The Little Prince's Last Flight: The Story of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry | The National WWII Museum...

On July 31, 1944, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French writer, poe,t and pioneering aviator, died during a reconnaissance mission at the age of 44. An excerpt from the article:

"Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, world-renowned author of The Little Prince and other important works of literature, also was an aviation pioneer who lost his life under mysterious circumstances during World War II.

Born in Lyon, France in 1900, he was the scion of an aristocratic family and grew up in relative comfort, although he became accustomed to heartbreak as his beloved younger brother François died of rheumatic fever at just 15 years old. Antoine was a student during World War I, and he joined the French military in 1921. His first posting was to the cavalry, but ever since taking his first airplane flight in 1912 he had wanted to be a pilot. Securing transfer to the French Air Force, Saint-Exupéry soloed for the first time in a Sopwith triplane and so earned his pilot’s wings. Thus began a love affair, amounting to an obsession with flying that would last for the remainder of his life."