Free French Flight refers to three specific fledgling units in the

Free French Air Force The Free French Air Forces (french: Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres, FAFL) were the air arm of the Free French Forces in the Second World War, created by Charles de Gaulle in 1940. The designation ceased to exist in 1943 when the Free Fren ...

(FAFL) which were created in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

on 8 July 1940. * Free French Flight N° 1 its name later changed to N° 2 .CUNIBIL. R - Icare 1989, no128, pp. 82–93, ''L'épopée du Free French Flight no 1 dans la campagne d'Abyssinie in Les Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres. Tome 1 : Juin 1940, la naissance au Moyen-Orient.'' Subsequently it became the Nancy squadron of GB Lorraine. It was formed around two Martin 167A-3 Maryland bombers which flew to

Mersa Matruh Mersa Matruh ( ar, مرسى مطروح, translit=Marsā Maṭrūḥ, ), also transliterated as ''Marsa Matruh'', is a port in Egypt and the capital of Matrouh Governorate. It is located west of Alexandria and east of Sallum on the main highw ...

, Egypt, on 19 July 1940. * Free French Flight N° 2 - its name later changed to (E.F.C. 1), and was commanded by Lieutenant Denis. It was hierarchically a part of No. 33 Squadron RAF, and the unit later had a dual designation of C Flight, No. 73 Squadron RAF. Subsequently it became . * Free French Communication Flight N° 3 - its name later changed to French Transport Flight. It consisted of five different French-built aircraft, it was hierarchically a part of

No. 267 Squadron RAF No. 267 Squadron RAF was a unit of the Royal Air Force that served during World War I & World War II. The squadron has been formed a total of four times. History The squadron was formed at RAF Kalafrana, Malta on 27 September 1918 from Nos. 360 ...

. Free French Flight N° 2 was stationed at Haifa and initially consisted of one

Potez 63.11 The Potez 630 and its derivatives were a family of twin-engined, multirole aircraft developed for the French Air Force in the late 1930s. The design was a contemporary of the British Bristol Blenheim (which was larger and designed purely as a b ...

(a second and third arriving on 14 October and 3 November 1940 respectively) and two MS 406 (a third appearing on 14 February 1941). A Miles Magister was used as a hack and was superseded by a

Loire 130 The Loire 130 was a French flying boat that saw service during World War II. It was designed and built by Loire Aviation of St Nazaire. Development The Loire 130 originated from a mid-1930s requirement from the French Navy for a reconnaissance ...

on 12 March 1941. The unit diary refers to the arrival of a

Potez 29 The Potez 29 was a 1920s French passenger biplane designed and built by Avions Henry Potez. Although designed as a civilian aircraft, a large number entered service with the French Air Force. Development The Potez 29 was a biplane powered by a n ...

and a

Bloch MB.81 The MB.81 was a French military aircraft built by Société des Avions Marcel Bloch as a flying ambulance since it was designed to carry one passenger, in or out of a stretcher. Developed in response to a government-sponsored competition in sup ...

(with a Salmson 9 powerplant) from Heliopolis on 28 September 1940 but neither aircraft appears in the subsequent daily unit statistics forms (RAF Form 765a). A memo dated 4 April 1941 from the RAF's Free French liaison officer to General Spears advises 'in practically every case the aircraft were unserviceable chiefly owing to lack of spares'. The port of Haifa was bombed on 6 September 1940 by the . The four bombers were intercepted by Flying Officer Peronne in a Potez 63.11 and Warrant Officer Ballatore in a MS 406. Due to the deteriorating serviceability of the aircraft, flying hours decreased and the unit diary itself only covers September 1940. In addition to these units, there were some units formed in the UK: * Topic - six Blenheims. Along with "Jam", there was a redeployment to

Fort Lamy N'Djamena ( ) is the capital and largest city of Chad. It is also a special statute region, divided into 10 districts or '' arrondissements''. The city serves as the centre of economic activity in Chad. Meat, fish and cotton processing are th ...

. Both units were merged into the n°1 (GRB1), with an official inception date of 30 March 1941, which subsequently became the Metz squadron of GB Lorraine. * Jam - Official designation n°1 (GC1). It consisted of four squadrons. * French Fighter Group - this unit's small complement of

Dewoitine D.520 The Dewoitine D.520 was a French fighter aircraft that entered service in early 1940, shortly after the beginning of the Second World War. The D.520 was designed in response to a 1936 requirement from the French Air Force for a fast, modern fi ...

fighters became part of E.F.C. 1 (see above) and its Blenheims became part of GRB1.Dewoitine D.520
/ref> Independent of the hierarchy of the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, there were aviation detachments in

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Repub ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west- central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; th ...

and

Equatorial Africa Equatorial Africa is an ambiguous term that sometimes is used to refer either to the equatorial region of Sub-Saharan Africa traversed by the Equator, more broadly to tropical Africa or in a biological and geo-environmental sense to the intra- ...

References

{{reflist, 2

Aircraft of the Free French Flight

Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 Aéroplanes Morane-Saulnier was a French aircraft manufacturing company formed in October 1911 by Raymond Saulnier (1881–1964) and the Morane brothers, Léon (1885–1918) and Robert (1886–1968). The company was taken over and diversified ...

* Martin 167A-3 Maryland *

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until ...

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's ...

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

External links

The (Free) French Air Force in 1940-1945 (Listing attempt)Article on the presence in Chad of French Air Forces (in French)Two images of the Potez 63.11 in the markings of Free French Flight N° 2Table of French allied Air Force units in World War II (in Czech)An image of a 1/72 model MS-406 in the markings of Free French Flight N° 2
* ttp://www.ukserials.com/serials-older-aa.htm Serial numbers of Free French aircraft, and RAF aircraftbr>Forum thread about Potez 63.11 in Free French service with the RAFMarkings of Potez 63.11 in French Fighter Flight No.2 for AX673, AX680 & AX691
* ttp://www.cieldegloire.com/004_zevaco_a.php Biography of the pilot of Potez 63.11 AX673, Albert Zevaco Military units and formations established in 1940 Free French Forces Military units and formations of the Royal Air Force in World War II Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons French Air and Space Force F

See also

References

Aircraft of the Free French Flight

External links