André de Meulemeester
| Andre Emile Alphonse De Meulemeester | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Nickname(s) | Sergeant Mystère |
| Born |
December 28, 1894 Bruges, Belgium |
| Died | March 7, 1973 (aged 78) Bruges, Belgium |
| Allegiance |
 Belgium
|
| Service/branch |
 Belgian Air Component
|
| Years of service | 1915 - 1919 |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Unit | 1ère Escadrille de Chasse, 9ème Escadrille de Chasse |
| Awards | Order of Leopold II, Belgian and French Croix de Guerre, Silver award of Italian Medal for Military Valor |
Lieutenant André Emile Alphonse De Meulemeester was a Belgian flying ace during World War I. He was credited with eleven confirmed and nineteen unconfirmed aerial victories.
André De Meulemeester was the son of brewer Victor De Meulemeester (1866–1927), who from 1919 until his death was a senator for the Belgian Labour Party. He was the grandson of brewer Leon De Meulemeester (1841–1922) and Virginie Verstraete.
He married in 1925 with Cécile Graux, granddaughter of Charles Graux, Belgian minister of finances (1878–1884) and the daughter of Charles II Graux, secretary to queen Elisabeth of Belgium. Her sister, Marie-Hélène Graux (1901–1955), married Ernest-John Solvay (1895–1972), son of Ernest Solvay.
The couple lived in a splendid rococo-house along one of the canals in Bruges. They let it often be the scene for motion pictures, amongst them L'empreinte du dieu taken from a novel by Maxence Van Der Meersch and The Nun's Story, with Audrey Hepburn and Peggy Ashcroft.
The De Meulemeesters founded in the sixties a non-profit organization for children in need.
When André died in 1973 only local newspapers echoed his discreet departure. On 9 August 1973 the Festival of Ancient Music dedicated one of its concerts to this generous sponsor (it was a recital at the town hall, given by the British artists Nigel Rogers and Colin Tilney.
André De Meulemeester joined the Belgian Air Service in January 1915. In October 1916, he was assigned to 1ère Escadrille de Chasse as a Nieuport 17 pilot dubbed Sergeant Mystère. He had a victory claim unconfirmed on 1 February 1917, and scored his first official one on 30 April. By the time he scored his sixth and last Nieuport-borne win, on 4 November 1917, he had also accrued nine unconfirmed claims. He then changed up to a Hanriot HD.1. Using his new craft, he managed to score one more confirmed and three more unconfirmed victories before changing squadrons. On 17 March 1918, he scored the first of four confirmed and five unconfirmed victories with 9me Escadrille de Chasse. His eleventh undisputed triumph was as a balloon buster; he destroyed an observation balloon on 5 October 1918.
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