27 November 1944

Douglas A-24B-15-DT
(s/n 42-54543)
Nord-West of Champagné (72), east of Le Mans
(contributors : Frédéric Hénoff, France crashes 39-45, Français libres.net)

A Douglas A-24B of GCB 1./18 "Vendée"
Artwork © Jean-Marie Guillou

Crew 
(GCB 1./18 "Vendée" - Atlantic Air Force, "Groupe Patrie")

- Sergent Chef (pilot) Pierre René MOINE (FAFL service number at the "Groupe Picardie" : 40525),
seriously injured and returned to duty

Photo with courtesy of website francaislibres.net

born July 31, 1920 in Epinac (71)
transported to the hospital in Le Mans, died on August 4, 2008 in Boulogne-Billancourt (92).

- Adjudant (passenger) Jean-Louis IDELOT, safe and returned to duty 
born February 17, 1915 in Russy-Brémont (60) (to be confirmed)
very slightly injured

THE STORY
After taking off from Vannes airfield bound for Villacoublay, the aircraft of "Sergent Chef" Moine and Adjudant Idelot suffered engine failure near Le Mans and crashed in the countryside around 11:15 a.m., near the "Ferme du Pressoir", 1 km northwest of Champagné, east of Le Mans. An excerpt from the book "Les pilotes de la gloire, guerres et paix d'un aviateur de la France-Libre" written by Pierre-René Moine and Marie-Christine Moine, tells us a little more :

[...] On that day, in November 1944, I took off and about two-thirds of the way through, as I was flying over the outskirts of Le Mans towards Villacoublay, my engine failed. The weather wasn't very good, I was flying at low altitude, about 200 meters. I didn't have time to choose a crash site and I hit the ground at very high speed, in an orchard. The aircraft broke up, the engine was ejected, and I found myself sitting in my seat, thrown about fifteen meters from the wreckage of the plane. My forehead was completely split open, I couldn't see anything, but I didn't lose consciousness for a single moment. In fact, I went through the windshield and it was a terrible shock. I remember trying to land but I was too low, I couldn't. So, I hit the ground. Some local people who had witnessed the accident came from a small village nearby, called Champagny [note: Champagné in Sarthe], and they carried me to one of their homes. They laid me down on an oilcloth because I was bleeding profusely. I was completely disfigured; the skin of my forehead, cut open along its entire length, hung over my eyes, so that I undoubtedly presented a striking appearance. These brave people alerted the military authorities in Le Mans and an ambulance came to get me. It was an American ambulance, with American personnel, which took me to the American hospital in Le Mans despite there was also a French hospital. But because I was a soldier and I was piloting an American aircraft, it was the Americans who took charge of me. [...]

RENE PIERRE MOINE
(source : webite www.francaislibres.net)

♦ Article published in "Le Bien Public" on September 1, 2008 : " René Moine, an aviation hero".

" When the war was declared in 1939, he decided to enlist in the Air Force. In 1940, he was assigned to the flight school in Le Mans, where he suffered his first accident. After the "Phoney War", aboard a trawler, he answered General de Gaulle's call for service among 40,000 volunteers. He thus joined England and Free France. In 1942, appointed corporal by the same General, he was assigned to Syria with the "Picardie" fighter group, then with the "Patrie" group. 1944 : the French campaign and numerous war missions brought him another accident. During a convalescent leave, he learned that his sister Jeanne-Marie was dying, having just been released from the German jails where she had been imprisoned for acts of resistance. He also learned that two cousins and a second cousin had been shot by the Germans in Nolay in September of that same year.

1945-46 was the time of Germany's occupation, before moving to Indochina for the next two years to carry out multiple aerial missions. In 1948, Lieutenant René Moine left the fighter jets for transport. He then spent five years in Africa, where he was once again the victim of a terrible accident from which he miraculously survived. Hence his nickname "Trompe-la-mort" (Death-Cheat) by his friends. Then assigned to the " Bretagne " group based in Thièse, he returned to Senegal for two years, where he married Christiane Caudron, who also died in December 2007. A daughter, Marie-Christine, completed the family. He continued his military career until retirement, arriving with the rank of "Commandant" and numerous well-deserved medals. He then moved to Thury, then to Epinac, where he wrote down his memoirs and published a book retracing his career in the Air Force entitled "Les Pilotes de la Gloire" (Pilots of Glory)". In this striking book, he pays tribute to his many friends who died tragically during their careers and are often forgotten. He now rests in the intercommunal cemetery of Clamart, where he was buried alongside his wife.

♦ René Pierre Moine - his opened book !

" René Moine in Odiham. He had an unusual career in the FAFL. After joining the UK aboard the "Trébouliste", he completed the route that took him from St Athan in Wales, then Odiham in Hampshire. There, he was rated an "average pilot" by Léon Prévot, his instructor, and was qualified to serve in a fighter squadron. It was at Ternhill that the situation deteriorated. A disagreement with one of his British instructors led to his exclusion from the training program and redirected to Camberley. Having lost his assignment, he asked Charles Ottensooser if he could resume his pilot training. The latter arranged for his departure from the United Kingdom and his embarkation for the Middle East. On November 6, 1942, he received his pilot's license. René Moine served successively in the Picardie (February 1944), Vendée (November 1944) and Saintonge (March 1945) groups. After a short stay in Friedrichshafen, Germany, he served in the Far East (August 1946 to October 1947) in the Alsace group. Back in France, he was sent to the Poitou, Brittany and Franche-Comté air transport groups, where he served in particular in sub-Saharan Africa. He left the Air Force in 1966. "

Photo site francaislibres.net

Sources :
- "Les pilotes de la gloire, guerres et paix d'un aviateur de la France-Libre, 1939-1955" by Pierre-René Moine and Marie-Christine Moine - Sides Editions, 1997)
- Website France crashes 39-45
- Website Français Libres. net

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