918, pp. 172 - 173

References

  • Military record #1 and #2 on French DoD website
  • Catillon, Marcel (1997). Mémorial de l'Aéronautique : qui était qui ?. Vol. 1.
    ISBN 2-7233-2053-7
    .
  • Cortet, Pierre (August 2001). "Marcel Haegelen et les Lorraine-Hanriot 41/42/130/131" [Marcel Haegelen and the Lorraine-Hanriot 41/42/130/131]. Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (101): 39–47.
    ISSN 1243-8650
    .
  • ISBN 978-0-948817-54-0
    .

External links


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