Perina: Only one word: terrific. It was not as fast as the Messerschmitt, but it could outmaneuver any German aircraft. If one got on your tail, in one 360-degree turn you were behind him. To give you an example, on one occasion eight of us were flying over Sedan when we saw 81 German fighters, Messerschmitts, 2,000 or 3,000 feet above us. It was amazing–as soon as we saw them, they saw us. As they came down on us, we came up at them; they passed us, and we got right on their tails. We couldn’t get in any shots at them, though. On the other hand, we lost only one aircraft, whose pilot bailed out–and he was very inexperienced. In the short time we were in action, my unit, GC I/5, downed 117 German aircraft, but only lost four pilots (one of whom died of blood poisoning while in the hospital). We had the best record in the Armée de l’Air.

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MH: Who did you consider the outstanding pilots in the escadrille?

Perina: Accart, of course, was extraordinary–a great leader and a great fighter pilot. Our leading ace, however, was Lieutenant Edmond Marin la Meslée. He was very intelligent. He spoke English fluently, as well as some Spanish and Italian. He was a very quiet man, but by June 7 he had claimed about 20 kills, of which 16 were confirmed, the rest probables. I liked him very much; everybody in the squadron did.

MH: What eventually became of him?

Perina: Marin la Meslée later flew Republic P-47 Thunderbolts with the Allies over Italy and southern France. He was supposed to retire in February 1945, but he insisted on going on one last flight. While attacking a bridge on February 4, he was killed when a 40mm anti-aircraft shell exploded right behind him. One piece of shrapnel went right into his neck.

MH: What about you, meanwhile, back in 1940? I assume that you were soon back in action.

Perina: On Sunday, May 12, the Germans occupied Sedan. Junkers Ju-87s were already dive-bombing the airfield at Sedan when we arrived and attacked them. One Stuka was just in front of me; I hardly had to aim. In four minutes I got four of them, one after the other. Two fell in French lines and were confirmed by the confirmation officer, the other two came down in German lines and could only be counted as probables. The newspapers in France made a big deal about my performance, and on May 15 I was promoted to lieutenant. Not bad–I had risen from sergeant to lieutenant in five days! Meanwhile, though, my squadron moved to St. Dizier on the Marne River on May 14. I shared in the destruction of three more He-111s on May 18th, 19th and 26th.

MH: Your squadron commander, Jean Accart, was also credited with 12 victories and three probables during that time, but wasn’t he shot down on June 1, 1940?

Perina: Yes, I was with him at the time. That day, while flying patrol, we were flying northeast when suddenly the radio played the French national anthem and announced 30 Germans flying near the Swiss border, en route to Marseilles. We found nothing, flew to Dijon to refuel, then took off again. We got to the Swiss border just as the Heinkels were flying back, in quite a close formation. On the first pass, Capitaine Accart got one bullet right between the eyes. Somehow, he had enough strength to open his cockpit and bail out–I last saw him parachuting down. I was pretty mad. I attacked, shot down an He-111, then attacked another two, which flew on with their engines damaged. The first was credited as my 11th victory, the other two only as probables.

MH: What happened after you disengaged from the Germans?

Perina: My fuel was low, so I flew back at 6 p.m. When I landed at Dijon, I was out of gas. I had only refueled with 100 liters of gas when there was another air raid warning, so I took off, flew north and landed 20 kilometers short of St. Dizier–out of fuel again. I phoned my groupe commandant and learned that he had already gotten the news about Capitaine Accart.

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