Free French Bombers Over France
What happened to the French airmen in the Second World War who bombed France to help liberate it?
During the Second World War the Allies waged a bombing campaign over occupied France that cost the lives of more than 57,000 civilians. As the raids intensified in 1944 they provoked a fierce backlash from the French population. Among the bombers, however, were French squadrons who were compelled to accept civilian losses as unfortunate, but inevitable, ‘collateral damage’.
After the fall of France in June 1940 the British government and General Charles de Gaulle established the Free French Air Forces under RAF command. However, it was only after the Allies liberated north Africa in early 1943 that significant numbers of the nation’s airmen were able to join the newly reconfigured French Air Force. French fighter and bomber squadrons that had been based in north Africa moved to RAF bases in Britain.
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