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Site in French
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Historical
On
May 10, 1940, the GA0 504 is attached to the 1st Army of the 1st
Air Division of the ZOAN (North Air Operations Area).
Staff
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Commanders
of the group
GAO 504
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| ROY
Jules |
October
1st, 1938
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| Commander
GINESTET Marcel |
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Personnel
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Pilots
and crew of the Group
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Names
of crew members
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Rank
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Function
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Informations
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Civil
Statut
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Photos
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Citations
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| AGOUTIN
Georges - Désiré |
Lieutenant
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Pilot
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A graduate of an agricultural
college, Georges AGOUTIN enlisted in July 1915 for the duration
of the conflict. He was gassed in 1916 during the Battle of
the Somme. He ended the war with the rank of maréchal
des logis.
In 1939, Georges AGOUTIN was again mobilised as a lieutenant
in the air force. During missions over Italy, he was wounded
and treated in Blida, Algeria. He returned to France on 17
July 1940. In April 1941, he joined the Resistance and became
an Intelligence Officer. Under the pseudonym "Alain AGNIOL
or AGNIEL", he became head of a network within the SR
Kléber/SR Air network, recruiting André GARDES,
a former comrade-in-arms in GAO 504 (see André GARDES
later in this page).
But he was arrested on 17 May 1942, at the same time as André
GARDES, who had come to give him information. His partner
and daughter Jeanine were also arrested but released a few
days later.
He was interrogated and tortured before being transferred
to Fresnes prison, where he learned in January 1943 that his
wife had been arrested again. He was tried on 11 January 1943
along with 12 other prisoners and sentenced to death. The
sentences of five of the convicts were changed during deportation
(none of the five returned from the camps...) but the other
seven convicts, including Georges AGOUTIN and André
GARDES, were also put to the sword on 30 April 1943, on the
Ministry of the Air's shooting range.
Georges AGOUTIN was posthumously appointed Captain and awarded
the Médaille de la Résistance.
Source : "Le Maitron"
- https://fusilles-40-44.maitron.fr/spip.php?article169707
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Born on 22 September
1897 in Mesnil sur Estrée (27 - Eure)
Killed on 30 April 1943 in Paris (75)
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| BLEUSTEIN-BLANCHET
Marcel |
Sub-Lieutenant
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Pilot
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Marcel BLEUSTEIN was
the youngest of nine children born to Élise and Abraham
BLEUSTEIN, a Russian emigrant of Jewish origin living in Paris.
Marcel BLEUSTEIN, who was not a very attentive pupil, soon
left school and, from the age of fourteen, was self-taught,
following in the footsteps of his father, a furniture salesman.
He was also influenced by his mother, who was involved in
a number of charities.
In 1926, he went into advertising and, with his brother Georges,
set up Société Publicis, going against the advice
of his father, who had little faith in this type of business...
But his company enjoyed great success and in 1935 he acquired
the private radio station "Radio LL", which he renamed
"Radio Cité". It was through this new radio
station that Edith PIAF sang for the first time on the airwaves.
Running this radio station gave him the opportunity to meet
many of the leading political figures of the day and to extend
his influence.
In 1939, Marcel BLEUSTEIN,
a qualified civilian pilot, was logically mobilised as a pilot
in the French Air Force and fought with GAO 504.
But after the Armistice,
the Germans seized all his assets. He also lost the Société
Publicis and, of course, Radio Cité.
With a price on his head, he went to London to escape the
occupying forces and, under the pseudonym "BLANCHET",
fought with the French Forces of the Interior and then with
the Free French Forces. For his active commitment to the struggle,
he was awarded the Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 and the Chevalier
de la Légion d'Honneur.
After the war, in 1954,
Marcel BLEUSTEIN obtained the right, by government decree
(!) to add his Resistance alias "BLANCHET" to his
surname. Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet took over the reins of
Publicis and turned it into the leading national and then
European advertising group. And it was when the Publicis Group
set up in the United States that he introduced opinion polls
in France, inspired by the American methods of Georges Gallup,
inventor of the modern poll. The Group then went global and
became the 3rd largest communications group in the world,
under the impetus of Maurice Levy, Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet's
successor.
Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet also wrote several books, including
"Sur mon antenne", "La Rage de convaincre",
"Mémoires d'un lion" and "La Nostalgie
du futur", which earned him guest status on radio and
television programmes such as Bernard Pivot's Bouillon de
culture and Jacques Chancel's Le Grand Échiquier.
His death led to a succession
dispute between his heirs, which was only settled two years
later by an agreement.....
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Born in Enghien Les
Bains (95 - Val d'Oise) on 21 August 1906
Died 11 April 1996 in Paris (75)
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| CHEVALLIER
André - Edmond |
Staff-Sergeant
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Pilot
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On
May 15, 1940, his aircraft, Potez 63-11 No. 388, was badly hit
by the Flak and crashed. Seriously wounded, Staff Sergeant CHEVALIER
is taken prisoner. |
Born in Gland (02 -
Aisne) on 11 May 1909
Died at Chateau-Thierry (02 - Aisne) on 21 December 2007
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| CORNU
Roger |
Sergeant
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Pilot
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Roger CORNU obtained his
pilot's licence on 1 August 1939 (licence no. 27890).
On October 17, 1939, his
aircraft, the Potez 390 No. 88 is destroyed on landing: the
crew is unscathed
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| DE-MONTAL
Jean - Albert |
Captain
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Observer
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On
May 15, 1940, his aircraft, Potez 63-11 No. 388, was badly hit
by the Flak and crashed. Captain DE-MONTAL is killed. |
Born on 2 April 1911
in Paris (75)
Killed on 15 May 1940 at Mignault (Belgium)
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| GARDES
André - Marcel |
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Machine-Gunner
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A keen aviation enthusiast,
André Gardes obtained his tourist pilot's licence at
the age of eighteen and did his military service as a machine
gunner with the 33rd Air Wing, then based at Essey-lès-Nancy.
But in a mid-air accident, he had to evacuate his aircraft
by parachute and was injured on landing. This injury prevented
him from fulfilling his dream of becoming a Reserve Military
Pilot....
On mobilisation in 1939, André GARDES was posted to
GAO 504, still as a machine-gunner, and was awarded the Croix
de Guerre. After the Armistice, he found himself in Algiers
where he met up with a fellow soldier from GAO 504, Georges
AGOUTIN. André GARDES returned to France in September
1940 and worked at the Lioré-Olivier shipyards in Loiret.
He was then recruited by Georges AGOUTIN in the spring of
1941, to join the Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur.
In his new role as supply controller at SNCASE-URP (Société
nationale de construction aéronautique du Sud-Est,
a factory in the Paris region), he was able to provide information
on troop movements and the transport of military equipment.
He also liaised with other Resistance fighters.
On 17 May 1942, he was arrested in the street for "espionage",
as he was taking a report on German artillery to Georges AGOUTIN.
Georges AGOUTIN had also just been arrested on a tip-off.
They were both imprisoned in the same cell at Fresnes prison.
André Gardes was brought before the German military
tribunal in Paris on 20 January 1943: he was sentenced to
death along with Georges AOUTIN; the others were deported
and died in the camps.
André Gardes learned of the rejection of his appeal
for clemency on 30 April, which he recalled in his last letter:
"My poor darling, I have received the terrible news.
This is my last letter to you. It's all over, the sentence
has been confirmed, it's about 10 o'clock, and I'm to be shot
at 3 o'clock. So I have very little time left to live. First
of all, I beg you to be strong, my beloved. For my part, I
want to remain brave right up to the last minute. My last
thought will be for you and our two little ones. Forgive me
for making you suffer so much, you who have made me so happy.
You know what my ideals have always been. May God protect
you... I'm going to try to die as a Christian, I who find
myself on the threshold of a great mystery, I have no faith
left in anything but God. Help our little ones to become men,
real men, real Frenchmen. They have no right to despair of
the future. I'm counting on you to bring this great task to
a successful conclusion. For my part, I offer my suffering
to save you and our children from further hardship. Pray for
me. From the infinity to which I will go, happy or not, my
soul will think only of you and our dear children. May God
be merciful to my sacrifice, I who would so much have liked
to die in the middle of a battlefield. May He protect our
Fatherland and save it. Farewell to you. Farewell to our little
ones. Farewell to our beautiful country of France, André.
P.S. - I've just been to confession and received communion,
so I'll be able to leave feeling stronger and more confident.
A German firing squad shot him along with Georges AGOUTIN
on 30 April 1943. André Gardes was shot at 4.04pm at
the Ministry of Air shooting range on Place Balard. His body
was buried in the carré des corps restitués,
in the Ivry-sur-Seine cemetery.
He was declared "Dead for France", and his name
appears on the memorial to SNCASE-URP personnel on the Eurocopter
site at La Courneuve (Seine-Saint-Denis). His name can also
be read on the commemorative plaque in the Avenue du Pont-de-Sèvres
(Paris, 15th arrondissement), in tribute to those shot at
the shooting range: the plaque at the Ministry of Defence
in the 15th arrondissement of Paris.
. Lastly, he is inscribed on the Special Services memorial
in Ramatuelle (Var).
For his actions in the Resistance, he was awarded a vermeil
star in addition to the Croix de Guerre he had already won
in Flanders in 1940.
Source : "Le Maitron"
- https://fusilles-40-44.maitron.fr/spip.php?article169707
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Born in Paris (75) on
4 February 1914
Killed on 30 April 1943 at Paris (75)
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| GINESTET
Marcel - Pierre |
Commander
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Commander
of Group
|
Marcel
GINESTET was appointed Captain in March 1930 while serving with
the 12th Aviation Regiment. |
Born in Montpellier
(34 - Hérault) on 10 July 1897
Died at Poisvilliers (28 - Eure) on 27 November 1982
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| HENRARD
Roger - Fernand |
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Observer
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After working as an aircraft
mechanic at the end of the First World War, Roger HENRARD
was employed by Jules Richard in Paris, a company specialising
in the manufacture of weather recorders and stereoscopic cameras,
including the Vérascope. Having passed his pilot's
licence, he took up aerial photography using an Altiphote
Richard Labrely camera manufactured by Jules Richard. In 1938,
he carried out espionage missions over Germany on behalf of
the intelligence services, and during the French Campaign
he served as an observer with GAO 504. After the war, he took
over the management of Jules Richard, while continuing his
activities as a pilot-operator. He photographed Paris at low
altitude and covered several French departments and towns
between 1948 and 1972, mainly on behalf of industrialists.
The collection, which numbered more than 20,000 images, was
also used to publish postcards.
On his death, the Roger
Henrard aerial photography company was founded, with offices
in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés (Val de Marne) and laboratories
in Ban-Saint-Martin (Moselle). The company marketed its negatives
and prints to the archives of the towns and departments involved
in the photographic campaigns.
Source : Archives Ville
de Saumur - http://archives.ville-saumur.fr/f/13Fi/mosaique/?
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Born in Paris (75) on
17 February 1900
Died 26 June 1975 at Croissy sur Seine (78 - Yvelines)
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| JACOB
André - Etienne |
Lieutenant
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Observer
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In
1930, on graduating from the Ecole Polytechnique, André
JACOB opted for aviation and during his military service served
as a Second Lieutenant at the Ecole militaire et d'application
de l'aéronautique in Versailles. He was certified as
an Observer in July 1931 and left the army two months later.
From 1931 to 1937, he
worked in industry, first in La Courneuve, then in Morocco.
At the same time, he pursued brilliant university studies,
which could have led him into the field of research, but his
religious faith was stronger, and André JACOB joined
the Carmelite Seminary.
In 1939, he was mobilised
as a reserve Lieutenant and joined GAO 504, then based in
Chartres, before joining GR I/14 on 21 May 1940. He was cited
for his involvement in the fighting in Holland and Belgium.
At the Armistice, he chose
to continue the fight and reached England on 24 June 1940
aboard a Potez 63-11 piloted by Sub-Lieutenant NEUMANN and
Sergeant Marcel MOREL . André's last postcard to his
father, Professor Charles Jacob, reads: "You won't be
hearing from me for a long time. I am going where my duty
seems to call me".
Posted to 149 Squadron
of the Royal Air Force in mid-July 1940, he took part in five
bombing missions over Germany as a gunner in late July and
early August 1940.
Assigned as an observer
to the Groupe mixte de combat n° 1 commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel
DE MARMIER, Lieutenant JACOB took part in the Dakar expedition
and then in the campaign to rally Gabon to Free France, during
which he carried out several war missions.
On 9 November 1940, not
being on duty but volunteering, he left Douala at 6 a.m. on
board the Bristol Blenheim N3623, the only radio-equipped
aircraft in the group, with radio warrant officer Tazer and
pilot staff sergeant Le Guyader. Mission: reconnaissance of
the Libreville region in Gabon, and leafleting of the town.
Last message received in Kribi around 6.30 am, then a radio
message, probably later, from Campo, on the northern border
of Spanish Guinea. Then nothing. The plane did not reach Libreville
and the leaflets were not thrown out. All the searches were
fruitless.
The most likely hypothesis
is that the aircraft was lost at sea in the vicinity of Cap
Saint-Jean, where tornadoes and permanent bad weather occur.
It is also possible that the aircraft was shot down by Spanish
anti-aircraft fire.
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Born on 14 April 1909
in Corenc (38 - Isère)
Killed on 9 November 1940 in Libbreville (Gabon)
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| LEON |
Cadidate
Officer
|
Observer
|
On
October 17, 1939, his aircraft, the Potez 390 No. 88 is destroyed
on landing: the crew is unscathed |
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| MAUREL
Fernand - Paul |
Lieutenant
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Observer
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Lieutenant
Fernand MAUREL later joined GAO 503 and was killed by accident
on 3 July 1940 in Algeria. |
Born on 4 October 1904
in Bains (43 - Haute-Loire)
Killed on 3 July 1940 at Baudens (Algeria)
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| ROY
Jules |
Lieutenant
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Observer
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Originally an Infantry
Officer, then a Rifle Officer in North Africa, he joined the
French Air Force in 1935 and was posted to the 51st Air Wing
at Tours, before joining GAO 504, then based at Chartres,
in October 1938. He was appointed Group Commander on 15 March
1939.
After the Armistice, Jules
Roy remained loyal to Pétain and published "La
France sauvée par Pétain", a work that
confirmed his attachment to the Vichy regime... However, Jules
Roy joined the "Gaullists" after the Allied landings
in North Africa in November 1942. Jules ROY went to England
and fought in the Free French Air Force from 1943 to 1945.
He was flight leader, bombardier and co-pilot in the "Lorraine"
heavy bomber group.
Drawing on his memories
of these missions over Germany, Jules ROY wrote "La Vallée
heureuse" (The Happy Valley), which won him the Renaudot
literary prize in 1946. Later, in 1951, he wrote "Retour
de l'Enfer", his war diary written between 9 September
1944 and 15 March 1945.
A colonel and head of
the Air Force Information Service, he took part in the Indochina
War before expressing his disagreement with the policy pursued
in Indochina: he resigned from the Army in 1953 and devoted
himself fully to writing.
Jules Roy, author of some
fifty books, was awarded the Grand Prix de l'Académie
française for his body of literary work in 1956.
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Born in Rovigo (Algeria)
on 22 October 1907
Died at Vézelay (89 - Yonne) on 15 June 2000
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| SOUTIF
Henri - Octave |
Sergeant
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Machine-Gunner
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On
May 15, 1940, his aircraft, Potez 63-11 No. 388, was badly hit
by the Flak and crashed. Seriously wounded, the sergeant SOUTIF
is taken prisoner. |
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Stories
of crews
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Crews
of Group
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Names
of crew members
|
Rank
|
Function
|
Informations
|
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Crew
|
CORNU
Roger |
Sergeant
|
Pilot
|
Potez
390 n° 88 : Destroyed on landing on October 17,
1939: the crew is unscathed |
| LEON |
Candidate
Officer
|
Observer
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Crew
|
CHEVALLIER
André |
Staff-Sergeant
|
Pilot
|
Potez
63-11 n° 388 : Destroyed in air combat on May 15,
1940. Captain DE-MONTAL is killed, Staff-Sergeant CHEVALIER
and Sergeant SOUTIF, wounded, are taken prisoner |
| DE-MONTAL
Jean |
Captain
|
Observer
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| SOUTIF
Henri |
Sergeant
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Machine-gunner
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Airfields
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Period
of use of airfields
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Names
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County
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| Villers-Lès-Guise |
02
- Aisne
|
September
3, 1939
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| Sissone
La Malmaison |
02
- Aisne
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September
20, 1939
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| Cannes-Mandelieu |
06
- Alpes-Maritimes
|
October
19, 1939
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| Brunehamel
(Section) |
02
- Aisne
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October
1, 1939
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| Le
Cateau-Cambrésis (Section) |
59
- Nord
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February
1, 1940
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| Denain
Prouvy |
59
- Nord
|
April
10, 1940
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| Mellet
(B) (Section Potez 390) |
Belgique
|
May
10, 1940
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| Denain
Prouvy |
59
- Nord
|
May
17, 1940
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| Lamberville |
76
- seine-Maritime
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May
20, 1940
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| Bacqueville-En-Caux |
76
- seine-Maritime
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May
21, 1940
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| Dissolution
GAO |
76
- seine-Maritime
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June
6, 1940
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Click
on the map to enlarge
:
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Aircrafts
The GAO 504 was equipped
since its creation, following aircrafts :
The used aircrafts
are described in the accessible file by the link below. You will find
N � of series, Registration, date of affectation to the group, and
fate of the plane there.
In
this list are identified :
- 4 LeO C30
- 8 Potez 390-11
- 1 Potez 63-11
Casualties
|
Crewmen
killed
|
1
|
| Captain
DE-MONTAL (Combat) |
May 15,
1940
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Crewmen
injured
|
2
|
| Staff-Sergeant
CHEVALIER (Combat) |
May 15,
1940
|
| Sergeant
SOUTIF (Combat) |
May 15,
1940
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|
Crewmen
prisoner
|
2
|
| Staff-Sergeant
CHEVALIER |
May 15,
1940
|
| Sergeant
SOUTIF |
May 15,
1940
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Sources
- The
dates and places of birth of the Group's personnel are taken mainly
from the site : "Mémoires
des Hommes"
- Book : "Ils étaient
là" by Mr Jacqueline and Paul MARTIN - Editions Aéro-Editions
- ...
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