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The commandant enters in the wooden shelter,
He ask a new patrol for a well known sector: Orel.
It's the third time today.
All the pilots lower their heads, the commandant is waiting for volunteers
One of them, the loudmouth of the squadron, raises the head and moans:
"And we forget what happened to the Lieutenant De Tedesco?"
The commandant lowers the head at his turn, looks his watch before to say:
"That did too much time since he was shoot down..."
Each of them knew what that would mean,
He's not the first after all, some others already let their skin against the defenses of Orel...
But they still optimistic for don't be depressed,
No corps found? So he's maybe not dead! He will surely come back in few days.
It's not of the fight that they are afraid of,
It's not of the death that they are afraid of,
They are just afraid to die without fighting,
They are just afraid to die uselessly: To go on Orel, it's a kind of suicide.
They came in Russia in knowing that they would fight more than in England.
They came in Russia in knowing that a lot of them would die.
They came in Russia in knowing that they could never be taken as prisoners.
The engines are rumbling, the wheels are rolling and the Yakovlev leave the ground,
A great white arrow on the fuselage,
A tricolored tailfin and a tricolored propeller spinner,
A red star and sometimes a roundels or a personal insignia,
Here's the Normandie.
They won more than they loose,
They fight more than they should,
Germans fighters are sighted,
The French engaged the fight,
A Focke-Wulf comes behind a YAK,
The German shots, the bullets touched the fuselage,
The tailfin is damaged, the fuselage is pierced,
At the view of a light white smoke, the German stops the fire,
He looks his enemy fall.
The French aviator search a place for land,
A clearing in a forest, it's a good place.
The Russian fighter comes closer of the ground,
The flaps are down, the aeroplane rubs the top of the trees before to land on the grass,
The propeller is twisted, the canvas damaged and the engine stopped.
In his cage, the pilot accomplished his mission, he has landed his craft,
He raised the head for look the sky,
A white bird with the wings stamped of black crosses passed above of him.
He lowers the head, looks his injuries at the chest,
He looks a photo that he takes with his glove full of blood.
He closes his eyes for the last time,
His shoulders toppled but are stopped by the security belts.
His comrades will wait him during a week,
After a week, the commandant erases the name of the pilot,
He opens the log book of the squadron and writes:
Capitaine Littolff Albert - Porté disparu au combat le 16/07/1943.
I drew this in hommage of the pilots of the Groupe de Chasse n°3 "Normandie", a Free French squadron deployed in USSR for support the Red Army on the eastern front. They fought from March 1943 to May 1945, they began near of Moscow and they finished at Berlin. In two years of war for this aces squadron, its pilots got 273 officials victory, only 2 (or 3) squadrons of the RAF are up than this score when they began the fight in 1940, in France, they got 36 unconfirmed victories, 869 dogfights, 4 354 hours of war fly, they damaged 45 enemy aeroplanes in dogfight, one other at the ground on an airfield and destroyed another in the same circumstances. They also destroyed 197 ground targets, attacked 8 railways stations, 27 trains, 3 factories, 5 airfields (whose the one of Orel) and they destroyed 2 patrol boats. And all that for 42 pilots killed or missing, 4 prisoners (certainly executed after their arrestation) and 9 wounded.
In those who fell for their country, 38 were shot down by the Germans fighters, 5 by the Flak and the 12 other were killed in accident.
In those pilots, we can speak about the brothers Challe, Maurice and René. The Sous-lieutenant Maurice Challe was a former pilot of the GC II/4, when he joins the GC n°3, he was ready for the fight. For his first dogfight, the 8 June 1944, he made a frontal pass against a FW.190 that he though he touched, he saw back his enemy, with a light white smoke behind him, flying lower than the French who shoots from far, the enemy aircraft crashed few seconds after. One hour after the crash of the first victory of Maurice Challe, the Russian authorities discovered that the German Focke-Wulf was in reality a Russian Yakovlev fighter, they covered the case and said that the pilot was already dead when the French shoot (because the first aeroplane on the one he shoot was well a FW.190) but Maurice Challe will always feel guilty for this and will be volunteer for the most dangerous missions. He showed that he was an excellent fighter pilot, between the 16 October 1944 and the 22 of the same month, he shot down three Bf.109 and two FW.190. He disappeared the 27 March 1945 with 10 official victories and 3 other which are uncertain, he was also the last pilot of Normandie to die during the WWII.
His brother, René, was also an ace with 7 official victories and 1 other unconfirmed, he survived at the war and died the 4th April 2006.
We can also speak about Marcel Lefèvre, 7 victories, who show the spirit of Normandie. The 28 may 1944, the squadron moved of base, they came closer of the battlefield, the Lieutenant Lefèvre did a little mission of reconnaissance with 11 other pilots, when they came back, he had a fuel tank leak and when he touched the ground, a giant flame exited from the underside of the aircraft and the Lieutenant Lefèvre exited of his cockpit, he was human torch. The Norman was sent at the military hospital where he died one day before the Allied landing on his natal land. Until the end, he was optimistic, that was the spirit of Normandie.
There's also the story of the Aspirant Roger Pinon, he was shot down the 1st August 1944 and was declared missing during the fight, but we discovered, during the Process of Nuremberg that he was assassinated by a German noncommissioned officer when Pinon was not even exited from his Yakovlev.
The Aspirant Jean-Jacques Manceau, a 26 years old pilot, went with the Aspirant Perrin searched the rests of Germans fighters when he walked on a mine and had the both legs snatched before to fall on another mine and to lose his arm, he died the 2nd November 1944 because of the gangrene, he had 6 victories at his board.
There's also the history of the Aspirant Jean Rey, 23 years old, and of the lieutenant Louis Astier. The 28th August 1943, they flew a U2 (Russian reconnaissance biplane) for a liaison mission when they went over the Germans lines, the Flak opened the fire and the little biplan was surrounded by the enemy fire. In despite of the great damaged that the U2 took, the lieutenant Astier bring it back at his airfield but it was too late for the Aspirant Rey, all young pilot with only 300h of fly, he was reached by a Shrapnel and was already killed when they landed, the Lt. Astier left Normandie a month after the facts.
And the deadliest month for Normandie was the month of July 1943 with the battle of Orel (from April 1943 to October of the same year - I think), the losses were of 7 pilots in only one month or the half of the squadron at its arrival at Ivanovo in November 1942. There were, in the only year 1943, 8 groups of renforts which arrived in Russia because of the important losses.
The list of the 7 killed of July 1943:
Lieutenant DE TEDESCO Jean, born on 28/04/1920 at Paris; killed on 14/07/43 during a dogfight against Bf-110, above of Balkov; 23 y.o (corps not found) - 2 victories
Aspirant CASTELAIN Noël, born on 30/05/1917 at Niort; missing on 16/07/1943 during a dogfight above of Krasnikovo; 26 y.o (corps not found) - 10 victories*
Capitaine LITTOLFF Albert, born on 31/10/1911 at Cornimont (Vosges); missing on 16/07/1943 during a dogfight in the sector of Orel; 32 y.o (corps found in 1960) - 14 victories - leader of an Escadrille*
Sous-lieutenant BERNAVON Adrien, born on 11/12/1912 at Lyon; missing in dogfight in the sector of Orel on 16/07/1943; 31 y.o (corps not found) - 4 victories*
Aspirant VERMEIL Firmin, born on 24/09/1914 at Chalon-sur-Saône; missing in dogfight in the sector of Znamenskaïa (20km north-west of Orel) on 17/07/1943; 29 y.o (corps not found) - 1 victory
Commandant TULASNE Jean, born on 17/11/1912 at Nancy; missing in dogfight in the sector of Znamenskaïa on 17/07/1943; 32 y.o (corps not found) - 3 victories - Commander of the Groupe de Chasse n°3 "Normandie"
Capitaine PREZIOSI Albert, born on 25/07/1915 at Vezzani (Corsica); killed in dogfight in the sector of Orel on 28/07/1943; 28 y.o - 4 victories - leader of the 1st Escadrille
*: The 16th July 1943, the Capitaine Littolff lead a patrol of 8 fighter which had the mission to protect 15 Russian bombers, they were attacked and three of the eight pilots were killed.
A great thanks to
Blackwervolk for the help with the russian part
He ask a new patrol for a well known sector: Orel.
It's the third time today.
All the pilots lower their heads, the commandant is waiting for volunteers
One of them, the loudmouth of the squadron, raises the head and moans:
"And we forget what happened to the Lieutenant De Tedesco?"
The commandant lowers the head at his turn, looks his watch before to say:
"That did too much time since he was shoot down..."
Each of them knew what that would mean,
He's not the first after all, some others already let their skin against the defenses of Orel...
But they still optimistic for don't be depressed,
No corps found? So he's maybe not dead! He will surely come back in few days.
It's not of the fight that they are afraid of,
It's not of the death that they are afraid of,
They are just afraid to die without fighting,
They are just afraid to die uselessly: To go on Orel, it's a kind of suicide.
They came in Russia in knowing that they would fight more than in England.
They came in Russia in knowing that a lot of them would die.
They came in Russia in knowing that they could never be taken as prisoners.
The engines are rumbling, the wheels are rolling and the Yakovlev leave the ground,
A great white arrow on the fuselage,
A tricolored tailfin and a tricolored propeller spinner,
A red star and sometimes a roundels or a personal insignia,
Here's the Normandie.
They won more than they loose,
They fight more than they should,
Germans fighters are sighted,
The French engaged the fight,
A Focke-Wulf comes behind a YAK,
The German shots, the bullets touched the fuselage,
The tailfin is damaged, the fuselage is pierced,
At the view of a light white smoke, the German stops the fire,
He looks his enemy fall.
The French aviator search a place for land,
A clearing in a forest, it's a good place.
The Russian fighter comes closer of the ground,
The flaps are down, the aeroplane rubs the top of the trees before to land on the grass,
The propeller is twisted, the canvas damaged and the engine stopped.
In his cage, the pilot accomplished his mission, he has landed his craft,
He raised the head for look the sky,
A white bird with the wings stamped of black crosses passed above of him.
He lowers the head, looks his injuries at the chest,
He looks a photo that he takes with his glove full of blood.
He closes his eyes for the last time,
His shoulders toppled but are stopped by the security belts.
His comrades will wait him during a week,
After a week, the commandant erases the name of the pilot,
He opens the log book of the squadron and writes:
Capitaine Littolff Albert - Porté disparu au combat le 16/07/1943.
I drew this in hommage of the pilots of the Groupe de Chasse n°3 "Normandie", a Free French squadron deployed in USSR for support the Red Army on the eastern front. They fought from March 1943 to May 1945, they began near of Moscow and they finished at Berlin. In two years of war for this aces squadron, its pilots got 273 officials victory, only 2 (or 3) squadrons of the RAF are up than this score when they began the fight in 1940, in France, they got 36 unconfirmed victories, 869 dogfights, 4 354 hours of war fly, they damaged 45 enemy aeroplanes in dogfight, one other at the ground on an airfield and destroyed another in the same circumstances. They also destroyed 197 ground targets, attacked 8 railways stations, 27 trains, 3 factories, 5 airfields (whose the one of Orel) and they destroyed 2 patrol boats. And all that for 42 pilots killed or missing, 4 prisoners (certainly executed after their arrestation) and 9 wounded.
In those who fell for their country, 38 were shot down by the Germans fighters, 5 by the Flak and the 12 other were killed in accident.
In those pilots, we can speak about the brothers Challe, Maurice and René. The Sous-lieutenant Maurice Challe was a former pilot of the GC II/4, when he joins the GC n°3, he was ready for the fight. For his first dogfight, the 8 June 1944, he made a frontal pass against a FW.190 that he though he touched, he saw back his enemy, with a light white smoke behind him, flying lower than the French who shoots from far, the enemy aircraft crashed few seconds after. One hour after the crash of the first victory of Maurice Challe, the Russian authorities discovered that the German Focke-Wulf was in reality a Russian Yakovlev fighter, they covered the case and said that the pilot was already dead when the French shoot (because the first aeroplane on the one he shoot was well a FW.190) but Maurice Challe will always feel guilty for this and will be volunteer for the most dangerous missions. He showed that he was an excellent fighter pilot, between the 16 October 1944 and the 22 of the same month, he shot down three Bf.109 and two FW.190. He disappeared the 27 March 1945 with 10 official victories and 3 other which are uncertain, he was also the last pilot of Normandie to die during the WWII.
His brother, René, was also an ace with 7 official victories and 1 other unconfirmed, he survived at the war and died the 4th April 2006.
We can also speak about Marcel Lefèvre, 7 victories, who show the spirit of Normandie. The 28 may 1944, the squadron moved of base, they came closer of the battlefield, the Lieutenant Lefèvre did a little mission of reconnaissance with 11 other pilots, when they came back, he had a fuel tank leak and when he touched the ground, a giant flame exited from the underside of the aircraft and the Lieutenant Lefèvre exited of his cockpit, he was human torch. The Norman was sent at the military hospital where he died one day before the Allied landing on his natal land. Until the end, he was optimistic, that was the spirit of Normandie.
There's also the story of the Aspirant Roger Pinon, he was shot down the 1st August 1944 and was declared missing during the fight, but we discovered, during the Process of Nuremberg that he was assassinated by a German noncommissioned officer when Pinon was not even exited from his Yakovlev.
The Aspirant Jean-Jacques Manceau, a 26 years old pilot, went with the Aspirant Perrin searched the rests of Germans fighters when he walked on a mine and had the both legs snatched before to fall on another mine and to lose his arm, he died the 2nd November 1944 because of the gangrene, he had 6 victories at his board.
There's also the history of the Aspirant Jean Rey, 23 years old, and of the lieutenant Louis Astier. The 28th August 1943, they flew a U2 (Russian reconnaissance biplane) for a liaison mission when they went over the Germans lines, the Flak opened the fire and the little biplan was surrounded by the enemy fire. In despite of the great damaged that the U2 took, the lieutenant Astier bring it back at his airfield but it was too late for the Aspirant Rey, all young pilot with only 300h of fly, he was reached by a Shrapnel and was already killed when they landed, the Lt. Astier left Normandie a month after the facts.
And the deadliest month for Normandie was the month of July 1943 with the battle of Orel (from April 1943 to October of the same year - I think), the losses were of 7 pilots in only one month or the half of the squadron at its arrival at Ivanovo in November 1942. There were, in the only year 1943, 8 groups of renforts which arrived in Russia because of the important losses.
The list of the 7 killed of July 1943:
Lieutenant DE TEDESCO Jean, born on 28/04/1920 at Paris; killed on 14/07/43 during a dogfight against Bf-110, above of Balkov; 23 y.o (corps not found) - 2 victories
Aspirant CASTELAIN Noël, born on 30/05/1917 at Niort; missing on 16/07/1943 during a dogfight above of Krasnikovo; 26 y.o (corps not found) - 10 victories*
Capitaine LITTOLFF Albert, born on 31/10/1911 at Cornimont (Vosges); missing on 16/07/1943 during a dogfight in the sector of Orel; 32 y.o (corps found in 1960) - 14 victories - leader of an Escadrille*
Sous-lieutenant BERNAVON Adrien, born on 11/12/1912 at Lyon; missing in dogfight in the sector of Orel on 16/07/1943; 31 y.o (corps not found) - 4 victories*
Aspirant VERMEIL Firmin, born on 24/09/1914 at Chalon-sur-Saône; missing in dogfight in the sector of Znamenskaïa (20km north-west of Orel) on 17/07/1943; 29 y.o (corps not found) - 1 victory
Commandant TULASNE Jean, born on 17/11/1912 at Nancy; missing in dogfight in the sector of Znamenskaïa on 17/07/1943; 32 y.o (corps not found) - 3 victories - Commander of the Groupe de Chasse n°3 "Normandie"
Capitaine PREZIOSI Albert, born on 25/07/1915 at Vezzani (Corsica); killed in dogfight in the sector of Orel on 28/07/1943; 28 y.o - 4 victories - leader of the 1st Escadrille
*: The 16th July 1943, the Capitaine Littolff lead a patrol of 8 fighter which had the mission to protect 15 Russian bombers, they were attacked and three of the eight pilots were killed.
A great thanks to
Blackwervolk for the help with the russian part
Category Artwork (Traditional) / Miscellaneous
Species Lion
Size 1280 x 885px
File Size 280.1 kB
Listed in Folders
Few people know their history, same in France... And it's a shame because, for exemple, Roland de La Poype, one of the greatest ace of Normandie, was after the war a great inventor, he was the founder of an aquatic park "Marineland" at Antibes and was the designer and inventor of the Méhari, a kind of civilian Jeep Willys in plastic which was (and which continues) to be the favorite vehicule of people on the western coast of France (and I read that some exemplares were sold in the USA but they were a bit different of the French ones), and when de La Poype died in October 2012, I remember that the French TV, useless as usual, didn't said a word about him, he was one of the last of the Neu-Neu (surname of the Normandie-Niémen).
And as you can see, the majority of the French pilots who were shot down were missing and their body rarely found, on 42 pilots killed, 31 were declared "missing during the fight", it's 44 pilots over 95 who let their lifes there, but in France, we forgot our fights, the Battle of France was a total failure where the French only withdrawed, this is near of what the French schools teach (by the way, I already teached some things about the Battle of France at one of my History teacher...) and the only names of French fighters of this time that people can give you would maybe the General De Gaulle, Jean Moulin, the Marechal Pétain and, with a bit of luck, Missak Manouchian (that also depends of the political ideas of the person in front of you, if he's of the far-right, you can already forget about this name...).
And as you can see, the majority of the French pilots who were shot down were missing and their body rarely found, on 42 pilots killed, 31 were declared "missing during the fight", it's 44 pilots over 95 who let their lifes there, but in France, we forgot our fights, the Battle of France was a total failure where the French only withdrawed, this is near of what the French schools teach (by the way, I already teached some things about the Battle of France at one of my History teacher...) and the only names of French fighters of this time that people can give you would maybe the General De Gaulle, Jean Moulin, the Marechal Pétain and, with a bit of luck, Missak Manouchian (that also depends of the political ideas of the person in front of you, if he's of the far-right, you can already forget about this name...).
Reminds me of envelopes friends of mine and I used to do way back when people still cared enough about their friends to write actual letters (pre-Facebook). Shift the art around slightly, this would have made a nice envelope. I used to collect stamps, but it was nice to find an interesting 'cover' like this to save whole, instead of just the stamp.
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