Georges Thenault was born in October of 1887 at Celle l'Evescault, France. He graduated from St. Cyr in 1909 and began his World War I service as an air-to-ground observer in Escadrille C.11. In January 1915 he underwent pilot training at Avord and learned to fly on the Caudron. He was assigned to Escadrille C.34 and then C.42. Eventually, Thenault was given command of Escadrille C.42 and later became interested in William Thaw's idea for an American Escadrille. He applied for and was given command of this French squadron comprised of American pilots. With the United States still remaining a neutral country at this time during the Great War, the American Escadrille changed it's name to the Lafayette Escadrille after complaints were made from the German ambassador. The Lafayette Escadrille felt that they were repaying a debt and honoring the French General Lafayette who volunteered to fight with the Americans against the British during the American Revolution.
After the United States entered World War I and the Lafayette Escadrille passed from French jurisdiction into the United States Air Service, Thenault spent the rest of the war as Chief Pilot at the French School of Acrobatics at Pau. He remained in France's Service Aeronautique and was sent to the United States in 1920 as Air Attache' at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. He married an American, Sarah Spencer, and they had two children, Catherine and George. The son, George, served in the United States Army. and became an aeronautical engineer designing aircraft in both the United States and France.
In 1936, Thenault was recalled to France in order to take command of an aviation group. When France was overtaken and occupied by Germany in World War II, he engaged in underground resistance activities. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage on December 17, 1948. His body rests at the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial near Paris.
[Source: "Cross & Cockade Journal: The Society of World War I Aero Historians," Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 1961.]
[Source: "https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/wickedlocal-brewster/obituary.aspx?pid=138577759"]
After the United States entered World War I and the Lafayette Escadrille passed from French jurisdiction into the United States Air Service, Thenault spent the rest of the war as Chief Pilot at the French School of Acrobatics at Pau. He remained in France's Service Aeronautique and was sent to the United States in 1920 as Air Attache' at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. He married an American, Sarah Spencer, and they had two children, Catherine and George. The son, George, served in the United States Army. and became an aeronautical engineer designing aircraft in both the United States and France.
In 1936, Thenault was recalled to France in order to take command of an aviation group. When France was overtaken and occupied by Germany in World War II, he engaged in underground resistance activities. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage on December 17, 1948. His body rests at the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial near Paris.
[Source: "Cross & Cockade Journal: The Society of World War I Aero Historians," Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 1961.]
[Source: "https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/wickedlocal-brewster/obituary.aspx?pid=138577759"]
Georges Thenault was born in October of 1887 at Celle l'Evescault, France. He graduated from St. Cyr in 1909 and began his World War I service as an air-to-ground observer in Escadrille C.11. In January 1915 he underwent pilot training at Avord and learned to fly on the Caudron. He was assigned to Escadrille C.34 and then C.42. Eventually, Thenault was given command of Escadrille C.42 and later became interested in William Thaw's idea for an American Escadrille. He applied for and was given command of this French squadron comprised of American pilots. With the United States still remaining a neutral country at this time during the Great War, the American Escadrille changed it's name to the Lafayette Escadrille after complaints were made from the German ambassador. The Lafayette Escadrille felt that they were repaying a debt and honoring the French General Lafayette who volunteered to fight with the Americans against the British during the American Revolution.
After the United States entered World War I and the Lafayette Escadrille passed from French jurisdiction into the United States Air Service, Thenault spent the rest of the war as Chief Pilot at the French School of Acrobatics at Pau. He remained in France's Service Aeronautique and was sent to the United States in 1920 as Air Attache' at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. He married an American, Sarah Spencer, and they had two children, Catherine and George. The son, George, served in the United States Army. and became an aeronautical engineer designing aircraft in both the United States and France.
In 1936, Thenault was recalled to France in order to take command of an aviation group. When France was overtaken and occupied by Germany in World War II, he engaged in underground resistance activities. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage on December 17, 1948. His body rests at the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial near Paris.
[Source: "Cross & Cockade Journal: The Society of World War I Aero Historians," Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 1961.]
[Source: "https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/wickedlocal-brewster/obituary.aspx?pid=138577759"]
After the United States entered World War I and the Lafayette Escadrille passed from French jurisdiction into the United States Air Service, Thenault spent the rest of the war as Chief Pilot at the French School of Acrobatics at Pau. He remained in France's Service Aeronautique and was sent to the United States in 1920 as Air Attache' at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. He married an American, Sarah Spencer, and they had two children, Catherine and George. The son, George, served in the United States Army. and became an aeronautical engineer designing aircraft in both the United States and France.
In 1936, Thenault was recalled to France in order to take command of an aviation group. When France was overtaken and occupied by Germany in World War II, he engaged in underground resistance activities. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage on December 17, 1948. His body rests at the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial near Paris.
[Source: "Cross & Cockade Journal: The Society of World War I Aero Historians," Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 1961.]
[Source: "https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/wickedlocal-brewster/obituary.aspx?pid=138577759"]
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