Continue reading]]> Pierre Lorillon, a fighter ace from the French Normandie-Niémen group that fought on the Russian front in World War Two, died on February 17th in Bastia (Corsica). With his death, there are now only two surviving pilots of the legendary French fighter unit: Gaël Taburet and Jean Sauvage.

Pierre Lorillon was born on May 13, 1918 in Champigny-sur-Marne, France. He first served in Marocco and was later assigned to the Normandie-Niémen group fighting in Russia. He was credited with 5 aerial victories and 3 shared ones, all acquired on the Russian front.

After the war, he served with distinction in Indochina and Algeria. He was made Grand Croix de la Légion d’Honneur by president Sarkozy in 2008.

More information (in French):

• Blog Zone Militaire
• Ciel de Gloire

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Geoff Fisken in front of his P-40 "Wairarapa Wildcat". (Photo RNZAF)

New Zealander ace Geoff Fisken, DFC, passed away on June 12, 2011. He was credited with 10 to 13 confirmed aerial victories against the Japanese, flying the Brewster Buffalo and later the P-40 Warhawk. He is believed to be the highest-scoring British Commonwealth ace in the Pacific theater. After the war, Fisken returned to his pre-war occupation as a farmer.  Read the obituary on the Telegraph or Fisken’s Wikipedia page.