Henry Lafont (10 August 1920 in

Cahors Cahors (; oc, Caors ) is a commune in the western part of Southern France. It is the smallest prefecture among the 13 departments that constitute the Occitanie Region. The main city of the Lot department and the historical center of the Quer ...

– 2 December 2011)"Décès du colonel Henry Lafont, Compagnon de la Libération"
, ''Ouest France'', 2 December 2011, accessed 20 April 2012 was a French aviator. He was the last surviving French veteran of the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

Early life

Lafont was born in Cahors, France on 10 August 1920. Attracted by flying, he obtained his pilot's license and, in November 1938, entered the

Armée de l'Air 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 Arm ...

flying school at

Istres Istres (; Occitan: Istre) is a commune in southern France, some 60 km (38 mi) northwest of Marseille. It is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture. Location Istr ...

. When the Armistice was signed on 22 June 1940, Lafont was just finishing a course at the Fighter School at La Sénia airfield near

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

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

Air Force career

Lafont refused to accept the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

with Germany. With five other servicemen, including

René Mouchotte Commandant René Mouchotte DFC (21 August 1914 – 27 August 1943) was a World War II pilot of the French Air Force, who escaped from Vichy French–controlled Oran to join the Free French forces. Serving with RAF Fighter Command, he rose to c ...

and Charles Guérin, he escaped from

to join the Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres. They escaped by flying a twin-engine Caudron Goéland transport aircraft, surviving a takeoff with sabotaged propellers locked in coarse pitch, to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, navigating with the aid of a school atlas. The group joined the Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres in June 1940. They arrived in Britain in mid-July."Last French Battle of Britain pilot", ''Pilot'', February 2012, p12 Lafont was one of eleven French pilots posted to RAF St. Athan in late July. He moved to No. 1 School of Army Co-operation at

Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the now ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest re ...

on 29 July and then went to

Odiham Odiham () is a large historic village and civil parish in the Hart district of Hampshire, England. It is twinned with Sourdeval in the Manche Department of France. The 2011 population was 4,406. The parish in 1851 had an area of 7,354 acres wi ...

on 10 August where he flew 15 hours on Tiger Moths and Hectors. He was posted to 6 OTU, Sutton Bridge on the 19 August, converting to Hurricanes and joined No. 245 Squadron at Aldergrove on 11 September. On 18 September, Lafont was attached to

No. 615 Squadron RAF No. 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron was a unit of the British Auxiliary Air Force and later the Royal Auxiliary Air Force between 1937 and 1957. History Formation and early years No. 615 squadron was formed at RAF Kenley as part of the Auxilia ...

Prestwick Prestwick ( gd, Preastabhaig) is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, an ...

and moved south with 615 to

Northolt Northolt is a town in West London, England, spread across both sides of the A40 trunk road. It is west-northwest of Charing Cross and is one of the seven major towns that make up the London Borough of Ealing. It had a population of 30,304 at ...

on 9 October, participating in the latter stages of the Battle of Britain flying

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

. He claimed Bf.109s "probably destroyed" on 26 February 1941 and on 15 March. He was himself most probably shot down on 29 October flying Hurricane Mk.I V7383. Taking off at 12.00 hours, he crashed in attempting a forced landing between trees near Teston at 12.40 with a damaged engine and a glycol leak. An eyewitness of his shooting down was René Mouchotte: "Attacked by Messerschmitts, higher up than we were; we did not see them, the sun is so dazzling. They dropped out of the sky like three stones and climbed back without giving us time to say ʽOuf!ʼ In the scrap that followed I saw two of ours shot down. One of them was my only French comrade in the squadron. Luckily he was not hit and landed in a field. The enemy has a terrible advantage in superiority of altitude." Reeve, ''Battle of Britain Voices'', p. 440 In May 1941, he was posted to 59 OTU as an instructor for French pilots coming from 10 FTS at

Ternhill Tern Hill, also known as Ternhill, is a village in Shropshire, England, notable as the location of the former RAF Tern Hill station, which is now operated by the British Army as Clive Barracks. The settlement is named after the River Tern whic ...

. There Lafont trained more than 60 French pilots. He later joined the Groupe de Chasse n°1 "Alsace" (later incorporated into

No. 341 Squadron RAF The No. 341 Squadron also known in French as ''Groupe de Chasse n° 3/2 "Alsace"'', was a Free French squadron in the RAF during World War II. History No. 341 Squadron was formed on 15 January 1943 at RAF Turnhouse, with personnel from the Fre ...

), which was formed in the Middle East and took part convoy patrols during the campaign in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

. Wounded on 27 June 1942, he returned to action in January 1943, flying fighter operations over the Western Front. He finished the war flying a

Spitfire 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 Griff ...

Mk. IX, and had completed 230 operational missions. He left the air force in 1966 with the rank of colonel.

Later career

From 1967 to 1984, Lafont was director of the

Paris Air Show The Paris Air Show (french: Salon international de l'aéronautique et de l'espace de Paris-Le Bourget, Salon du Bourget) is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in north Paris, France. Organized by the French ...

Le Bourget Le Bourget () is a Communes of France, commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre zero#France, center of Paris. The commune features Paris - Le Bourget Airport, Le Bourget Airport, which in turn hos ...

Awards

Lafont was awarded the Croix de Guerre with three palms and the

Cross for Military Valour 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 ...

. He also was made a Companion of the Ordre de la Libération.

References

Bibliography

* Henry Lafont, ''Aviateurs de la liberté, mémorial des Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres'', Service historique de l'Armée de l'Air, 2002

External links

Biography on the ordre de la Libération website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lafont, Henry 1920 births People from Cahors Knights of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Cross for Military Valour Companions of the Liberation Free French Air Forces officers French aviators French World War II pilots 2011 deaths