Mike Donnet - by a Friend
MIKE DONNET - BY A FRIEND Lieutenant General Pilot Baron Michel 'Mike' G. L. Donnet CdG, CVO, DFC (born 1 April 1917 in Richmond, Surrey, England) is a Belgian pilot who served during World War II in the Belgian and British air forces. He shot down four enemy aircraft confirmed, and achieved the RAF rank of Wing Commander. After the war, he returned to the Belgian Air Force, and held several important commands before retiring in 1975. On 1 March 1938, he joined the Aviation Militaire Belge (Belgian Army Air Force). On 26 March 1939, he was commissioned as sergeant-pilot, and on 1 March 1940 he signed for a further three years' service. Donnet flew Renard R.31 reconnaissance aircraft with the 9/V/1Aé (9th Escadrille of the First Aviation Regiment) at Bierset. After the German invasion on 10 May 1940, he flew sorties during the 18-day campaign. On 1 June 1940, he was taken POW (Prisoner of war) by German ground forces when Belgium capitulated, and he was held in camps in Germany and France. On 10 January 1941, he was repatriated to Belgium. After release in German-occupied Belgium, he met his former colleague sergeant-pilot Léon Divoy, and they briefly planned to build an aircraft with which to escape to England. Their search for a propeller suggested that there was one still attached to a complete stored aeroplane. That proved to be a Stampe et Vertongen SV-4B (OO-ATD) which was owned by Baron Thierry d'Huart. It was stored in a locked small hangar at his chateau at Terbloc, where German troops were stationed.
[Show full text]