BUILT

BM324, F/Lt Bernard Dupérier (Baron Léon Sternberg de Armella), No. 340

(Free French) Squadron, RAF Westhampnett, West Sussex, Great Britain,

July 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 a 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 became the 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.

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INFO Eduard - December 2021

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