Escadron de Chasse 2/30 Normandie-Niemen Air Base (BA 118). During the rallying of général Charles de Gaulle through the Appeal of 18 June 1940 inviting Frenchmen to join him in London, some went on to Great-Britain in order to continue the fight with the Allies. Great-Britain became the most important « Free French military base and rallying point. Following the rupture of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact by Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941, representatives of Vichy were declared as Persona non grata by the Soviet Authorities and were asked to return to France. Colonel Charles Luguet, the air attaché of the Vichy Government in Moscow, changed
Non-British personnel in the RAF during the Battle of Britain 12 claims. Carbury shot down the first German aircraft over British territory since 1918 and was also one of two aces in a day in the Battle. In 1940, Northern Rhodesia (today Zambia) was a British protectorate in Southern Africa. One Northern Rhodesian, of British origin, is recognised as a participant in the Battle of Britain. Pilot Officer John Ellacombe was born in Livingstone in 1920 and was educated in South Africa. He joined the RAF in 1939 and served in No. 151 Squadron during the Battle of Britain, flying Hurricanes. During the Battle, Ellacombe shot down several German bomber