Roland Garros ( aviator ) Roland Garros ( ; 6 October 1888 – 5 October 1918 ) was an early French aviator and a fighter pilot during World War I . Biography . 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 Alberto Santos - Dumont ' s Demoiselle 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 . In September he established a new world altitude record of By 1913 he has 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 . The following year , Garros joined the French army at the outbreak of World War I . Development of interrupter gear . 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 . 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 ' 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 completely destroy his aircraft 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 ' 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 . 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 " . 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 . In the 1920s , a tennis centre which he attended religiously when he was studying in Paris , was named after him , " Stade de Roland Garros " . The stadium accommodates the French Open , one of tennis ' Grand Slam tournaments . Consequently , the tournament is officially called Les internationaux de France de Roland - Garros ( the " French Internationals of Roland Garros " ) . The international airport of La Réunion , Roland Garros Airport , is also named after him . 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 . Due to the success of this special edition , Peugeot later created Roland Garros editions of its 106 , 206 , 207 , 306 , 406 , and 806 models .