About the Normandie Nieman:
The formation of the Normandie-Niemen regiment started in November 1942 when French volunteers - 14 pilots and 58 aircraft mechanics - arrived in Russia. In December the international air squadron was included in the Soviet Air Force and sent to the Western front.
In 1943 the Normandie-Niemen regiment participated in the Kursk Bulge battle in the Oryol-Kursk direction where the French pilots demonstrated courage and staunchness. During the combat operations on the Soviet-German front the regiment's pilots made more than 5,000 combat missions, participated in 896 aerial combats, brought down 273 and damaged 80 Nazi aircraft.
The regiment was decorated with the Russian Orders of the Red Banner and of Alexander Nevsky for the exemplary accomplishment of the command's assignments. As many as 83 French pilots were decorated with combat Orders, and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was conferred on four of them.
I never heard of these guys until I picked up Il-2 and saw the Yaks with red, white, and blue spinners and decided to do a little searching. Fascinating stuff, but I have not found too much info in English. We should get a Yak-9UT in NN colors.
[ 12-03-2001: Message edited by: Sancho ]
