 pierre henri clostermann (28 february 1921 &ndash; 22 march 2006) was a french flying ace, author, engineer, politician and sporting fisherman. over his flying career he was awarded the grand-croix of the french lÃ©gion d'honneur, french croix de guerre, distinguished service order (uk), dfc and bar (uk), distinguished service cross (usa), silver star (usa), and the air medal (usa). ==early life== clostermann was born in curitiba, brazil, into a french diplomatic family of german descent. he was the only son of madeleine carlier from lorraine and jacques clostermann from alsace. after receiving flying tuition from german pilot karl benitz, he completed his secondary education in france and gained his private pilot's licence in 1937. ==wartime service== on the outbreak of war the french authorities refused his application for service, so he travelled to los angeles to become a commercial pilot, studying at the california institute of technology . clostermann joined the free french air force in britain in march 1942. after training at raf cranwell and 61 otu, clostermann, a sergeant pilot, was posted in january 1943 to no. 341 squadron raf (known to the free french as groupe de chasse nÂ° 3/2 "alsace"), flying the supermarine spitfire. ===spitfires 1943-44=== he scored his first two victories on 27 july 1943, destroying two focke-wulf fw 190s over france. with 33 recorded victories to his name, he received at only 24 years of age a commendation by general charles de gaulle, who called him "france's first fighter". while serving in lincolnshire pierre met and married lydia jeanne starbuck at st denys church in sleaford. in october 1943, clostermann was commissioned and assigned to no. 602 squadron raf, remaining with the unit for the next ten months. he flew a variety of missions including fighter sweeps, bomber escorts, high-altitude interdiction over the royal navy's scapa flow base, and strafing or dive-bombing attacks on v-1 launch sites on the french coast. clostermann served thr
1921_births 2006_deaths Commanders_of_the_Order_of_Ouissam_Alaouite_(Morocco) Companions_of_the_Liberation Free_French_military_personnel_of_World_War_II French_Air_Force_personnel French_World_War_II_pilots Grand_Croix_of_the_LA(c)gion_d\'honneur Grand_Officers_of_the_Nichan_Iftikhar Knights_and_Dames_Commander_of_the_Equestrian_Order_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre LycA(c)e_Hoche_alumni Order_of_the_Dannebrog People_from_Curitiba Recipients_of_the_Air_Medal Recipients_of_the_Croix_de_Guerre_(Belgium) Recipients_of_the_Croix_de_Guerre_1939a1945_(France) Recipients_of_the_Croix_de_la_Valeur_Militaire Recipients_of_the_Distinguished_Flying_Cross_(United_Kingdom) Recipients_of_the_Distinguished_Flying_Cross_and_Bar_(United_Kingdom) Recipients_of_the_Distinguished_Service_Cross_(United_States) Recipients_of_the_Insigne_des_blessA(c)s_militaires Recipients_of_the_MA(c)daille_de_l\'AA(c)ronautique Recipients_of_the_MA(c)daille_de_la_RA(c)sistance Recipients_of_the_Silver_Star