Knox Box of Miscellany

Dawn Knox – A rearranger of words into something hopefully meaningful…

Sons of Three Countries Remembered – Louis Vallin

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 Louis Vallin

Louis Vallin

Christopher Walthorne plays the part of Louis Vallin. Here he tells the narrator, played by Natalie Taylor-Scotcher that he will soon be joining the French Air Force

Christopher Walthorne plays the part of Louis Vallin. Here he tells the narrator, played by Natalie Taylor-Scotcher that he will soon be joining the French Air Force

Yesterday, I posted the story of George Burnett, the young British soldier from Wickford, Essex, who died in the First World War. Shortly after George went missing in October 1914, Louis Vallin, from Meaux, France, joined the French Air Force. Here is his story, as it appears in the script of ‘The Sons of Three Countries Remembered’:

Louis Vallin joined the French Air Force on 20th December 1914. As a gunner and observer, he logged over three hundred hours of flight. Without the navigational and flight instruments which were developed in later years, night flying was extremely hazardous, nevertheless, the majority of Vallin’s flights took place at night. In September 1917, Vallin was wounded in the right eye and face, whilst on a bombing raid but resumed his flying duties as soon as he had recovered. He was awarded two medals: La Croix de Guerre and La Croix de Combattant. The former for showing courage and determination when he took part in a night attack on a German Zeppelin airship in 1916, armed only with a rifle and incendiary ammunition. This was the first night combat between an aeroplane and an airship.

Louis Vallin was the only one of our service men to survive the war. He married Mathilde, who he met in 1917, when he visited the factory where she worked. Together, they had one daughter, Suzanne. Determined that flying should be a means of reuniting mankind and not just a way of inflicting death and destruction, Vallin founded, and became vice president of, the Association of the Friends of the Air Museum, which supports and promotes the development of the Museum of Air and Space,in Meaux.

Louis Vallin died in 1971 at the age of 76.

Let us never forget.

Suzanne Vallin, daughter of Louis, with me. Photo by David Smith

Suzanne Vallin, daughter of Louis, with me. Photo by David Smith

I was so thrilled that Suzanne Vallin, the daughter of Louis, came to the performance of ‘The Sons of Three Countries Remembered’ and I met her. Suzanne and I were presented with bouquets and here we are posing for the cameras.

 

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