The RAF's French Foreign Legion

De Gaulle, the British and the Re-emergence of French Airpower 1940-45

G. H. Bennett

• Publisher: Continuum
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9781441165350
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781441106629
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

This book examines and analyses the relationship between the RAF, the Free French Movement and the French fighter pilots in WWII. A highly significant subject, this has been ignored by academics on both sides of the Channel. This ground-breaking study will fill a significant gap in the historiography of the War.

Bennett's painstaking research has unearthed primary source material in both Britain and France including Squadron records, diaries, oral histories and memoirs. In the post-war period the idea of French pilots serving with the RAF seemed anachronistic to both sides. For the French nation the desire to draw a veil over the war years helped to obscure many aspects of the past, and for the British the idea of French pilots did not accord with the myths of "the Few" to whom so much was owed. Those French pilots who served had to make daring escapes. Classed as deserters they risked court martial and execution if caught. They would play a vital role on D-Day and the battle for control of the skies which followed.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title
• Copyrith
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 The Debacle of May–June 1940
• Chapter 2 Free France in Africa
• Chapter 3 The Battle of Britain and the 13 Apostles of Charles de Gaulle
• Chapter 4 Growth of the Free French Air Force in 1941
• Chapter 5 The Birth of 340 (Ile de France) Squadron
• Chapter 6 War from the Desert to the Atlantic
• Chapter 7 War by Attrition and the Raid on Dieppe
• Chapter 8 Progress of the Free French Movement, 1942–43
• Chapter 9 Formation of 341 (Alsace) Squadron in the United Kingdom
• Chapter 10 342 (Lorraine) Squadron Enters the European Battle
• Chapter 11 Survive, Evade, Escape
• Chapter 12 D-Day: Preparation and Execution
• Chapter 13 Liberation
• Chapter 14 War to the Bitter End
• Chapter 15 Aftermath
• Chapter 16 Conclusions
• Appendix 1 Known Birth Years of 546 FAFL Aircrew
• Appendix 2 Regional Distribution of Known Birthplaces of 482 FAFL Aircrew
• Appendix 3 Free French Volunteers Waiting to Complete Training as Pilots with the RAF in the United Kingdom, October 1940
• Appendix 4 FAFL Aircrew: Fatal Casualties Incurred while Serving Alongside the RAF, 1940–45
• Appendix 5 Victories Credited to French Fighter Pilots Serving with the RAF, 1940–45
• Appendix 6 Attempts by the Enemy to Place Agents in the French Air Force
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index