Eugène Camplan


Eugène Jules Emile Camplan was a World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories.

Biography

Camplan was born on 10 October 1889 in the city of Nîmes, France to a wealthy family. His father worked as a merchant in the town of Montpellier. Camplan moved to Gironde as an adult and began medical studies. When World War I broke out, he was mobilized as a soldier in the 18e section d'infirmiers militaires, serving in Lorraine, on the Marne, and on the Aisne. He asked to move into a combat unit, a request that was granted on 25 April 1915, allowing him to become an infantryman in the :fr:59e régiment d’infanterie|59e régiment d’infanterie. During his time with the 59th Regiment, Camplan fought in Champagne. On 17 May 1915, a shell exploded near his trench, burying him alive and causing him injury. He was evacuated from the trench and transferred back to a nursing unit in Flanders after his recovery. He was wounded again on 24 August 1915, causing him to be deemed unfit for armed service for 11 months, until 2 August 1916, when he was accepted into the French Air Service. During his service in the air force, he scored seven confirmed aerial victories, with his final victory being on 1 August 1918, during an aerial combat with eight enemy aircraft. After being demobilized in early 1919, Camplan dedicated his life to aviation, joining the CFRNA as a pilot in 1920. He left the company in 1924 to open a school in Bordeaux. He sold the school in 1926, becoming a test pilot at the Société des Avions Bernard, setting records for a number of their planes. He was mobilized at the beginning of World War II as a reserve capitaine. He was demobilized after the Armistice of 22 June 1940 and became involved in the French Resistance. He was assassinated on 18 January 1944 in Les Adjots during a resistance meeting.