Georges Pelletier Doisy

Capitaine Georges Pelletier d'Oisy (1892–1953) was a French aviator and World War I ace. He attempted a circumnavigation of the world in 1924. Pelletier d'Oisy began his aviation career as a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories.

Biography Early life and training See also Aerial victory standards of World War I

Georges Pelletier D'Oisy was born in Auch on 9 March 1892. He enlisted for five years on 23 May 1910. He served as a Dragoon until 14 October 1912, when he entered pilot training. He graduated with Military Pilot's Brevet No. 284 on 18 June 1913, and was posted to Escadrille HF.19 on 1 July.

World War I service When the First World War began, Pelletier d'Oisy was serving with Escadrille HF.19. On 20 November 1914, he received one of the first Médaille militaires awarded in the war.

He transferred to Escadrille MS.12 on 1 March 1915. On 2 April, he scored one of the first aerial victories in history when he shot down an Albatros reconnaissance plane. On 27 September, he was promoted from the ranks to be a Sous lieutenant. They had covered 10,580 miles (17,037 km) in 26 days.

Pelletier d'Oisy was in Hong Kong when a British Royal Air Force team of aviators making an eastbound attempt to circumnavigate the world arrived there on 30 June 1924, and he traded flying stories with Squadron Leader Archibald Stuart-MacLaren and Flying Officer William Plenderleith of the British team. Shortly after that, he departed for Tokyo, Japan, in a Breguet 14 he had borrowed from the Republic of China government, arriving there on 17 July 1924. The entire trip from Paris to Tokyo had taken 120 hours in the air over 84 days.

In June 1925, flying a Blériot-SPAD S.61, he won the Michelin Cup, completing the course in 15hr 8 min.

During the interwar period, joyful and talkative Pelletier d'Oisy was a popular character in France, best known by his nickname of Pivolo (phonetical pun for Pie-vole-haut -High flies the magpie- which his comrades-in-arms had coined after his habit as a flight instructor to always end a briefing by telling greener recruits the catchphrase :"et p(u)is vole haut", stressing the importance of starting air combat with an altitude advantage. A popular brand of Vermouth with an iconic poster and label by Art-Deco artist Adolphe Mouron Cassandre, was named after him. As of 2023 a bar-Restaurant in Toulouse (capital city of his native Gascony) still honours his name

World War II and beyond

Having served in both Indochina and Tunisia, d'Oisy rose to the rank of General by the end of the Second World War. He died in Morocco on 10 May 1953.

End notes