Fortin was serving as general leader to five boxes of Bostons on September 8, when they struck at 105mm gun positions at Boulogne-sur-Mer. ‘We were at 12,500 feet,’ he recalled, ‘and due to clouds we had to make a second run. The flak was heavy, and suddenly I had a fire in the port wing. I had taken a hit in tank No. 1, and the port engine suffered a burst oil pipe. My starboard rudder control was nearly completely cut. I took a direct hit on the directional compass, the intercom between crew and navigator was cut, and I took a hit on the hydraulic system, seeming to leave me with no brakes at all. In spite of that, I landed at Manston, using the emergency brake system. There were more than 50 holes, and the aircraft was written off as Category AC [reparable on site by an attached maintenance unit], but it had gotten us back on one engine. Very strong plane, the Boston.’ On December 14, 1945, King George VI of England awarded Fortin the Distinguished Flying Cross for his conduct during that mission.

On September 21, Fortin was leading a strike on Fort-de-la- Crche, three miles north of Boulogne-sur-Mer, at the controls of a new Boston Mark IV (American designation A-20J, featuring four forward-firing .50-caliber machine guns and a rear gun turret), marked OA-Q. ‘We came in at 9,300 feet, and the weather was very bad,’ he reported. He then added: ‘Bombing excellent. We landed at Newchurch.’ September 26 saw a strike at the road and railway junction at Cleve, Germany, at 12,800 feet. ‘I was leader of the third box,’ Fortin noted. ‘Flak was heavy, intense but inaccurate, bombing excellent. We landed at Manston.’

Fortin’s 50th and final mission was to have been against German troops three miles northeast of Nijmegen on October 3: ‘I was the leader, but I was brought back to base — there were 10/10th clouds [solid cover] over the area. That ended my second tour of operations. While I was in England, the squadron had already moved from Hartford Bridge to Vitry-en-Artois [France], but there I flew only as a passenger. Soon afterward I was sent to the United States to form a squadron in Texas to carry on the war against Japan. I had had enough of military service, however, and since I was a volunteer, a French general who had an office in the Pentagon arranged for me to go to be demobilized in the French Embassy in Buenos Aires. Thus I was able to go back home soon after the war with Japan [ended]. My father was relieved to have me back and proud of what I had done for his country.’

Fortin continued his aviation career after World War II. He was the first captain of the international airline Flota Aerea Mercante Argentina (FAMA), where he met his wife, Blanca, who was its first stewardess. They married a year later. After FAMA and other local airlines merged into one service, Fortin was operations director of Argentine Airlines when it brought in its first de Havilland Comet jet airliner. In 1962, after retiring from the airline due to high blood pressure, he went back to the University of Buenos Aires to get a doctorate in economic studies. He then received an invitation and scholarship to attend Columbia University in New York, where he received a master’s degree in business administration on February 26, 1964. ‘I went back to Argentina to teach,’ Fortin said, ‘but its schools could not afford me.’ He returned to the United States and got his Ph.D. in finance in 1967. He became a senior investment officer in the International Finance Corporation (World Bank). When he retired in 1985, he and his wife decided to stay in the United States.

In addition to the British DFC, Luis Fortin was made an Officier de la Légion d’Honneur by the French, who also awarded him the Croix de Guerre with three Palms. ‘I was glad to have helped liberate France,’ he concluded, ‘but I saw so many of my friends die or come back with their arms or legs shot off that I hoped we had fought the last war, and the world would never have to fight anymore. But I suppose that’s too much to hope.’

This article was written by Jon Guttman for World War II magazine. For more great articles subscribe to World War II magazine today!

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