This book examines and analyses the relationship between the RAF, the Free French Movement and the French fighter pilots in WWII. A highly significant subject, this has been ignored by academics on both sides of the Channel. This ground-breaking study will fill a significant gap in the historiography of the War.
Bennett's painstaking research has unearthed primary source material in both Britain and France including Squadron records, diaries, oral histories and memoirs. In the post-war period the idea of French pilots serving with the RAF seemed anachronistic to both sides. For the French nation the desire to draw a veil over the war years helped to obscure many aspects of the past, and for the British the idea of French pilots did not accord with the myths of "the Few" to whom so much was owed. Those French pilots who served had to make daring escapes. Classed as deserters they risked court martial and execution if caught. They would play a vital role on D-Day and the battle for control of the skies which followed.
An examination of the relationship between the Royal Air Force and the French Fighter pilots who flew for the RAF during WWII.
Bennett's research is supported by a solid range of sources and delivers a convincing study on a subject rarely explored in English. He delivers a subtle analysis of De Gaulle's political use of Free French pilots to establish his authority over the French in exile during and after the war... The RAF's French Foreign Legion is an important contribution to the history of the French Free movement and the history of aviation during the Second World War in general.
