Capitaine Rene Fonck by Ivan Berryman. [Print]

Aircraft Depicted: Spad S.XIII [other products featuring this aircraft]

                               DFW C-Type [other products featuring this aircraft]

Artist: Ivan Berryman [browse all Ivan Berryman]

The highest scoring allied ace of World War 1, Rene Fonck was born on 27th March 1894 and spent his early military service with the 11th Regiment of Engineers before being sent for flying instruction in the spring of 1915. Almost as soon as he had been assigned to combat duties, he began to score and was posted to Groupe de Combat No12, the famous Storks where a combination of superb airmanship and deadly accurate gunnery ensured that his victory tally continued to grow. By the end of the war, Fonck was credited with a commendable 75 confirmed victories, but it is likely that he may have been responsible for a further possible 69 kills, which would have taken his total score to 144 - 64 more than Manfred von Richthofen, the notorious Red Baron. Capitaine Rene Fonck is shown in one of his Spad S.XIIIs chasing down a DFW C-Type.