Jacques Andrieux (15 August 1917 – 21 January 2005) was a French

fighter ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

credited with 6 aerial victories.

Early life

Jacques Andrieux was the son of a military doctor, who was deported to Germany as a ''Résistant'' and died in captivity. According to some sources, Andrieux joined the French air force as a non-commissioned officer in 1937. Others contend that he was simply a private pilot and was drafted in the air force at the beginning of the war. At the time of the

invasion of France France has been invaded on numerous occasions, by foreign powers or rival French governments; there have also been unimplemented invasion plans. * the 1746 War of the Austrian Succession, Austria-Italian forces supported by the British navy attemp ...

, Andrieux was not an active pilot and did not take part in the fighting. Demobilised in August 1940, he fled on a fishing boat from Brittany to

Great-Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is d ...

on 16 December 1940 and joined the

Free French Air Force The Free French Air Forces (french: Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres, FAFL) were the air arm of the Free French Forces in the Second World War, created by Charles de Gaulle in 1940. The designation ceased to exist in 1943 when the Free Frenc ...

Wartime service

Posted to Odiham as a trainee Sergeant pilot, after training he was assigned to No. 130 Squadron in September 1941, flying

Spitfires The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

. He achieved his first aerial victory by downing a

Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' ("Shrike") is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, t ...

near

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

28 February 1943. Promoted to Lieutenant in 1943, he was posted to No. 91 Squadron in April 1943 and shot down three more German fighters with this unit. In June 1944 he joined No. 341 Squadron, also known in French as ''Groupe de Chasse n° 3/2 "Alsace"'', with the rank of captain. On 26 August 1944 he took command of the unit when Jacques-Henri Schloesing was killed in combat. During this period he destroyed another two German fighters, thus becoming a

. He ended the war with the rank of

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

commanding

80 Operational Training Unit 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

RAF Ouston Royal Air Force Ouston, or more simply RAF Ouston, is a former Royal Air Force station that was located near the village of Stamfordham and the village of Heddon-on-the-Wall on Hadrian's Wall near Newcastle upon Tyne. It was built as a Second ...

. His final claim total was 6 destroyed, 4 'probables' and 2 damaged.''Aces High''; Shores & Williams, page 98

Postwar service

After the war, he continued a career in the French air force. He commanded a fighter training unit in

Meknès Meknes ( ar, مكناس, maknās, ; ber, ⴰⵎⴽⵏⴰⵙ, amknas; french: Meknès) is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

until 1950. He then took command of the ''2e Escadre de Chasse'' in

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

, France, and later of the ''4e Brigade aérienne'' in Bremgarten,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He also commanded the ''12e Escadre de Chasse'' in Cambrai. He retired in 1970 with the rank of ''général de brigade aérienne'' and held various civilian positions. He died on 21 January 2005 in Saint-Georges-de-Didonne where he was buried.

Medals and awards

* Grand Croix of the French

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

Compagnon de la Libération The Order of Liberation (french: Ordre de la Libération) is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a very high honour, second only after the ''Légion d’Honneur'' (Legion of Honour) ...

* Grand Croix of the

Ordre National du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's esta ...

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

1939-45 with 13 citations *

Croix de la Valeur Militaire The Cross for Military Valour (french: Croix de la Valeur Militaire) is a military decoration of France. It recognises an individual bestowed a Mention in Dispatches earned for showing valour in presence of an enemy, in theatres of operations wh ...

with two citations *

Médaille de l'Aéronautique The Aeronautical Medal (french: "Médaille de l'Aéronautique") is a state decoration of France established by the decree of February 14, 1945. It is awarded to both military personnel and civilians for outstanding accomplishments related to t ...

* Chevalier du

Mérite agricole The Order of Agricultural Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite agricole) is an order of merit bestowed by the French Republic for outstanding contributions to agriculture. When it was created in 1883, it was second in importance only to the ...

* Distinguished Flying Cross with Bar (UK) *

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

(USA)

Writings

* Jacques Andrieux, ''Le ciel et l'enfer'', Presses de la Cité, 1965 * Jacques Andrieux, ''Une poignée d'as''

References

Bibliography

* Thierry Le Roy, ''Les Bretons et l'aéronautique des origines à 1939'', Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2002.

External links

(in French) * http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Rare-archive-footage-reveals-heroes/story-11508208-detail/story.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Andrieux, Jacques French Air and Space Force personnel French World War II pilots Free French military personnel of World War II 1917 births 2005 deaths military personnel from Lorient Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Companions of the Liberation Grand Cross of the Ordre national du Mérite Recipients of the Cross for Military Valour Recipients of the Aeronautical Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Silver Star