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. 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. == List of credited aerial victories ==