Adjutant Roland MALHERBE
Adjutant Roland MALHERBE
Biography
Source (Photos and biography): Mr Jean-Jacques LEGRAND, grandson of Adjudant Roland MALHERBE.
Mr Jean-Jacques LEGRAND shared with me some information on his Grandfather, and especially many photos taken during the French Campaign within the GR I/14.Some of them, not represented here, are visible on the page of the GR I/14
Roland MALHERBE, class 1921 is recruited at the office of MEZIERES. He's incorporated on April 10, 1921 in the IIeme RA (Aviation Regiment).
He was appointed Corporal on the 1st October 1921 then Sergeant on the 17th March 1922. Demobilised, he was sent home on 25 April 1923.
Reserve NCO, he was appointed Staff-Sergeant on February 1st 1937.
At the outbreak of the war, he was mobilized on August 26, 1939 and joined the GR I/14 in which he participated in the entire French Campaign as a machine gunner. He was appointed Warrant Officer on 1st April 1940.
Roland MALHERBE being also a Civilian Pilot, his Group Commander, Lieutenant-Colonel DE-VERDILHAC, recommended him to become a Monitor Pilot or Estafette Pilot. Indeed, Roland MALHERBE was then 39 years old, and was judged too "old" by his Group Commander to continue to participate in high altitude missions in fast aircraft.
The photos of Warrant Officer Roland MALHERBE near Dewoitine D520, at Rethel in the Vosges, confirm that he left the reconnaissance before the Armistice for a training or convoy position, probably before the German attack of May 10th 1940.
Various documents
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9 September
1939, first mission over Germany:
Complicated return for this Bloch MB131. Staff Sergeant Roland MALHERBE was a machine gunner on board |
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| Bloch MB 131 of GR I/14 before the Winter of 1939 - 1940 | ||
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| Potez 63-11 of GR I/14 during the winter of 1939 - 1940 | ||
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| Staff Sergeant Roland MALHERBE becomes an instructor pilot or aircraft conveyor. | ||
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