Amédée Maingard was a young Mauritian studying in London in 1939 who volunteered for the British Army. After a frustrating spell in the infantry, Maingard joining the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and later had a successful career as a leader and peace keeper in France and later Mauritius.

Maingard returned to Mauritius and was instrumental in developing the island’s tourism and hotel industry. Founder and first Chairman of Air Mauritius, he became one of his country’s most successful postwar businessmen before illness cut short his ambition and he died in 1981 at the age of 62.