Editing Free France (section)

===Eastern Front===
[[File:Yak 3 Le Bourget 01.JPG|thumb|FAFL ''Normandie-Niemen'' Yak-3 preserved at the Paris [[Le Bourget]] [[French Air and Space Museum|museum]]]]

The [[Normandie-Niemen|Normandie-Niemen Regiment]], founded at the suggestion of Charles {{nowrap|de Gaulle}}, was a fighter regiment of the Free French Air Force that served on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] of the [[European Theatre of World War II]] with the [[1st Air Army]]. The regiment is notable for being the only air combat unit from an Allied western country to participate on the Eastern Front during World War II (except brief interventions from RAF and [[United States Army Air Forces|USAAF]] units) and the only one to fight together with the Soviets until the end of the war in Europe.{{Citation needed|date=July 2016}}

The unit was the GC3 ({{lang|fr|Groupe de Chasse 3}} or 3rd Fighter Group) in the Free French Air Force, first commanded by Jean Tulasne. The unit originated in mid-1943 during World War II. Initially the {{lang|fr|groupe}} comprised a group of French fighter pilots sent to aid Soviet forces at the suggestion of Charles {{nowrap|de Gaulle}}, leader of the Free French Forces, who felt it important that French servicemen serve on all fronts in the war. The regiment fought in three campaigns on behalf of the [[Soviet Union]] between 22 March 1943, and 9 May 1945, during which time it destroyed 273 enemy aircraft and received numerous orders, citations and decorations from both France and the Soviet Union, including the French {{lang|fr|Légion d'Honneur}} and the Soviet [[Order of the Red Banner]]. [[Joseph Stalin]] awarded the unit the name [[Neman River|Niemen]] for its participation in the [[Vilnius offensive|Battle of the Niemen River]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2016}}