Armand Pinsard General Armand Pinsard ( 28 May 1887 - 10 May 1953 ) , Chevalier , Officer , Commander , and Grand Officer of the Legion d ' Honneur , Croix de Guerre with 19 palms , Medaille Militaire , British Military Cross , Italian Military Medal , Moroccan Medal , was a World War I fighter ace credited with 27 victories . He remained in the French air service through World War II , rising to the rank of general . Life before World War I . Armand Pinsard was born in Nercillac , Department of Charente , in the cognac country of France . He joined the military in 1906 and fought in Morocco as a cavalryman in 2nd Regiment de Spahis . He was decorated there with the Moroccan Medal . He then transferred to aviation in May 1912 , becoming one of the rare professional military men to become a prewar pilot . He trained as a pilot at Chateau Fort on a Borel pusher two seater aircraft , and proved to be a natural . He was awarded the Medaille Militaire for his performance flying a Morane in the French army maneuvers of 1913 . He was assigned to MS 23 when World War I broke out . World War I service . At the outbreak of war , Pinsard was a sergeant major . In September 1914 , he was promoted to adjutant and received his first citation . In October , he participated in a bombing raid that attempted to kill the German Kaiser . He was commissioned in November 1914 because of this bombing raid . It was about this time that he pioneered the use of an aircraft to place an espionage agent behind enemy lines , an act which brought him a second citation . On 8 February 1915 he fell into German hands and was held prisoner of war when his plane was forced down behind German lines . It took him a month to recover from injuries received in the accident . Thirteen months and several attempts later , Pinsard tunneled under a prison wall to freedom on 26 March 1916 . It took him another two weeks to cross the lines into neutral Switzerland and to repatriate himself on 10 April . His reward for his daring escape was retraining as a fighter pilot and an assignment to France ' s foremost fighter squadron , Les Cigognes . By July 1916 , he was flying a Nieuport with Squadron N26 . On 7 August , in a pioneering close air support role , he made no fewer than six firing passes on German troops attempting to counterattack a French unit . Then he and his three wingmen went on to strafe a train loaded with German troops . He was made a Chevalier of the Legion d ' Honneur for this action . On 1 November 1916 , he opened his victory roll in air combat . After a winter ' s layoff , he resumed his winning way on 23 January 1917 , flying as Commanding Officer of Squadron N78 . He became an ace on 6 March , and would continue to fly Nieuport s into battle until his 16th victory on 5 Jun 1917 . Just one week later , Pinsard crashed and suffered serious injuries . He would be confined to hospital for several months . Upon his recovery , he was appointed commanding officer of Squadron Spa23 . Pinsard was entrusted with the first Spad VII fighter to see combat , on 23 August 1917 . He painted it black and entitled it , " Revanche IV " ( Revenge IV ) . He picked up his victory skein with his 17th triumph on 20 February 1918 . With his next win , on 4 May , he began a string that saw him down nine observation balloons in his final decade of wins . Rather remarkably , he had help downing only one of the heavily defended gasbags . His 27th victory came on 22 August 1918 . Just eight days later , on 30 August 1918 , he was appointed an Officer of the Legion d ' Honneur . Pinsard ended the war as a much - decorated captain . Between the wars . Pinsard remained in the " Aeronautique Militaire " after World War I . In 1925 he became a Commander of the Legion d ' Honneur . He served in the 34th Aviation Regiment from at least December 1929 through June 1932 , mentoring a future ace , Camille Plubeau . In 1937 , he ascended to the top of the Legion d ' Honneur as a Grand Officer . Also in 1937 , he once again met film maker Jean Renoir ; Pinsard had once shot down a German Fokker that had been attacking Renoir ' s aircraft . Renoir based the main character of his movie " Grand Illusion " on Pinsard . Ironically , the movie is considered one of the great anti - war movies of all time . World War II and beyond . Pinsard began World War II commanding " Groupe de Chasse " ( fighter group ) 21 . His personal plane , a Morane Saulnier 406 , was painted all black and nicknamed " The Pirate . " He had just returned from a mission in it when a German bombing raid upon their airfield on 6 June 1940 wounded him so severely that his leg had to be amputated . Despite this wounding , after the war was over , Pinsard was convicted of collaboration with the Nazis and sentenced to life imprisonment . He had served as Inspector - General of the Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism , which had served with the Nazis on the Eastern Front . He was later pardoned . He died during a dinner in Paris that he was attending that was sponsored by a group of flying veterans . He was buried in Ceyzeriat , Department of Ain . Awards and decorations . Chevalier de la Légion d ' Honneur . " Has shown , under particularly difficult circumstances , exceptional energy and tenacity . Posted to an escadrille de chasse , at his request , he has had numerous combats during the course of which his plane was riddled by bullets . On 7 August 1916 , during an infantry attack , he made six strafing runs from a height of 200 meters as German reserves massed for a counter attack . Already cited twice . " Officier de la Légion d ' Honneur . " Incomparable escadrille commander , and at the same time an admirable pilot . Constant example of self - denial , spirit and sacrifice , a model of bravery , audacity and strength . Possesses the highest qualities of a leading pilot . Seriously wounded in 1917 , he returned to take his place at the front and continue his glorious exploits , bringing his total to 25 victories . Chevalier de la Légion d ' Honneur for feats of war , cited 13 times in army orders . "