French WWI ace, Jean Chaput, was wounded several times in action, with one injury that took him nearly eight months to recover from and another six. But the level of love he had for flying and his duty made him return every time, even after months. Born on May 6, 1898, in Paris, Chaput joined the army in 1913. Initially, he served in the infantry but joined the French Air Service in 1914. He earned his Pilot’s Brevet in February 1915 and was transferred to MF28.
Ace Journey of Jean Chaput
His first victory came on June 12, 1915, when Jean Chaput shot down a Fokker E aircraft while flying a Caudron. He was awarded the Médaille Militaire on June 23, with a citation, “A pilot of extraordinary skill, courage, sang-froid, and devotion. Recently experienced, other than service in artillery reconnaissance, very efficient service in aerial pursuit. Never hesitated on several occasions, during the operations from June 7 to June 13, 1915, to give pursuit to enemy planes better armed than himself. Returned on the 12th [June] with his plane riddled by machine gun bullets after having forced his adversary to land.” After being wounded again on July 10, Jean Chaput did not return to duty until January 1916. He became a lieutenant in March 1916. Then he scored two victories, one on March 18 and one on April 30. In May 1916, he was transferred to a fighter squadron, Escadrille 57. His fourth victory came on May 22, 1916, and he was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. He became an ace on June 19, when Jean Chaput shot down an EA airplane, followed by two more victories in June and one in July, bringing his score to 8.
Legacy and Death
On August 24, Jean Chaput was badly wounded again. This time, he couldn’t return to duty until early 1917. He scored twice on April 5 and once each in May and June 1917, bringing his score to 12. After this victory, his next came in March 1918, and it is not independently verifiable whether he had again been wounded or taken a break. Jean Chaput scored two victories in March 1918 and two in April to reach a personal score of 16. In April 1918, Chaput took command of Spa57, but was killed in action on May 6, 1918, when his SPAD XIII was shot down by Hermann Becker from Jasta 12. Jean Chaput received the Belgian Croix de guerre on September 13, 1917, and the British Military Cross on April 17, 1918. He also won several awards for the French Croix de Guerre. In the Aces series, Jean Chaput was a resilient ace who kept on performing his duty despite various wounds. Read stories about more Aces HERE.
