Ernest Maunoury

Sous Lieutenant Ernest Joseph Jules Maunoury was a French flying ace during World War I. He was credited with eleven confirmed aerial victories.

World War I
Manoury joined the French military on 7 September 1914, being assigned to the 24e Regiment d'Infanterie. On 19 February 1915, he was promoted to Sergeant; not quite a year later, on 16 February 1916, he was mentioned in his brigade's orders. He was seriously wounded in action and offered the opportunity to transfer out of combat; however, he elected to volunteer for aviation duty. On 2 June 1916, he transferred to flying service. His first assignment was to Escadrille 64 as a gunner/observer. On 26 September 1916, he downed a Fokker; this initial victory gained him another mention in dispatches, on 7 October.

On 27 January 1917, he was transferred to Escadrille 16. He began pilot's training at Dijon on 20 March 1917, and was granted his Military Pilot's Brevet on 7 June 1917. He then joined a brand new squadron, Escadrille 152, as a Spad pilot. On 30 June 1918, he scored his second victory, destroying a German observation balloon. On 20 July, he shared a double win with Del Vial. Then he began a string of seven consecutive victories shared with premium balloon buster Léon Bourjade. Double victories on 15 September and 1 October 1918 brought his tally to eight enemy observation balloons destroyed, along with two German reconnaissance planes and a Fokker.

Postwar
He lost a wing while flying over Cazaux on 21 September 1921. The subsequent impact was fatal.