Lists of Soviet soldiers and participants in the French resistance. Russian heroes of the French resistance. On a troika with bells

Summer 1943
In the second half of the summer of 1943, the troops of the Western Front began to prepare for the Smolensk offensive operation. Its goal, together with the Kalinin Front, was to defeat the opposing German group and bring our troops to the borders with Belarus.
The troops of the Western Front were supported by the 1st Air Army, commanded by a famous pilot. Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General of Aviation M. M. Gromov.
Aviation was relocated closer to ground troops, occupying advanced airfields built with the help of the local population. One of the best fighter divisions - the 303rd fighter division - was located on the land of the present Ugransky region in the Znamenka points. B. Vergovo. Desires. The 303rd air division also included one French fighter jet. proven itself well in the Oryol offensive operation.
The 18th Guards Regiment and the Normandy Regiment were based at the large Znamenka airfield, which was equipped during operations behind enemy lines by General Belov’s 1st Cavalry Corps in the summer of 1942. These two regiments of the 303rd air division were the main striking force for gaining air supremacy in the main direction of the front's offensive, which began on August 7.
On this day, the guards made five combat missions. The French did not lag behind them. The pilots were accompanied by bombers and attack aircraft.
who bombed and stormed railway stations Pavlinovo and Gnezdilovo. They inflicted crushing blows against the enemy. Nazi prisoners admitted that dive bombing and low-altitude attack were an unbearable ordeal for them.
However, the fighting became protracted: the Nazi troops stubbornly resisted. German aviation was replenished with the Menders fighter squadron, staffed by ace pilots. completed a course at the air combat school in Koenigsberg. When meeting them in the air, fierce battles ensued.
On August 19, a squadron of the 18th Guards Regiment under the command of Captain S. Sibirin flew to the area of ​​Ilovets, Tserkovshchina, Pochinok. There, at an altitude of 3000 meters, a large group of bombers was encountered under the cover of fighters. The enemy outnumbered our group three times. This did not bother the guards. They knew from experience that German bomber pilots feel confident when they fly in a clear formation, maintaining a battle formation, when they see the leader and cover each other. But if you split the formation, shoot down or cut off the leader, then the Germans get lost, scatter into different sides or they run away.
Having assessed the situation, Semyon Sibirin warned Lieutenant Lobanov on the radio:
- I’m going to the front with six, and you tie up the Fokkers in a formation...
The enemy did not expect such courage. The surprise of the attack brought success. The enemy's battle formation split and the Junkers hurried to drop bombs wherever they could. Three enemy bombers fell prey to the guards. They were driven into the ground by Sibirin, Arsenyev and Zapaskin.
While fighting with the fighters, guardsmen Lobashov and Balandin each won one victory. The guardsmen were replaced on the battlefield by a squadron of "Yaks" "Normandy" under the command of Louis Demphino. Seeing reinforcements, the German pilots from the Menders squadron left the battle and retreated to the west at high speed. All our planes returned to their airfields without losses.
During the operation, they defeated the vaunted Menders squadron on the ground and in the air and firmly gained air supremacy in the Smolensk direction. .
For successful actions during the liberation of the city of Smolensk, the division was given the name “Smolensk”. The pilots of the 18th Guards and French Normandy regiments, whose combat route through the Smolensk region passed together, made a great contribution to the combat success of the division. After Znamenka they were based in other places, earning several thanks from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

French pilots over the Ugranian land

In August - September 1943, the Western and Kalinin fronts carried out the Smolensk offensive operation with the goal of defeating the third tank and fourth field German armies and reaching the borders with Belarus.
Before the start of the operation, the command post of the Western Front was relocated to the area of ​​the village of Vskhody, and the command post of the 1st Air Army was located in the village of Zinovino. All aviation of the air army was pulled closer to the advancing troops, occupying the Mosalsky, Yukhnovsky and Vyazemsky air hubs.
The French fighter regiment "Normandie" under the command of Major Pouillade was stationed at the Znamensky airfield. He also had to take part in Smolensk operation as part of the 303rd Fighter Division, commanded by the experienced General G.N. Zakharov.
During the first stage of the Smolensk operation during the liberation of Spas-Demensk, fierce air battles unfolded over the Ugra land.
On August 11, for example, a large group of enemy bombers in two echelons, under the cover of fighters, tried to break through to the crossings of our troops across the Ugra and Voronya rivers. Four fighters of the 18th Guards Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Pinchuk were the first to engage in battle with a group of enemy Yu-87 aircraft. On the first attack, Pinchuk shot down one bomber and chased another. Having caught up with him, he pressed the triggers, but the cannons and machine guns were silent. Then Pinchuk decided to go for the ram. The enemy shooter returned fire. Pinchuk was wounded in the chest and right hand. Despite this, the Yak caught up with the Yu-87 and with its right wing hit the bomber’s cockpit and knocked it to the ground. After the ramming, Pinchuk’s fighter became uncontrollable and began to fall to the ground. Pinchuk hardly jumped out of it by parachute. German fighters decided to shoot him in the air.
At this time, four Yakovs from the Normandy regiment, consisting of pilots Vegan, Lefebvre, Albert and Durand, scattered the second echelon of the bomber group and entered into battle with the covering fighters. Pilot Durand saw two Fokkers approaching the parachute on which the Soviet pilot was descending. Without hesitation, Duran rushed to cross them, not without reason believing that his life was hanging by a thread. Duran cut off enemy fighters from the paratrooper and engaged them in a turning battle. Lieutenant Pinchuk landed safely and returned to his regiment, where he thanked the French pilot in a brotherly manner.
In this battle, French pilots Began shot down two, and Albert, Lefebvre and Durand shot down one bomber each. Moreover, Durant shot down an enemy plane after saving the Russian pilot Pinchuk. After this battle, the French pilots already had 70 enemy aircraft shot down.
On August 13, our troops liberated the city of Spas-Demensk and captured the German airfield of Gorodechnya, ten kilometers from it, which the Germans, retreating, were unable to plow up. The 18th Guards Regiment and the French Normandy Regiment were immediately stationed at this airfield. With the flight to the forward airfield, the activity of our fighters increased significantly. It was possible to carry out 5-6 flights per day.
Several air battles were carried out over Yelnya, in which several more enemy aircraft were shot down. The winners were Durand, Foucault, Leon and Risso. Two French pilots were killed in battles over the Yelninsk land: captain Paul de Forges and junior lieutenant Jean de Sibourg. And a few days later, one of the best French pilots, Lieutenant Albert Durand, who already had six victories and the rescue of the Soviet pilot Pinchuk, did not return from a combat mission.
Continuing the offensive, the 18th Guards Regiment and the Normandy Regiment relocated to the Myshkovo airfield near Yelnya, from where it was possible to operate in the Smolensk region. On the day of his liberation - September 25 - French pilots shot down 7 more enemy aircraft.
Many French pilots showed courage and heroism in the battle for Smolensk, for which they were nominated for Soviet orders.
The combat successes of the 303rd fighter division, which included the Normandy regiment, were highly appreciated by the Soviet command and it was given the name “Smolensk”.
The 18th Guards, 523rd and 20th Fighter Regiments, as well as the Normandy Regiment, made a great contribution to the struggle for gaining air supremacy over Smolensk land.
After the liberation of Smolensk, the battle in the air over the Smolensk region continued with irreducible tension. At the end of October 1943, 25 pilots remained in the regiment, but the French command, fearing combat flights in winter conditions, requested that the regiment be withdrawn to winter quarters. The Normandy regiment left for rest and further training in the area of ​​the city of Tula, from where in May 1944 it returned to the Smolensk region to participate in the Belarusian Operation Bagration.
E. Koyander, retired colonel.

There is a monument in one small Moscow park.
Among the withered flowers, looking out the windows of new multi-storey buildings, two bronze figures are walking, two pilots, one of whom is Russian and the other is French.

This monument is dedicated to the pilots of the glorious Normandie-Niemen air regiment. Not far from the park is the Vvedenskoye cemetery. French pilot Bruno de Faltan and Soviet aircraft mechanic Sergei Astakhov, who died in 1944, are buried there. Here lie the ashes of an unknown French pilot, whose remains were found only in 1964 near Orlov. The memorial was opened in 2007 in the presence of the presidents of both countries - Vladimir Putin and Nicolas Sarkozy.

Funny stories of the squadron "Normandy - Neman"

When senior lieutenant Roland de la Poype walked along the airfield with a light gait, a small red dog, which he had picked up back in Ivanovo, always ran behind him. The dog was his personal talisman, and the senior lieutenant transported it on his plane every time the regiment was relocated. Roland de la Poype was the youngest pilot of the Normandy (23 years old). He was among the first to rise into the Russian sky. On Roland's Yak (at the urgent request of the pilot), Georges Marlin, his mechanic, painted a frightening-looking shark's mouth.

The French didn't like it very much buckwheat porridge, which we never got used to. (The porridge was also served with a cutlet or a circle of sausage.) They called it “bird food.” Although, the pilots were fed well, by front-line standards. The pilots loved to speculate about when they would again be able to eat Marseille oyster and lobster soup or Parisian steaks and chips.
The translator and squadron doctor, Georges Lebedinsky, was supposed to visit his patient one day. He flew in a U-2 biplane, flown by pilot Jacques Andre. During landing, the pilot's legs got stuck under the instrument panel due to sudden movement. Georges, who had a medic's badge on his uniform, hurried to the hospital and asked the first nurse he saw: “Would you have a saw?” “Regular or sterile?” - the Russian colleague asked in response.
French aircraft mechanics constantly got into scrapes and comical stories. Once, two of them, when the plane was taking off, holding it by the tail, did not let go of the car in time and took off along with the plane. Luckily, we fell into a swamp and not onto solid ground. They escaped with a slight fright, without even receiving a single scratch.
A new group of pilots and aircraft mechanics arrived. Even before receiving their certificates, two of the mechanics voluntarily went outside the unit without documents to get acquainted with the surrounding area. They were detained by the police and brought in two days later, after their identities were established. The mechanics spent these two days in the basement of the Ivanovo commandant’s office. Fortunately for them, they were not regarded as spies. Upon returning to the Normandy, they spent another 4 days in the basement of the Ivanovo Officers' House, where the pilots lived. Squadron commander Jean Tulyan was cool in anger!

When the first group of Normandy pilots arrived in December 1942, the pilots, citing their military experience in North Africa, wanted to fight alone. However, with such tactics on the Eastern Front, they became cannon fodder for the Germans. Major General Georgy Zakharov began talking to them about mutual cover, then he picked up a broom that was lying under his feet, began to break off the twigs and break them. Then he gave one of the French a broom and asked him to break it entirely. The pilot tried, but nothing came of it. The French began to smile: the example drawn from the old fable turned out to be too clear.

The French constantly surprised us with their unpredictability. One day they picked and began to eat yellow dandelions. The shocked barmaids decided that the aviators had gone crazy and called the doctor, Georges Lebedinsky. He explained that dandelions in France are an edible plant.
Captain Mattress arrived with the 5th Volunteer Group in early 1944. Pierre Matras was a broad-shouldered man, with a stern face and deep-set eyes under thick, shaggy eyebrows. If one of the French addressed the stern captain: “Captain Mattress...”, the Russian pilots and mechanics could not help but laugh.
One day Roland de la Poype found himself in a curious and deadly situation. One day, returning from a mission, he lost his course in the fog. Then I saw the lights and directed the plane towards the city. At the very walls of the city, Roland, to his horror, realized that this was a city occupied by the Nazis. The pilot rushed back at full speed. Roland de la Poype more than once found himself in tragicomic stories. Once even Captain Littolf (deputy squadron commander) scolded the guy: “You should draw a crow, not a shark!” By the way, Roland de la Poype became one of the best French fighter pilots of World War II. Received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Marcel Albert was one of the first French military pilots who voluntarily went to the Soviet Union to participate in repelling the aggression of Nazi Germany. He arrived in the Soviet Union in November 1942, at the age of twenty-five. By this time, Marcel Albert already had four years of service in the French Air Force. Unlike many other officers of the regiment, who came from aristocratic or, according to at least, wealthy families, Marcel Albert was from a working class background. He was born on October 25, 1917 in Paris into a large working-class family and after graduating from school he worked at the Renault plant as a simple mechanic worker. At the same time, the young man did not give up his romantic dream of becoming a pilot. In the end, he found paid flight courses and, using the money he earned at the factory, studied them at his own expense, after which he entered the air force school and in 1938 was enlisted in the French Air Force with the rank of sergeant (then still pilots Aviation upon completion of training did not receive the rank of officer, but the rank of non-commissioned officer).

At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Albert served at the flight school in Chartres as an instructor. On February 15, 1940, he was transferred at his own request to an active aviation unit - a fighter group armed with Devuatin-520. On May 14, 1940, Albert, then still holding the rank of senior sergeant, shot down his first plane, the Me-109. The next enemy aircraft shot down was the Xe-111.

Then Albert was transferred, along with other pilots, to the air base in Oran - in the then French colony of Algeria. It was there that Marcel received the news of the truce between France and Hitler's Germany and the coming to power of the collaborationist Vichy government. Not all French officers and soldiers agreed to admit the defeat of their homeland and serve their new masters. Among the opponents of the Vichy regime was twenty-three-year-old aviation lieutenant Marcel Albert. Like other patriotic French soldiers, he was just waiting for the moment to leave the Vichy command and go over to the side of “Fighting France”.

Together with two colleagues - twenty-two-year-old lieutenant Marcel Lefebvre and twenty-two-year-old graduate student (the youngest officer rank in the French army) Albert Durand, Marcel Albert fled from the air base in Oran on D-520 aircraft during a training flight. The pilots headed for British colony Gibraltar is the closest Allied territory. From Gibraltar, the “Oran fugitives”, as they were later called in the regiment, set off for Great Britain on a ship. On English soil, French pilots joined the Free France movement and were enrolled in the emerging Ile-de-France aviation squadron. In turn, the Vichy government sentenced Albert, Lefebvre and Durand to death in absentia for “desertion.” death penalty.

In 1942, General Charles de Gaulle, who led the Free French movement, agreed with Joseph Stalin on the participation of French military pilots in combat operations on the Russian front. The Soviet side was entrusted with responsibilities for material and military-technical support of French aviators. The Chief of Staff of the French Air Force, General Martial Valen, and the commander of the French Air Force in the Middle East, Colonel Cornillon-Molyneux, were directly involved in the formation of a combat group from among reliable French pilots. Thus began the history of the famous Normandie-Niemen regiment - a glorious page of Franco-Russian military cooperation in the Great Patriotic War.

After an agreement was signed on November 25, 1942 on the formation of a French aviation squadron on the territory of the USSR, the first group of pilots was transferred to the Soviet Union. On December 4, 1942, a fighter aviation squadron was formed in the city of Ivanovo, named “Normandy” - in honor of the famous province of France. The squadron's coat of arms was the coat of arms of the province of Normandy - a red shield with two golden lions. Major Poulican became the first commander of the squadron, but already on February 22, 1943, Major Tyulyan took command. Lieutenant Marcel Albert was among the first French soldiers to serve in the Normandy squadron.

François de Joffre, author of the popular book “Normandy - Niemen” published in the Soviet Union and a veteran of the regiment, described his colleague Marcel Albert as follows: “Albert (later the famous “Captain Albert”) is one of the most prominent figures in the French air force. A journeyman apprentice and mechanic at Renault factories in the past, this man later became an aviation fanatic, an aerial reckless driver. He began by carving out money from his small earnings to pay for training flight hours at the airfield in Toussus-le-Noble near Paris. This Parisian guy, modest and shy, blushing for no reason, very quickly reached the zenith of fame. Now we can say with firm confidence that Albert was the soul of the Normandy and made a great contribution to the glorious affairs of the regiment.” On the pages of the book “Normandy - Niemen” Albert often appears as a cheerful person with a sense of humor, and, at the same time, one can see the deep degree of respect of the author - the Normandy military pilot himself - for this hero.

Initially, the Normandy squadron included 72 French aviators (14 military pilots and 58 aircraft mechanics) and 17 Soviet aircraft mechanics. The unit was armed with Yak-1, Yak-9 and Yak-3 fighters. On March 22, 1943, the squadron was sent to the Western Front as part of the 303rd Fighter Aviation Division of the 1st Air Army. On April 5, 1943, the squadron personnel began combat missions. Already on July 5, 1943, after another replenishment of volunteers - French pilots, the Normandy squadron was transformed into the Normandy regiment, which included three squadrons named after the main cities of the province of Normandy - Rouen, Le Havre and Cherbourg." As one of the most experienced pilots, it was Albert who began to command the Rouen squadron. His friend and colleague in the Orange flight, Marcel Lefebvre, took over the Cherbourg squadron.

Beginning in the spring of 1943, Marcel Albert began to take part in air battles, almost immediately showing himself to be a very skillful and brave pilot. So, on June 13, 1943, after being hit by a German shell, the fuel supply system of the aircraft piloted by Marcel Albert was damaged. The lieutenant, using a hand pump to feed the plane's engine with gasoline, flew 200 kilometers and landed at the airfield. Throughout the summer of 1943, Albert took part in many air battles, as did other squadron pilots. He himself, recalling this period, emphasized that only the squadron’s lack of organization kept it from more actively fighting the enemy - instead of five combat sorties a day, only one was made. In February 1944, for victories in air battles in the summer of 1943, Lieutenant Marcel Albert was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

October 1944 was marked by the famous battle of a group of eight Yak-3 aircraft under the command of Marcel Albert against thirty German Junkers, covered by 12 fighters. Albert personally shot down 2 enemy planes in this battle, and his colleagues shot down five more. The French pilots did not suffer any losses. On October 18, 1944, Normandy fighters attacked 20 German bombers and 5 fighters. As a result of the battle, 6 bombers and 3 fighters were shot down, and Marcel Albert personally shot down 2 enemy aircraft. On October 20, Marcel Albert's eight Yaks attacked German bombers bombing positions Soviet troops. And there are many such pages in the combat biography of the French pilot.

On November 27, 1944, Senior Lieutenant Marcel Albert, who commanded the 1st Rouen squadron of the Normandy-Niemen regiment, was awarded the highest award of the USSR - the gold star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. At the time of the award, Albert had completed 193 combat missions and shot down 21 enemy aircraft. By the way, the day after Albert was awarded, Stalin signed a decree assigning the honorary name “Nemansky” to the Normandy aviation regiment - in honor of air battles during the liberation of Lithuanian territory from Nazi troops. In mid-December 1944, Hero of the Soviet Union Marcel Albert went on vacation to France, upon his return from where he was assigned to further service in the newly formed aviation division "France" in Tula and never returned to serve in the Normandy-Niemen regiment.

After the end of the war, Marcel Albert continued to serve in the French Air Force for some time. He served as French air attaché in Czechoslovakia, then retired in 1948. military service. After marrying a US citizen, Marcel Albert moved to the United States. Yesterday's military pilot and hero of air battles devoted himself to one of the most peaceful professions - he became a restaurant manager. Moreover, in his status as a restaurateur, Captain Albert proved himself no less effective than during his service in the Air Force. In Florida, Marcel Albert lived a long and happy life. He died on August 23, 2010 in a nursing home in Texas (USA) at the age of ninety-three.

The fate of the other “Oran fugitives”, with whom Marcel Albert escaped from an air base in Algeria and reached the Soviet Union through England, was much less happy. On September 1, 1943, in the Yelnya area, junior lieutenant Albert Durand did not return from a combat mission. By that day, he had managed to shoot down six enemy planes. On May 28, 1944, Marcel Lefebvre's plane was shot down. On the burning plane, the pilot managed to go beyond the front line and return to the airfield. But on June 5, 1944, Senior Lieutenant Marcel Lefevre died from burns. By the time he was wounded, he had shot down 11 enemy aircraft. On June 4, 1945, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously).

The French aviation regiment "Normandy-Niemen" became the most famous example of combat cooperation between Soviet military aviation and foreign pilots. Despite the many decades that have passed since the end of the Great Patriotic War, both Russia and France are trying to preserve the memory of the military feat of the French pilots who fought on the side of the Soviet Union. Monuments to the pilots of the regiment stand in Moscow, Kaliningrad, Kaluga region, the village of Khotenki in the Kozelsk region, streets in Ivanovo, Orel, Smolensk, Borisov are named after the regiment. There is a museum of the Normandy-Niemen regiment. In France, a monument to the pilots of the regiment stands in Le Bourget. It so happened that the Soviet Union recognized the merits of the hero of our article much earlier than his native France. If Marcel Albert received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1944, then the renowned military pilot was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor - the highest state award of the French Republic - only on April 14, 2010 - at the age of ninety-two, a few months before his death.

In 1915 he volunteered for the expeditionary force in the Dardanelles. From there, in 1916, with the rank of corporal, he was sent for an internship at the military school of Saint-Cyr, and then transferred to units stationed on the Marne. He was seriously wounded in the battles in Champagne and, due to his health, was discharged from the infantry. In November 1917 he completed aviation courses and flew on the Breguet 14 bomber.

In 1919 he took part in the intervention in Russia. Carried out about 20 combat missions against the Red Army.

After the war he served in Toulouse and Orly. In 1939 he transferred to the Middle East, where he served as commander of the Palmyra air force base in Syria. After the defeat of France in 1940, he was demobilized with the rank of reserve captain. He returned to Saint-Malo, occupied by the Nazis, then moved to Lyon, where he worked for the Paris-Soir newspaper. On behalf of the newspaper, he went on a business trip to Africa, where he went over to the side of General de Gaulle’s Free France. Sent to the first fighter group "Alsace", stationed in Beirut, where he was the deputy of Major Tyulyan. He took part in the defense of Haifa. In January 1942, he was appointed commander of the Alsace group instead of Tyulyan, who was appointed Jubelin's deputy. Then he was transferred to the commander of the Lorraine bomber group, which after the battles was sent to rest, and he returned to Alsace.

Promoted to major in March 1942, the Alsace group under his command as part of the RAF took part in the battles for Bir Hakeim, in the battles in Libya and in the defense of Alexandria against Rommel’s German-Italian corps.

In September 1942, he was appointed commander of a group being formed to be sent to the USSR. Under his command, French pilots arrived in the USSR and began training on Soviet fighters. He remained in the USSR until the spring of 1943, when he was recalled to London and transferred command to Tyulyan.

Since June 1943, commander of the Lorraine bomber squadron. In 1944, aide-de-camp to the commander of the French Air Force in Great Britain, responsible for coordinating actions between the French and Anglo-Americans during the Normandy landings.

In March 1945, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and again commanded the Lorraine group, with which, until the end of hostilities in April 1945, he carried out five combat missions to Bremen and Hamburg, f. In 1946 he left the army and worked as an antique dealer in the south of France. In 1974 he returned to San Malo. In 1980 he received the title of honorary citizen of the city. Last years During his life he was seriously ill and was undergoing treatment in Paris, where he died in 1988. He was buried in the suburb of San Malo, and in the city itself a memorial plaque was erected on the fortress wall in his memory.

The family was poor, since Louis's father died during the First World War, however, he was able to finish school, and then, in 1933, he graduated with honors from the infantry school in Saint-Cyr, where he studied with other Normandy commanders Jean Tulyan and Pierre Puyad.

1938 - First Lieutenant, transferred to Squadron 1/4, located in Reims. Two other future Normandy pilots serve in the same squadron: Jules Jouard and Georges Lemaire.

August 1939 - promoted to captain.

May 11, 1940, the second day of the war and the first battle of the 1/4 squadron, in which he shoots down his first and the first German aircraft shot down by the French. On May 17, he was transferred to command the 4th Squadron of Air Group 2/9 for the defense of Paris. The first of the French fighter pilots began to apply drawings on the fuselage of the aircraft. He drew for himself a Roman sword and a hand with the thumb down, a gesture used to send gladiators to their death. Shoots down 6 enemy planes over Paris. Awarded the Military Cross. After the surrender of France, his unit 2/9 was one of the few that was not disbanded.

In 1940–42 Captain Delfino continues his military service with the Vichy Air Force in Dakar.

Since May 1942, deputy commander of squadron 1/4. He took part in hostilities against the British and personally shot down one English plane, for which he received a palm branch for the Military Cross.

In January 1943, General de Gaulle visits Dakar, the squadron takes the oath to the general and is transferred to Bamako. Louis Delfino was promoted to major and awarded the Legion of Honor. He trains pilots to fly English planes. The British refused to accept him into the RAF.

In January 1944, he submitted a report on being transferred as a volunteer to the USSR.

February 1944 arrives in the USSR, where, as part of the formation of the air force division "France", he is entrusted with the formation of the fighter regiment "Paris". Due to a shortage of pilots and a discussion between the Soviet and French commands about what the second regiment should be - fighter or bomber, the formation of the Paris regiment is suspended. The pilots of the fourth squadron "Caen" are included in the "Normandy-Niemen" and Major Delfino is appointed deputy commander of the regiment. During the battles of 1944, he shot down 4 aircraft. Officer of the Legion of Honor and Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree. In the Soviet Union, he changed the design on his plane, which he continued to wear under Vichy, to two connected zeros.

"Double Zero" - Double zero - the side sign of Louis Delfino's aircraft

It must be said that the appearance of the Vichy Delfino in the regiment was perceived ambiguously, and at the first meeting they tried to rip off his major stripes from his shoulder straps.

In December 1944, Major Pierre Puyad was appointed commander of the France air division, Major Delfino was confirmed as commander of the Normandie-Niemen regiment. Shoots down 3 more enemy aircraft.

During General de Gaulle's visit to Moscow, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and officer of the Legion of Honor. Order of the Red Banner of Battle. The French military mission requests that the air regiment commander be awarded a higher award, but the award commission refuses. He was awarded the highest degree of the Legion of Honor among pilots - the Grand Cross. Military Cross with 12 palm branches and 3 stars.

In June 1945, Lieutenant Colonel Delfino commanded the regiment's flight on aircraft donated by France to Le Bourget. Already in July, he was appointed commander of the 1st fighter squadron, detached from the Normandie-Niemen in Friedrichshafen in Germany, while the Normandie-Niemen on the Yak-3 was stationed near Paris.

1949 - Chief of the French Air Defense General Staff. Godfather Michel Tonini. In 1992, the third French cosmonaut Tonini on the Soyuz TM-15 took a portrait of Louis Delfino with him on an orbital flight.

1951 - Inspector of fighter aircraft.

1954 - Commander of the air defense district.

1957 - Major General, honorary president of the aviation school in Salon-en-Provence.

1960 - Commander of the Air Force District in Ax-en-Provence.

1961 - Lieutenant General, Commander-in-Chief of the French Air Force.

1964 - General of Aviation, Chief Inspector of the Air Force. He was present in Moscow at the reburial of the remains of the Unknown French pilot of the Normandy-Niemen at the Vvedenskoye Cemetery.

1965 resigns and is elected deputy mayor of the city of Nice from the Gaullist party.

In his honor, the 1970 graduating class of the aviation school in Salon-en-Provence was named after him.

In Nice, one of the boulevards bears his name, and a bust is installed in the Normandie-Niemen park. There is a memorial plaque on the house where he lived. The general is buried in the Cocade cemetery in Nice, on a monument from many high positions During his service in aviation, only one was mentioned - the Commander of the Normandie-Niemen Regiment.

After the war

The story of Normandy-Niemen does not end in 1945.
Upon returning to France, the regiment, flying Yak-3 aircraft, was located at the air base in Le Bourget.
Since the regiment was served by Soviet mechanics, they too were forced to follow the regiment to France, where some continued to serve until the beginning of 1946. In addition, 24 instructors, 6 electricians, 6 radio technicians and 6 mechanics arrived with them, who were supposed to prepare French personnel for replacement. By August 1945, 34 specialists had been trained, and most of Soviet mechanics returned home. But since there were not enough French ones, the latter, together with Captain Agavellian, the permanent head of the regiment’s technical service, returned only in January 1946. All Soviet mechanics were awarded the Order of the French Military Cross.

Immediately upon its return, the regiment began a tour of France with demonstration performances. Already in June 1945, demonstration flights were carried out in Toulouse, Nice, Marignane, Cazeau, and Lyon.
On July 14, 1945, on the day of the French National Day, the Normandy-Niemen air regiment showed an air parade over the Champs-Elysees.
Until the end of August, every weekend in one of the cities of France, Normandie-Niemen pilots showed aerial acrobatics on their Yaks with red stars on the wings.
On September 20, 1945, the Normandy-Niemen regiment was introduced into the air defense district of the French capital and returned to combat service. From numerous aerial performances, nicknamed by the pilots, naturally, “the circus,” only 32 Yak-3s remained in service. The regiment was reformed into a group of two squadrons of 16 Yak-3s each.
Due to the fact that as a result of intensive flights and demonstration flights, the Yak-3 fleet was rapidly wearing out, the question arose about the supply of new aircraft to the Normandy. Despite the presence of the Minister of Aeronautics, Member communist party, it was decided not to purchase Soviet aircraft. The French maintained the production of military aircraft in the city of Cravan, established by the Germans during the occupation. This plant produced the very Focke-Wulfs with which the Normandy-Niemen pilots fought. After the war, France continued to produce them under the name NC 900.

Since November 1945, the renamed Focke-Wulfs began to enter service with the Normandie-Niemen.

Their appearance was met with hostility, primarily due to the fact that it was an enemy plane. Then the pilots were convinced that the plane was inferior to the Yak-3. Pierre Lorillon, having taken to the air on NC 900 just once, said:

“A good plane, heavier and more durable, but less maneuverable than the Yak. As a pilot, it doesn’t matter to me what to fly, a Focke-Wulf or a Messerschmitt, only both of them will always lose to the Yak in battle.”

In November, the regiment received 8 former Focke-Wulfs, 16 Spitfires, as well as several antediluvian Moran-Solinier 500 and Stump.

Problems with the NC 900 started from the very first day. When ferrying aircraft from the factory, Joseph Risso was forced to return to the airfield and land on the “belly” due to interruptions in the engine. A little later, while practicing aerobatic maneuvers, explosions occurred in the engines of two planes on which Gilles and Perret were flying. The number of major and minor problems with the NC 900 grew until March 1946, when Major Maurice Amarger, holder of the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree, died in Morocco on this plane.

In January 1946, a new air group No. 6 was formed on the Normandy base, to which some pilots of the regiment under the command of Colonel Delfino transferred. The group served in the French zone of occupation of Germany.

"Normandy-Niemen" under the command of Major Matras was reorganized into three squadrons. They were led by captains de la Poype, Risso and Verrier. And it was transferred from Le Bourget, at that time the main passenger airport in Paris, to the Toussou-le-Noble airfield. At this time, two more Yaks were destroyed during training. By April 1946, 35 Yak-3s remained in operation and 3 vehicles were in inoperative due to lack of spare parts.

On July 17, 1946, a new tragedy occurred - the best ace of the Normandy-Niemen, Lieutenant Robert Marchy, crashed during demonstration performances. On the last day of flying, he took off in a Stump biplane with his friend, who had never flown on an airplane before. When changing altitude, the plane fell into a tailspin and crashed into the ground. Both died. The investigation showed that Marsha's passenger blocked the controls out of fear and prevented the plane from being pulled out of the spin.

Since January 1947, the Normandie-Niemen began to be armed with British Mosquito FB VI aircraft. The remaining Yak-3s were taken out of service, decommissioned from the army and transferred to aviation school in Tours, where the last of them were used in the early 50s for training cadets. Several aircraft were transferred along with the Normandy to Morocco as liaison aircraft.

With the beginning cold war in April 1947, the regiment was transferred to Morocco to the city of Rabat. This was perceived by many as a revenge of the Vichys. Of the Normandy veterans, all the pilots of the first and second groups retired or went to other units. For Konstantin Feldzer, criticism of the Vichyists cost him his military service, and he ended up as deputy director of the aviation museum in Meudon.

During the year, shortcomings of the Mosquito aircraft began to appear.

On July 24, 1947, Leon Uglov, the last Russian who continued to serve in Normandie-Niemen, died in Morocco. A few days later, another pilot was killed and the Mosquito was withdrawn from flying.

In the fall of 1947, the regiment adopted American Bell P-39 Airacobra aircraft, which it flew until 1951.

In 1949, he was transferred to Saigon and until 1951 participated in the Indochina War, where a veteran of the regiment, Captain Mark Charras, was killed. For combat operations in Vietnam, the regiment received the honorary banner of the French Republic.

In 1951, the regiment was transferred to Algeria.

In 1962 he was transferred to France, where he was based first in Orange, then in Reims, and from 1993 in Colmar. The regiment took part in hostilities in Rwanda, Chad, and Bosnia. In 1999, he took part in the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia.

In 2012, they promised to re-form the regiment and equip it with Rafale fighters at the Mont-de-Marsan airbase named after Konstantin Rozanov.

Whether or not the French fighter air regiment "Normandie-Niemen" is restored, it will remain forever as a memory, as a legend, as a symbol of Franco-Russian military friendship.

During the war, it was important for the French to receive help and recognition as a force. Help and recognition that helped them rebuild their homeland as a great power after the war. It was important for them to realize that during the war they did not sit at home, but fought. And they fought not in Champagne or Burgundy, but in Russia, on the most significant front of the Second World War.

Likewise, it was and remains important to us. To see and know that we fought for a just cause. That we didn't fight alone. That we fought not only for ourselves, but for the whole world.

And this remains so important now that the history of World War II is being reviewed and rewritten.

Quote from the book of the Hero of the Soviet Union, holder of the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, retired colonel Count Roland de la Poipe “The Epic of Normandy-Niemen”:

“During the flight from Ivanovo to the Polotnyany Zavod airfield, we made an intermediate landing in Poleri near Moscow. At this base, where there were several hundred Soviet pilots, I caused a sensation in my uniform, half Russian, half French. Seeing the glances of my colleagues from the Red Army turned to me, it seemed to me that they were looking at me as if I were a creature from another planet. I am sure that Gagarin would have made less of an impression on the Martians...

There were only fourteen of us. A drop in the sea. Fourteen French pilots who were thrown into the midst of millions of other people. This is what “Normandy” was at the beginning of 1943. More a symbol than war machine... a fragile but brilliant symbol of Franco-Russian friendship, tempered in a whirlpool of Focke-Wulfs and Messerschmitts a hundred times superior to it...”

There is an Association of Veterans "Normandy-Niemen" and their websites:
www.nor-neman.org - website of the 18th Guards Association. IAP "N-N"
www.bf-opora.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21&Itemid=21 - website of the Charitable Foundation "Opora" and page of the Association of Veterans of the 1st OIAP "Normandy-Niemen"
www.nor-neman.ru/ - site 303 iad

newspaper "Red Star" No. 155 (5526) July 3, 1943 Saturday
Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR On awarding orders to officers of the military unit of Fighting France - “Normandy”
For the exemplary performance of combat missions of the Soviet command on the front of the fight against the German invaders and the courage and courage shown at the same time
reward:
Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree
1. Major Tyulyan Jean Louis.
2. Captain Litolf Albert.

Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree
1. Lieutenant Durand Albert.
2. Lieutenant Lefever Marcel.
3. Ajudan-chef Duprat Louis.

Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR M. KALININ.
Secretary of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR A. GORKIN.
Moscow Kremlin. July 2, 1943.

The Normandy pilots(from special military correspondent of Izvestia, L. Kudrevatykh, active army, November 2, 1944)
One of the calls of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on the 27th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution reads:
“Greetings to the French people, who, together with the allied armies, are completing the liberation of France from the German yoke!
Combat greetings to the valiant pilots of the French aviation unit "Normandy", together with Soviet pilots, smashing the Nazi barbarians!

Now the pilots of the Normandy air unit are fighting over the territory of East Prussia. They took part in air battles that unfolded during the days of the Red Army's invasion of Germany. Each pilot of this unit has
I have shot down German cars on my account.
, ...On the day when the breakthrough of the German defense began, this huge flat field was fired upon by German artillery.
But the tractors were already pulling heavy windrows, with the help of which the field was leveled. Now here is the airfield of the French aviation unit "Normandy".
The unit consists of Frenchmen born in France, Africa, and Indochina. On the pockets of their blue overalls there are badges with two lions - the emblem of the French province of Normandy, after which the unit is named. Major Delfina says:
- Our unit conducted air battles in the areas of Vitebsk and Orsha, Borisov and Minsk, over the Berezina and Neman. Flight
the unit was mainly occupied with accompanying groups flying out to carry out combat missions
Soviet bombers and attack aircraft. We are proud that the groups of Soviet heavy vehicles that we
were accompanied and did not suffer any losses. When we reached the banks of the Neman, the Soviet command handed us
new material - beautiful Yakovlev3 fighter aircraft. We took part in battles on these planes,
which the Red Army led during its invasion of East Prussia. We also flew out “hunting” over the Eastern
Prussia burned many locomotives, cars, wagons and prevented the Germans from transporting reserves to the front line. It's complicated and dangerous work. But we did it with great joy, because it gave us deep moral satisfaction.
We took revenge on the Germans for the atrocities they committed in France and the Soviet Union. When the Soviet invasion of East Prussia began, the Germans scrambled a large number of their aircraft.
“That’s where we settled our scores with them,” the major continues. - In one day, our unit shot down 29 German planes, not
having lost not a single car. The French pilots were inspired by the idea that they were fighting over Eidtkunen, Tallupenen,
" Goldap and others German cities. Subsequently, the Germans became more careful. And yet we won more and more victories. During the days of fighting over East Prussia, we have already destroyed 105 German vehicles.
A close military friendship was established between the French and Russian pilots.
One of the Normandy pilots, a Parisian named Corbeau, was seriously wounded in an air battle and parachuted down.
Soviet pilot Stepan Yakubov took Corbo to the hospital. The ace of the French air unit, pilot Marcel Albert, who had already shot down 23 German aircraft, including 21 on the Soviet-German front, studied Russian and speaks it well. He and his comrades are always welcome guests of the pilots of the neighboring guards unit.
A feeling of sincere friendship also connects the French pilots with the Russian mechanics of the unit. Unit engineer captain
Achevalin studied French.
French pilots know many popular Soviet songs and sing them with pleasure.
In one of the last battles, there were four French pilots in the air, including Marcel Albert and Roland de la
Puap. They noticed seven Junkers heading towards our advancing troops. Albert gave the command: “Attack!” The stunned Germans dropped bombs on their own positions and tried to leave. However, the French caught up with them. Of the seven enemy bombers, five were shot down.
During the days of the Red Army's invasion of East Prussia, the entire flight crew of the Normandy air unit worked tirelessly.
Almost each of the pilots made four or five sorties per day.
The Renault brothers, Charles and Marcel, did a great job these days. They accounted for eleven downed German vehicles.
“We are four brothers, all pilots,” says Charles Renault. - Marcel and I beat the Germans together with the Soviets
pilots. Two other brothers serve in the unit that is now in France.
The Normandy pilots live in a friendly family. They are united by a unity of purpose and a common hatred of the enemy.
Captain Madras the other day received a letter from his wife from Paris. He shows this letter and photographs of his two sons.
The wife writes: “We experienced the unforgettable days of the liberation of our capital by Allied troops. The children and I dream of meeting you, but we rejoice that you are defeating our common enemy hand in hand with the Russians.”
Captain says:
- I fought with the Germans in France. There I was wounded and knocked down. Now I'm keeping score of revenge. Shot down five German planes.
But this is just the beginning.
Major Delfina states:
- Each of us is happy to fly on a machine like Yakovlev-3. This is the best fighter I know. Soviet aviation dominates the air. Russian pilots are wonderful people. In their family, none of us French
doesn't feel like a foreigner. We are brothers in arms, comrades in the fight against Nazi Germany.

On awarding former military personnel of the "Normandie - Neman" regiment - Decree of the USSR PVS dated 05/05/1965.

Messages merged 17 Feb 2015, time of first edit
On the pedestal there are two real war heroes: Russian mechanic Vladimir Belozub and French pilot Marquis Maurice de Seine

It was in this city that the regiment of the famous squadron was formed in 1942.
The idea to create a monument appeared four years ago. All this time they collected money, not only in Russia, but also in France and even Germany. The residents of Ivanovo themselves made a great contribution.

The Ivanovo Memorial echoes the memorial dedicated to the aviation regiment in Le Bourget, France. It was opened in 2006. They have one author - People's Artist of Russia Vladimir Surovtsev. The military theme is one of the main ones in his work; his works can be seen in 22 countries around the world.

“I was inspired by the story of two friends - the French pilot Marquis Maurice de Seine and the Russian mechanic Vladimir Belozub,” he told SV. - Sein and Belozub flew together on their Yak. In the summer of 1944, during a flight from one base to another, the enemy shot down the plane, and the cabin was engulfed in fire. The pilot received an order from the ground to urgently jump with a parachute. He categorically refused: “My commander, mechanic Volodya Belozub is with me. He's without a parachute." Captain de Seyne made desperate attempts to land the plane. One run, a second... On the third lap the Yak collapsed and crashed...

This monument is the only one in the world where the names of all the French pilots who fought in the legendary Normandy-Niemen regiment and the mechanics who helped maintain the planes in Ivanovo are immortalized, says Surovtsev.

The other day in Chernyakhovsk, where the squadron completed its combat journey, a memorial plaque appeared. ...And in French Thiel there is a memorial to Belarusian partisans - in honor of the brave women who fought in the ranks of the French Resistance during the Second World War.

In 1943, the Germans took hundreds of Belarusian girls from Minsk,” said Vladimir Surovtsev, who was invited to the ceremony. - 37 prisoners escaped and organized the women's partisan detachment “Rodina”. Many intelligence officers were subsequently awarded for the fight against the Nazis. Commander Nadezhda Lisovets from Minsk was awarded the rank of lieutenant. Thiel's mayor's office timed the opening to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the creation of the detachment.

At the entrance to the mine, in French and Russian, it is written: “In memory of Soviet women, victims of fascist barbarity, who died from exhaustion or under a collapse during forced labor in the mine. In memory of the concentration camp prisoners who escaped on May 8, 1944, forming the only partisan detachment “Motherland” that fought for freedom in the French Resistance.”

Yak-7B training fighter (exportable) from the 6th reserve air brigade of the Red Army Air Force at the airfield before departure.
Standing on the wing, a French pilot from the separate Normandie air squadron is preparing to take a seat in the front cockpit.
In the rear cockpit is a Soviet pilot-instructor. During the period of mastering Soviet aircraft, the squadron was included in the 6th reserve air brigade.