Produced by Barbara Tozier, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net GEORGES GUYNEMER _Published on the Fund given to the Yale University Press in memory of_ ENSIGN CURTIS SEAMAN READ, U.S.N.R.F. _of the Class of 1918, Yale College, killed in the aviation service in France, February, 1918_ [Illustration: GEORGES GUYNEMER, KNIGHT OF THE AIR] HENRY BORDEAUX GEORGES GUYNEMER KNIGHT OF THE AIR TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH By LOUISE MORGAN SILL WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT NEW HAVEN YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK: 280 MADISON AVENUE MDCCCCXVIII COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Introduction 9 Prologue 13 CANTO I: CHILDHOOD I. The Guynemers 21 II. Home and College 28 III. The Departure 52 CANTO II: LAUNCHED INTO SPACE I. The First Victory 65 II. From the Aisne to Verdun 91 III. "La Terre a vu jadis errer des Paladins" 108 IV. On the Somme (June, 1916, to February, 1917) 125 CANTO III: AT THE ZENITH I. On the 25th of May, 1917 143 II. A Visit to Guynemer 157 III. Guynemer in Camp 163 IV. Guynemer at Home 170 V. The Magic Machine 182 CANTO IV: THE ASCENSION I. The Battle of Flanders 189 II. Omens 200 III. The Last Flight 210 IV. The Vigil 217 V. The Legend 225 VI. In the Pantheon 239 Envoi 242 Appendix: Genealogy of Georges Guynemer 251 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Georges Guynemer, Knight of the Air _Frontispiece_ (From a wood block in three colors by Rudolph Ruzicka.) The First Flight in a Bleriot 80 In the Air 120 Combat 176 "Going West" 208 (From charcoal drawings by W.A. Dwiggins.) INTRODUCTION _June 27th, 1918._ My dear M. Bordeaux: