This air force general was the last commander of the fighter regiment of the Free French Air Force named "Normandie-Niémen", based in USSR during WWII.
The decision to send pilots to fight along with the soviets (then our allies) against the nazis was taken by the leader of the Free French, Charles de Gaulle, in 1942. The percentage of killed pilots in the regiment was really huge. The bravery of the regiment and its fighting spirit earned the pilots the admiration and gratitude of the Russians. Stalin granted them the right to add "Niemen", a russian river, to the original name of the squadron. At the end of the war, all surviving pilots were allowed to fly back to France in their own fighter aircraft, given to them personally.
The regiment took part in more than 850 air battles and totals more than 270 certified victories.
Born in Nice, Louis Delfino spent his youth in a modest building at the crossroad between the boulevard of Riquier and the boulevard of the Mt Boron. As a teenager, he played soccer at the OGC Nice football club (not yet a professional club) at a good level. His father had died during WWI. His mother worked at the tobacco company. He entered St Cyr, the school educating and training the French army officers.
He died in 1968.