Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Le Bourget - Normandie Nieman

In 1942, Gen DeGaulle decided that the Free French should be more visible in the fight against Germany. He sent a group of French pilots to Russia. This group became known at the Normandie Nieman Regiment. They flew Yak 3s like the one below with Russian support crews. They completed 5,240 missions with 273 confirmed kills and 36 probable. (Link). Unfortunately, the descriptive plaque is in French but I think it describes the damage to the aircraft and its original paint. Anyway, it's a piece of little known history.




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