ANSELM MARCHAL 1882-1921

Anselm Marchal Flugfürerzeugnis erworben in Frankreich im Dezember 1910

Collection of Rene Hackstetter, 11-20-04

 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES via email from Dave Lam, 10-27-06      Born 23 December 1882 at Moutiers (Switzerland), died 17 June 1921.       Earned his pilot's license (#328) in late 1910. The records are unclear as to the date, and some licenses before his are dated 7 December 1910 while some after his license are dated 23 November 1910. It is probably safe to say that he earned it in November or December.       During the first world war, he served as a Lieutenant Pilot, and was most noted for an attack on Berlin during the night of 20-21 June 1916 in a specially modified Nieuport (extra fuel tanks). After a straight-line flight of almost 1400 km (a world record at that time), he had an engine failure over Poland and was captured by the Germans. On 15 Feb 1918, he escaped with Roland Garros. Both were disquised as German Officers (in spite of the fact that Garros knew not a word of German).       1919 he planned a crossing of the North Atlantic in a hydroplane, but this never apparently took place. Dave

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "Anselm Marchal", using the Google search engine, (11-20-04), you will find just one link, but it is a very interesting and surprising one to me.

'Hoodwinking the Germans' by Lt. Anselm Marchal      This story by Lt. Marchal is an extended revue of his experiences in German prison camps in World War I. At various time, he shared captivity with Roland Garros. The story is illustrated with many unique photographs and copies of documents in several languages. You can access the page by clicking on the title above.

I have no information as to the dates of his birth or his death.   If you have any information on this pioneer aviator please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper

 

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