Roland Georges Garros - Wikipedia Roland Georges Garros For other uses, see Roland Garros ( disambiguation ). This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in French. ( July 2017 ) Click for important translation instructions. View a machine - translated version of the French article. Google 's machine translation is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy - pasting machine - translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low - quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign - language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary ( using German ) : Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at ( ( : de : Exact name of German article ) ) ; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template ( ( Translated fr Roland Garros ) ) to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia : Translation. Roland Garros Roland Garros in Tunisia on 23 September 1913 immediately after becoming the first person to cross the Mediterranean Sea by air. Birth name Eugène Adrien Roland Georges Garros ( 1888 - 10 - 06 ) 6 October 1888 Saint - Denis, Réunion, France 5 October 1918 ( 1918 - 10 - 05 ) ( aged 29 ) Vouziers, Ardennes, France Allegiance France Awards Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur ( 1913 ) Officier de la Légion d'honneur ( 1918 ) Eugène Adrien Roland Georges Garros ( French pronunciation : ​ ( ʁɔlɑ̃ ɡaʁɔs ) ; 6 October 1888 -- 5 October 1918 ) was an early French aviator and a fighter pilot during World War I. Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Myth of first air battle 1.2 Development of interrupter gear 1.3 After internment in a POW camp 1.4 Death 2 Legacy 3 Places named after Roland Garros 4 See also 5 References Biography Eugène Adrien Roland Georges Garros was born in Saint - Denis, Réunion, and studied at the Lycée Janson de Sailly and HEC Paris. He started his aviation career in 1909 flying a Demoiselle ( Dragonfly ) monoplane, an aircraft that only flew well with a small lightweight pilot. He gained Ae. C.F. licence no. 147 in July 1910. In 1911 Garros graduated to flying Blériot monoplanes and entered a number of European air races with this type of machine, including the 1911 Paris to Madrid air race and the Circuit of Europe ( Paris - London - Paris ), in which he came second. On 4 September 1911, he set an altitude record of 3,950 m ( 12,960 ft ). The following year, on 6 September 1912, after Austrian aviator Philipp von Blaschke had flown to 4,360 m ( 14,300 ft ), he regained the height record by flying to 5,610 m ( 18,410 ft ). By 1913 he had switched to flying the faster Morane - Saulnier monoplanes, and gained fame for making the first non-stop flight across the Mediterranean Sea from Fréjus in the south of France to Bizerte in Tunisia in a Morane - Saulnier G. The following year, Garros joined the French army at the outbreak of World War I. Myth of first air battle Reports published in August 1914 claimed Garros was involved in the `` first air battle in world history '' and that he had flown his plane into a Zeppelin, destroying the airship and killing its pilots and himself. This story was quickly contradicted by reports that Garros was alive and well in Paris. Such early reports maintained that an unidentified French pilot had indeed rammed and destroyed a Zeppelin, however, German authorities refuted the story. Later sources indicated the first aerial victory against a Zeppelin occurred in June 1915 and that earlier reports, including that of Garros, had been discredited. Development of interrupter gear Main article : Synchronization gear Garros ' propeller, with its bullet deflectors, after being recovered from his downed aircraft In the early stages of the air war in World War I the problem of mounting a forward - firing machine gun on combat aircraft was considered by a number of individuals. The so - called `` interrupter gear '' did not come into use until Anthony Fokker developed a synchronization device which had a large impact on air combat ; however, Garros also had a significant role in the process of achieving this goal. As a reconnaissance pilot with the Escadrille MS26, Garros visited the Morane - Saulnier Works in December 1914. Saulnier 's work on metal deflector wedges attached to propeller blades was taken forward by Garros ; he eventually had a workable installation fitted to his Morane - Saulnier Type L aircraft. The Aero Club of America awarded him a medal for this invention three years later. Garros achieved the first ever shooting - down of an aircraft by a fighter firing through a tractor propeller, on 1 April 1915 ; two more victories over German aircraft were achieved on 15 and 18 April 1915. On 18 April 1915, either Garros 's fuel line clogged or, by other accounts, his aircraft was downed by ground fire, and he glided to a landing on the German side of the lines. Garros failed to destroy his aircraft completely before being taken prisoner : most significantly, the gun and armoured propeller remained intact. Legend has it that after examining the plane, German aircraft engineers, led by Fokker, designed the improved interrupter gear system. In fact the work on Fokker 's system had been going for at least six months before Garros 's aircraft fell into their hands. With the advent of the interrupter gear the tables were turned on the Allies, with Fokker 's planes shooting down many Allied aircraft, leading to what became known as the Fokker Scourge. After internment in a POW camp Garros finally managed to escape from a POW camp in Germany on 14 February 1918, after several attempts, and rejoined the French army. He settled into Escadrille 26 to pilot a Spad, and claimed two victories on 2 October 1918, one of which was confirmed. Death On 5 October 1918, he was shot down and killed near Vouziers, Ardennes, a month before the end of the war and one day before his 30th birthday. His adversary was probably German ace Hermann Habich from Jasta 49. Legacy Garros is erroneously called the world 's first fighter ace. In fact, he shot down only four aircraft ; the definition of `` ace '' is five or more victories. The honour of becoming the first ace went to another French airman, Adolphe Pégoud. Places named after Roland Garros A tennis centre, which he attended religiously when he was studying in Paris, was named after him in the 1920s, the Stade de Roland Garros. The stadium accommodates the French Open, one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments. Consequently, the tournament is officially called Les internationaux de France de Roland - Garros ( the `` French Internationals of Roland Garros '' ). According to Vũ Trọng Phụng 's urban novel Dumb Luck ( 1936 ), during colonial times the Hanoi government named the city 's main tennis stadium after Roland Garros. The international airport of La Réunion, Roland Garros Airport, is also named after him. The place where he landed in Bizerte is called place of Roland Garros. The French car manufacturer Peugeot commissioned a ' Roland Garros ' limited edition version of its 205 model in celebration of the tennis tournament that bears his name. The model included special paint and leather interior. Because of the success of this special edition, Peugeot later created Roland Garros editions of its 106, 108, 206, 207, 208, 306, 307, 406, and 806 models. See also History of the Armée de l'Air ( 1909 -- 1942 ) References Jump up ^ culture.gouv.fr : certificate of the legion of honour ^ Jump up to : `` Roland Garros Killed. Famous French Aviator, Reported Wounded, Died Oct. 5 ''. New York Times. 1 November 1918. Jump up ^ culture.gouv.fr : Extract of state registers Jump up ^ Judges ' Report in European Circuit Flight 22 July 1911 Jump up ^ `` Aviator Rises to 16,400 feet ''. The Sun. New York. 7 September 1912. p. 5. Retrieved 18 October 2016. Jump up ^ `` FIA Record ID # 15888 ''. FIA. Retrieved 20 September 2013. Jump up ^ `` FIA Record ID # 15889 ''. FIA. Retrieved 18 October 2016. Jump up ^ `` Flying the Mediterranean ''. Flight. V ( 39 ) : 1078. 27 September 1913. Retrieved 24 September 2014. Jump up ^ `` First air battles in History ''. United Press. 3 August 2014. Jump up ^ `` The War in the Air ''. The Literary Digest. 49 ( 7 ) : 283. August 15, 1914. Retrieved 26 July 2017. Jump up ^ `` The War in the Air ''. The Literary Digest. 49 ( 7 ) : 283. August 15, 1914. Retrieved 26 July 2017. Jump up ^ Reynolds, Francis J. ; Churchill, Allen L. ; Miller, Francis Trevelyan ( 1916 ). The Story of the Great War. New York : P.F. Collier and Son. p. 592. Retrieved 26 July 2017. Jump up ^ `` Zeppelin Loses Battle with Monoplane ''. Popular Mechanics : 196. August 1915. Retrieved 26 July 2017. ^ Jump up to : G. van Wyngarden. Early German Aces of World War 1. Osprey Publishing, 2006. ISBN 1 - 84176 - 997 - 5 Jump up ^ `` Aero Club Honors Garros. Aviator Gets Notice That a Medal Has Been Awarded to Him ''. New York Times. 9 March 1918. Jump up ^ `` Garros To Train Anew In The Art Of Air Warfare. French Airman, Back From Germany, Finds He Must Learn How All Over Again ''. New York Times. 9 March 1918. Jump up ^ `` Garros Is Killed, Berlin Reports. Famous French Airman Was Shot Down on Oct. 4, Says Message ''. New York Times. 17 October 1918. Jump up ^ Guttman, Jon ( 2002 ). SPAD XII / XIII aces of World War I. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1 - 84176 - 316 - 0. Jump up ^ Franks, Norman ; Bailey, Frank W. ( 1992 ). Over the Front : A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914 -- 1918. Grub Street. ISBN 978 - 0 - 948817 - 54 - 0... Aviation in World War I People and aircraft Commanders Aces Aircraft of the Entente Powers Aircraft of the Central Powers Zeppelins Campaigns and battles Strategic bombing German Cuxhaven Bombing of cities Aerial reconnaissance Fokker Scourge Flight over Vienna Bloody April Battles Entente Powers air services British air services Royal Flying Corps Royal Naval Air Service Royal Air Force Australian Flying Corps Canadian Air Force ( 1918 -- 20 ) French Air Service Imperial Russian Air Service Royal Italian Air Corps United States Army Air Service Greek air services Army Air Service Naval Air Service Central Powers air services Imperial German Air Service Austro - Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops Ottoman Aviation Squadrons Bulgarian Army Aeroplane Section VIAF : 29534200 LCCN : n88665291 ISNI : 0000 0000 4066 2691 GND : 128612037 SUDOC : 026882868 BNF : cb119042200 ( data ) Léonore : LH / 1081 / 36 IATH : w6j703xj Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roland_Georges_Garros&oldid=794573241 '' Categories : 1888 births 1918 deaths People from Saint - Denis, Réunion French aviators Aerial warfare pioneers French World War I pilots French World War I flying aces French prisoners of war in World War I World War I prisoners of war held by Germany Escapees from German detention Lycée Janson de Sailly alumni Aviators killed by being shot down French military personnel killed in World War I Flight altitude record holders French aviation record holders Hidden categories : Articles to be expanded from July 2017 All articles to be expanded Articles needing translation from French Wikipedia Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC - ID identifiers Use dmy dates from June 2011 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Български Brezhoneg Català Čeština Cymraeg Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Français Galego Հայերեն Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Magyar Македонски Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Occitan Polski Português Română Русский Slovenščina Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt West - Vlams 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 8 August 2017, at 20 : 28. 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Question: who was the man the roland garros tennis tournament was named after
Answer: Roland Garros