Marcel Albert

Marcel Albert (November 25, 1917 – August 23, 2010) was a French World War II pilot. He was born in Paris.

Background

Albert grew up in a working-class family. He became a mechanic, building gearboxes for Renault, and was accepted for pilot training in the French Armée de l'Air in May 1938. After primary and advanced training, he was posted at the fighter training center in Chartres, where he flew Bloch 152, Morane-Saulnier MS.406 and Hawk 75 fighters.^[1]

World War II

In February 1940, he was assigned to Groupe de Chasse I/3, a unit operating France's top fighter, the Dewoitine D.520. When German troops invaded France in May 1940, his squadron was redeployed to the Reims airfield. On May 14, Albert shot down a Do 17 bomber and later that day, a Messerschmitt Me 109 fighter, although this victory was not confirmed. He also earned a probable victory over a Heinkel He 111 bomber before the armistice.

Under the Vichy government, his squadron was redeployed to Algeria where Albert flew a few missions against the British forces in Gibraltar. On October 14 he and two other pilots defected and surrendered their airplanes to the British.

Having reached England, Albert joined the RAF and flew 47 missions in Spitfires with 340 Squadron.

In late 1942, Albert joined the Normandie fighter group, a Free French fighter unit that was being sent to the Soviet Union to help fight the Germans. Normandie entered the fight in April 1943, flying Russian-built Yak-1 fighters, and later Yak-9.

Albert quickly proved to be one of Normandie's best pilots. His first kill was over a Focke-Wulf Fw 189 on 16 June 1943. In July he claimed 3 more, Albert took command of the 1st escadrille on 4 September 1943. During the offensive against Eastern Prussia in October 1944, he scored 7 victories. Albert was named Hero of the Soviet Union on 28 November 1944.

His score totalled 23 victories in 262 combat missions, making him the second highest-scoring French ace of World War II. On November 27, 1944 he was awarded the Soviet Union's highest decoration, the Gold Star and title of "Hero of the Soviet Union" — a reward almost never given to foreigners.^[2][3]

Postwar

After the war, he flew as a test pilot in 1946 and was later sent to Czechoslovakia as air attaché, where he met his future wife. In 1948, he left the military and moved to the United States with his wife, and lived in Harlingen, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley.^[4] Albert died there on August 23, 2010.^[5]

Awards

• Grand'Croix de la Légion d'Honneur (Journal Officiel de la République française dated April 14, 2010) ^[6]
• Compagnon de la Libération ^[7]
• Croix de guerre 1939–1945 with 15 palms and 3 silver gilt stars
• Médaille de la Résistance with rosette
• Hero of the Soviet Union (Герои Строны dated 27.11.1944) ^[8]
• Order of Lenin (Герои Строны dated 27.11.1944) ^[8]
• Order of the Red Banner
• Czechoslovak War Cross
• Order of the Patriotic War 1st class (Герои Страны dated 11.03.1985) ^[8]

List of credited aerial victories

Aerial Victories

Plane shot down	date	Unit	Plane flown	Location
Do 17	14 May 1940	GC 1/3	D.520	North of Suippes (France)
Fw 189	16 June 1943	Normandie	Yak-1	Brusna-Mekovaïa (USSR)
Bf 110	14 July 1943	Normandie	Yak-9	Jagodnaja (USSR)
Fw 190	17 July 1943	Normandie	Yak-9	Jagodnaja-Krasnikovo (USSR)
Fw 190	17 July 1943	Normandie	Yak-9	Beloto-Orel (USSR)
Ju 88	19 July 1943	Normandie	Yak-9	Krasnikovo (USSR)
Ju 87	31 August 1943	Normandie	Yak-9	Yelnya (USSR)
Fw 190	1 September 1943	Normandie	Yak-9	Yelnya (USSR)
Fw 190	17 September 1943	Normandie	Yak-9	10 km W of Yelnya (USSR)
Fw 190	22 September 1943	Normandie	Yak-9	30 km SE of Smolensk (USSR)
Hs 126	4 October 1943	Normandie	Yak-9	Krasnoe (USSR)
Fw 190	12 October 1943	Normandie	Yak-9	Gorki (USSR)
Ju 88	15 October 1943	Normandie	Yak-9	10 km N of Gorki (USSR)
Fw 190	15 October 1943	Normandie	Yak-9	7 km N of Gorki (USSR)
Fw 190	15 October 1943	Normandie	Yak-9	7 km N of Gorki (USSR)
Ju 87	16 October 1944	Normandie	Yak-3	Pillupönen (East Prussia)
Ju 87	16 October 1944	Normandie	Yak-3	Pillupönen (East Prussia)
Fw 190	16 October 1944	Normandie	Yak-3	SE of Stallupönen (East Prussia)
Hs 129	18 October 1944	Normandie	Yak-3	S of Stallupönen (East Prussia)
Hs 129	18 October 1944	Normandie	Yak-3	S of Stallupönen (East Prussia)
Fw 190	18 October 1944	Normandie	Yak-3	Stallupönen (East Prussia)
Bf 109	23 October 1944	Normandie	Yak-3	8 km S of Stallupönen (East Prussia)
Bf 109	26 October 1944	Normandie	Yak-3	SE of Stallupönen (East Prussia)

References

1. ^ http://aerostories.free.fr/pil_cha_fr/albert/page2.html
2. ^ (Russian)Biography at the website on Heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia
3. ^ http://www.aviationartstore.com/albert_2.htm
4. ^ http://www.acapitolblog.com/2009/11/valley-resident-marcel-albert-is-french.html
5. ^ http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iX5ZLvSJZid9AkfL9fmiwSD2hVFQ
6. ^ DEFM1008929D
7. ^ http://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/fr_compagnon/8.html
8. ^ ^{a b c} http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=1648

External links

• "French fighter pilots 1939–1945." Aerostories
• Interview with Marcel Albert at simulation-france-magazine.com (French language)

Persondata
Name	Albert, Marcel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	25 November 1917
Place of birth
Date of death	23 August 2010
Place of death