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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 2746.PDF
b FLIGHT NOVEMBER 2OTH, 1941 AIRMEN OF FREE FRANCE Triumph. Over Initial Difficulties : De Gaulle's Air Force Re-equipped and Reorganised : Co-operation and Combat in tke Middle East By HENRY BAERLEIN IN the war of 1914-18 certain Frenchmen achieved im-perishable fame for what they accomplished in theair. One need only mention Guynemer and Fonck, whose insignificant appearance made the more conspicuousthat very long Croix de Guerre ribbon of red and green upon his tunic ; the said ribbon had on it more than adozen golden palms each one of which meant that five German planes had fallen to his skill and daring. It is natural that the friends of France all over the worldhave at times, in this war, given way to despondency when ..they thought of those fine fellows, for they were afraid thatthey had no successors in the present conflict. But that has not been the case, for in spite of having t» overcomesuch obstacles as did not fall to their predecessors' lot, not a few contemporary Frenchmen have acquitted themselvesright worthily. And what difficulties they had to face! First of all, the supply of planes was lamentably insuffi-cient and those which existed were, according to the evidence both of Frenchmen, Czechs and Poles, of such aquality, as a general rule, that one always felt they had been constructed in a great hurry. Not until Americaprovided their Curtiss machines did one go up in the French Air Force with any confidence. Then, of course, the Vichyauthorities put every obstacle in the way of those airmen whose one desire it was to continue in the conflict. Obstacles Surmounted When a large number of young airmen escaped to NorthAfrica with this purpose in their hearts, they were treated as though they were prisoners wanting to evade their justsentence. Guards were put over them in rigid surveillance. Nevertheless, from Africa as well as from other parts ofthe French Empire, many of them managed to get away. Alas, this could not be done without disaster to some ofthem. We know the names of those who, approaching Gibraltar, where they felt they were practically in the ranksof General de Gaulle, had the misfortune to be brought down by the Spanish anti-aircraft batteries. But we shall nevei know the names of those who fellinto the sea for lack of petrol which in Africa had been so ..hard to come by, or of those who had taken passage onthe first little fishing boat they could reach—boats which are so easily overwhelmed in a sudden storm and which,against a U-boat, have no means of protecting themselves. Yet even in this tragic list there are glints of humour, suchas that of the two warrant officers of whom some-readers of Flight may have heard The story, however, will bear repetition of how, in themiddle of a fine morning, they escaped from Orar) in the plane of the Italian Armistice Commission. Equally delight-ful was the manoeuvre of the well-known pilot who, after being decorated at Casablanca for great heroism, offeredto entertain the high functionaries assembled in his honour Desert headquarters.The upper picture shows a class at navigational instruction by giving an exhibition of aerobatics. In the course ofthem he disappeared into the sky and landed at Gibraltar. He is now in this country, doing excellent work. Thenwe must mention those two officers in Indo-China who had some notion of what Vichy intended to do in that part ofthe French Empire, so they decided to make for Singa- pore. As they could only lay hands on a plane so small that itcould, with a full tank, fly no more than half the distance, they proceeded with infinite patience and precautions tocollect a further supply of petrol, and this they had to pour into the tank while flying over the Gulf of Siam,themselves being perched perilously upon the wings of their plane. From West Africa, from Morocco, from the UnitedStates, Mexico, Chili, and other parts of the world, French- men who had attained comfortable situations have preferredto give up a life without rationing or black-outs in order to make for the tight little island fortress of Great Britain,or perhaps some subsidiary fortress of the same firm. These escape stories, which form the most precious part of the ;archives of the Free French Air Force, cannot all be told General Valin about to leave Haifa after the armistice. Theaircraft is marked with the Cross of Lorraine, emblem of Free France
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