Flying ace after he became the first pilot to down five German aircraft. The British initially used the term "star-turns" (a show business term), while the Germans described their elite fighter pilots as "Überkanonen" (which roughly translates to "top guns"). The successes of such German ace pilots as Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke were much publicised for the benefit of civilian morale, and the "Pour le Mérite", Prussia’s highest award for gallantry, became part of the uniform of a leading German ace. In the "Luftstreitkräfte" the "Pour le Mérite" was nicknamed "Der blaue Max"/The Blue Max, after Max Immelmann, who was the
Pierre Le Gloan Pierre Le Gloan Pierre Le Gloan (6 January 1913 – 11 September 1943) was a French flying ace of World War II. Unique in the annals of wartime flying, he scored victories against German, Italian and British foes. He was killed in a landing accident in September 1943. Pierre Le Gloan was born on 6 January 1913 in Kergrist-Moëlou, Brittany, France. The commune in France where he lived has a street that bears his name. During his teen years, he won a civil aviation scholarship, funded by the French government, which gave him his first real taste of flying. Le