Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

Raymond A. "Cheval" Lallemant, (23 August 1919 – 30 January 2008) was a Belgian military pilot and

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 ...

who served in the British

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

(RAF) during 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 opposi ...

. He was credited with destroying six aircraft, making him one of the highest scoring Belgian aces of the conflict. Lallemant, who was nicknamed "Cheval" ("

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

" in French), flew

Hawker Typhoon The Hawker Typhoon is a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems were encountered and i ...

s in No. 609 Squadron in a ground attack role. Promoted to

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...

and commanding officer of No. 609 Squadron in late 1944, Lallemand was shot down over the Netherlands in September 1944 but survived despite his injuries. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and Bar.

In March 1945, "Cheval" Lallemant became the commanding officer of No. 349 (Belgian) Squadron, where he flew the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XVI. The well known Spitfire "Winston Churchill", squadron indicator GE-D, was his personal aircraft until he left No. 349 (Belgian) Squadron in December 1945.

Bibliography

* Lallemant, R.A. ''Rendez-vous avec la chance'' (in French). Paris: Robert Laffont, 1962.

External links

Le colonel Lallemant était un "as" de la RAF
at ''

La Libre Belgique ''La Libre Belgique'' (; literally ''The Free Belgium''), currently sold under the name ''La Libre'', is a major daily newspaper in Belgium. Together with ''Le Soir'', it is one of the country's major French language newspapers and is popular in ...

''
En mémoire de Raymond Lallemant
at ''Le Courrier de l'Escaut'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lallemant, Raymond 1919 births 2008 deaths Belgian Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force officers People from Leuze-en-Hainaut Belgian World War II flying aces Shot-down aviators Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Belgian Air Component officers Belgian World War II pilots

See also

Bibliography

External links