Émile Allegret (24 April 1907 – 22 November 1990) was a French

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

and member of the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Biography

After

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

, he joined the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

in 1926 for five years. A

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

, he followed the course for ''élève aspirant'' (training student) (EOR). He then graduated from the ''

École nationale de l'aviation civile École nationale de l'aviation civile (; "National School of Civil Aviation"; abbr. ENAC) is one of 205 colleges (as of September 2018) accredited to award engineering degrees in Education in France, France. ENAC is designated as a grande école ...

'' (French civil aviation university) and became an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

and

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

. A reserve officer, he was staying at

Royan Royan (; in the Saintongeais dialect; ) is a commune and town in the south-west of France, in the Departments of France, department of Charente-Maritime in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Capital of the Côte de Beauté, Royan is one of the mai ...

as a

flight instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...

when war was declared in September 1939. He heard the appeal of 18 June 1940 and, after the

second Armistice at Compiègne The Armistice of 22 June 1940, sometimes referred to as the Second Armistice at Compiègne, was an agreement signed at 18:36 on 22 June 1940 near Compiègne, France by officials of Nazi Germany and the French Third Republic. It became effective a ...

, refused to fly for the

German air force The German Air Force (, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ) was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War as the aerial warfare branch of the armed forces of West Ger ...

. Émile Allegret quickly joined the

. Obliged to conceal his identity, he became an agent of the resistance movement ''

Organisation civile et militaire The ''Organisation civile et militaire'' (OCM, "Civil and military organization") was one of the great movements of the French Resistance in the '' zone occupée'', the German-occupied region of northern France, during the Second World War. The O ...

''. After joining the

6th arrondissement of Paris The 6th arrondissement of Paris (''VIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le sixième''. The arrondissement, called Luxembourg in ...

, he carried out information missions on the Atlantic coast and in particular at

, where he revealed the location of fortifications and coastal defense batteries. He succeeded in a mission to avoid weapons and ammunition stored in the basement of the City Hall of

. Hunted by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

, he had to leave

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and succeeded, 24 December 1942, in joining Spain by crossing the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

. He enlisted in the

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army ( ; AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (; FFL) during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated ...

25 January 1943 at the French mission at

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. Arriving in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, he was incorporated in the

13 February 1943, and on 5 March 1943 he joined the Bombardment Group "Lorraine", called "Squadron 342". He flew against German

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

23 December 1943, and again 5 and 9 February 1944. During this time, in January 1944, the lieutenant Allegret took command of the squadron "Metz" and multiplied the bombing operations. Then, he participated in the historic mission of protection, smoke screening troops for

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

on the Normandy coast 6 June 1944. He was seriously injured on duty, 27 January 1945. He ended the war with the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, carrying out 55 bombings in total with "Lorraine", including several skim bombings. After the war, Émile Allegret started a career as an

air navigation The basic principles of air navigation are identical to general navigation, which includes the process of planning, recording, and controlling the movement of a craft from one place to another. Successful air navigation involves piloting an airc ...

engineer. He joined the ''Secrétariat général de l'aviation civile'' (civil aviation department) in 1961 as an

division engineer. He became head of the Toulouse-Blagnac Airport. He last job was head assistant at the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport before retiring in May 1968. Émile Allegret died 22 November 1990 (83 years old) at Vaux-sur-Mer.

Honours

* Commandeur of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

* Companion of the Liberation -

Decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

of 8 May 1945 * ''

Croix de guerre 1939–1945 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort d ...

'' * ''

Médaille de la Résistance The Resistance Medal (, ) was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. It was established by a decree of General Charles de Gaulle on 9 February 1943 "to recognize the ...

'' * '' Croix du combattant volontaire de la Résistance'' * ''

Médaille des Évadés The Escapees' Medal () is a military award bestowed by the government of France to individuals who were prisoners of war and who successfully escaped internment or died as a result of their escape attempt. The "Escapees' Medal" was established by ...

'' * ''

Médaille de l'Aéronautique The Aeronautical Medal () 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 the field of aeronautics. Originally e ...

'' * ''Médaille commémorative des services volontaires dans la France libre'' * Distinguished Flying Cross * ''Service militaire volontaire argent'' * ''Médaille de la France libérée'' * European African middle eastern campaign medalAllegret, Emile Joseph Auguste
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Bibliography

* Académie nationale de l'air et de l'espace and Lucien Robineau, ''Les français du ciel, dictionnaire historique'', Le Cherche midi, June 2005, 782 p. (), p. 29, ''ALLÉGRET, Émile''

External links

Biography on the ''Ordre de la Libération'' website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allegret, Emile École nationale de l'aviation civile alumni Aviation in France Commanders of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Aeronautical Medal Recipients of the Resistance Medal French aerospace engineers 1907 births 1990 deaths Companions of the Liberation French Air Force personnel of World War II French World War II pilots Space program of France Free French military personnel of World War II