Marcel Albert

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Marcel Albert (25 November 1917 – 23 August 2010) was a French World War II fighter ace who served in the French, Free French, Soviet, and Royal Air Forces. Born in Paris, he trained as a pilot in 1938 and flew fighters such as the D.520. When Germany invaded in 1940, he fought with the French and scored a confirmed Do 17 kill, with other victories possible before the armistice. After France fell, he flew for Vichy in Algeria, but on 14 October 1940 he defected to Britain, joined the Royal Air Force, and flew 47 missions in Spitfires with 340 Squadron.

In 1943 he joined the Normandie fighter group, sent to the Soviet Union to help in the war, flying Yak fighters. He became one of France’s top aces, with 23 confirmed victories (15 shared) in 262 missions, and was named Hero of the Soviet Union in November 1944. After the war he worked as a test pilot and then served as an air attaché in Czechoslovakia, where he met his future wife. He left the military in 1948 and moved to the United States, living in Florida and later Texas. He died in Harlingen, Texas, in 2010 at age 92. He was also awarded France’s Legion of Honour.