Fernand Jacquet Captain - Commandant Fernand Maximillian Leon Jacquet was a World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories . He was the first Belgian pilot to score an aerial victory , on 17 April 1915 , and became the first Belgian ace on 1 February 1917 . He was also the first Belgian pilot to fly his king to the front , in 1917 . Additionally , he was the only Belgian honored by the British with a Distinguished Flying Cross . Background . Jacquet was the son of a wealthy landowner . He joined the Belgian Army as a cadet in October 1907 , and was educated at the Royal Military Academy ; he was commissioned on 25 June 1910 and then assigned to the 4ème Régt de Ligne . He qualified as a pilot on 25 February 1913 with Brevet No . 68 , and at the outbreak of war was serving with the Escadrille Demanet ( I ) in Liege . Involvement in World War I . 1914 . When neutral Belgium was invaded by Germany in August 1914 , Jacquet flew reconnaissance missions near Namur , and reported the hazards of the encroaching Germans . Nor was the action in the air enough for the aggressive French pilot . When not flying combat missions in a two - seater , he would rove the roads near the front in an automobile with a mounted Lewis machine gun ; his gunner was none other than Joseph - Phillippe - Francois de Riquet , Prince de Chimay . It seems probable that the Belgian had a gunner on the ground for the same reason he had one in the air ; the gunners had to do the shooting because Jacquet was too nearsighted . Additionally , Jacquet would increasingly ' push the envelope ' in his aerial missions , whether volunteering for " special missions " , or simply hell - raising . In the latter category , Jacquet bombed the Germans at Groote Hemme on 24 November 1914 , and again on Christmas Eve at Beerst and Essen . In the former , while brave men brought home the aerial photographs and reconnaissance sightings from the front , Jacquet penetrated past them to pierce deep into the German defenses , looking for a fight . 1915 . He found ten Aviatik s on 26 February 1915 , and took them on , though without success . On three other occasions , he attacked single Aviatiks . Finally , on 17 April 1915 , he scored his nation ' s first aerial victory . Jacquet was taken under fire by the observer of a German Albatros two - seater at hundred yard range . He was flying a Farman HF . 20 pusher with a Lewis gun , but it was his gunner , Henri de Vindevoghel , who fired the fatal seven shots from 30 yards that killed the pilot , doomed his gunner , and set the plane on fire . Jacquet followed up with an indecisive combat on 20 June , when he claimed an enemy airplane driven down out of control , and on 28 July 1915 , when he unsuccessfully claimed forcing an enemy plane to land . 1916 . On 20 May 1916 , Jacquet ' s gunner was Lieutenant Robin . The Belgian duo fought meeting engagements with German floatplanes both morning and evening . In the evening battle , they took on half a formation of ten enemy planes , and sent one down for Jacquet ' s second confirmed win . There followed a string of unconfirmed claims , on 26 and 27 May and on 22 June . On 23 June , the Belgian Farman F . 40 with the ghoulish insignia of a skull painted on the nose scored again , destroying a Fokker . Over the next month , the two Belgians rampaged , claiming two more wins that went unconfirmed , dropping flechettes on a German observation balloon , and strafing the Germans at Ghistelles . On the afternoon and evening of 30 July , Jacquet and Robin clashed with a series of Germans , being credited with an LVG destroyed . Their probable victim was Oberleutnant Franz Walz , who was downed with severe wounds that day . Jacquet and Robin survived being shot down by anti - aircraft fire on 8 September 1916 , they remaining uninjured even as their plane was demolished . They were probably flying a Belgian modification of the Farman . In December 1916 , Jacquet was promoted to command of his squadron , " 1ère Escadrille de Chasse " . 1917 . On 1 February 1917 , Jacquet finally became an ace . He and Robin downed a brown Rumpler from 12 , 500 feet altitude . On 18 March 1917 , Jacquet was honored by being picked to personally fly his king , King Albert , on a tour of the front lines ; the monarch and pilot were escorted by five Nieuport s . When Belgium ' s first fighter wing , the " Groupe de Chasse " was organized later that month , King Albert was insistent that Jacquet take command . Jacquet tried to acquire Bristol F . 2 Fighter s to replace his aged Farmans . He received SPAD XI s and Sopwith 1A2 s instead . Meantime , Lieutenant Robin went off to pilot ' s training . Jacquet was promoted to Captain - Commandant in December . 1918 . Jacquet fought an indecisive combat on 3 June 1918 , driving his enemy down out of control , an action which would have counted as a victory if the Belgian were flying under Royal Air Force rules . On 4 October , and again on 6 November , he used a Spad to force down a German two - seater . Fernand Jacquest ended the war with seven confirmed aerial victories and nine unconfirmed ones . He also had been honored with numerous decorations , both from his home nation and from her allies . His native Belgium made him a Chevalier of the Order of Leopold and an Officer of the Order of the Crown with Palme , and awarded the Croix de Guerre with six citations , eight chevrons de front , Croix Civil 3rd Class , " Medaille Victoire " , and " Medaille de Commemoration 1914 – 1918 " . The French made him a Chevalier de la Legion d ' Honneur and awarded him their " Croix de guerre " . The Russians awarded him their Order of Saint Anne . The British awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross ; he would be the only Belgian to receive one . Post World War I . Fernand Jacquet left the Belgian military in 1920 . With his old companion Robin , he started a flying school near Charleroi , at Gosselies . When the Germans once again invaded Belgium , at the start of World War II , Jacquet returned to his nation ' s service . He was an active member of the Belgian Resistance until imprisoned in Huy Fortress in 1942 . He was then held until war ' s end . Fernand Jacquet died in Beaumont in his beloved Belgium , on 12 October 1947 . List of aerial combats . See also Aerial victory standards of World War I Claimed victories are listed below in chronological order . Confirmed victories are numbered . Unconfirmed victories are marked " u / c " . List compiled from " Above the War Fronts " and www . theaerodrome . com See also . List of World War I aces from Belgium