Normandie-Niemen

[Flavio]

Originally Posted by HGabor

Pic of. a Normandie-Niemen Yak-3 at the end of 1944. The typical tactical marking digits of Saratov, factory No.292 (here '24') were applied as the "plane in the batch ID", still at the factory to make the ground crews' life easier on the front-line airfields. If for some reason a regiment used a unique marking system, then they overpainted these factory applied numbers, but these original digits can be easily recognized. Since in 1945 only Yak-3 S/N: 2432 had the plane ID '24' (in batch no.32), therefore this photo shows most likely Yak-3 S/N: 2432:

0327
0629
0630
0633
0729
1327
1437
2336
2432
2827
2936
3230
3237
3529
4733
4836
5035
5429
5938
6030
6428
6730
6737
7321
7329
7737
8029
8929
9128
9536
9635

Thanks Gabor,
very interestin info.

However the list seems missing Yak3 "44YY", the plane coded with original Saratov factory number "44"; this plane was flown by N-N top ace Jaques André. According to some source it was then re-coded "35".

Flavio

[HGabor]

Thanks Flavio, it is entirely possible, as this list is far from being colmplete. Obviously many losses are not listed here. If his Yak-3 had Saratov-style digits, then yes, it was the 44th plane of an unknown batch. (44yy) It is interesting, that eg. the 5th Air Army, 13th GvIAD marked the Saratov-built Yak-3s with the factory number (292) displayed in the centre in their documents, like: 1229217 (not just simply 1217), but Normadie-Niemen didn't. Unfortunately Normandie re-numbered their Yaks and did not keep the factory applied, original tactical numbers, referring to their S/N. Saratov factory No.292 used smaller, 'engineering-style', while Tbilisi factory No.31 used larger, rounded-style digits on their Yak-3s. Luckily, many fighter regiments kept the factory applied tactical (partial serial) numbers, eg. the 897 IAP, 150 GvIAP, etc., so if their serial plate is found at their crash-site, their tactical number is known and with the known regiment markings graphically can be reconstructed. Cheers,

Gabor

[knusel]

Hello,

I've collected Normandie-Niemen decimal score aces by Yak type.
Interestingly there were 15 Yak-3 aces, only 2 Yak-9 aces and no Yak-1 aces except for maybe Henri Foucaud who may have been a Yak-9 or a Yak-1 ace. Does anyone of you know more about his plane ?

Have a nice weekend,

Michael

[CJE]

Something that can be of some interest.

On 22 March 1943 Normandie transfered to Monkounino (French spelling) with 14 Yak-1b's:
- 26.112 Tulasne
- 17.115 Derville
- 29.117 Mahé
- 44.115 Albert
- 43.112 Préziosi
- 09.117 Posnanski
- 16.119 Littolff
- 33.110 Castelain
- 05.117 Bizien
- 06.118 Durand
- 33.112 Béguin
- 03.113 Risso
- 14.116 Lefèvre
- 33.116 de La Poype
- U2 de Pange

Chris

[knusel]

Dear Chris,

very appealing line-up.
As far as I know, Henri Foucaud joined NN in August. Can you tell me, if he scored he started his scoring run in the Yak-9 ?

Have a nice Thursday,

Michael

[knusel]

Marcel Albert is generally pronounced the top scorer of the Normandie-Niemen regiment (see also his excellent biography written by Many Souffan).
However, when you count shared kills as decimals Jacques André has a higher NN-score: 12,67 kills versus Albert's 12,07 kills.

[focusfocus]

Hello

A "good" book....but!
"Pay attention" to the facts mentioned,there are many errors,contradictions,omissions....it's mentioned for example:Normandié-Niemen,in 1943 the name of the French Regiment was Normandie...Niemen was not added until 1944.

16/07/43
Albert Litolf:Yak 9 (5 white n°0434)
Noel Castelain:Yak 9 (8 white n°0442)
Gerard Leon:Yak 1B (28 white)

Michel

[Ludovico Slongo]

Thank you very much for these data.
Regards
Ludovico

[knusel]

Possibly, the Yak-7B wasn't used in the Normandie unit at all, or only in very limited numbers. Some sources might have mixed up this type with the Yak-1b which was the unofficial name for the Yak-1 with lowered rear fuselage.

[knusel]

If shared kills are counted as decimals, then the French had

• 15 Yak-3 aces
• 7 Spitfire aces
• 5 Curtiss P-36 aces
• 3 Yak-9 aces
• 3 Dewoitine D.520 aces
• 3 Hurricane aces
• 2 Morane-Saulnier MS.406 aces
• 2 Bloch MB.152 aces
• 1 Tempest ace