Strana 41
BM324, F/Lt Bernard Dupérier (Baron Léon Sternberg de Armella),
No. 340 (Free French) Squadron, RAF Westhampnett,
West Sussex, the United Kingdom, July 1942
BM564, P/O André M. A. F. Plisnier, No. 350 (Belgium) Squadron, RAF Redhill,
Surrey, United Kingdom, summer - fall 1942
Bernard Dupérier, whose real name was Leon
Sternberg de Armella, enlisted in the Free
French Air Force in New York on January 15,
1941 under his mother’s maiden name. Having
served with No. 242 and No. 615 Squadrons
RAF, in October 1941 he joined No. 340 (Free
French) Squadron (GC II/4 Ille-de-France) as
B Flight (Versailles) leader. As of May 1, 1942,
he assumed command of the whole squadron.
From December 1942 he served at FAFL
Headquarters. From August 30, 1943, he was
given command of No. 341 (Free French)
Squadron (GC III/2 Alsace) and from September
1943 he commanded the Biggin Hill Wing. On June
25, 1944, he was parachuted to Bretagne where
he acted as a commander of 3. Headquarters of
FFI. On August 6, 1944, during the liberation of the
city of Saint-Brieuc he was severely wounded.
He returned to the duty in April 1945. After
the hostilities he worked in several positions
including Air France director. In 1958 he entered
the world of politics and in 1962 was elected
member of Parliament. The white stripes on the
nose and horizontal tail surfaces of his BM324,
in which he scored two victories, pertain to the
cancelled invasion operation Rutter scheduled
for July 7, 1942. This markings are mistakenly
attributed to the operation Jubilee in which
No. 340 (Free French) Squadron also took part.
Spitfire Mk.Vb BM564 flew with No. 350 (Belgium)
Squadron from April 30, 1942 till December 27,
1942. During this period all sixteen Spitfires of
the unit sported presentation inscriptions from
a list which allocated the inscription Léopoldville
to BM564. This aircraft was almost exclusively
flown by well-known Belgian pilot and ace
P/O André Marie Alfred Frederick Plisnier who
in its cockpit scored four kills, two during the
operation Jubilee, landing at Dieppe on August
19, 1942 and two more kills later in November.
His total score during the war was six kills.
The presentation inscription Léopoldville is
also included in the later list of the Belgium
presentation Spitfires and allocated to AA720.
This aircraft flew missions briefly, from
June 6, 1944 till June 10, 1944 when the pilot
F/Lt Alec Alexander perished in it. At that time
this airplane certainly sported the invasion
stripes and its windshield probably featured the
integrated armored glass. Apparently it didn’t
sport anymore the nose art under the canopy.
KITS 01/2026
INFO Eduard
41
January 2026