Guy Van de Merckt Collection

Guy Van de Merckt Collection

Before the First World War, Jan Olieslagers was already a very well known person as the motorbike world champion and later

as very successful pilot on his Bleriot monoplanes. Entering military service as a volunteer (with his aircraft) at the start of the war,

Olieslagers quickly became a fighter-pilot and as such was the first to claim a victory. Up to the middle of 1917 he mostly flew

Nieuport type of fighters with n° 1 squadron and later-on Hanriot Dupont HD1's. Olieslagers final score at the end of the war stood

at 6 victories, but this total could have been much higher as Jan never took claiming seriously and hardly claimed any victory.

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