American volunteer pilots in France in 1940

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Hello, while working on the case of Alfonso Segraves/Seagraves (see my other thread here), I checked two books on the Eagle Squadrons. Well he never joined these units, but both books had the same citation (probably copied from one to the other) that amazed me:

They say that 32 American volunteer pilots arrived in France to join the French Armée de l'Air in spring 1940, and that in the following campaign 4 were killed and 11 captured. 5 went to England and 12 are supposed to have returned to the US.

It is the first time I heard of them, and I am rather surprised, having read a lot about this. Given their late arrival, I doubt these airmen, if they existed, joined operational units, even if some used American aircraft so they could already be trained on them.

While some could have been killed in training or other rear area duties, or in ships while trying to evacuate, I can't figure how 11 could have been captured. When the campaign ended there was still a good part of Southern France free of invasion and so no reason for a French air school to be captured.

Another possibility is a mix with casualties suffered by American serving in the French Foreign Legion or American volunteer ambulances.