GC I / 55 was born from
the regrouping of Tours and Etampes Patrols. These join the airfield
of Bordeaux June 17 and 18, 1940 to form the new unit under the
command of Commander RABATEL. Each of the Patrols becomes a squadron
and the squadron is reinforced by pilots present in Bordeaux or
by pilots from the Air School of Tours to arrive at a total of
24 pilots.
The equipment is rather
varied: we find within the unit, conventional aircrafts, Morane
MS406, Bloch 151 and 152, Dewoitine 520, but also much rarer aircrafts:
2 Arsenal VG33 and 3 Bloch 155 of which one equipped, maybe with,
4 guns 20mm.
The group will carry out
cover missions in the Bordeaux area. Returning from a mission
on alert, Sergeant LEPEZEL kills himself on June 19 at the landing:
his lack of experience on Bloch fighter is probably the cause.
On June 20th, an alert Patrol took off to intercept a formation
of Heinkel 111. The Sub Lieutenant SOULVIAT having lost his teammates,
attacked the bombers alone and succeeded in shooting down one
of them.
Until June 24, the Group
will carry out other missions, without however meeting the enemy.
The flight ban is given in the night of 24 to 25 June, but the
pilots not wanting to fall in the hands of the Germans, take off
to Toulouse on June 25 in the morning, the commander RABATEL tries
to prevent them by deploying tirailleurs Senegalese in front of
the aircrafts, but he will not dare to fire. Other pilots accompanied
by various personnel, will fly aboard 2 Caudron Goéland
present on the airfield.
The pilots arrived in Toulouse,
will be arrested for "Indiscipline", and the Commander
RABATEL, who finally joined them by car will be arrested for "lack
of authority" ... everyone will be released a few days later
and GC I / 55 will be definitively dissolved on July 1, 1940.
