Conversation so far:
What is GERS?
Groupe d'Etudes et de Recherches Sous-Marines, = Underwater Studies and Research Group.
What did they do?
Underwater Research Group.
Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
Chief Petty Officer Maurice Fargues became the first diver to die using an aqualung.
What is an aqualung?
CANNOTANSWER.
How did he die?
attempting a new depth record with the GERS near Toulon.
Was there any other incidents?
Cousteau and the Elie Monnier then took part in the rescue of Professor Jacques Piccard's bathyscaphe, the FNRS-2, during the 1949 expedition to Dakar.

Question: Who was Elie Monnier?
Self-contained rewrite: Who was Elie Monnier?