Groupe de Combat 12

Groupe de Combat 12 (GC 12) 'Les Cigognes' ('The Storks') was the most celebrated and successful French Air Service Groupe de Chasse during the World War I.

Its roster included Georges Guynemer, René Dorme, Alfred Heurteaux, René Fonck, Raoul Echard, Joseph-Henri Guiguet, Roland Garros, Mathieu Tenant de la Tour, and the Serb Tadija Sondermajer, among other World War I aces.

The fliers from CG 12 carried different stork insignia on their planes.

Founded on 16 April 1916[2] to fight in the Second Battle of the Aisne,[3] the makeshift group also had three other escadrilles temporarily assigned—N37, N62, and N65.

On 1 November 1916, it was formalized as Groupe de Combat 12; its original table of organization contained the four permanent escadrilles.

Georges Guynemer's original SPAD S.VII, nicknamed "Vieux Charles", preserved at Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace