Searching in stories... |
Timeline |
Options
|
|
||
|
||
|
||
Show the latest entries |
||
Searching in stories... |
Timeline |
Marcel Lefèvre, born March 17, 1918 in Les Andelys (Eure - France) and died June 5, 1944 in Moscow, is a French ace pilot of the Second World War. He has 14 combat victories to his credit, 11 of which have been confirmed.
Lefèvre obtained his pilot's license at the Étrépagny aero-club in 1937 and entered the Air Force the following year, where he obtained his military pilot's license the same year. After a stint as a student instructor at Salon-de-Provence, he was assigned to fighter group II/3 "Dauphiné".
He was demobilized on January 1, 1941, preferring to leave the army rather than fight against the English in Syria. Not willing to stay in an occupied France, he joined the fighter group 1/3 "Corsica" in Oran in April 1941 where he met Albert Durand and Marcel Albert.
It was in their company that he escaped on October 14, 1941 for Gibraltar. In December 1941, he enlisted in the Free French Air Forces (FAFL) then was assigned to an English squadron in charge of defending London. At the same time, he participated in missions over the English Channel and occupied France.
When the Normandy-Niemen squadron was created on the Eastern Front, he volunteered and joined the USSR on November 29. In March 1943, he took part in his first combats.
On May 28, 1944, he landed his plane following a loss of fuel pressure. The plane crashed on the ground and caught fire on the Doubrovska field. Lefèvre's flight suit was soaked in fuel. Severely burned in the face, thighs and hands, he succumbed to his wounds in the Moscow hospital on June 5, 1944, at the same time when the allies were launching their assault on the beaches of his native Normandy. He was buried in Moscow, near the grognards of Napoleon, surrounded by honors in the presence of his combat comrades and the highest Russian and French authorities. Posthumously and by order of Stalin, he was made Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin.
In February 1953, his mortal remains were transferred to Normandy where he now rests with his parents in Les Andelys.
By general order no.160 of the Minister of Defense of the USSR dated July 1, 1966, the perpetuity registration of Lieutenant Marcel Lefevre was decided on the nominal status of the 1st squadron of the 18th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Vitebsk Guard belonging to the Smolensk Air Fighter Division.
In Normandy-Niemen, Marcel Lefevre wore several nicknames: "Father Magloire", (a picturesque character from Norman folklore), who adorned his plane but the most frequent is "the Fever" because of his passion to follow the evolution of the front on a staff map pinned to the wall of his isba.
— — — = = — — —
You choosed to show only the famous things! (Via the Options menu)