Roland de la Poype RIP

Roland de la Poype, yes, another hero lost! Bless them all……On 7-15-42 P/O Alan Aikman of Toronto was number 2 leader, and both he and Finucane made passes over Pointe du Touquet. Finucane’s radiator was hit in a wizard shot, causing him and Aikman to break out and assess the damage. Aikman told Finucane “You’ve been hit Sir, the radiator”. Finucane refused to spin and crash in France, so he headed toward England, with Aikman on wing…….Finucane lost altitude, ditched, and left all by saying, “This is it, Chaps”……Infuriated, Aikman reversed, hit du Toquet again, at “naught” feet, and “took at good crack at the gun post”. “When the dust settled, there was nothing left to be seen on the sand, so I guessed my intense fire blew the damn post to blazes”…….P/O F.A. Aikman, DFC and bar.

..14 victories. Marcel Albert had 24. De la Poype flew Spitfires in 602 Sq and was flying on Finucane’s wing when Finucane was shot down on 15 July 1942. De la Poype’s memoir ” L’épopée du Normandie-Niémen ” opens with an account of that mission..