Memorial Edmond Thieffry

In July 1932, a bust of Edmond Thieffry was inaugurated in Etterbeek.
It is a creation of the Hainaut artist César Battaille (1882-1963).

Beneath the sculpture is a copper plate showing the successive stages that Thieffry traveled by plane from Haren to N'Dolo airport in Leopoldville.

Below that is the text, in French only:
"In the sky of the Yzer, his heroic courage, his indomitable tenacity made the glory of our wings. He was victorious in ten dogfights.
He realized the first Belgium-Congo flight in 1925, faithful to the cause he served. He died in the African sky"

Edmond Tieffry studied law at the University of Leuven. After his doctorate, he was conscripted into the 10th Line Regiment of the Belgian army. However, a few months after his military service ended, the First World War broke out and he was called back into the armed forces. Thieffry was assigned to the Staff of General Leman, the commander of the forts around Liège that were to prevent a German advance and defend the city. However, due to the continuous shelling of the German artillery, the forts were quickly knocked out one by one.
Thieffry himself was taken prisoner of war but managed to escape and reach the Belgian lines near Antwerp via the Netherlands.
At the beginning of 1915 he was allowed to train as a pilot at his own request. After a lot of work, he was finally able to get his pilot's license. His courage and daring in carrying out sighting missions soon earned him the appreciation of his fellow pilots.
On March 15, 1917, he shot down his first enemy aircraft. One victory after the other soon followed, but a few months later his aircraft was badly damaged in a dogfight and he narrowly escaped death. It didn't stop Thieffry from continuing the fight and that same year he took his tenth victory. Shortly afterwards, luck turned and he was defeated by two German fighters that shot down his aircraft over enemy territory. He was treated for his wounds in a field hospital and subsequently spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war in Germany.
After the war he traveled back to Brussels where he established himself as a lawyer at the end of 1918.

However, Thieffry's love and interest in aviation did not let go of him.
In 1923, he was one of the main protagonists who brought about the creation of the Belgian airline 'Sabena'.
In 1925 he realized the first flight from Belgium to their African colony Congo (8000 km).
Edmond Thieffry died in April 1929 at the age of 36 in a plane crash near the shores of Lake Tanganika.

Source : History (online history magazine - Rudi Schrever).

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Source

• Text: Marie-Christine Vinck
• Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck