Historical Figures Codexery

Roland Garros (aviator)

French aviation pioneer and World War I fighter pilot who made the first non-stop flight across the Mediterranean and helped develop forward-firing machine guns.

He was born on 6 October 1888 and died on 5 October 1918, one day before his 30th birthday.[1][2] In 1913, the French aviator Eugène Adrien Roland Georges Garros became the first person to fly an airplane non-stop across the Mediterranean Sea.[1] The tennis venue in Paris that opened in 1928 and hosts the French Open was given the name Roland Garros as a memorial to the aviator.[3]

Quick Facts

Birth name
Eugène Adrien Roland Georges Garros
Born
6 October 1888
Birthplace
Saint-Denis, Réunion, France
Died
5 October 1918
Place of death
Vouziers, Ardennes, France
Allegiance
France
Branch
French Air and Space Force
Alma mater
HEC Paris

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

He started a car dealership in Paris at age 21 and became a close friend of Ettore Bugatti.[4][5] In 1913 Garros became the first owner of the Bugatti Type 18 later named Black Bess, which survives at the Louwman Museum.[5][6] On 23 September 1913 he made the first non-stop flight across the Mediterranean Sea from Fréjus-Saint Raphaël to Bizerte in a Morane-Saulnier G.[7] During World War I, Garros developed protective wedges for propeller blades with his mechanic Jules Hue, enabling a forward-firing machine gun.[8]

He achieved the first shooting-down of an aircraft by a fighter firing through a tractor propeller on 1 April 1915.[8] Garros was captured and spent nearly three years in German POW camps before escaping on 14 February 1918.[9] After contracting pneumonia at twelve years old, he was sent to Cannes for recovery; there he began cycling and eventually won a championship between schools.[4] On 2 October 1918, after returning to France, he reported two aerial victories, but only one was officially verified.[10]

Near Vouziers in the Ardennes on 5 October 1918, Garros was shot down and died; the German pilot Hermann Habich of Jasta 49 was likely responsible.[2]

What the cited sources add

The Fédération Française de Tennis account states Garros was a trailblazer for aviation and a war hero.[11] The New Atlas article reports that Garros ordered the Bugatti Type 18 chassis number 474 with a sporting two-seater body by coachbuilder Labourdette.[5] According to the same source, Garros would regularly fly to Molsheim in his Morane-Saulnier to check on the car's progress.[5] The Louwman Museum record notes that the Bugatti's bucket seats still have the original 1913 leather upholstery.[6]

Ettore Bugatti named his last child Roland, born in 1922, in honor of Garros.[5] The Louwman Museum states that after the war the Bugatti was purchased by British racing driver Ivy Cummings, who gave it the name Black Bess.[6]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Roland Garros (aviator)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Roland Garros Killed. Famous French Aviator, Reported Wounded, Died Oct. 5", The New York Times, 1 November 1918 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Roland Garros (aviator)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Garros Is Killed, Berlin Reports. Famous French Airman Was Shot Down on Oct. 4, Says Message", The New York Times, 17 October 1918; "Roland Garros Killed. Famous French Aviator, Reported Wounded, Died Oct. 5", The New York Times, 1 November 1918; Guttman, "SPAD XII/XIII Aces of World War 1", Bloomsbury USA, 2002 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Roland Garros (aviator)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Roland Garros: a venue open all year long. Past Winners and Draws", ftt.fr (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Roland Garros (aviator)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "A trailblazer for aviation and a war hero: Roland Garros", Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT); Lefèvre-Garros, 2001, pp. 32–33; "A trailblazer for aviation and a war hero: Roland Garros", Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT); "Black Bess, famous Bugatti Type 18 goes under the hammer", New Atlas, 30 January 2009; "Bugatti Type 18 Sports Two-Seater 'Black Bess'", Louwman Museum, 4 August 2013 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. "Black Bess, famous Bugatti Type 18 goes under the hammer", New Atlas, 30 January 2009. facts only, no text reused. newatlas.com
  6. "Bugatti Type 18 Sports Two-Seater 'Black Bess'", Louwman Museum, 4 August 2013. facts only, no text reused. louwmanmuseum.nl
  7. Wikipedia, "Roland Garros (aviator)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Flying the Mediterranean", 27 September 1913, p. 1078; "A trailblazer for aviation and a war hero: Roland Garros", Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT); Buchanan, "Garros, Roland", Oxford University Press (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Roland Garros (aviator)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Woodman, 1989, p. 171; Woodman, 1989, p. 172; van Wyngarden, "Early German Aces of World War I", Bloomsbury USA, 2006; "A trailblazer for aviation and a war hero: Roland Garros", Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT); "Aero Club Honors Garros. Aviator Gets Notice That a Medal Has Been Awarded to Him", The New York Times, 9 March 1918 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Roland Garros (aviator)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Orłow, "Forty. Jeńcy. Monety. Pasjonaci o Twierdzy Kostrzyn", Księgarnia Akademicka, 2011, p. 23−24 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Roland Garros (aviator)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Garros To Train Anew in the Art of Air Warfare. French Airman, Back From Germany, Finds He Must Learn How All Over Again", The New York Times, 9 March 1918; "Who was Roland Garros? The fighter pilot behind the French Open", The New York Times, 10 June 2017 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. "A trailblazer for aviation and a war hero: Roland Garros", Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT). facts only, no text reused. rolandgarros.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Roland Garros (aviator) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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