Alfred Heurtaux Alfred Marie - Joseph Heurtaux ( 20 May 1893 – 30 December 1985 ) was a French World War I fighter ace credited with 21 victories . Later in his life , he joined the French Resistance during World War II , and survived imprisonment in Buchenwald death camp to become a brigadier general in the post war Armée de l ' Air . Early military service . Born on 20 May 1893 in Nantes , France , Alfred Heurtaux was the son of an artillery officer . He began his military career with his entry into officer training in 1912 . In October , 1912 , he began an obligatory preliminary year in the ranks of the 4e Regiment d ' Hussards . In October 1913 , he entered the military academy at Saint Cyr as an officer cadet ( " aspirant " ) . On 4 August 1914 , following the outbreak of World War I , he was commissioned as a sous - lieutenant in the 9e Regiment d ' Hussards . In the next three months , he was cited for valor three times . On 6 December 1914 , he transferred to aerial service . Aerial service . He served in MS26 as an observer in Morane - Saulniers . He then passed through pilot ' s training , being brevetted a pilot on 29 May 1915 . He was assigned to MS38 , another Morane - Saulnier squadron . He was promoted to lieutenant on Christmas Day , 1915 . On 5 June 1916 , he transferred to a fighter squadron , N3 , to fly Nieuport s . Later , he assumed command of the unit . One of his duties would be coaching Russian ace Ivan Orlov in fighter tactics . Another would entail merging his escadrille with three others to form the world ' s first fighter wing , Groupe de Combat 12 on 16 October 1916 . GC 12 would be better known by its nickname , Les Cigognes ( the Storks ) for the bird portrayed on their planes . He scored for the first time on 9 July 1916 . Following victories on 16 July , 2 and 3 August , he was awarded the Légion d ' Honneur on 4 August . He was flying a new Spad S . VII when he downed his fifth victim on 17 August 1916 . Later that month , on the 25th , he shot down another pioneer ace , " Leutnant " Kurt Wintgens , the very first fighter pilot to ever score a victory on July 1 , 1915 with a synchronized machine - gun armed aircraft , for victory number eight . He continued to accumulate victories steadily over the next eight months , reaching 21 on 4 May 1917 . On 5 May 1917 , he was seriously wounded by Ernst Udet . In a dogfight with nine Albatros D . III s , he was hit through both cheeks and both thighs , as well as his head being grazed by a near - miss . He eventually returned to duty , but did not score again . A second serious wounding in September 1917 sidelined him for the remainder of the war . Indeed , he was fortunate to survive a bullet through his femoral artery . An ordinary bullet would have proved fatal , but the incendiary round that hit him cauterized the wound . He struggled back to Allied lines , and lived . When he recovered , he toured the United States of America lecturing on fighter tactics . Besides his 21 credited wins , he had 13 unconfirmed or probables . He was raised from Chevalier in the Légion d ' Honneur to Officer . He also had fifteen palms and two bronze stars to his Croix de Guerre . He attended the awards ceremony on canes . Heurtaux resigned his commission in October 1919 . Between the world wars . He later became President of the France Fighter Aces Association . He was elected Deputy for Seine - et - Oise aged 26 , in 1919 . From there , he moved into the automobile industry , holding a management position with the Ford Motor Company in its American operations . While Heurtaux was in Dearborn with Ford , an autobiographical article under his byline ran in Henry Ford ' s Dearborn Independent Magazine . His next job was with General Motors in Europe , and then finally with Renault . His employment did not hinder his patriotic activities . He was active in the Association of the Reserve Officers of the Air Force , being its president from 1934 to 1937 . He was also appointed a lieutenant colonel in the reserves on 25 June 1935 . He was reinstated on active duty a few months later , as Inspector of Fighter Aviation . World War II and beyond . In the early days of World War II , Heurtaux was still the Inspector of Fighter Aviation for the French air forces . After the fall of France to the Germans , he joined the French Resistance . The Legion of Affairs was formed in August 1940 , and he was appointed its vice - president . He used the freedom of movement afforded by this appointment to pass military intelligence to his old Saint Cyr classmate , Colonel Groussard , and to recruit fellow veterans into espionage . The Hector network that resulted was an important constituent of the Resistance in northern France . Colonel Hertaux ' s son was arrested just before he himself was taken into custody in March 1941 . The Gestapo let him go that time , then rearrested him on 3 November . He would spend over three years in a succession of German jails in Düsseldorf , Bielefeld , Hannover , Berlin , and Potsdam . On 13 March 1945 , he was shipped off to Buchenwald ; on 11 April , he was liberated when the U . S . Army ' s 6th Armored Division liberated the camp . He had been promoted to full colonel in 1942 , while he was in custody . On 5 July 1945 , he was appointed to the military mission for German business . In December 1945 , he was promoted to brigadier general . He ended his career working as a consulting engineer . He died 30 December 1985 , at Chantilly , Oise and was buried in Paris .