Allegiance France | Rank Sergent Name Andre Levy | |
Died 12 March 1973(1973-03-12) (aged 79) Unit Escadrille 29, Escadrille 561 Awards French: Legion d\'honneur, Medaille militaire, Croix de Guerre, Italian: Croce di Guerra, 2 Gold and 2 Bronze Medal for Military Valor | ||
Service/branch Infantry; aviation | ||
Sergent André Robert Lévy was a World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories.
André Robert Lévy began his military service in the infantry but transferred to aviation on 8 October 1916. He was initially assigned to fly a Farman for Escadrille 29. However, he used a Sopwith 1.A2 for his first victory on 7 April 1917. On 16 May, he was then reassigned, to the only French air squadron on the Italian Front, Escadrille 561. Using a mixture of Nieuport and Spad fighters emblazoned with a dogs-head insignia, Lévy scored his second win on 21 June 1918, scored a double on 20 July, and became an ace on 5 August. On 16 September, he became a balloon buster, destroying an Austro-Hungarian observation balloon and being shot down in the process. With the engine dead from a fuel line severed by anti-aircraft fire, Lévy purposely landed hard, bending the landing gear, and inverting his Spad XIII. He was then taken away to prison camp in Mulbach. On his second attempt, on 2 November, Lévy escaped through a mountainous wilderness smothered under 30 inches of snow. He made it back to his unit on 6 November 1918.