Luis Fortin: World War II Bomber Pilot

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There is a reason it was called a world war. Besides the major powers involved, numerous lesser countries were caught up in the global struggle that officially began with the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. Volunteers from neutral or occupied countries fought in the Allied or Axis armies, navies or, most noticeably, air forces. The Luftwaffe included Slovak, Croatian and Spanish fighter squadrons. The Soviet army air force had Czech, Polish and French regiments. During the 1939-40 Winter War, Finland had a flight whose Gloster Gladiator fighters and their pilots came from Sweden. Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) outdid them all, however, with squadrons made up of Czechs, Poles, Belgians, Dutch, French and Norwegians, as well as three ‘Eagle Squadrons’ of Americans who had volunteered before their country entered the conflict.

Within that context, Luis Horacio Fortin may have a multinational status unique among wartime airmen. An Argentine citizen, he volunteered to fight for France and, after doing some of his training in Canada, ended up in an RAF squadron of French airmen-in-exile carrying on the struggle from Britain — flying American-built aircraft.

‘I was born in Buenos Aires on February 14, 1920,’ said Fortin. ‘My mother was an Argentinian. My father was French, sent by a French company that built and operated the port of Rosario, 400 kilometers north of Buenos Aires, on the Parana River, which shipped cereals from Argentina to Europe.

‘I went to war out of love for my father’s country,’ he explained. ‘In September 1939 I went to the French ambassador in Buenos Aires and told him I wanted to go and fight for France. The ambassador thanked me, but said that when it came to foreign volunteers, France only asked for specialists: medical doctors, engineers, pilots and — believe it or not — veterinarians. I had not thought of flying before, but at that point I decided I wanted to be a pilot. I took a course in Buenos Aires, accumulating 15 to 20 hours. I had just flown solo when the war ended in France. Soon after that, however, ‘Comités de Gaulle‘ were founded all over the world. Those who escaped with General Charles de Gaulle, and Frenchmen everywhere, decided we had to go and help liberate France. Although I had flown only five hours solo, soon I was on the steamship Trojan Star, bound for England.’

After undergoing RAF entrance tests, Fortin was sent to Canada, first to Monkton, New Brunswick, and then to a flying school in Medicine Hat, Alberta, where he flew in the de Havilland Tiger Moth. His next stop was Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, where higher-ups decided he would be a bomber pilot. ‘I trained in twin-engine Airspeed Oxfords and Avro Ansons,’ Fortin said, ‘then I was shipped back across Canada and then the Atlantic in what was said to be the largest convoy up to that time — five or six columns of ships. Prime Minister Winston Churchill was coming across the Atlantic at the same time, and when his ship met our convoy, he went down each column, waving at us.’

Although Fortin had above-average ratings in his flight tests, the British believed that he did not have enough flying hours, and since they had enough pilots at that time, he was assigned as a staff pilot in a school on the west coast of England, where the RAF trained wireless personnel as SI (secret instrument) operators. When he finally had enough hours, he was sent to an operational training unit in Finmere, where for the first time he flew the Boston, as the British called the Douglas A-20 Havoc. ‘This was a plane that did not have a dual command — just a single seat for one pilot,’ said Fortin. ‘I flew for about a half-hour as a passenger in the back, then the pilot said, ‘Now it’s yours.’ I flew a few hours, familiarizing myself with the Boston. Then they gave me the Free French crew that was going to fly with me in operations and sent me to No. 342 Squadron, RAF, at Hartford Bridge, Hampshire.’

Known as Groupe Lorraine, No. 342 Squadron was part of 137 Wing, along with the all-British No. 88 Squadron. ‘All of the crews in No. 342 Squadron were very French, very patriotic,’ recalled Fortin, ‘though they came from all over the world. Among my more interesting squadron mates was gunner Ricardou, who before each mission asked the mechanic to keep his artificial leg, so it wouldn’t be stolen by the Germans if he was shot down. Romain Gary, who was of Polish origin, sometimes flew with me as navigator. He later served in the French diplomatic service in California, became a famous author, writing 50 or 60 novels, married a movie star and ended up committing suicide. The squadron’s intelligence officer was a woman, Lieutenant Jeannette Mascias.’

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Aerial Combat, Airborne Operations, Historical Conflicts, World War II

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