General Joseph Risso
  | Ace with 11.00 Victories |
| General Joseph Risso
Born in Cardolive on the 23rd January 1920, Joseph Risso was first engaged in aviation in 1938, he entered the Caudron d'Ambérieu pilot school the same year. In 1939-1940, he finished his education at the school of Istres. After the armistice of 1940, he escaped from Nouvion (today El Ghomri, Algeria) aboard a Simoun to join Gibraltar. After a forced landing at La Línea , he succeeded in rallying the FFL in Gibraltar and then in England. Joseph Risso joined the RAF in 1940. Flying Hurricanes with 253 squadron, he later took part in Turbin-light night fighter operations over the North Sea. In March 1943 Joseph Risso was one of the first batch of 14 pilots to take part in air operations over the Russian front with the first Normandie-Niemen Squadron. Joseph Risso was one of the very first elements of the hunting group 3 Normandy. He arrived in the USSR at Ivanovo in October 1942 and remained in that unit until 1948. Only three of these first pilots survived the war. Joseph Risso flew over 600 missions and scored 11 victories. He was decorated by France and the Soviet Union. He then held numerous positions in the Air Force; He was assigned to the General Staff of the 5th RA in Algiers, the {11th} Fighter Squadron (2nd in command), to the 13th All-Weather Fighter Squadron (Commander). He was also an auditor at the NATO Defense College and subsequently assigned to the Directorate of Military Security . After a visit to the Center for Advanced Military Studies and the Institute of Higher Studies of National Defense, he headed the Air Defense Operations Center at Taverny as a brigadier general. Sadly Joseph died 24th November 2005 at the age of 85. |