Roland Garros was a fairly important pioneering figure among early French aviators and WWI French fighter pilots. Bet you've heard of him. Like many aviation pioneers, there are a few PODs surrounding him that have intrigued me for a long time.


Let's look at his OTL track record first:

He was born in Saint-Denis on Réunion, of all places. In 1909, he started flying on the then popular, Alberto Santos-Dumont designed light monoplane type Demoiselle. From there on, his aviator career developed at a fast pace and Garros became a rising aviation star by the beginning of the following decade.

Among Garros' most famous achievements was his 1913 flight across the Mediterranean, the first successful flight of its kind. He flew from Fréjus in southern France to Bizerte in modern day Tunisia. Famously, though, with a few tens of kilometers left to Bizerte, he acquired engine trouble, which lead to the front of his fuselage getting damaged and leaking fuel. He had a pretty terrible time since then, with some of the fuel flying onto his goggles and obscuring his vision. He was nevertheless determined to finish his flight. He made it to Bizerte, with just 5 liters of fuel remaining in the fuel tank. That wouldn't have lasted him for many more minutes, but he made it, narrowly.

Roland-Garros.jpg


A photo taken after his famous landing in Bizerte


(Video from the centennary commemoration of the crossing in 2013)

During the early months of WWI, Garros was already serving as a fighter pilot and became notable in the war for two things: Together with Raymond Saulnier, developing one of the pre-Fokker fire synchronisation systems for fighters ("Garros' deflector", a more primitive one, though) and getting taken into captivity by the Germans on the 18 April 1915, in order to learn about his ideas. Garros later escaped a POW camp in 1918, rejoined the French forces and continued the fight. Until he was killed in action over the Ardennes, he scored two more victories, gaining a total of four kills. Adolphe Pégoud, countryman of Garros and another well-known early 1910s pioneer, scored five kills early in the war, and for this, became the first fighter pilot in history to be dubbed an "ace". Garros missed his chance, due to a twist of fate.

Last but not least, the French Open was named after Garros, in his honour. ;)


Main POD idea:

Now, let's say that the engine trouble Roland had during the Mediterranean-crossing flight turns out to be worse than in OTL, or something hinders his vision, etc., etc. Whatever unfortunate malarkey happens in the ATL, Garros loses control of his Morane-Saulnier G and fatally crashes into the Med or the Tunisian countryside.


Questions involving ATL outcomes:

- Would Garros' premature death and absence in the events of the coming years change some things about the state or development of early French and European aviation ?

- Will another attempt at flying over the Med be postponed for a while, and if so, who could be a realistic choice to attempt it after Garros ?

- With Garros not playing around with synchronisation systems for machine guns, could the Entente efforts at acquiring a solution (as good as Fokker's, or at least as good as Garros') be delayed in the war ?

- Given the premature death and less fame behind the late Garros' belt, who would a potential future French Open be named after ?

- And one more minor, non-death POD: Garros doesn't get killed in the ATL Med flight scenario and starts serving in WWI as in OTL, but his first few months of service are different. He gradually scores five kills, while Pégoud is one or two kills behind, and Garros also doesn't get captured by the Germans. Could this lead to Garros becoming recognised as the world's first ace instead of Pégoud ?


I'd love to hear some of your ideas. And if you have suggestions for PODs I might have overlooked, be my guest !
 
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Aviation history, and the exploits of French aviation pioneers will continue. The first man to attempt the English Channel, Hubert Latham, became first to land on water. He could do better by trying it again in the Med. Jacques de Lesseps was second across the Channel, and could try the Med. Jules Vedrines had a better idea, flying from Paris to Cairo with success, while being sentenced to jail by the Germans, and challenged to a duel in the bargain. Maurice Prevost won the first Schneider Trophy race in Monaco. He could lose his way, and reach Bizerte. Is Pegoud remembered for being the first ace, or for doing the loop? I would name a stadium after any of these people.
The difference between the terms synchronized guns, and interrupter gear is sometimes moot, but in this case, Garros was using the crudest interrupter possible, and the alternate course of history is what you make it. Garros was certainly a character in the story of the Fokker Scourge.
 
Indeed, the crudest interrupter possible. Despite the fact that it wasn't very useful, I wonder how its non-existence would influence the course of the war for a few months. Perhaps Germany would be more cocksure about their "Fokker whip" remaining unparalleled among non-pusher Entente planes ?
 
The interrupter gear idea pre-dated WWI, to Euler and Schneider, and Raymond Saulnier's gear might have worked with the right gun. Further developments crawled out of the woodwork. In addition, a clever RAF lad, a sergeant named Foster devised an upper wing mount that carried his name, and Camels and SE-5As carried either a synchronized Vickers or a wing-mounted Lewis or both. The Nieuport 17 also carried either. The most significant thing about that era was the codification of fighter tactics using a fixed forward-firing machine gun, by Oswald Boelke, the Boelke Dicta. The Fokker Scourge was a finite period, and ended, to be replaced by something called Bloody April, which, I guess, ended in May, with the flowers, probably poppies.
 
Oh, I remember Foster too. :)

If Garros had perished, when do you think the next attempt would occur ? That same year ? Or next year (presumably before the war broke out) ?
 
Oh, I remember Foster too. :)

If Garros had perished, when do you think the next attempt would occur ? That same year ? Or next year (presumably before the war broke out) ?

I didn't know you were that old. People were flying everywhere they thought possible, because only one is first. Garros proved it possible, so it wouldn't have been long. If Garros wasn't first, I'd like de Lesseps to give it a try. His OTL demise was grisly. Murdered in the jungle, by his porters.
 
Oh, I remember Foster too. :)

If Garros had perished, when do you think the next attempt would occur ? That same year ? Or next year (presumably before the war broke out) ?

Definitely. It was just that kind of times. Planes got better every day and by 1914 Curtiss actually built a seaplane good enough to cross the Atlantic. So technical it was possible and became more possible every day. And there sure was no shortage of daredevils willing to try.
 
I didn't know you were that old.

Ha-ha. :rolleyes:

People were flying everywhere they thought possible, because only one is first. Garros proved it possible, so it wouldn't have been long. If Garros wasn't first, I'd like de Lesseps to give it a try. His OTL demise was grisly. Murdered in the jungle, by his porters.

Oh, yeah, Lesseps could be an interesting choice, among many others.

Definitely. It was just that kind of times. Planes got better every day and by 1914 Curtiss actually built a seaplane good enough to cross the Atlantic. So technical it was possible and became more possible every day. And there sure was no shortage of daredevils willing to try.

My thoughts exactly. I was just pondering which of the other period pioneers would take up this particular challenge.
 
Strictly speaking, the big tennis club in Paris is named for Garros, and the tournament being held there, it is named for the club.

The Paris tennis club is called the Paris Tennis Club, with a de. Strictly speaking, they use a raquette de tennis, not a club. The Stade they play in is named after the aviator.

In pre-war times, the apres-tournament celebration was held by Marcel Bloch. It was called the Bloch Party. At it, they presented the Athletic Cup, donated by Jacques Strappe.
Sorry. It had to be done.
 
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