The XII Fighter Command of the US Twelfth Air Force shared its new base at what was then Es-Sénia airfield with a large collection of former Vichy French aircraft. It was brief base for the Command as the progress of the war took it on to Tunisia and Italy within a few months. Photo from: National Archives at College Park, Maryland

On 1 February 1942 a French mechanic stole this Goéland light twin somewhere in Vichy France and landed it at Tregantle Beach near Plymouth. The aircraft wears blue, white and red bands on the fuselage and wings and lacks the yellow and red Vichy neutrality markings. Apparently it was subsequently transferred to the Free French forces in North Africa.