French Forces

Free French Dewoitine D520, North Africa.

Musée Air et Espace, Le Bourget (collection).

The Vichy French government moved a good part of its air force to North Africa, where it flew missions against the British. Not all of its pilots were enthusiastic about this, however; when given the chance, many pilots chose to defect to the Allies along with their aircraft (not a very difficult thing to do, especially if one acted in cooperation with one or more comrades). This is very likely how the Free French Forces acquired this D520. Future air ace Marcel Albert was a case in point. Having flown several missions against the RAF Desert Air Force, he (along with a comrade) defected, landing at an RAF airstrip and surrendering their aircraft to the Allies. He, of course, went on to distinguish himself in Russian skies with the Normandie-Niemen Regiment. Best regards, JR.