Pierre Pouyade (25 June 1911 – 5 September 1979) was a French Air Force general,

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 ...

flying ace, and a commander of the Normandie-Niemen squadron. By the end of the War he had scored eight solo victories and two group victories, all but one on the Eastern Front.

Biography

Early life

Pouyade was born into a military family and studied in the Prytanée National Militaire from 1924 to 1928. In 1930 he entered Saint Cyr but after two years decided to pursue a career in the Air Force. He was commissioned as a pilot in the Versailles Air Academy in 1934. Lieutenant Pouyade served in the 6th Fighter Wing at

Chartres Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...

Airfield from 1935 to 1937 and was then transferred to the

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

-based 13th Fighter Wing. On 15 June 1939 he was promoted to captain.

World War II

During the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

he served as commander of GCN II./13, a Potez 630 night fighter squadron. On 2 June 1940, after destroying an enemy He 111, he was shot down and wounded. He remained in the Vichy French Air Force. On 23 November 1940 he was posted to

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

as a fighter squadron commander with EC II./295, flying the MS.406. The colony, nominally administered by the Governor General

Jean Decoux Jean Decoux (; 5 May 1884 – 21 October 1963) was a French Navy admiral who was the Governor-General of French Indochina from July 1940 to 9 March 1945, representing the Vichy French government. Early life and naval career Decoux was born in B ...

, was practically under Japanese rule in the aftermath of the 1940

Franco-Thai War The Franco-Thai War (October 1940 – 28 January 1941, ; ) was fought between Thailand and Vichy France over certain areas of French Indochina. Negotiations shortly before World War II had shown that the French government was willing to alter th ...

. Pouyade was ordered to engage any Chinese Air Force or '

Flying Tigers The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China. Operating in 1941–1942, it was composed of pilots from the United States Ar ...

' planes encountered. On 2 October 1942 Pouyade deserted, stealing the Japanese air defense plans for the region. He took off from Bach Mai Airfield in a

Potez 25 Potez 25 (also written as Potez XXV) was a French twin-seat, single-engine sesquiplane designed during the 1920s. A light multi-purpose Strike fighter, fighter-bomber, it was designed as a line aircraft and used in a variety of roles, including F ...

and flew to China, crash-landing near

Kunming Kunming is the capital and largest city of the province of Yunnan in China. The political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province, Kunming is also the seat of the provincial government. During World War II, Kunming was a Ch ...

. There he made contact with the

Free French Free France () was a resistance government claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third French Republic, Third Republic during World War II. Led by General , Free France was established as a gover ...

delegation in

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

, which arranged for him to travel to

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 ...

. The

Vichy Government Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

sentenced him to death in absentia for his desertion.

Free French Air Force

After a five-month-long journey through India, Africa and the United States he reached Britain in February 1943. The commander of the

Free French Air Force The Free French Air Forces (, 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 French Forces merged with General Giraud's force ...

, General Martial Valin, introduced him to

Charles De Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

, who assigned him to recruit volunteers for the Normandie squadron, a Soviet-based Free French Air Force unit which took part in the combat operations on the Eastern Front. Pouyade was sent in May 1943 to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

to participate in the fighting as chief of an escadrille in the unit, arriving in June 1943. On 14 July, he claimed a Bf 110, and a Fw 189 and a Ju 87 the next day. On 18 July the Normandie-Niemen commander Jean Tulasne was shot down in a battle over

Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, , ɐˈrʲɵl, a=ru-Орёл.ogg, links=y, ), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, situated on the Oka Rive ...

and killed, and Pouyade replaced him. Under his leadership the unit took part in the battles for

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. On 21 July 1944, after its participation in

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration () was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (), a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern ...

the unit was renamed Normandie-Niemen, for its contribution to the campaign in the eponymous river's area. They were later involved in the fighting over

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

, as part of General Georgi Zakharov's 303rd Air Army. On 11 November 1944 Pouyade was relieved from his duty as commander and replaced by Louis Delfino. He returned to the now-liberated France, where he was severely injured in a car accident in January 1945. After recovering, he returned to active duty at April. When the war ended he held the rank of lieutenant colonel and had scored eight solo and two group kills in 178 sorties.

Post-war life

In 1947 Pouyade became president

Vincent Auriol Vincent Jules Auriol (; 27 August 1884 – 1 January 1966) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1947 to 1954. Early life and politics Auriol was born in Revel, Haute-Garonne, as the only child of Jacques Antoine Aurio ...

's air attache, a post which he held for three years. From 1950 to 1953 he was the military attache in the French Embassy in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Afterwards he served as an instructor in the

NATO Defense College NATO Defense College (NDC) is the international military college for NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries. It is located in Rome, Italy. History The idea of a NATO Defense College originated with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, t ...

. In 1956 Brigadier General Pouyade retired from the French Armed Forces. After his discharge he worked as an advisor on Soviet matters in the French arms company CSIAé (Sindicate of Aerospace Industries) and as the director of the overseas department in RICOM. On 9 February 1966 he replaced Jean Charbonnel as the

Union for the New Republic The Union for the New Republic (, , UNR) was a Gaullist political party in France, formed in support of Charles de Gaulle in the 1958 elections. History The UNR won 189 of 466 seats in the November 1958 elections. In 1962, the UNR grouped ...

's deputy for

Corrèze Corrèze (; ) is a département in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, on the bo ...

in the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

. From March 1967 until April 1973 he held the same post for Var. Pouyade chaired the Franco-Soviet Friendship Association and was awarded the

Lenin Peace Prize The International Lenin Peace Prize (, ''mezhdunarodnaya Leninskaya premiya mira)'' was a Soviet Union award named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a panel appointed by the Soviet government, to notable individuals whom the panel ...

by the Soviet government during 1976. He died from cancer in 1979 and his ashes were scattered off the coast of

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

.Pouyade on flyaces.ru.
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References

External links

Pierre Pouyade
on Pobeda.by. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pouyade, Pierre 1911 births 1979 deaths People from Yonne Politicians from Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Union for the New Republic politicians Union of Democrats for the Republic politicians Deputies of the 2nd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 4th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic French generals French aviators French World War II flying aces French expatriates in the Soviet Union People sentenced to death in absentia Recipients of the Lenin Peace Prize Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Czechoslovak War Cross Recipients of the Order of the Dragon of Annam Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Companions of the Liberation Recipients of the Resistance Medal Recipients of the Order of Alexander Nevsky Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Aeronautical Medal Deaths from cancer in France Burials at sea Military attachés