René Paul Fonck was born in Saulcy-sur-Meurthe in the Vosges on 27 March 1894. Rejected for the air service when conscripted in August 1914, he spent five months digging trenches before transferring to aviation. He earned his pilot’s brevet in April 1915 and flew unarmed Caudron G.3s on reconnaissance over his native province. In April 1917 he joined Spa 103 and began flying the SPAD VII. Fonck was a marksman and a tactician: he studied his opponents, conserved ammunition, and attacked with lethal precision. His first verified victory came on 6 August 1916, when he forced a Rumpler C.III to land intact behind French lines. By the end of 1917 he had nineteen victories. In 1918 he became a phenomenon. On 9 May he shot down six enemy two-seaters in a single afternoon; on 26 September he repeated the feat, including three Fokker D.VII fighters. He surpassed Georges Guynemer’s record on 19 July 1918 and finished the war with 75 confirmed victories—more than any other Allied pilot. Only three were shared; only one enemy bullet ever struck his machine; and he never once attacked a balloon. His memoirs, Mes Combats, were published in 1920 with a preface by Marshal Foch. He died in Paris on 18 June 1953. Critics called him a braggart; no one could deny that he was the most efficient killer the skies of 1918 had ever seen.