The RAF pilot who dropped the Tricolor on occupied Paris

In a daring raid intended to boost the morale of the French, Wing Commander Ken Gatward flew just feet off the ground to put the wind up the Germans. After dropping a huge French flag on top of the Arc de Triomphe, the British pilot headed towards the Gestapo headquarters which he raked with 20mm shells. The attack sent the German running for their lives, to the delight of Parisians.

Wg Cdr Gatward’s antics were celebrated in British newspaper cartoons and raised the hope and morale among the British and French. One of the cartoons depicted his aircraft doing a loop around the Eiffel Tower, with the word ‘Hope’ written in the sky using his trail smoke. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and after the war he was hailed a hero by the French government who presented him with a large bottle of Champagne and a Tricolor in Paris.

Read More: The RAF pilot who dropped the Tricolor on occupied Paris - Telegraph


Wing Commander Ken Gatward flew his Bristol Beaufighter down the Champs-Elysees in Paris and dropped a huge French Tricolor on top of the Arc de Triomphe

 

A good man ,symbols are sometimes worth more than anything else

 

Gatward's navigator Sgt. G F. ‘George’ Fern took photographs all along the route and over Paris as “ it was the only way to prove that we had been there”. A detailed description of the raid along with some of Fern’s photos appeared in “ Life “ magazine issue dated 10 August 1942 ( ‘RAF plane visits Paris’ )

 

I hate me sometimes: LIFE - Google Books

That incredibly long link will take you to the aformentioned photos

 

Wow! Havent heard a sniff of this before...Would need brass ones to do it, but in a Bfighter!! Was this an ordered mission or off his own bat?

 

..see the Life article - the plan was to shoot up the Germans' daily parade up and down the Champs Elysee, but there was no sign of it and they ended up strafing German naval HQ (IIRC, although usually cited as being Gestapo HQ ) instead. Quite a feat of airmanship and all but impossible in a twin engine aircraft even as late as 1936..

 

A nice kick in the nazi buttock. Gotta wonder though if he got a warning for endangering his plane during a mission....