Edmond Marin la Meslée

After studying law, he took government-subsidized flying lessons at the Morane flight school and gained his license in 1931.

At 19, he entered the French Air Force and, after graduating from the school at Istres, was assigned to a unit in Strasbourg.

Groupe de chasse are French fighter units approximately equivalent to a two-squadron wing in the British RAF.

During the Battle of France, Marin la Meslée distinguished himself by shooting down 16 "certain" German aircraft, although some sources credit him with as many as 20 including his 4 "probable" ones.

After Operation Torch, French forces in North Africa joined the Allied forces, and Marin la Meslée's unit left for Tafaraoui, Algeria in September 1943 to receive American equipment that eventually materialized as P-39 Airacobras.

Marin la Meslée was promoted as CO of his unit, then renamed GC 1/5 "Champagne", on January 9, 1944.

On February 4, 1945, near Colmar, Edmond Marin la Meslée was shot down during a strafing attack when his Republic P-47 Thunderbolt suffered a direct hit from a 40 mm anti-aircraft shell (German "Flak").