Charles Godefroy (29 December 1888 at La Flèche (Sarthe) – 11 December 1958 at Soisy-sous-Montmorency, (Val d'Oise), north of Paris) was a French aviator who became famous for flying through the Arc de Triomphe in Paris in 1919.
World War I
Arc de Triomphe flight
Background
France planned a victory parade on the Champs Élysées on 14 July 1919 to mark the end of hostilities in World War I. The military command ordered airmen to participate "on foot", like the infantry. This was a provocation to the pilots, who regarded themselves as "heroes of the air". At a meeting at Le Fouquet's, a bar on the Champs Élysées, a group of aviators decided to address this affront by selecting one of them to fly through the Arc de Triomphe during the parade. The choice fell on Jean Navarre, a flying ace with 12 air victories. But Navarre died in a practice flight on 10 July.
Godefroy, who had 500 flying hours at the time, volunteered to make the flight in Navarre's stead. With journalist Jacques Mortane, his close companion, Godefroy inspected the Arc de Triomphe several times to examine the air route and the air currents. He practiced at the bridge over the Small Rhône at Miramas.
Flight
On 7 August 1919, three weeks after the victory parade, under cover of secrecy and dressed in his warrant officer uniform, Godefroy took off at 7:20 a.m. from the airfield of Villacoublay in a Nieuport 27 sesquiplane and soon reached the Porte Maillot. Coming from the west, he circled the Arc de Triomphe twice and began his approach along the Avenue de la Grande-Armée. He gathered speed and forced the plane down and through the Arc. He did not have much clearance – the width of the Arc is 14.50 m (47.6 ft), not much more than his aircraft's wingspan of 8.21 m (26.9 ft). He passed at a low level over a tram in which passengers threw themselves to the ground, and many passers-by ran away frightened. Godefroy then flew over the Place de la Concorde and returned to the airfield, where his mechanic checked over the engine. No one at the airfield had taken any notice of the flight, which had lasted half an hour.
Mortane had the whole event filmed and photographed. The film screening was banned by the Commissioner of Police.[1] Godefroy stayed officially in the background, but his name could not be kept secret for long. The authorities disapproved of the event and were afraid of it being imitated, but Godefroy escaped with only a warning.
Articles have since been published in many newspapers.
WW-I Victory parade passing through the Arch on 7th July 1919.
Vasdev Singh 1919-1997
And My Dad is born:
Soon Almighty blessed my Grandfather Lala Bhagwan Dass and Grandmother Karam Devi a a handsome and healthy son in Aug 1919 in Aghapura, Multan. My maternal Grandfather Lala Kanwar Bhan happened to serve in the World War I in Europe. They were very close friends too with each other. Once my maternal grandmother Kesar Bai told me in mid 1960s about how L Bhagwan Das while going for an early morning walk used to pass by her house. He was shocked to see her front yard being washed so early morning while his own womenfolk were still sleeping deep in their beds. He would carry on his walk and pass on gently after paying his respects. He however communicated his observation to his friend L Kanwar Bhan when he returned from war and appreciated hardworking qualities of my maternal grandmother.
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