{{Short description|French Air Force unit founded in 1914}} {{Infobox military unit |unit_name = Escadrille MS 23 - N 23 - SPA 23 |image=Eug%C3%A8ne_Gilbert_1915.jpg |caption= Ace Eugene Gilbert |dates= 4 August 1914- |country= {{flag|France}} |allegiance= |branch= 15px&nbsp; French Air Service |type= Fighter Squadron |role= |size= |command_structure= |garrison= |garrison_label= Home station |nickname= |patron= |motto= |colors= |colors_label= Branch color |march= |mascot= |equipment= |equipment_label= |battles= 150px<BR>World War I |anniversaries= |decorations= |battle_honours= |commander1= |commander1_label= |commander2= |commander2_label= |commander3= |commander3_label= |notable_commanders=Captaine Carl Marie Francois vicomte de Vergnette de Lamotte 1914-1915 |identification_symbol= |identification_symbol_label= |identification_symbol_2= |identification_symbol_2_label= |identification_symbol_3= |identification_symbol_3_label= |identification_symbol_4= |identification_symbol_4_label= }}

'''''Escadrille 23''''' of the French Air Force was formed at Brie on 4 August 1914.

==History==

Escadrille 23 was equipped with Morane-Saulniers and forwarded to ''VI Armee'' of the French Army in September, and transferred to ''IV Armee'' in October 1914. Later that month, it moved to the Somme. It would operate from there until 6 August 1915. It then returned to the ''VI Armee'' for a short spell before being posted to ''IV Armee'' on 21 August 1915.<ref name=front90>Franks, Bailey 1992, p. 90.</ref>

thumb|right|Escadrille N.23 flightline. Note the warm flying gear on the pilots. [[File:Ambulance no. 10 - personal letters from the front (1916) (14776278961).jpg|thumb|Shot down German plane of FA 2 [Crew Pilot Erich Heuschkel killed; Eberhard Wenck (observer) POW/DOW on 19 August 1917 shot down at Souilly / Vadelaincourt on the way to Bar-le-Duc by the pilot Villiars (N23). Photograph appeared from American Field Service member Lewis Burwell account personal letters from the front<ref>German Rumpler craft of FA2 Pilot killed and observer W/POW [http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56895&page=3 The Aerodrome Forum] shot down by Villiars of N23 19 August 1917[http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59242 The aerodrome forum].</ref>]] On 20 September 1915, the unit re-equipped with Nieuports and became ''Escadrille N23''. Its performance earned it a citation in orders on 5 November 1916. It was credited with victories over 17 enemy aircraft and four observation balloons.<ref name=front90/> On 3 February 1917, the ''escadrille'' was posted to ''VII Armee''; it soon moved to support ''II Armee''. On 19 March 1918, the ''escadrille'' earned the fourragere of the ''Croix de Guerre'' by being cited again, for downing another 23 enemy airplanes. The unit subsequently retooled with ''SPAD'' fighters, but did not change its designation to ''Escadrille SPA.23'' until August 1918. Wartime victories for ''Escadrille SPA.23'' totaled 59 aircraft destroyed.<ref name=front90/>

''Escadrille SPA.23'' still serves in today's French Air Force.

==Commanding officers==

* Capitaine Auguste de Reverend: 4 August 1914 - 8 December 1915 * Lieutenant Louis Robert de Beauchamp: 9 December 1915 - KIA 17 December 1916 * Capitaine Pierre de Langle de Cary: 18 December 1916 - September 1917 * Capitaine Armand Pinsard: September 1917 -<ref name=front90/>

==Notable personnel==

* Capitaine Armand Pinsard * Adjutant Maxime Lenoir * Lieutenant Jean Casale *Lieutenant Eugène Gilbert * Lieutenant François de Rochechouart<ref name=front90/>

==Aircraft==

* Morane-Saulnier: 4 August 1914 * Nieuport: 20 September 1915 * SPAD: Summer 1918<ref name=front90/>

==Endnotes== {{reflist}} == References == * Franks, Norman; Frank W. Bailey. ''Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914-1918'' Grub Street, 1992. {{ISBN|0-948817-54-2}}, {{ISBN|978-0-948817-54-0}}.

== Further reading ==

* Bailey, Frank W., and Christophe Cony. ''French Air Service War Chronology, 1914-1918: Day-to-Day Claims and Losses by French Fighter, Bomber and Two-Seat Pilots on the Western Front''. London: Grub Street, 2001. * Davilla, James J., and Arthur M. Soltan. ''French Aircraft of the First World War''. Stratford, CT: Flying Machines Press, 1997. * ''Les escadrilles de l'aéronautique militaire française: symbolique et histoire, 1912-1920''. Vincennes: Service historique de l'armée de l'air, 2004. {{ISBN|2-11-094692-X}}

==External links== * [http://albindenis.free.fr/Site_escadrille/escadrille023.htm Escadrille MS 23 - N 23 - SPA 23]

{{wwi-air}} {{France-mil-unit-stub}} Category:French Air and Space Force squadrons Category:Military units and formations established in 1914