 At the end of 1942, while the 1st Air Infantry Battalion was being formed in England at the corps of the Free French Air Forces, Captain Jean-Marie Bouvier and Captain Fournier assembled volunteers of the Free French Forces in Cairo, Egypt.The unit, which was created in Rouïba, Algeria, was transferred to the Tripolitania region in Libya and then to Mena Camp in Egypt before rejoining again in Rouïba in October with an effective force of almost 600 men.Officially constituted on 6 June 1943, the 3rd Air Infantry Battalion joined Camp de Camberly in England on 7 November.