René Dorme
René Gaston Marie Dorme (born January 30, 1894 in Abaucourt-lès-Souppleville , Lorraine , † May 25, 1917 near Reims ) was a French fighter pilot and with 23 confirmed and up to 50 other unconfirmed victories one of the leading French fighter pilots during the first World war .
Childhood and youth
René Dorme was the son of the station master in Abaucourt-lès-Souppleville on the Meuse near Verdun . René Dorme initially worked as an assistant in a law firm. In 1913 he was called up and came to Bizerta in Tunisia, where he served in an artillery regiment (7e Groupe d'Artillerie).
First World War
When the First World War broke out, Dorme was already a sergeant .
His desire to become a pilot brought him to the military flight school in Pau , where he received his pilot's license on April 24, 1915.
René Dorme was transferred to the Escadrille C 94 near Villacoublay , which was equipped with Caudron bombers ( Caudron G-III and G-IV) and stationed near Paris . Dorme suggested flying night missions as well. On July 30, 1915, he and his squadron comrade Guiget started their first night mission towards the front at Soissons after dusk fell .
During another night flight in January 1916, Dorme crashed and had to spend a few weeks in the hospital .
In mid-March 1916, René Dorme came across a formation of six German aircraft that were heading for Paris. He attacked and crashed one of the planes. After this success, Dorme was transferred as a fighter pilot to the Escadrille N 95 near Pons , where he flew a Nieuport 16 and, after achieving another aerial victory in April 1916, came to the Escadrille Spa 3, the famous "stork squadron", where on July 9th Another aerial victory followed in 1916.
On December 20, 1916, René Dorme had to go to the hospital again after a gunshot wound and did not return to the troops until March 1917.
René Dorme achieved a total of 23 confirmed and 50 unconfirmed aerial victories within one year, of which at least 43 were assumed to be certain. He had 623 flight hours and survived 120 dogfights. He was one of the first French pilots to fly a SPAD S.XIII .
Dorme, referred to by his comrades as "l'Inimitable" or "l'Increvable", was considered popular and considerate and, despite his youth, was affectionately known as "Papa Dorme" because of his fatherly nature.
On May 25, 1917, Sous-Lieutenant Dorme and his squadron comrade Albert Deullin went on a mission flight near Reims . The two fighter pilots attacked two German reconnaissance planes, with Deullin losing sight of his comrade, who was attacked and shot down by the German fighter pilot Heinrich Kroll over the Fort de la Pompelle .
Dorme was initially considered missing, even when after two weeks a German plane dropped the death report over the airfield of his squadron, the report of his death was initially withheld. In the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr at the Berlin-Gatow airfield there is a cigarette case that members of the JaSta 9 apparently removed from René Dorme after being shot down. It was dedicated by Franz Prince von Thurn und Taxis and presented to Heinrich Kroll.
Awards
The President personally awarded him the Médaille Militaire ; he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor and received the Croix de guerre with 17 palm trees.
Hit list
(only confirmed aerial victories)
| date | Time | Aircraft type | place |
| July 9, 1916 | 13:20 h | LVG two-seater | Peronne |
| July 28, 1916 | 13:15 h | twin-engine biplane | Chaulnes-Roye |
| August 3, 1916 | 14: 25h | LVG two-seater | Maurepas |
| August 6, 1916 | 14: 10h | LVG two-seater | north of Nesles |
| August 22, 1916 | 18: 35h | LVG two-seater | Moislains |
| August 23, 1916 | 10: 55h | LVG two-seater | Marchelepot |
| August 25, 1916 | 09: 45h | LVG two-seater | Mesni |
| August 31, 1916 | 17: 50h | LVG two-seater | Manancourt |
| September 9, 1916 | 15: 30h | LVG two-seater | Beaulencourt |
| September 15, 1916 | 17: 20h | Rumpler | Brie-Ennemain |
| September 22, 1916 | 09: 20h | LVG two-seater | Guyencourt |
| September 25, 1916 | 17: 15h | LVG two-seater | Nurlu-Liancourt |
| October 10, 1916 | 15: 40h | Aviation | Peronne |
| October 16, 1916 | 16: 35h | Fokker monoplane | Peronne |
| October 21, 1916 | 15: 20h | Roland D. | Barleux |
| November 16, 1916 | 15: 16h | Rumpler | Marchelepot |
| 4th December 1916 | 14: 25h | Fokker monoplane | north of St. Cren |
| March 31, 1917 | 11: 00h | AEG | Fismes |
| April 19, 1917 | 14:50 h | Reconnaissance plane | Brimont |
| April 22, 1917 | 18: 30h | Two-seater | Beaurieux-Oeuilly |
| April 29, 1917 | 13: 43h | Albatros C | Fleuricourt |
| May 4, 1917 | 14: 05h | Three seater | Amifontaine |
| May 10, 1917 | 10: 05h | Albatros C | Chivy-les-Etouvelles |
literature
- Arch Whitehouse: Aviator Aces 1914-1918 . Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1970, pp. 310-312.
- Marc Chassard: René Dorme Et Joseph Guiguet. La Guerre Aerienne De Deux as . Ed. aux Arts, Lyon 2002, ISBN 2-84010-046-0 , (French), 2002.
Web links
- Kurzbiografie (English)
- Life dates
- (Forum contribution, English)
- Cigarette case by René Dorme (loot from Heinrich Kroll) from the collection of the MHM Berlin-Gatow on Museum Digital
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dorme, René |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Dorme, Rene |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French fighter pilot in the First World War |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 30, 1894 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Abaucourt-lès-Souppleville , Lorraine |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 25, 1917 |
| Place of death | Reims |