GROUPES LOURDS FRANCAIS GUYENNE ET TUNISIE

De gauche a droite sur la photo:

Louis HERVELIN, Hervé VIGNY, Pierre PATALANO, Lucien MALLIA, André GUEDEZ.

de gauche a droite sur la photo:

Louis HERVELIN. Radio: équipage du Cpt. PLAGNART, Pierre PATALANO.  Mitrailleur-supérieur: équipage du Cpt. LAFAYE, ????? , Lucien MALLIA. Mitrailleur-arrière: équipage du Cpt NOTELLE, André GUEDEZ. Mitrailleur-supérieur: équipage du Lt LEROY, Hervé VIGNY. Mitrailleur-supérieur: équipage du Lt HACHETTE.

YORKSHIRE POST

13 MAY 2009

FRENCH BOMBER CREW VETERANS RETURN

"home"... to YORKSHIRE

BY Paul JEEVES

AS ONE of the greatest military operations in history, the success of the D-DAY invasion is owed in no small part to a little piece of the continent on British soil.

The courage and valour of French bomber crews played a major role in the D-DAY landings, although their efforts are often overlooked.

And North Yorkshire holds a unique piece of the history, as the county is the location of the only RAF base in the UK to be operated by another nationality during the conflict.

The Bomber Command Bomber at ELVINGTON became known as le petit France when two French RAF squadrons with 500 air crew and 1,000 ground staff operated from there, flying hundreds of missions againts targets in their homeland and Germany.

Their contribution was remembered yesterday when five veterans from the squadrons travelled from France to visit the air base the south-east of York to mark the 65th anniversary of the their formation. Among them were Pierre PATALANO, 88, and Hervé VIGNY, 91, two air gunners who flew 64 missions and have not been back to ELVINGTON since the end of the war.

Mr VIGNY, who lives in the south-West of France near Biarritz, said: "It has been more than emotional. It is extraordinary to com back here 65 years later to see the air base again. It is incredible.

"Despite what happened in the war , I have many fond memories and the English people were so welcoming. It has been wonderful to come back and relive some of the memories".

Bomber Command endured massive losses during the second World War, half of all air crews losing their lives. The French squadrons themselves lost 216 members from 41 crews as well as those killed on training, exercise and bomb-loading.

Despite the trauma of war, traditions which emerged from their time in Africa became embedded in daily life at the Yorkshire air base - each man was entitled to a glass of pinnard, originally a rough Algerian red wine, with every meal.

And a pet white rabbit, which was the living embodiment of the GUYENNE squadron's insignia and lived at the air base, became a welcome distraction for many to escape the horrors of war.

A memorial in ELVINGTON village is the focus of Remembrance Day commemorations to mark the efforts of the French air crews. A similar monument stands in normandy.

Mr PATALANO, who also lives near Biarritz, said: We are so touched that the schoolchildren still visit the memorial every year. It means so much that our efforts are still remembered after all these years.

Despite their wartime successes,the anguish that the first crews went through in bombing their own homeland is revealed in a documentary involving all five veterans who were at ELVINGTON yesterday.

The film is being screened at the YORKSHIRE AIR MUSEUM, now located at the base at ELVINGTON.

The  YORKSHIRE AIR MUSEUM'S director Ian REED, said: "They were brave men and well known throughout YORK. Their stories in this new film are exceptionally heartwarming, especially about the English people and we are pleased to welcome them back to base once again".

After the end of the war, the French squadrons returned home along with the HALIFAX BOMBERS to form the basis of the country's current air force.

UNIQUE ROLE AS BASE FOR FRENCH FIGHTERS

ELVINGTON holds a unique place in the annals of wartime history as the only RAF base to be operated by another nationality.

On May 16, 1944, 346 squadron was officially formed from French Air Force crews who had arrived via LIVERPOOL, having fought alongside the Allied forces in North Africa in a bitter conflict with the Nazi Afrika Corps. They were joined by other French air crews who had left their homeland earlier.

The squadron was drawn into the invasion and its first missions were on the night of june 1 on the radar installations at ferme d'Urville on the Normandy coast, led by Group Captain Leonard CHESHIRE of 617 Squadron.

On June 5, 346 Squadron carried out raids against the heavy German gun battery just outside the small fishing port at GRANDCAMP-MAISY, on the western tip of what was designated as Omaha Beach for the landings,and the railway marshalling yards at Caen and Saint-Lo.

On June 20, 1944, the squadron was augmented by the creation of 347 TUNISIE Squadron, and from this point they together took the war to the Ruhr and the German industrial heartland.

(source: YORKSHIRE POST 13 MAI 2009 Paul JEEVES.)