170 objects tell the story of Free French airmen at the musée de l’Ordre de la Libération
Flight helmets laid out on a table, hastily scrawled notebooks, insignia worn down by years of combat: this is what awaits visitors to the musée de l’Ordre de la Libération from 15 October 2026. Until 14 February 2027, this institution at Les Invalides devotes an entire exhibition to the airmen and airwomen of Free France, those men and women who chose to keep fighting after June 1940.
Fighters on every front, an exhibition to ensure they are not forgotten
Between 1940 and 1945, several thousand volunteers joined the French air forces under the sign of the Cross of Lorraine. Their commitment took them far beyond the borders of Europe. They fought in Italy, France and Germany, but also in Libya, Tunisia, Syria, Egypt and the Soviet Union, theatres of operation that speak to the sheer scale of their involvement.
Some of these aviators became well-known figures. Others, however, remained in the shadows despite years of sacrifice. It is precisely to bring these fighters back into the light, celebrated or overlooked, that the musée de l’Ordre de la Libération has designed this historical and thematic journey.
170 objects to tell the story of years at war
The exhibition, titled Combattre sur tous les fronts. Les aviateurs de la France libre (1940-1945), brings together 170 period objects and documents. Uniforms, decorations, logbooks, aircraft drawings, wreckage fragments, personal notebooks and insignia make up the collection. Each piece tells a fragment of a life, a mission, a commitment.
These objects are far more than relics. They offer a concrete understanding of what the commitment of these aviators truly meant: the training they received alongside the Royal Air Force, the various missions in which they took part, and the many trades and roles that kept these armed forces running day to day. The exhibition thus reveals the collective reality of a war fought from the skies.
- Flight helmets and uniforms worn during operations
- Decorations and insignia from Free French units
- Logbooks and personal notebooks belonging to the aviators
- Aircraft drawings and wreckage fragments
- Period documents tracing missions and frontlines
Varied profiles, often overlooked commitments
The musée de l’Ordre de la Libération does not limit itself to the major figures. The exhibition gives particular space to Free French paratroopers and the women of the Air who volunteered. These profiles, sometimes sidelined by conventional historical accounts, contributed to the final victory every bit as much as the better-known personalities.
The exhibition also explores the motivations of those who enlisted, their great victories and their behind-the-scenes work. For behind every successful mission lie considerable human and material losses. The journey shows how these aviators kept going in spite of repeated sacrifice, year after year.
What visitors will experience at the musée de l’Ordre de la Libération
The route offered by this Parisian museum is both historical and thematic. Rather than following a simple chronology, it organises events around broad themes: training, missions, frontlines, forgotten figures. This approach allows visitors to grasp the diversity of experiences lived by these aviators, whether they served in Europe or across the African and Middle Eastern theatres of operation.
For lovers of French history, this exhibition represents a rare opportunity to encounter authentic objects and personal accounts side by side. The musée de l’Ordre de la Libération, with its remarkable collection and its home at Les Invalides, offers an unmissable appointment between October 2026 and February 2027. Through this initiative, the institution reminds us that the memory of these fighters deserves to be passed on well beyond the circles of historians alone.
