Pierre Le Gloan (6 January 1913 – 11 September 1943) was a French

flying 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 ...

World War II 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 ...

. Unique in the annals of wartime flying, he scored victories against German, Italian and British forces. Flying in the French and Vichy French air forces, his career has led some to call him the only pilot to become a flying ace on both sides of the war. He was killed in a landing accident in September 1943.

Early years

Pierre Le Gloan was born on 6 January 1913 in

Kergrist-Moëlou Kergrist-Moëlou (; br, Kergrist-Moeloù) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Kergrist-Moëlou are called ''kergristois'' in French. See also *Communes of the Côtes-d ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

, France. The

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in France where he lived has a street that bears his name. During his teen years, he won a civil aviation scholarship, funded by the French government, which gave him his first real taste of flying. Le Gloan applied to a civilian aviation school, intending to follow a career in aviation.Musciano 1968, p. 48.

Military career

At the age of 18, Le Gloan joined the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

. At the outbreak of the war, as part of the air defence of Paris and the lower Seine, he served in the GC III/6 fighter squadron, flying the

Morane-Saulnier MS.406 Aéroplanes Morane-Saulnier was a French aircraft manufacturing company formed in October 1911 by Raymond Saulnier (1881–1964) and the Morane brothers, Léon (1885–1918) and Robert (1886–1968). The company was taken over and diversified ...

from Chartres. With his wingman, on 23 November 1939, Le Gloan shot down his first German aircraft, a Do 17P reconnaissance bomber. A second Dornier fell to him on 2 March 1940, and during the Battle of France, Le Gloan accounted for two

Heinkel He 111 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a "wolf in sheep's clothing". Due to restrictions placed on Germany after th ...

bombers. During the winter of 1939–1940, GC III/6 was based at Wez-Thuizy near

Rheims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

, but saw little action. In April 1940, the unit was assigned to protect Belgium, but soon moved again to Chissey, near the Alps with the French VIII Army. When a German attack in Belgium necessitated moving back to that theatre, this time to patrol the Lille-Bapaume-Cambrai area.

On 1 June 1940, Le Gloan's squadron was moved towards southern France to Le Luc airfield and re-equipped with the new

Dewoitine D.520 The Dewoitine D.520 was a French fighter aircraft that entered service in early 1940, shortly after the beginning of the Second World War. The D.520 was designed in response to a 1936 requirement from the French Air Force for a fast, modern fi ...

fighters. Their mission was to protect the port of

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

.Shores 1975, p. 95. Following

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

's declaration of war on France and the Italian air force commencing bombing raids, Le Gloan shot down two

Fiat BR.20 The Fiat BR.20 ''Cicogna'' (Italian: " stork") was a low-wing twin-engine medium bomber that was developed and manufactured by Italian aircraft company Fiat. It holds the distinction of being the first all-metal Italian bomber to enter service;B ...

bombers on 13 June.Musciano 1968, p. 67. On 15 June Le Gloan with another pilot attacked 12 Italian

Fiat CR.42 The Fiat CR.42 ''Falco'' ("Falcon", plural: ''Falchi'') is a single-seat sesquiplane fighter developed and produced by Italian aircraft manufacturer Fiat Aviazione. It served primarily in the Italian in the 1930s and during the Second World ...

fighters. Le Gloan shot down three of them while Cpt. Assolent shot down another.Musciano 1968, p. 73. While returning to the airfield Le Gloan shot down another CR.42 and a BR.20 bomber. For this outstanding achievement of destroying five aircraft in one flight he was promoted to 2nd lieutenant. Due to the military situation of France on 20 June GC III/6 was withdrawn to

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

.Musciano 1968, p. 74. After the armistice between France and Germany, and the subsequent British attacks on the French navy, French forces in North Africa, including Le Gloan's unit, became subordinated to the

Vichy government Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

.Shores 1975, p. 96. In May 1941 GC III/6 was moved to the French colony of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. In June 1941, Allied forces, including some

Free French Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

units, attacked Syria and Lebanon. On 8 June 1941, Le Gloan shot down his first RAF fighter, a

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

. By 5 July he had claimed five Hurricanes and a

Gloster Gladiator The Gloster Gladiator is a British biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) (as the Sea Gladiator variant) and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. Developed private ...

. Later the depleted GC III/6 was withdrawn back to Algiers.Shores 1975, p. 96. During

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

, the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942, French fighter squadrons based in Algiers, unlike those in Oran or Casablanca, did not oppose the Allied landings. Soon all French forces in North Africa had sided with the Allies. In May 1943 Le Gloan's unit, then renamed GC 3/6 ''Roussillon'', was re-armed with new

Bell P-39 Airacobra The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by the ...

fighters. In August Le Gloan took the command of 3rd ''escadrille'' (flight) of the squadron. The unit's primary task at the time were offshore patrols. On 11 September 1943, Le Gloan flew on patrol with another pilot. Over the sea smoke started to come out of Le Gloan's engine. He returned towards the shore but the engine stopped. He attempted a forced landing on the shore but, probably forgetting that his Airacobra still had an underbelly fuel tank attached (which were not used on earlier French fighters), the fuel in his plane exploded while trying to land, killing him instantly. During his complicated combat career Pierre Le Gloan shot down 18 aircraft (four German, seven Italian and seven British), which made him the fourth leading French

s of the war.Shores 1975, p. 97.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Musciano, Walter A. "Mystery Ace of World War Two." ''Air Progress'', Volume 22, Number 6, June 1968. * Shores, Christopher. ''Fighter Aces''. London: Hamlyn Publishing, 1975. {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Gloan, Pierre 1913 births 1943 deaths Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents People from Côtes-d'Armor French Air and Space Force personnel French military personnel killed in World War II French Air Force personnel of World War II French World War II flying aces Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Algeria Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1943