Fighter pilot of the 1st separate air regiment of Fighting France "Normandy" Noel Castelain (1917 - 1943).Noël Catelain joined the Fighter School at Avore in December 1939. During the German invasion, he was sent to the south of France 🇫🇷
He then fled to England with a group of pilots to continue the fight. He trained at the fighter pilot retraining centre at Sutton Bridge. He was sent to Egypt to the Free French Fighter Squadron No. 1, equipped with Hurricane aircract
The squadron later joined No. 73 Squadron RAF for the defence of Tobruk. Here, Catelain scored his first victory, shooting down a German Ju-87 dive bomber in a group battle.
On 19 October 1942, Castelen expressed a desire to fight in the USSR and arrived there on 28 November 1942, as part of the first group of French volunteer pilots. In July, he scored 3 victories near Kursk
The Fw.190 fighter he shot down on 14 July was piloted by Teniente Eduardo Garcia Amigo from a Spanish squadron of the 51st Fighter Squadron of the Luftwaffe (15/JG 51). On 16 July 1943, Castelen shot down a Bf.110.
However, he, Littolf and another pilot then failed to return from a battle with Fw.190 fighters from JG51 in the Krasnikovo area. By that time, Castelen had 7 aerial victories to his credit (4 personal and 3 as part of a group), including one scored in Egypt.
@Destroye83 via X
