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| Name: | Willy Omer Francois Jean Coppens de Houthulst |  | Country: | Belgium | Rank: | Major | Service: | Belgian Air Service | Escadrilles: | 1ère, 4ème, 6ème, 9ème | Victories: | 37 | Born: | 6 July 1892 | Place of Birth: | Watermaal-Bosvoorde | Died: | 21 December 1986 | Place of Death: | |
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| | Coppens joined the army in 1912, serving with the 2nd Grenadiers before transferring to the Compagnie des Aviateurs in 1914. At his own expense, he and thirty nine other Belgians enrolled in a civilian flying school at Hendon, England. After additional training in France, Coppens began flying two-seaters in combat during 1916. The following year, he was assigned to single-seat fighters and soon became an expert at shooting down enemy observation balloons. After downing a balloon, Coppens would often perform aerial acrobatic displays above the enemy. On one occasion, the balloon he was attacking shot upward and Coppens actually landed his Hanriot HD.1 on top of it. Switching off his engine to protect the propeller, he waited until his aircraft slid off the top of the balloon, then restarted the engine and watched as the German balloon burst into flames and sank to the ground. His days as a fighter pilot came to an end over Thourout in northwest Belgium. Just as he began the attack that would culminate in his 37th victory, Coppens was hit in the left leg by an incendiary bullet. Despite a severed artery and intense pain, he shot down his target and managed to crash land within the safety of his own lines. His badly shattered leg had to be amputated. |
| | "When we left Hendon [England], we didn't even know that one had to land head to the wind." Willy Coppens
"You must take the war to the enemy. You must attack and go on attacking all the time." Willy Coppens |
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