Roland de la Poype

Roland Paulze d'Ivoy de la Poype, (28 July 1920 – 23 October 2012) was a Second World War fighter ace, a member of the Normandie-Niemen fighter group that fought on the Soviet front.

He was also a politician, a pioneering industrialist in the plastics industry and the founder of the Antibes Marineland in 1970.

Biography
Roland de la Poype was born on July 28th, 1920 at the Château de la Grange Fort in Les Pradeaux. His father, Xavier Paulze d'Ivoy de la Poype, an agronomist and reserve officer in the French army, was killed at the front in May 1940.

Wartime service
Aged 19 years old in August 1939 de la Poype enrolled in the French air force and began training as a pilot. He finished his training in March 1940, shortly before the German invasion of France. With comrades from the fighter training school of Etampes, he managed to flee to Saint-Jean-de-Luz to board a ship to England.

After serving in French Equatorial Africa from July 1940 to January 1941 with the Free French Air Force, he joined the Royal Air Force as a Sergeant and was assigned to No 602 Squadron, flying Supermarine Spitfires in July 1941. An indication of his flying abilities, he was selected as wingman by the squadron's commanding officer, 32-victory Irish ace, Squadron Leader Paddy Finucane.

He claimed his first aircraft destroyed, a Messerschmitt Bf 109, on 22 August 1942 over Gravelines, and flew more than 60 combat missions. Upon learning that a group of French volunteers was to be sent to the Soviet front, he joined the Normandie fighter group and was part of the first batch of 12 French pilots who, via transfers through Lebanon and Iraq, arrived in Ivanovo in the Soviet Union on 28 November 1942. The two squadrons, initially called the Normandie Group, were assigned the Yak-1B fighter and attached to the 303rd Fighter Aviation Division of the 1st Air Army.

On 31 August 1943 he shot down a Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber. This was his second aerial victory and his first on the Soviet front.

In early 1945, with the rank of captain, he commanded the 1st squadron of the fighter group. Present in the Soviet Union until June 20, 1945, "the Marquis", or "Pohype" as he was nicknamed by his comrades. He ended the war with a total tally of 16 confirmed aerial victories (7 solo and 9 shared victories), one (and 11 shared) probables, and one aircraft damaged in almost 200 missions, most of which were achieved while flying with top French ace and Commanding Officer Marcel Albert.[citation needed] De la Poype was one of only four members of the regiment to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and a Companions of Liberation at only 27 years old.

Totaling 1,200 flight hours, he was authorized by Stalin to bring his Yak back to French territory. Assigned to the 2nd Bureau of the Air Force General Staff in March 1946, Roland de la Poype left the army in 1947. The reserve commander Roland de la Poype, who became a civilian again after the war, held several positions.He was appointed a member of the Council of the Order of Liberation in September 2002. President Nicolas Sarkozy presented him with the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour during a ceremony at the Élysée Palace in Paris on 14 April 2008.

Plastic industry career
An inventor, de la Poype understood that plastics and disposable packaging would become very important. As head of the Société d'Etudes et d'Applications du Plastique, he set up his first plastics factory in May 1947. He is also the designer of the Citroen Mehari.

Marineland in Antibes
De la Poype created the Marineland in Antibes in 1970 in order to educate the public about marine life. He retired in 1985 but retained ownership until 2006. He and his artist wife Marie-Nöelle lived in a lavish Paris apartment a half-mile from the Trocadero.

He was also mayor of Champigné and was the owner of a golf course near Angers.

Writings

 * Roland de la Poype, L'épopée du Normandie-Niémen, Perrin, 2007

Medals and awards

 * Grand Croix of the French Légion d'Honneur, the order's highest rank
 * Compagnon de la Libération (29 December 1944)
 * Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 with 12 citations
 * Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945
 * Hero of the Soviet Union
 * Order of the Red Banner
 * Order of Lenin
 * Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class
 * Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"