Pierre Fenaux de Maismont, a French military officer, fought in multiple theaters of WWII, from Syria to Normandy, before dying in a 1944 aerial accident.
Birth and early career
Pierre Fenaux de Maismont was born on 4 February 1911 in Rennes. He graduated from the ESM Saint-Cyr, a French military academy, in 1933 and was assigned as a second lieutenant to the 39th Infantry Regiment in Dieppe.Early aviation training
Promoted to lieutenant two years later, he was drawn to aviation and completed an observer training course in airplanes from June to October 1937. He then served for one year in an aerial observation group.Service in North Africa and the Middle East
After eight months with the 1st Foreign Legion Regiment, he was sent to the Oran Aerial Observation Group in Algeria and later to the 593 Squadron in Aleppo, Syria. In March 1940, he joined the Reconnaissance Group 583.Defiance and escape to Palestine
On 29 June 1940, refusing the armistice, he went to Palestine on his own initiative and enlisted in the Royal Air Force. He was part of the French Bomber Flight 1, which operated in Abyssinia from Aden.Capture and release
On 8 September 1940, his aircraft was shot down by Italian forces above Addis-Abeba. Injured and the sole survivor, he was taken prisoner and sentenced to death but was secretly pardoned by the Duke of Aosta. He was released in April 1941 after seven months of captivity.Return to combat
Promoted to captain, he joined the "Lorraine" Bombing Group in Syria and trained radio-guns. He was seriously injured in December 1941 during a takeoff accident and later returned to the Foreign Legion.Legion service and battles
With the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade, he fought in El Alamein in 1942 and was wounded again by a mine explosion. He later took command of the "Bretagne" Bombing Group in 1943 and participated in operations in the Fezzan and Tripolitaine.Final missions and death
Transferred to Great Britain in 1944, he resumed combat and flew missions over occupied territories, including Normandy. He was killed in an aerial accident in October 1944 and died the next day in a military hospital in Camberley.Legacy and honors
Pierre de Maismont was awarded the Officer of the Legion of Honour, the Companion of Liberation, and several other medals. His logbook, Logbook of Commander Pierre de Maismont. Aerial Officer (1911-1944), was published in Senlis in 1946. He was buried in Chevrières in the Oise.
