Dewoitine D520 in flight, possibly a test flight or trial.  The French-built D520 was one of the best fighters available in any air force in 1940, but was available for combat only in small numbers during the Battle of France.  As with the French fighter force in general, the impact of this fighter was (further) reduced by incompetent deployment and control on the part of the French Army command.  Best regards, JR.

Dewoitine D520.

French fighter ace Captain Marcel Albert.  Credited with a total of 24 victories (excluding a number of additional "doubtfuls"), 23 flown with the Normandie/Normandie Niemen Squadron/Regiment of the Free French air arm serving with Soviet forces on the Eastern Front, flying various models of the Soviet Yak fighter.  His first victory occurred in May 1940 in France, flying a Dewoitine D520.  The "Normandie" formation, sent to Russia on the initiative of General de Gaulle, flew with the Soviets from early 1943 to the end of the war, with considerable success, but also suffering substantial casualties.  Best regards, JR.

Marcel Albert, Hero of the Soviet Union.

Normandie-Niemen Regiment Yak fighter over Russia ?1944.  Best regards, JR.