Site in French

Fighter Group GC II/3
3rd Squadron (Ex SPA 37)
4th Squadron (Ex SPA 81)

Historical

The GC II / 3 was created in October 1933. It is equipped with MORANE MS406 in May 1939. It is first stationed on the ground of Fayence to cover the region of the Alps where it will make only few meetings. before joining the East of France. On April 28, as the GC I / 3, he is sent to the south to be transformed on D520.

During this period, he is attached to the ZOAA (Alpine Air Operations Zone).

The GC II / 3 will finish the Campaign of France with a record of 31 sure wins including 4 on MS406, and 15 probable including 1 on MS406. This record was obtained at the price of 4 killed, 11 wounded and 1 prisoner.

Staff

Commanders of the group GC II/3
Commander MORLAT Jules
September 1, 1939
May 4, 1941
  
Commanders of the 3rd Squadron
Captain NAUDY
September 1, 1939
May 30, 1940
  
Captain BISSOUDRE Maurice
May 31, 1940
August 29, 1940
Commanders of the 4th Squadron
Captain CLAUSSE Raymond
September 1, 1939
May 4, 1941
  

 

Pilots

Pilots of Group
Names of pilots
Rank
Squadron
Victories
Informations
Civil Statut
Photo
Citations
Sure
Prob.
BIARD Henri
Sergeant
1
 
 
BISSOUDRE Maurice
Captain
4
2
 
 
BOUTON
Chief Warrant Officer
1
accidented in aerial combat May 21, 1940
      
BOYER
Sergeant
accidented in Air Combat May 31, 1940.
      
CLAUSSE Raymond
Captain
Staff 4th Sqn.
5
4
Raymond CLAUSSE attended the Saint-Cyr special military school in 1931, then the Air Force military and training school. In 1935 he was posted to GC II/3, 3rd Wing, Dijon. He took part in the French campaign and withdrew with his group to Algeria in 1940.
In 1943 he was posted to the Meknès fighter school, and in 1944 to the GC III/6, with which he took part in the German campaign.
He was posted to the Air Command in Tunisia in 1946, then sent to Indochina in 1949 as Chief of Staff to the Air Command General. He was appointed commander of the Tours base in 1951, then transferred to the air defence command in Versailles in 1956. He was appointed first deputy chief of staff in 1958, commander of tactical air group 2 and then commander of the air force's light aviation in 1961. Raymond CLAUSSE was placed on aircrew leave in 1962 with the rank of Air Brigadier General.
 Born on 27 February 1913 in Villers-le-Chèvre (54 - Meurthe-et-Moselle).
Died in Antibes (06 - Alpes-Maritimes) on 25 May 2003		    
CODET Marcel
Sub-Lieutenant
5
3
     
CUKR Vaclav
Master-Corporel
6
Czech Pilot. Seriously accidented in aerial combat on June 8, 1940.
      
DE-SOLMINIHAC
Sub-Lieutenant
accidented in Air Combat on June 13, 1940.
      
DESSAULT
Chief Warrant Officer
1
     
D'HARCOURT Robert
Sub-Lieutenant
4th Sqn.
May 21, 1940, attacking by mistake a Potez 631 of the ECN 4/13 he is killed by the rear gunner ..
      
DUSSAULT
Captain
1
Arrested on May 22, 1940
  
 
FICHEPAIN
Sub-Lieutenant
accidented by the Flak May 25, 1940
      
FRAISSINET Jean - Alfred
Lieutenant
Jean FRAISSINET was drafted into the 6th Hussars in 1914. He was a student at the Saumur Cavalry School in 1916. He joined the air force in April 1916. He was then a student pilot at the Dijon, Chartres, Avord, Cazaux and Pau schools in 1919.
He was posted to No 57 squadron in August 1917. Demobilised in 1919, he served several periods in the reserve from 1920 to 1937.
He was recalled in 1939 and posted as assistant officer to the GC II/3. He went to
AFN where he was appointed to the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the AFN forces. Jean Fraissinet was demobilised in July 1940
 Born 22 June 1894 in Marseille (13 - Bouches-du-Rhône).
Died 21 May 1981 in Cogolin (83 - Var)		    
GLEICH Jaroslav
Lieutenant
2
Czech Pilot. Killed by accident on landing on June 13, 1940.
      
KILLY Robert
Sergeant
3
3
     
KORBER Karel
Master-Corporel
3rd Sqn.
2
Czech Pilot. accidented in aerial combat on March 3, 1940
      
LAVEISSIERE André - Marie
Staff-Sergeant
       André LAVEISSIERE was a student pilot at the training school for non-commissioned officers of the flying personnel in 1934. He completed a training period at the Etampes flying school in 1935 and was posted to the Chartres air base in 1936. He was called up to the Air Patrol in 1938. He was mobilised in the defence of Lyon as part of a fighter group, then assigned to the flying instructor school before being transferred to the GC II/3 fighter group in 1940 during the French campaign. He was demobilised in August 1940. He managed to escape from France in March 1943 and joined the Free French Air Force on 26 July 1943. He was sent to the British schools, then assigned to squadron 341, ‘Alsace’ group, and sent to OTU in 1945. André LAVEISSIERE was demobilised in 1946 and transferred to the reserves. Born on 8 August 1913 in Hautot-sur-Mer (76 - Seine-Maritime)
Died in Paris (75) on 24 November 1994.		    
LETE
Sub-Lieutenant
1
     
LOI Martin
Sergeant
4
1
     
MIKULASEK Antonin
Sub-Lieutenant
1
Czech Pilot. Killed in air combat on May 25, 1940.
      
MORLAT Jules
Commander
Staff Group
6
     
NAUDY
Captain
4
4
accidented in Air Combat May 31, 1940.
      
PAVLU Otto
Master-Corporel
Czech Pilot.
      
PEROUTKA Stanislav
Master-Corporel
2
Czech Pilot.
      
PHENIX Jean
Chief Warrant Officer
Killed following an Air Combat on May 31, 1940.
      
POINCENOT Pierre
Adjutant
2
1
     
PRAYER Gilbert
Sub-Lieutenant
1
accidented in Air Combat May 31, 1940.
      
TITARD
Adjutant
1
     
TOURNE Robert
Staff-Sergeant
4
     
TROYES Aimé
Sub-Lieutenant
4
2
Source Mr Jean-Luc GUADELLI, his Little Nephew:
In a letter sent to his sister (my grandmother) from Fes (?) on the 20th (July?) - place and date almost illegible but after Mers el-Kébir - he lists his activity since April 1940. It mentions with places and dates its 4 approved victories (He111, Me109, He126, Do17) but it also indicates a list of "not approved victories - drop point not identified" (sic) with as precision: "It was too much the paddle and there was no more control well which had some which profited from it" (re-sic). They are: a He111 (East of Arras on 22 May), a Me109 (North of Reims on 09 June), a Do215 (Montmirail region on 13 June), a Ju87 (Montmirail region on 13 June) and a He111 (Sancerre Cosne on 16 June), the last war mission in France. He finally reports 4 missions against the British with a night landing accident on the evening of Mers el-Kébir.
Knowing the character I'm convinced that it is not a matter of boasts but of real facts which he probably did not mention otherwise than in this letter.
He also mentions in this letter that he was shot down on 25 May and I have 2 small photos of him with his foot bandaged in front of the damaged rear part of his D520 (captioned "Villers Coteret" 1940 on the back of one and "1940" on the back of the other). If you wish I can send you a jpg copy (or other format). On this subject you mention that he was shot down by Flak, but in discussions with him he had told me that according to him he had been hit by a 75 of French flak...
      
VIAU
Staff-Sergeant
Accidentally accidented on March 24, 1940
      
VIE
Staff-Sergeant
1
     

 

Airfields

Airfields
Period of use of airfields
Names
County
Fayence
83 - Var
August 28, 1939
Cannes-Mandelieu
06 - Alpes-Maritimes
September 11, 1939
Chambaran-Marcilloles
38 - Isère
October 8, 1939
Dijon-Longvic
21 - Côte d'Or
October 17, 1939
Connantre
51 - Marne
January 19, 1940
Metz-Frescaty
57 - Moselle
April 1, 1940
Maubeuge-Elesmes
59 - Nord
April 11, 1940
Vittel-Auzainvilliers
88 - Vosges
April 30, 1940
Le Luc
83 - Var
May 9, 1940
Betz Bouillancy
60 - Oise
May 19, 1940
Meaux Esbly
77 - Seine et Marne
May 19, 1940
Betz Bouillancy
60 - Oise
May 21, 1940
La Ferté-Gaucher
77 - Seine et Marne
June 1, 1940
Auxerre
89 - Yonne
June 11, 1940
Avord Sainte-Solange
18 - Cher
June 13, 1940
Perpignan-La-Salanque
66 - Pyrénées Orientales
June 16, 1940
Alger Maison-blanche
Algeria
June 20, 1940
Relizane
Algeria
June 24, 1940

Click on the map to enlarge :

Itinerary of the GC II/3

 

Aircrafts

The GC II/3 was equipped since its creation on October 1933, following aircrafts :

The used aircrafts are described in the accessible file by the link below. You will find Nb of series, Registration, date of affectation to the group, and fate of the plane there.

In this list are identified :

    - 1 Dewoitine D501
    - 27 Morane-Saulnier MS406
    - 59 Dewoitine D520

     

Records

1/2 or 1/3 of victories were obtained in association with another Group.

Confirmed Victories
36.5
MS406
D520
Messerschmitt BF110
1
2
Messerschmitt BF109
2
3
Henschel Hs 126
2
Junker Ju 87
12
Dornier Do 215 & 17
2
8
Heinkel He111
1
3.5
Likely Victories
16
MS406
D520
Messerschmitt BF110
1
Messerschmitt BF109
1
Junker Ju 87
3
Henschel Hs 126
1
Heinkel He111
4
Dornier Do 215 & 17
6

 

Casualties

Killed Pilots
4
Sub-Lieutenant D'HARCOURT (Combat)
May 21, 1940
Sub-Lieutenant MIKULASEK (Combat)
May 25, 1940
Chief Warrant Officer PHENIX (Combat)
May 31, 1940
Lieutenant GLEICH (Accident)
June 13, 1940
Wounded Pilots
10
Master-Corporal KORBER (Combat)
March 3, 1940
Staff-Sergeant VIAU (Accident)
March 24, 1940
Chief Warrant Officer BOUTON (Combat)
May 21, 1940
Sub-Lieutenant TROYES (Combat)
May 25, 1940
Sub-Lieutenant FICHEPAIN (Combat)
May 25, 1940
Captain NAUDY (Combat)
May 31, 1940
Staff-Sergeant BOYER (Combat)
May 31, 1940
Captain BISSOUDRE (combat)
June 6, 1940
Master-Corporal CUKR (Combat)
June 8, 1940
Sub-Lieutenant DE-SOLMINIHAC (Combat)
June 13, 1940
Prisoners Pilots
1
Captain DUSSAULT
May 22, 1940

 

Sources

- The citations or decorations listed are extracted from the Official Journals archived in « Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France »
- The dates and places of birth of the Group's personnel are taken mainly from the site : "Mémoires des Hommes"
- Source Mr Jean-Luc GUADELLI, Little Nephew of Sub-Lieutenant Aimé TROYES
- Book "Morane MS406" Collective Work - Editions LELA Presse
- Book : "Ils étaient là" by Mr Jacqueline and Paul MARTIN - Editions Aéro-Editions