FRENCH EAGLES, SOVIET HEROES

The "Normandie-Niemen" Squadrons on the Eastern Front. In 1942, General de Gaulle agreed to send French pilots to fight alongside the Red Air Force on the Eastern Front. On 1st September 1942, the Groupe de Chasse III (3rd Fighter Group "Normandie") was created, becoming the most highly decorated fighter unit to fly for France, and the second highest scoring fighter air group of the Soviet Air Force. The first of the Western Allies to capture and occupy German territory, it clashed with the German fighter group JG 51 Molders over Konigsberg in March 1945. The Group had racked up 273 confirmed victories and thirty-six probables.