The RAF's French Foreign Legion, 1940-45: De Gaulle, the British and the Re-Emergence of French Airpower

Abstract

This book is respectfully dedicated to the French airmen who served alongside the RAF between 1940 and 1945. They showed fortitude in refusing to be defeated, contempt for their countrymen who wished to collaborate with the enemy, resourcefulness in fi nding solutions for every practical problem placed in their way, courage in facing death every day as gentlemen, and they never wavered in their determination to see France liberated. Such men make history. The word hero is over-used today on both sides of the English Channel, but in 1940 their shining heroism saved the honour of France. Their abilities as aviators helped to save Britain from invasion in 1941–42, and their fi ghting spirit helped to liberate Europe in 1944–45. Precious was the mettle, and few the number, of the men who rallied to the cause of France Libreand fl ew in defence of freedom, not just for France, but for Europe as a whole.