Editing Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (section)

==Return to war==
In April 1943, following his 27 months in North America, Saint-Exupéry departed with an American military convoy for [[Algiers]], to fly with the [[Free French Air Force]] and fight with the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] in a Mediterranean-based squadron. Then 43, soon to be promoted to the rank of commandant (major), he was far older than most men in operational units. Although eight years over the age limit for such pilots, he had petitioned endlessly for an exemption which had finally been approved by General [[Dwight Eisenhower]]. However, Saint-Exupéry had been suffering pain and immobility due to his many previous crash injuries, to the extent that he could not dress himself in his own [[flight suit]] or even turn his head leftwards to check for enemy aircraft.{{sfnp|Schiff|2006|p=180}}

Saint-Exupéry was assigned with a number of other pilots to his former unit, renamed ''Groupe de reconnaissance 2/33 "Savoie"'', flying [[P-38 Lightning]]s, which an officer described as "war-weary, non-airworthy craft".{{sfnp|Cate|1970}} The Lightnings were also more sophisticated than models he previously flew, requiring him to undertake seven weeks of stringent training before his first mission. After wrecking a P-38 through engine failure on his second mission, he was grounded for eight months, but was then later reinstated to flight duty on the personal intervention of General [[Ira Eaker]], Deputy Commander of the U.S. Army Air Forces.<ref name=Time/>{{sfnp|Schiff|2006|p=423}}{{#tag:ref|After being grounded following his crash, Saint-Exupéry spared no efforts in his campaign to return to active combat flying duty. He utilized all his contacts and powers of persuasion to overcome his age and physical handicap barriers, which would have completely barred an ordinary patriot from serving as a war pilot. Instrumental in his reinstatement was an agreement he proposed to John Phillips, a fluently bilingual ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine correspondent in February 1944, where Saint-Exupéry committed to "...write, and I'll donate what I do to you, for your publication, if you get me reinstated into my squadron."{{sfnp|Schiff|2006|p=421}} Phillips later met with a high-level U.S. Army Air Forces press officer in Italy, Colonel John Reagan McCrary, who conveyed the ''Life'' magazine request to General Eaker. The approval for return to flying status would be made "...not through favoritism, but through exception". The brutalized French, it was noted, would cut a German's throat "...probably with more relish than anybody".|group="Note"}}

After Saint-Exupéry resumed flying, he also returned to his longtime habit of reading and writing while flying his single-seat [[Lockheed F-5B]] (a specially configured P-38 [[Reconnaissance aircraft|reconnaissance]] variant). His prodigious studies of literature gripped him and on occasion, he continued his readings of literary works until moments before takeoff, with mechanics having [[Run-up (aviation)|warmed up and tested]] his aircraft for him in preparation for his flight. On one flight, to the chagrin of his colleagues awaiting his arrival, he circled the airport for an hour after returning, so that he could finish reading a novel. Saint-Exupéry frequently flew with a lined notebook (''carnet'') during his long solitary flights and some of his philosophical writings were created during such periods when he could reflect on the world below him.{{sfnp|Schiff|2006}}