Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Raymond A. "Cheval" Lallemant, (23 August 1919 – 30 January 2008) was a Belgian military pilot and

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

who served in the British

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was credited with destroying six aircraft, making him one of the highest scoring Belgian aces of the conflict. Lallemant, who was nicknamed "Cheval" ("

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

" in French), flew

Hawker Typhoon The Hawker Typhoon was a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor aircraft, interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems we ...

s with Nos. 609 and 198 Squadrons on ground attack operations. Promoted to

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

and appointed commanding officer of No. 609 Squadron in late 1944, Lallemant was shot down over the Netherlands in September 1944 but survived despite his injuries. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and Bar. In March 1945, "Cheval" Lallemant became the commanding officer of No. 349 (Belgian) Squadron, where he flew the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XVI. The well known Spitfire "Winston Churchill", squadron indicator GE-D, was his personal aircraft until he left No. 349 (Belgian) Squadron in December 1945.

Bibliography

* Lallemant, R.A. ''Rendez-vous avec la chance'' (in French). Paris: Robert Laffont, 1962.

External links

Le colonel Lallemant était un "as" de la RAF
at ''

La Libre Belgique ''La Libre Belgique'' (; ), currently sold under the name ''La Libre'', is a French-language Belgian daily newspaper. Together with ''Le Soir'', it is one of the most popular Francophone newspapers in both Brussels and Wallonia. ''La Libre'' was ...

''
En mémoire de Raymond Lallemant
at ''Le Courrier de l'Escaut'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lallemant, Raymond 1919 births 2008 deaths Belgian Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force officers People from Leuze-en-Hainaut Belgian World War II flying aces Shot-down aviators Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Belgian Air Component officers Belgian World War II pilots

See also

Bibliography

External links