Norwich bulletin., 1916-06-28
Stories of the War
Navarre the Enfant rerribIe.

Second Lieutenant Jean Navarro. of the French Flying Corps, has just been officially credited with destroy ing his tenth German machine. Un- officially, tle has brought down eight cen; that is to say that. in addition to the ten machines, destruction of which has been verified by his superior. of f1cers, he is known to have sent eight more to earth behind the German lines under circumstances that justify the supposition that they were destroyed.
 Navarro is the "enfant terrible, or pest, of the Freneh Flying Corps, with eccentricities that keep his superior officers busy. He had seen most of the world at IS. and had just disem- parked from Japan and taken a few lessons in aviation when the war broke out. Too young to be called to the colors regularly, he enlisted and was summoned to appear for medical examination; instead of responding, he took the train for Staint-Cyr, and told the officers there that he had been ordered to report to join the engineers. Together with a comrade that had re- ceived a pilots license, he applied to an officer of the flying corps at Tours to be incorporated in that service. The captain examined the papers of the real aviator and passed him; then asked Navarro: "What do you want ?'' Same as hc'', replied Navarro, and without further formality Navarro found himself on an S0-horse power biplane at the front, regulating the fire of the artillery in November, 1914 It was a service that was little suited to his disposition; he called it driv- ing a taxi-auto", and showed his dis content by some fantastic evolutions >on returning from an observation tour that resulted in his being sent to the 1 rear. He presented himself at the aviation camp where men were being trained to fly the swift battle planes and was given opportunity to try one of them. His natural qualities as aI | acrobat of the air got him immediately one of these new machines.
 Up to date, Navarro has wage6 nearly 50 air battles.
 A great many anecdotes are told o1 1 Navarro, some of them perhaps some
 what stretched, a few of them authen- l tic. One of the latter relates to hi:
 fourth combat. which barely escaped | getting him SC days of prison. Ht 1 had then already acquired the habit which he still follows. of getting ou before daylight and finishing his GeeI l in his machine, so as to be ready ts | take the air instantly when an ad
 versary's machine is signalled. Or
 this occasion his aid ran up crying | There is a German coming up there l Navarro darted into the air aibov, 1 the river Marne, and made straight fo
 a big German two-seated b1plane. H. 1 fired a dozen bullets at the pilot who in trying to shield himself, steered hi machine abruptly to one side. Thel Navarro placed nine bullets in tn, motor and the machine plunged to | ward the earth but landed without ac cident. Navarro landed after it, and running up just as gendarmes wer taking the pilot and the observo away, invited them into a wineshol beside the gendarmes' Headquarters t | have a drink.
 The prisoners, sent to the rear, re lated the incident and the genera
 commanding the army ordered Navarr
 under close arrest for 30 days. Tn eccentric aviator's amusing explana tion of the incident, however, got tn
 better of the generals anger and tn sentence was suspended.