Captain Fernand Jacquet: Belgium's World War One Ace

Capt. Jacquet (left) and his gunner, Lt. Robin, with their Farman F.40.

     In October 1907, Fernand Maximillian Leon Jacquet (born November 2, 1888) enlisted in the Belgian Army as a cadet. After successfully completing training at the École Royale Militaire located in Brussels, Belgium, Jacquet received his commission as an infantry second lieutenant and was posted to the 4e Régiment de Ligne (4th. Line Regiment) on June 25, 1910. Jacquet, though, soon grew very keen on aviation and towards the end of 1912, he applied for both civilian flight school as well as military flight school in order to earn his flying credentials. He received his instruction in the village of Sint-Job-in-'t-Goor and earned his civilian pilot license (license no. 68) on February 25, 1913 and then his military pilot certification on August 30, 1913. After a promotion to first lieutenant, Jacquet was posted to the 2e Escadrille d’Observation (2nd. Observation Squadron) based in Boninne, Belgium. An interesting note was that Jacquet was nearsighted and it was the main reason he always flew two-seater aircraft so that he would do the flying while his gunner would do the shooting.

     When World War One began and Germany invaded Belgium in August 1914, Jacquet was in the thick of it, flying reconnaissance missions from his unit's Boninne base, to include deep penetrations behind German lines. He also took it upon himself to bomb German positions whenever possible, hitting German targets at Groote Hemme on November 24, 1914 and twice on December 24, 1914 at Beerst and Essen. At this time, Jacquet's mount was a Farman HF.20 pusher reconnaissance aircraft and it was on this aircraft and his later Farman F.40 aircraft that would carry the grim moniker of the death's head on the nose. On April 17, 1915, Jacquet scored Belgium's first aerial kill when his gunner Henri Vindevoghel shot down a German Aviatik reconnaissance plane. Sometime in 1916, Jacquet traded in the HF.20 for an improved F.40 mount. Like the HF.20, it was a two-seat pusher-style reconnaissance aircraft but while slower and with less range than the HF.20, the F.40 had a better service ceiling, had better armament, and in addition to a better bomb load, could carry ten Le Prieur rockets. During the course of the war in 1916, Jacquet and his gunner, Louis Robin, racked up another three kills though, on September 8, 1916, their F.40 was shot down by German anti-aircraft fire. Fortunately, while the F.40 was utter wreckage, both men walked away unscathed. In December 1916, Jacquet was given command of the 1ère Escadrille de Chasse. On February 1, 1917, Jacquet became an ace when Robin downed a German Rumpler aircraft while Jacquet was flying a two-seat Sopwith 1 1⁄2 Strutter and by December 1917, Jacquet was promoted to Captain-Commandant and put in charge of the Groupe de Chasse, Belgium's first fighter wing. By now, Jacquet was flying the two-seat SPAD S.XI with his unit being a mixture of the SPAD S.XI and Sopwith 1 1⁄2 Strutters.

     When the war ended, Jacquet had seven confirmed victories with another nine unconfirmed and he had an impressive array of medals to go with his wartime service. His decorations included being a Knight of the Order of Leopold (Chevalier de Ordre de Léopold), Ordre de la Couronne avec des Palmiers (Order of the Crown with Palms), the Croix de Guerre (six citations), Médaille de la Victoire 1914-1918, Médaille Commémorative de la Guerre 1914-1918, Knight of the Legion of Honor (Chevalier de Légion d'Honneur), the Croix de Guerre (the French version), the Russian Order of St. Anna (Орден Святой Анны), and the British awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross (the only Belgian to have received this decoration during World War One).

     The photograph depicts Jacquet (on the left) with his gunner, Lt. Robin. Jacquet's rank is that of Captain as shown by the three stars on his collar tabs. The fuselage of his F.40 was all black with a predominantly white skull on the nose. The F.40 was a tall aircraft, standing 12.1 feet in height, had a length of 30.4 feet, and a wingspan of 57.9 feet. The F.40 used many engines but the most common was a Renault V-12, air-cooled piston engine that developed 130 horsepower that drove a 2-bladed, fixed pitch wooden pusher propeller. This gave the F.40 a maximum speed of 84mph at 6,600 feet. Enough fuel was carried for a 260 mile range or a total air endurance of 2 hours and 20 minutes. The service ceiling was 13,290 feet and it took the F.40 a total of fifteen minutes to reach 6,600 feet. For weapons, the usual fit was a single .303 caliber Lewis machine-gun though it could be fitted with two. A total of 530 pounds of bombs could be carried and the F.40P model could mount ten Le Prieur air-to-air incendiary rockets. These rockets were exclusively used against observation balloons and German Zeppelin airships.

     Jacquet retired from the Belgian military in 1921 after fourteen years of service. He, along with Louis Robin, opened a flying school in Gosselies, Belgium. On August 27, 1931, Jacquet became the commercial director for the British aviation firm Fairey's Belgium subsidiary Société des Avions Fairey that the British company had set up at Gosselies' aerodrome. When the Germans, again, invaded Belgium on May 10, 1940, Jacquet once again heeded the call to battle and joined the Résistance Belge (Belgian Resistance) at the age of 52. He was captured by the Germans and imprisoned at Fort de Huy in the city of Huy in 1942. The fort was used by the Germans to house all manner of criminals, communists, resistance fighters, captured soldiers from England, France, and Russia, and even hostages for one reason or another. It was also used as a transit stop for Jews and other "undesirables" before being taken to either the Neuengamme concentration camp in northern Germany or the Vught concentration camp in the Netherlands. Jacquet survived imprisonment and was freed from Fort de Huy upon the end of the war. He moved to Leval-Chaudeville and that was where he passed away on October 12, 1947 at the age of 58.

Corporal John Raines: Posing with the Big Boy

     Corporal John Raines, as written on the back of the photograph, “...posing with Tommy gun and one of the big boys.” Raines looks to be wearing the herringbone twill one-piece work suit which was commonly issued to both mechanics as well as tank crews. This uniform item would later become popular and would see wide-spread usage outside of the motor pool and armored vehicle troops. He is also wearing heavy leather gloves. On his head is what appears to be the M1938 combat helmet as evidenced by what looks like one of the ventilation holes on the helmet just below the goggles. The helmet wasn't designed to protect the wearer from bullets like the M1 steel helmet. Instead, the helmet was to protect crewman from sharp edges and protrusions within the confines of a tank or tank destroyer. For equipment, Raines only appears to be wearing the carrier for the M3 lightweight gas mask.

     In Raines' hands is the Thompson M1928 submachine gun firing the .45 ACP cartridge. That it is the M1928 model can be told by the Cutts compensator on the end of the barrel. Later Thompson M1 and M1A1 models did away with this compensator and also, as a further identifier of the first model is that the M1 series could not fit the 50-round drum magazine (seen here) or the larger, 100-round drum. Nicknamed the “Tommy Gun”, the weapon saw widespread use by Allied forces throughout World War Two and some of the 1.75 million weapons built continue to see combat even today.

     The “big boy” is a M3 light tank, known to the British as the “Stuart” or less commonly, the “Honey”. This is likely the initial production M3 judging by the positioning and style of the small pistol port flap on the side of the turret. The M3 was crewed by four men and first entered production in March 1941. The M3 served as a light reconnaissance tank and despite being declared obsolete in July 1943, the M3 continued to see combat until the end of World War Two. The M3 was armed with the M5 37mm gun which could successfully engage other light tanks, armored cars, and even some early war medium tanks but as the war continued in the European Theater, the M3's gun was woefully inadequate. However, in the Pacific Theater, the M3 was able to successfully combat Japanese tanks which typically were not thickly armored. Besides the British, the other large scale user of the M3 was the Soviet Union via Lend-Lease. In addition to the M5 gun, the M3 was equipped with five Browning M1919 .30 caliber machine-guns. One was mounted on a pintle mount fixed to the turret side, one was fitted co-axially with the gun, one was fitted in the front of the hull (which we can see behind Raines), and one was fitted into a sponson on either side of the hull, firing forward. The later M3A1 model did away with the sponson mounted weapons. The hatches for the driver and the co-driver are open and laying in the hatch of the driver is a Springfield M1903 bolt-action rifle judging by the butt plate which is about all that is visible of it.

     Unfortunately, there is no visible unit patch on his uniform nor markings on the M3 tank to identify what unit Raines was part of. On the back of the photograph is the location of where the photograph was taken, that being Washington D.C. If this is the case, it could be that he was part of the 428th. Reserve Infantry Regiment which was based in Washington D.C. It should be noted that some infantry divisions had a reconnaissance company that, in some cases, were equipped with M3 tanks instead of the more common armored cars such as the M8 Greyhound. As to exactly where such a field photograph could be taken, the only real possibility was Fort Humphreys which was located at Greenleaf Point, a peninsula at the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. The post, renamed to Fort Lesley J. McNair after World War Two, is the third oldest post in the United States, having been founded as Washington Arsenal in 1791. It is the home of the Inter-American Defense College and National Defense University but at the time of World War Two, the post was also used for basic training and thus a reasonable possibility for Corporal Raines' location. However, again, with no real specific identifiers in the photograph, an accurate unit and location isn't possible.

Char B1 (n° 326) “Dordogne”: Knocked Out Near Montfaucon

     The Char B1 heavy tank, No.326, and named “Dordogne” was originally assigned to the replacement battalion of the 41st. BCC ((Bataillon de Chars de Combat) on January 6, 1940. However, by May 10, 1940, the tank was transferred to the 2nd. Compagnie, 28th. BCC. The tank was commanded by Lieutenant Marcel Cousin, the driver was Adjutant-Chef (Chief Warrant Officer) Colombo, the radio operator was Sergeant Magne, and the gunner was Corporal Savrey. The 28th. BCC was part of the 1st. DCR (Divisions Cuirassées de Reserve) and on May 15, the unit was deployed to the north of Flavion, Belgium.

     On the morning of May 16, the German Panzer Regiment 25 ran into the 3rd. Compagnie of the 28th. BCC at approximately 8:30am. Soon, all three companies of the 28th. BCC were engaged with the German regiment. The German tankmen were unprepared to see their rounds bouncing off the thick armor of the B1 tanks, let alone the number of French heavy tanks encountered. As it turned out, Panzer Regiment 25 was not informed by Luftwaffe intelligence assets of the true strength of the French in the area. The German commanders decided that combat had to commence at close range in order to have a chance at eliminating the French tanks. Using the terrain to as much advantage as possible to mask their movements, Panzer Regiment 25 sought to flank the 28th. BCC and around 9:30am, the 2nd. Compagnie shifted from their position in order to stop the German advance. Unfortunately, the sporadic supply situation saw many of the company's tanks run out of fuel. The B1 tanks were struck dozens of times by German fire which put many of the tanks out of action. Those B1 tanks with fuel began to retreat but soon, the crews knew they wouldn't get far. So, instead, they used the last of their fuel to turn the tanks to bring the 75mm hull mounted gun to bear on the enemy. Once fuel was expended, the commanders used the turret mounted 47mm gun to continue the fight, often until the electric batteries died leaving only hand cranks to turn the turret. The combat was joined by Panzer Regiment 31 around 12:00pm and they too received a bloody nose by the tanks of the 28th. BCC. The German tanks began to run out of ammunition and their supply trains were still too far behind to offer any swift replenishment. By 2:00pm, the 28th. BCC still held their positions despite the punishment the unit received. At 6pm, the order was given to withdraw and what tanks of the 28th. BCC were still mobile and had enough fuel, commenced to retreat to either Beaumont or Chastre. Those tanks which could not retreat remained where they were, giving battle until they had nothing left. Abandoned tanks were blown up and their crews continued to fight on foot for a time before retreating from the field. All told, only three of the 28th. BCC tanks made it out of the battle.

     “Dordogne”, assuming the dates are correct, survived the battle but this would not last and on May 18, 1940, the tank was knocked out in combat with elements of the 2nd. Panzer Division near Montfaucon. The crew survived the hit and was taken prisoner by the Germans. Lt. Cousin suffered severe injuries and had his left arm amputated as a result of those wounds.

Major Carroll Burleigh Colby: Civil Air Patrol

     For those of us who grew up in the 1970s as kids, few school libraries didn't have at least one book by author C.B. Colby on the shelves. Most of the books I remember by him were military in nature but his span of works were not limited to the topics of weapons and war. Born Carroll Burleigh Colby on September 7, 1904, Colby's writing career began in 1929 when he sold his first fiction story. He took an interest in aviation and became a glider pilot in 1930 and soon embarked on a career of writing and illustrating articles for several aviation magazines. This would earn him the editorship in 1937 for "Air Trails" and "Air Progress" magazines. During World War Two, Colby became a war correspondent and was assigned to cover the U.S. Army Air Force in Alaska as well as Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. By 1942, Colby enlisted in the Civil Air Patrol (where he would attain the rank of Major) and in 1943, he left his editor seat for the two magazines to assume the post of aviation editor for "Popular Science" which he held until 1946 before relinquishing it to go freelance. Colby would commence writing non-fiction books for young readers in 1951 when "Our Fighting Jets" was published and from then on, the so-called "Colby Books" began to be released which not only covered military subjects but also public service/safety (such as police and fire) and outdoor sportsman topics. Colby would pass away on October 31, 1977.

     As for his decorations, it is difficult to determine with certainty what the ribbons are. The ribbon nearest the jacket lapel is likely the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Service Ribbon (old style) then the CAP Cadre Ribbon (ceased being issued in 1971) and the third could be the U.S. Armed Forces American Campaign Medal ribbon. Above the ribbon bar is his CAP Pilot Wing device. The devices on the jacket lapels were the standard CAP insignia of the 1940s which consisted of a pair of "wings and prop" and a pair of CAP initial devices. 

Observation Squadron VO-9M: Deployment to Haiti

The men of VO-9M in Gonaïves, Haiti. Photograph by 1Lt. Louie Bertol.

     On July 28, 1915, the United States landed 330 U.S. Marines in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Their mission was to protect "American and foreign" interests in the country. Haiti, by this time, was already unstable politically and various militia (nicknamed cacos) roamed the land and carried out numerous coups. The U.S. was also concerned about Imperial German influence in the region, including the monetarily powerful German minority within Cap-Haïten and Port-au-Prince. This would see the U.S. seize Haiti's gold reserve in 1914 and in February 1915, the dictatorship of Vilbrun Guillaume Sam came into power until several cacos overthrew and brutally killed him. This was the final straw which caused the U.S. to act, namely to defend her economic interests. The occupation, which lasted until August 1, 1934, was one of combat with the various militias who rebelled against the occupation, the assumption of much of the Haitian government's power in regards to running the country to the exclusion of Haitian political leaders, and efforts to improve the country's infrastructure. It was little over 19 years of turmoil, upheaval, and resentment. 

     Throughout the occupation, the U.S. Marines kept aviation assets in-country and U.S. Marine Observation Squadron VO-9M was one. This 1931 unit photograph depicts the men of VO-9M while in Gonaïves, Haiti. It was taken by First Lieutenant Louie N. Bertol. The flying boat behind the men is not actually a Marine aircraft. It was a Consolidated Commodore that was flown by Pan American Airways of which Gonaïves was a destination the airline serviced. The Marines, however, availed themselves of Pan American and used the carrier to ferry important personnel to and from the mainland as well as carry correspondence back to the United States. VO-9M was equipped with Vought SU-2 and SU-3 Corsairs (scout designation of the O2U) and missions included reconnaissance, mail delivery, passenger transport, and medical evacuations. By June 29, 1934, VO-9M commenced preparations to return to the mainland, specifically, to Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. Squadron property was assessed on what would remain behind, be destroyed, or returned with the squadron. Much of the physical infrastructure was to be turned over to the Haitians but the U.S. Navy felt that the unit's hangers and shops needed to be dismantled and sent to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina. On August 15, 1934, the aircraft of VO-9M departed Haiti for good. 

     Sometime late in 1934, VO-9M would be redesignated as Scouting Squadron VMS-3 ( the "Devilbirds") and they operated from St. Thomas, Virgin Islands until inactivated on May 20, 1944. VMS-3 flew Grumman J2F Ducks, Vought OS2N Kingfishers, and finally the Douglas SBD Dauntless.

     The aircraft in the background are difficult to make out but appear to be Curtiss F6C-4 Hawk fighters.