Coudray, Christian

Date of birth:: December 7th, 1908 (Rouen, France)
Date of death:: June 15th, 1941 (over Fort Capuzzo, Libya)
Nationality:: French

Biography

Entered as a student mechanic in the Air Force in November 1928, he obtained five years later to become a fighter pilot. In 1933, he trained as a hunter in Etampes.

At the time of the 1940 campaign, Chief Warrant Officer Coudray was in Lebanon, in Rayack, with fighter group 1/7. Two days before the armistice, he was seconded to Egypt, to Ismailia, to the Royal Air Force, with Lieutenant Péronne and Adjutant Ballatore.

The armistice occurring, the three men, with Captain Jacquier, decide to continue the fight and engage with their rank in the RAF. Three units were created immediately on July 8, 1940 under the following names:

-Free French large reconnaissance squadron n ° 1 (French Bomber Flight n ° 1) under the orders of Captain Ritoux-Lachaud

-Free French Flight n ° 2 (Free French Flight n ° 2) under the command of Captain Jacquier

-French Free Liaison Squadron n ° 3 (Free French Flight n ° 3) under the orders of Chief Warrant Officer Lornez

Christian Coudray was assigned as a pilot to Free French Flight N ° 2 (FFF n ° 2) as soon as it was formed on July 8, 1940. The unit was attached in August 1940 to the 274 Squadron of the RAF and mainly carried out attack missions in the RAF. ground and cover of the Allied fleet.

He participated in the air defense of the port of Alexandria and in the protection of the English fleet in its bombing missions of Bardia. At the end of August, the unit is responsible for the defense of Haifa.

In March 1941, following General de Gaulle's inspection in Egypt, French personnel were released from their engagement in the RAF and incorporated into the command of the Free French Air Forces (FAFL).

During the evacuation of Crête, Coudray took part in several cover missions over the Mediterranean.

Shot down during one of these missions over Libya on June 15, 1941, his body will never be found. According to some sources, seriously injured, he was captured by the Italians and sent to a hospital in Germany where he died of his injuries on July 19, 1941.