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Lieutenant Pierre MATRAS

Biography

Pierre Matras was born August 29, 1914 in Valence in the Drôme. Engaged in the air force on November 14, 1935, he spent two years at Petites Ecuries to become a confirmed pilot. He was assigned in July 1938 to the Fighting Group II/1. On January 13, 1940, Lieutenant MATRAS went on a shooting campaign to Mourmelon. In May 1940, he was wounded by a bullet in his left arm after descending a Me-110 and was hospitalized in Le Havre. At the exit of the hospital, he joined his group and was at the same time an instructor at the Air School until September 1942. Wishing to go to North Africa, health reasons forced him to wait for September 1943 to go to Casablanca and more specifically to Meknes. Meanwhile, he is three months prisoner in Spain.

On March 22, 1944 he volunteered for the "Normandy" regiment he joined in Toula on May 8, 1944. He took command of the third squadron, succeeding Marcel Lefèvre, who died in action. On June 20, 1945, he returned to France where he led the "Normandie-Niémen" regiment until 1946.

In 1947, he joined the military cabinet of the Minister of the Air and nine months later at the second office of the General Staff. On January 15, 1948, he took command of the second squadron in Dijon and from 1950 to 1953 took office at the staff of the First Air Division of Lahr in Germany. From 1953 to 1955, he commanded air defense at Versailles and then at Cambrai Air Base until 1958. In February 1958, he was seconded to the Supreme Command of the Allied Forces in Europe. In 1960, he was posted as deputy superior officer at the command of the first aerial region in Dijon. From May 1961 to July 1962, he was deputy commander of the joint commander in the Sahara. Promoted to the rank of brigadier general on April 1, 1962, he took command of the overseas area of Brazzaville. He finished his career as head of the French military mission to the 4th tactical force allied to Ramstein. He retired in 1969 after thirty four years of service.

Some feats of arm

On May 14, 1940, Lieutenant MATRAS went on a mission in a GCII / 1 patrol. This one is attacked by MESSERSCHMITT BF109E which rolls on the French pilots in pairs, stitching on their backs. Lieutenant MATRAS's aircraft is hit by a shell, and severely hit, he manages to regain the ground but his BLOCH MB152 is destroyed.