Continue reading]]> Sergent-chef René Billotet, born on 18 April 1925 in Dôle (France) and last survivor of the Royal Air Force’s No 342 (Free French) Squadron passed away at his home aged 95.

Better known in France as the Groupe de Bombardement Lorraine, the squadron played an essential and unusual role during the D-Day landings. On the morning of 6 June 1944, six of the squadron’s aircraft were deployed to lay smoke screens between German coastal defences and the advancing Allied ships.

It was a particularly dangerous mission, as the aircraft had to fly a low, fast and predictable course very close to enemy defenses, making new passes regularly to maintain the smoke screens. One of the aircraft didn’t return to base : Boston BZ213 crashed into the sea during the mission, killing its crew of three.

The Boston IIIA BZ213 flown by Sgt Boissieux, SLt Canut & Sgt Henson, No 342 (Free French) Squadron, lost on 6 June 1944. © Gaëtan Marie

René Billotet was not selected to fly this mission but contributed to it by installing the smoke generators on the squadron’s Boston bombers during the previous night.

At the young age of 17, he had joined the French Resistance after Germany invaded the southern part of France on 11 November 1942. In June 1943 he managed to cross the Channel and joined the Free French Air Force where he was assigned to No 342 Squadron. He flew about ten wartime missions as an engineer.

After the war’s end, he continued serving in the French air force until 1963 and was always very active, visiting the Lyon-Mont Verdun airbase on a regular basis.

Our thoughts and prayers go to the family and friends of sergent-chef René Billotet.

Sources

• Opex 360 | Dernier survivant du Groupe de bombardement Lorraine, le sergent-chef René Billottet nous a quittés
• Site de l’Armée de l’Air | Sergent-chef René Billottet : une vie au service de l’armée de l’air
• La Croix | René Billottet, un vétéran français du « D-Day » à l’heure anglaise

Continue reading]]> François Émile Fayolle’s name is almost forgotten today. Yet this native of Auvergne fled to England as early as July 13, 1940 to keep fighting the German invaders and became one of the most prestigious Free French pilots.

After several assignments to RAF fighter squadrons, he joined No 340 (Free French) Squadron with other great names of the Free French Air Forces such as Bernard Dupérier, François de Labouchère or René Mouchotte.  The height of his career came when he was given command of No 174 Squadron, a rare distinction for a French pilot, but also saw his demise.

On 19 August 1942, during Operation Jubilee (the Dieppe landings), he was killed while flying his Hurricane, either shot down by German Flak or an enemy fighter. Until 1998 Fayolle had no official burial site as his remains were never located. Examination of RAF squadron archives make it possible to retrace his career and honour his memory.

Thibaut Coupiac has created a booklet (in French only for the moment) retracing Fayolle’s life and career. This booklet is richly illustrated with photos, maps, archives and illustrations.

Please click here to read  “François Emile Fayolle, un Français fauché à son apogée” (format PDF)

We would like to thank Thibaut Coupiac for sharing his research with our readers. You can contact the author at this email address : coupiac.thibaut@orange.fr.

Continue reading]]> Margot Duhalde, the only woman to join the Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres (FAFL, Free French Air Force), passed away on 5 February 2018 in Santiago de Chili. Born in 1920, she was of French origin and became a pilot in 1938.

Following de Gaulle’s call, she joined the FAFL in March 1941 but was not allowed to enter combat. She became a pilot for the RAF’s Air Transport Auxiliary, ferrying new and repaired planes to frontline units. She made over 1,300 such flights, on more than 100 types of aircraft.

• Chile’s first female pilot Margot Duhalde dies at 97 – BBC
• Margot Duhalde on Wikipedia