This Yak-9T was flown by the French ace S/Lt Marcel Lefèvre in 1944. Along with Albert Durand and Marcel Albert, Lefèvre defected from the Vichy French Air Force to Gibraltar in April 1941. He later flew for the Free French Air Force in Britain before joining the French Normandie Niemen regiment in the Soviet Union. In action from March 1943 he eventually scored 11 kills plus three shared and was awarded both Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin. On May 28 1944 he belly landed his aircraft but was badly burned before he could be pulled clear and later succumbed to his injuries in hospital.
Lefèvre initially flew a Yak-9 before switching to this Yak-9T. Both aircraft carried the number 14 and a distinctive nose art based on the logo of "Le Pere Magloire" apple brandy.
