Louis Delfino

Who was Louis Delfino?

Louis Delfino was a French fighter ace in World War II and a General in the French Air Force.

Delfino was born on 5 October 1912 in Nice. As a boy, his father was killed in World War I. Delfino entered Saint-Cyr military academy in September 1931, graduated, and was promoted to second lieutenant in 1933. He joined the French Air Force and, after earning his wings on 27 July 1934, began his flying career as a reconnaissance pilot. In 1938, shortly before the outbreak of World War II, he joined Groupe de Chasse I/4 in Reims. GC I/4 was moved to Wez-Thuisy in August 1939, and Delfino, now a captain and adjutant of the unit, saw little action in the opening months of the war.

On 17 May 1940, he was named commandant of the GC II/9's 4th squadron. After the armistice, he rejoined his old group, GC I/4, in Dakar. In August 1943, he became deputy commandant, but the coastal patrol missions did not satisfy his adventurous temperament, so he applied for transfer to the Normandie-Niemen squadron.

Delfino obtained his transfer to Normandie-Niemen on 28 February 1944. He succeeded Pierre Pouyade as the head of the regiment on 12 November.