Bsoton BZ451

[Bertrand H]

Jan,


Robert LEGER Pilot
Not Edouard but Patrick CARROLL Nav
Jean JOURDREN AG/W0
Louis MILLECAMPS AG/WO

Jean Jourdren is a free french (35.551) as Carroll Patrick (35.074)

Robert Leger, Louis Millecamps and François Picot de Moras d'Aligny were not Free French but only French Air Force because they joined UK AFTER july 1943.

Laurent Rizzotti talked about Free French in a thread last 11 march :

The Free French forces were formed in Great Britain after the fall of France. All who enlisted into them were called "Free French".

Remember that in this period Free and Vichy French fought several times (Gabon in 1940, Syria in 1941, Reunion Island in 1942).

When Allied forces landed in French North Africa, after some days all the French colonies still under control of Vichy expect Indochina (where Japanese troops were based since 1940, but under nominal French control up to 9 March 1945 when Japanese attacked all French bases) rallied to the Allied, but not to De Gaulle.

The stuggle for French political primacy will last most of 1943, and end in De Gaulle favor. But up to 3 July 1943 there were still two different French military organisation fighting on Allied side, the Free French and the ex-Vichy French. By the way, the first between November 1942 and July 1943 tried actively to recruit members of the second. I don't have many example for airmen, but I know this was a major issue for the Army (in Tunisia where many men left units from North Africa to join the column Leclerc) and the Navy (for example with a good part of the crew of the battleship Richelieu "deserting" in New york to join Free French ships).

After July 1943 there was officialy only one French Air Force, but in fact former FAFL and Vichy units did not mix a lot. Few Free French airmen went to ex-Vichy units, more went the other way as ex-FAFL units will continue to take losses and need reinforcements.

But former FAFL members will keep their title of Free French, and for example the book "Aviateurs de la Liberté" that is listing all Free French airmen losses of the war will sometimes tell that an airman was part of a crew made of non FAFL-men, but not describe much them.

AFAIK there is no book listing all French airmen casualties during the war. A pity because in 1944-1945, former Free French airmen were not the bigger part of the French Air Force, either on global numbers or in casualties.