Who was Roland Garros? King of Air, Legend of Earth

Andn Thursday, September 25, 1911, he managed to change the name of the favorite tournament to Rafa Nadal. On that day, a plane, a Blériot, crashed into a power pole in Usurbil, near San Sebastián. With the left wing broken in his mechanism, the pilot, one of those daredevils who risked his life on the machines under development, waited a few hours for the repair to start taking off again. And after a while it fell into a stream on Mount Laizaran. The pilot was unharmed and ended his flight. His name was Eugene Adrian Roland Georges Garros (Roland Garros) And he had several rounds left to build a hero’s life ending in his name on a tennis court and championship.

In the previous stage towards the legend, it is known that Roland Garros He was born on October 6, 1888 in Saint-Denis, on the island of Reunion. Studied Arts and Law in Paris. His next step was to enter the chosen HEC, a Parisian school of business studies. At that time, he started playing tennis and rugby for entertainment.

plane magic

your path Looks like a car company. Roland Garros Automobiles-Voiturettes de Sport has opened in a store near the Arc de Triomphe.

His life was upended when he watched an air show in Reims in the summer of 1909. Learn to fly with Louis Blériot, the legend of aviation A person who learns a trade and a skill. Soon, he bought a plane. The legend is waiting for him.

In July 1910 he obtained a pilot’s license. A new world was opening up for the boy, who had already decided not to be a lawyer. The magic of planes, his field of exploration, occupies all his time. It’s months of adventure and learning, Mossant Circus doesn’t escape, as he stays for a semester during which he travels to the United States, Cuba and Mexico.

They were pioneers and almost all of them were killed in those fragile and slow machines, but the soul kept trying. Roland Garros is a very important figure in the field of aviation

Pedro Valle (Pastor of the Infante de Orleans Foundation)

Every pilot is an aspiring champion. They are the invaders of the twentieth century. Every completed trip is the discovery of a continent. Roland Garros is part of the Elite Group. In 1911 the possibility of the first air race between Paris and Madrid arose..

Garros is one of 20 registrars. The competition is organized by the publishing house ‘Le Petit Parisien’, which assigns a prize to the winner of 200,000 francs.. The calendar for the race is from May 21-25, divided into three stages with stops in Angouleme and San Sebastian and the last one arriving in Madrid.

Getafe was chosen as the reception site for an exceptional event, although Quattro Vientos airport was the only one actually operating. One theory says that Getavenci was chosen because it could have a large square It identifies thousands of people who were expected to witness an unprecedented event.

new hero

In the age of weak and unreliable tools, the start of competition was a disaster. On May 21, a popular crowd gathered at Issy-les-Moulineaux airport. Emile Train makes an emergency landing and accuses a group of onlookers, including the Minister of War, General Berto, who died in the event..

The horror doesn’t stop the test, which like everything becomes an elimination contest. Only three knights arrive in San Sebastian: Vedrine, Gibert and Garros. Airplanes suffer misfortune. This is the time when Garros saves his skin on Mount Laizaran. The competition was taken by Vedrines, the only one to appear in Madrid, but the Garros Road was another.

Peter’s Valleypatron of the Infante de Orleans Foundation, recounts that the pioneers of the time Spirit was “keep trying. Almost everyone died. They were slow, fragile machines”.

Among these consistent chiefs is Garros. On September 23, 1913, with his Morane-Saulnier car, It departs from Saint-Raphael (French Riviera) and after eight hours lands in Bizerte (Tunisia). He is the first man to cross the Mediterranean. Roland Garros is a national idol.

His circle of friends is Karim El Balad. Versatile Jean Cocteau dedicates a poem to him, “Cape of Good Hope”.

Garros never closes the adventure book. Pedro Valle understands the reverence for these personalities: “They were pioneers and became famous. It is very important in the history of aviation. You think it’s because of tennis, but because you have no idea. It is known all over the world.

First World War

In 1914, with the outbreak of World War I, He joins the French ranks even though he could have avoided this by not being born in Gaul. Early combat is primitive, to the point that pilots are equipped with pistols.

However, Garros revolutionized those life-or-death battles. He was the first to fire the machine guns placed in front of the pilot through the propeller. It was still a lottery to bounce back or bring down the plane itself. The fans are lined with metal. There are no more tragic accidents and the recoil is less dangerous. In 1915 the Germans shot down Garros and he did not have time to set his plane on fire on the ground.

Germany copies his stuff and improves it. Focker invented a system for synchronizing the shot with the rotation of the propeller. In 1918 Jarros fled Magdeburg disguised as a German.. Instead of enjoying his fame, he returns to the air exhausted.

“Lieutenant General of Infantry Eugene Adrien Rolland shot Georges Garros, Officer of the Military Air Legion of Honor, on the Spade S. 5, 1918. He was killed one day before his thirtieth birthday. This is how he was declared lost in the fight.

In 1928 the Davis Cup Final was held in Paris. His friend Emile Lesieur suggested the new stadium the name Roland Garros. Rafael Nadal’s courtyard. between heaven and earth.