|
Name
|
Successive
ranks
|
Post
|
Observations
|
Civil-Statut
|
Photo
|
| ARCHAIMBAULT
Henri - Louis |
- Sub-lieutenant
1925
- Lieutenant 1927
- Captain 1932
- Commander 1939
- Llieutenant-colonel 1945
- Colonel 1946
- Air Brigade General 1951
- Air Division General 1954
|
Assigned
to the 3rd office of the General Staff of the 1st Air Army
in August 1939..
|
He
entered the Saint-Cyr Military Academy in 1923. He joined the
school in Avord and was posted to the 21st aviation regiment
in 1926, then to the 34th RA in 1931. He was appointed Commander
of the Signals Service in 1932. From 1934 to 1938, he was posted
to various squadrons and was admitted to the École supérieure
de guerre in 1938. He was posted to the 3rd office of the Air
Force General Staff in August 1939.
He took command of the GC III/3 in Fez and then the II/5 in
Casablanca. In 1941, he was called to the Secretariat of State
for Civil Aviation. He became Director of the Air Sports Service
in 1944 and then Chief of Staff of the 3rd Air Region in 1945.
He attended the CESA in 1947, then became Assistant Officer
to the Commander
to the Commander and Commander of the 2nd Air Region from 1950
to 1951. Appointed Head of the Air Force Equipment Service in
1951, he was Air Commander in the Far East in 1954 before leaving
the active army in
army in 1956. |
Born
on 12 September 1905 in Cosne (58 - Nièvre).
Died in Paris (75) on 13 February 2001 |
|
| ARIBAUD
Joseph - Jean |
- Lieutenant-Colonel
|
Commander
of Groupement n°10 of the 1st Air Division (GB I/38 -
GB II/38)
|
|
Born
on 11 October 1889 |
|
| ARMENGAUD
Paul - François |
-
Air Force General |
Commander
of the 2nd Air Region (06/11/39 to 24/06/40) |
|
Born
28 September 1879 at Comigne (11 - Aude)
Died at Paris (75) on 27 July 1970 |
|
| ASTRUC
Marcel - Marie |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1916
- Lieutenant 1917
- Captain TT 1918
- Captain TD 1923
- Chef de bataillon 1929
- Lieutenant-colonel 1934
- Colonel 1937
- Air Brigade General 1941
|
At the
start of the war, he was assigned to the Aviation Intelligence
Inspectorate and finally to the staff of the 4th air region.
He was appointed second deputy chief of staff of the French
Air Force in 1940.
|
In
1914, Marcel ASTRUC enlisted and joined the 11th infantry regiment.
He joined the air force and qualified as an observer in 1916:
he was assigned to the C 39 squadron. He was awarded his pilot's
licence in 1918 and assigned to the No. 2 fighter squadron.
He took command of the SPA 55 squadron, and was transferred
to the 7th and then the 32nd aviation regiments in 1921. In
1934, he became head of the 54th Air Wing. He was posted to
the Air and Anti-Aircraft Defence Staff in 1938. He joined the
CHEM (Centre des Hautes Etudes Militaires) and, at the start
of the war, was assigned to the Aviation Intelligence Inspectorate
and then to the staff of the 4th air region. Appointed second
deputy chief of staff of the French Air Force in 1940, he became
deputy to the general in command of the 2nd Air Region in Toulouse
in 1942. He was arrested by the Germans in Carcassone and deported
in 1944. He left the active army in 1949. |
Born
on 12 December 1892 at Azille (11 - Aude)
Died at Carcassone (11 - Aude) on 13 August 1982 |
|
| AUBE
Georges |
-
Air Force General |
Deputy
Commander-in-Chief of the French Air Force for Territorial Air
Defence (02/09/39 to 20/10/39)
General Inspector of Air Defence (20/10/39 to 29/06/40) |
|
Born
on 4 October 1889 at Chavagné (79 - Deux-Sèvres)
Killed on 18 May 1940 at Le Castelet (02 - Aisne) |
|
| AUGEREAU
Raoul - Eugène |
- General
|
Commander
of the Cooperative Air Forces attached to the IXth Army
|
Raoul
Jean Eugène Augereau was destined to be a teacher, like
his father. He joined the 1906-1909 graduating class of the
École normale de Parthenay. At the end of his training,
he did his military service with the 114th infantry regiment,
then at the Joinville school, from which he graduated valedictorian.
After preparing for the E.O.R. in Blois, he completed his service
with the 125th infantry regiment and returned to civilian life
as a teacher in Mazières-en-Gâtine. In 1914, he
was mobilised as a lieutenant in the 25th Battalion of Foot
Chasseurs and was seriously wounded on 1 March 1915 during a
night patrol between the lines. Hit by three bullets, one of
which shattered his right femur, he was discharged from hospital
eleven months later with a 5 cm shortening of the leg. Unfit
for infantry service, he served in the air force as a fighter
pilot, with the rank of Captain.
At the armistice, he was chief pilot at the Istres school, then
shortly afterwards Commander of the Étampes refresher
school.
In 1931, Raoul AUGEREAU initiated the creation of the first
group aerobatic presentation patrol (or ‘ballet d'avions’).
The Patrouille de France we all know today is the worthy heir
to this 1930 ‘Patrouille de Présentation’.
Promoted to colonel, he became head of military aviation in
Indochina from 1934 to 1938. Promoted to General, he returned
to France and was appointed Chief of General Staff at the Ministry
of Colonies until the outbreak of the Second World War. In charge
of commanding the air force in the Sedan sector, he took part
in the fighting from May 1940, and his unit was decimated. In
order to explain his dramatic situation to his superiors, he
went to General Girault's command post at Le Catelet, in the
Aisne. But the command post was attacked by the Germans and
General Raoul AUGEREAU took part in the defence of the building,
but was hit by a fatal bullet to the forehead on 18 May 1940. |
Born
on 4 October 1889 at Chavagné (79 - Deux-Sèvres)
Killed on 18 May 1940 at Le Castelet (02 - Aisne) |
|
| AUGIER
DE-MOUSSAC Marie - Joseph |
- Sub-Lieutenant 1914
- Lieutenant 1916
- Captain 1918
- Chef de Bataillon
1934
- Lieutenant-Colonel
1938
- Colonel 1940
|
Commander
of Group 25 (GC I/4 - GC III/1 - GC III/2)
|
Marie
Joseph AUGIER DE MOUSSAC was admitted to the Saint-Cyr special
military school in 1913, and signed up for 8 years. On graduating,
he was appointed Sub-Lieutenant and posted to the 11th Dragoon
Regiment. Wounded in December 1914 following a fall from his
horse, he joined the military air force as an observer in August
1915 - He was made a licensed military pilot at the Chartres
aviation school in January 1916 and joined the Belfort bombing
group in February 1916 - He was a pilot in the MF 29, MF 123,
MF 62 and finally MF 54 / F 54 squadrons from 25 May 1916 to
9 June 1917. He was appointed Lieutenant in August 1916 and
underwent training on Nieuport aircraft in June 1917. He was
then posted to the N 49 / SPA 49 squadron from June 1917 to
August 1918, during which time he trained at the Cazaux air
gunnery school. He was appointed Commander of SPA 166 from August
1918 to March 1919. He was provisionally appointed Captain in
November 1918, and ended the war with two confirmed victories,
one wound and three commendations.
In March 1919, he was posted to aviation equipment depot no.
2 and completed a training period at the special military school
at St-Cyr from June to September 1919. In August 1919, he joined
the special aviation warehouse no. 2 at Nanterre, before being
posted to the 4th aviation regiment at Le Bourget in January
1920. He left for Morocco in April 2021 to join the 37th aviation
regiment. He was seconded to the Cazaux air gunnery school in
April 1921 and returned to Morocco, where he was appointed Deputy
Commander of the Morocco Bombardment Group (GBM) during operations.
He remained in North Africa until December 1922, when he returned
to metropolitan France where he was permanently appointed Captain.
He was posted to the 2nd Aviation Regiment in January 1923 before
being transferred to the 2nd Aviation Regiment in April 1923.
He left for training at the Versailles aeronautical studies
centre in October 1923. He was posted to the 34th Aviation Regiment
in August 1924 and then joined the 3rd Aviation Regiment in
July 1927. He was successively posted to No. 3 Air Base in October
1933, to No. 103 Air Base in January 1934, and was appointed
Battalion Chief in 1934. In December 1935, he became Deputy
Commander of the 8th Air Wing. Promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel
in March 1938, he was posted to Chartres air base in December
of the same year, before being posted to Fighter Group 25 in
1940, with the rank of Colonel. |
Born
23 March 1893, Compiègne (60 - Oise)
Died 22 January 1985 |
|
| BALTUS
Jean-Joseph |
-
General of the Air Brigade |
Commander
of the 6th Army's Air and Land Forces against aircraft (02/09/39
to 06/12/39)
Commander of the 6th Army's Air and Ground Forces against aircraft
(13/02/40 to 01/06/40)
Commander of the Lyon Air Base and the Polish Training Group
(01/06/40 to 01/07/40) |
|
Born
on 1st August 1884 at Chalindrey (52 - Hate-Marne)
Died 18 July 1952 |
|
| BARBERON
Jean - Paul |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1923
- Lieutenant 1925
- Captain 1930
- Commander 1939
- Lieutenant-colonel 1943
- Colonel 1946
- Air Brigade General 1949
|
Joined
the Air Force of Land Army Group 7 in September 1939, and
the Orléans Air Material Test Centre in 1940. Seconded
to the Northern Air Operations EMA, then appointed Deputy
Chief of Staff of the Morocco Air Region in June 1940.
|
Joined
the Saint-Cyr Military School in October 1920. He was posted
to the 32nd aviation regiment in October 1923. After training
at the Istres and Avord training centres in 1924, he was transferred
to the 1st Aviation Regiment in 1925. In 1927, he was transferred
to the 37th Aviation Regiment based in Morocco and took part,
as a Lieutenant, in the Moroccan campaign. From 1929 to 1933,
he was an instructor at the Ecole d'Application Aéronautique
in Versailles and was posted to the Centre d'Expérience
Aérienne in Reims, where he commanded the Reconnaissance
and Observation Section. He was posted to the 51st Air Brigade
in 1938 and became Commander of GBA II/51. He subsequently joined
the Air Force staff of the 3rd Air Region in June 1939, the
Air Force of Land Army Group 7 in September 1939, and the Orléans
Air Equipment Test Centre in 1940. Seconded to the Northern
Air Operations EMA, then appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of
the Morocco Air Region in June 1940.
He commanded the Châteauroux air base in August 1940 before
being appointed deputy to the 2nd Air Bureau in Vichy in January
1941. From November 1942 to January 1943, he officially became
‘Head of the Cabinet of the Air Force Liaison Body’,
a position which unofficially enabled him to help volunteers
wishing to join the North African air force. He was arrested
by the Gestapo on 8 January 1943 and deported to the Buchenwald
camp on 27 January 1944. He was liberated on 8 May 1945. He
first became assistant, then Commander of the Avord school in
1946. He left the army in 1949. |
Born
on 14 October 1900 in Bourges (18 - Cher).
Died on 9 January 1990 (92 - Hauts-de-Seine) |
|
| BARTHELEMY
Raymond |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1931
- Lieutenant 1933
- Captain 1938
- Commander 1945
- Lieutenant-colonel 1948
- Colonel 1953
- Air Brigade General 1959
- Air Division General 1962
- Air Corps General 1963
|
In 1940
at the 3rd Air Region Headquarters.
|
Raymond
Barthelemy was admitted to the Ecole Polytechnique in 1929,
then to the Ecole militaire et d'application de l'Aéronautique.
He was posted to the 21st squadron and then to the 12th in 1933.
He spent time in Indochina from 1935 to 1938 with the 5th squadron
at Cat-Laï. On his return, he took command of a squadron
at the 372 test centre at Cazaux. In 1940 he joined the staff
of the 3rd air region. He joined the Technical and Industrial
Directorate in 1941 and the Air Force Inspectorate in 1944.
After the war, he was posted to the instructors' training base
in Tours, then to the CESA in 1947. He joined the Armed Forces
Staff at the Logistics Planning Office in 1949, then the Air
Force Equipment Department in 1951. After becoming a colonel,
he took command of the Orléans transport wing from 1953
to 1957 and was appointed 2nd deputy chief of staff of the French
Air Force in 1957. He became Commander of the Groupement des
moyens militaires de transport aérien before being appointed
Director of Air Force Military Personnel and Major General of
the Air Force in 1962. He left the army in 1965 with the rank
of Air Corps General and nearly 5,000 flying hours. |
Born
on 10 March 1910 in Azerailles (54 - Meurthe et Moselle).
Died in Fontaineblau (77 - Seine et Marne) on 11 July 1992 |
|
| BASSET
Eugène - Marie |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1926
- Lieutenant 1928
- Captain 1933
- Commander 1939
- Lieutenant-colonel 1945
- Colonel 1946
- Air Brigade General 1951
- Air Division GeneralA 1956
- Air Corps General 1958
|
Assigned
to the staff of the Eastern zone of operations in October
1939.
|
Eugène
BASSET was admitted to the École Militaire de Saint-Cyr
in 1924. He was posted to the air force and passed through the
Avord school in 1926. He was posted successively to various
aviation regiments and attended the ESGA (Ecole Supérieure
de Guerre Aérienne) in 1936 and the CHEM (Centre des
Hautes Etudes Militaires) in 1939.
He was assigned to the staff of the Eastern zone of operations
in October 1939 before moving to the Air Command in Algeria
in July 1940. He was transferred to the Ministry of National
Defence in 1941 and then to the Military Forces Command in 1942.
He took command of the GB I/12 group at
Istres. In 1944, he was appointed 2nd Deputy Chief of Staff
of the Atlantic Air Force. Assigned to the CHEM and then the
CESA in 1945, he took over as head of the Marrakech base in
1947. He was appointed First Deputy Chief of Staff of the French
Air Force in 1950, then Inspector Major General of the French
Air Force in 1951. He was appointed Commander of the 3rd Air
Region in 1953, then Director of the Centre
in 1957. He was appointed Major General of the French Air Force
in 1958. He retired from active service in 1960 with the rank
of Lieutenant General. |
Born
in Mauriac (15 - Cantal) on 13 April 1905
Died at Vichy (03 - Allier) on 21 September 1995. |
|
| BASTON
Pierre |
- Colonel
|
Commander
of GIAB Group 1 (GB I/62 - GB I/63)
|
|
Born
on 14 December 1887
Died 24 November 1962 |
|
| BELLEUX
Maurice - Jules |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1931
- Lieutenant 1933
- Captain 1938
- Commander 1943
- Llieutenant-colonel 1945
- Colonel 1949
- Air Brigade General 1957
- Air Division General 1961
|
In 1939,
assigned to the Air Force Headquarters in Beirut. General
Jauneaud's executive officer in Tananarive in July 1940.
|
Maurice
Belleux was admitted to the Ecole spéciale militaire
de Saint-Cyr in 1929 and to the Ecole militaire et d'application
de l'aéronautique in 1931. He obtained his pilot's licence
in 1932. He was posted to the 1st fighter squadron in 1933.
In 1939, he joined the Air Force Headquarters in Beirut. In
July 1940, he became General Jauneaud's executive officer in
Tananarive. Captain Maurice BELLEUX became director of the Toulouse
Air Archives and Museum. In March 1943, he set up the Hunter
resistance network, attached to the Phratrie network. He continued
his work for the Resistance after being recalled to active service
as a liaison officer for the armistice commission and headed
the network until 10 May 1944. Wanted by the German and French
services, the BCRA, to which the network was attached, ordered
him to go to England and join the Free French Air Force. On
his return to France, he set up the DGSS intelligence service,
which became the SDECE in 1947. After the war, he spent time
in Indochina from 1952 to 1956. In 1956, he became head of the
military security service. He took command of the light combat
aircraft in 1958 and left the active army in March 1961 with
the rank of Air Division General. |
Born
in Le Palais (56 - Morbihan) on 26 March 1908
Died at Saclay (91 - Essonne) on 5 April 2002. |
|
| BENOIST
Georges - René |
-
General of the Air Brigade |
Commander
of the Clermont-Ferrand Training and Intelligence Centre (02/09/39
to 01/07/40) |
|
Born
in Angers (49 - Maine et Loire) on 25 December 1879
Died at Lyon (69 - Rhône) on 8 October 1958 |
|
| BERGERET
Jean - Marie |
-
General of the Air Brigade |
Aide-Major
General (Operations) of the French Air Force (01/09/39 to 01/07/40) |
|
Born
23 August 1895, Gray (70 - Haute-Saône)
Died at Neuilly-sur-seine (92 - Haut de Seine) on 30 November
1956 |
|
| BERTHELON
Charles - Jean |
- Lieutenant-Colonel
|
Commander
of GIAB Group 11 (GB I/21 - GB II/21)
|
Charles
BERTHELON was sent to the Eastern Army in 1915. He became an
infantry captain and Knight of the Legion of Honour and enlisted
in 1918. On mobilisation in 1939, as Lieutenant-Colonel, he
commanded Group 11 of the GIAB (Bombardment), which included
GB I/21 and GB II/21. He was killed in a plane crash on 9 May
1940 during a conversion flight on the Lioré-Olivier
LéO 45 n°96 of the GB I/11. |
Born on 27 March 1894 at Montceau les Mines (71 - Saône
et Loire)
Killed on 9 May 1940 at Arles (13 - Bouches du Rhône) |
|
| BEZY
Jean - Marie |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1927
- Lieutenant 1929
- Captain 1934
- Commander 1940
- Lieutenant-colonel 1945
- Colonel 1947
- Air Brigade General 1954
- Air Division General 1959
|
Assigned
to the 2nd Air Force Bureau
|
Jean
BEZY entered the École de Saint-Cyr in 1925. He was assigned
to the aeronautical corps and qualified as a pilot at the Avord
school in 1928. He was posted to the 35th Fighter Aviation Regiment
in 1929 and was sent to Dakar in the French West Indies with
the 34th Aviation Regiment from 1930 to 1932. On his return,
he joined the 5th Fighter Wing at Bron in 1932. He was transferred
to the 2nd office of the Air Force General Staff in 1936 and
attended the Ecole Supérieure de Guerre Aérienne
in 1939. Together with General Ronin, he founded the Intelligence
Service. He joined the AFN in 1942 and successively became Commander
of the Marrakech and Bouffémont schools, then of the
Versailles Air Force School in 1945. In 1946, he became Head
of the 2nd office of the Air Force General Staff. In 1949, he
was appointed Air Commander in Brazzaville (AEF). He was posted
to the Allied Forces Central Europe Headquarters in Fontainebleau
in 1952. He completed a course at the "Institut des hautes
études de défense nationale" and joined the
inspection of land, sea and air forces in 1953 in Algiers, AFN.
He was appointed to the staff of the equipment reception and
liaison group in 1953. He was Commander of Air Defence Zone
901 in 1954. In 1954, he became Chairman of the working group
studying air traffic problems within NATO. He was Special Assistant
to the Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces Southern Europe in
1956. Air Attaché in Washington in 1957, he left the
active army in 1959. |
Born
on 14 August 1906 in Saumur (49 - Maine-et-Loire).
Died on 13 October 1985 in Biarritz (64 - Pyrénées-Atlantiques). |
|
| BIENVENUE
Paul - Frédéric |
-
General of the Air Brigade |
Aerostation
Inspector (13/10/39 to 04/06/40)
Commander of Toulouse Pérignon Air Base (04/06/40 to
30/07/40 ) |
|
Né
le 3 juillet 1880 à Brest (29 - Finistère)
Décédé le 4 Septembre 1965 |
|
| BLAISE
Léon - Marcel |
-
General of the Air Brigade |
02/09/39-30/07/40
assigned to the Directorate General of Transport at the Ministry
of Public Works. |
|
Born
on 14 June 1877
Died 20 April 1962 |
|
| BLANCHARD
Georges - Maurice |
- General
|
Commander
of the Air Cooperation Forces attached to the 1st Army
|
Georges
BLANCHARD enlisted as a volunteer in August 1897, entered the
École polytechnique and the École d'application
de l'artillerie et du génie in 1899. He entered the École
supérieure de guerre in 1913. He was a Captain in the
56th artillery regiment when war was declared in 1914 and took
part in the fighting at Morhange, Lunéville, Gerbéviller,
Woëvre and Ypres, being gassed in March 1918. He was on
the staff of the 16th Army Corps in March 1915 and then of the
4th Army in July. He joined Marshal Joffre's cabinet in May
1918.
He was colonel of the 181st artillery regiment and then a member
of the staff of the French army on the Rhine between 1927 and
1930. Blanchard became chief of staff to General Adolphe Guillaumat
that same year and remained so until 1932. Promoted to General,
he became Commander of the Artillery of the Second Military
Region and then Commander of the 7th Military Region from 1935
to 1938. Until 1939, he was a member of the Conseil supérieur
de la guerre, director of the Centre des hautes études
militaires and inspector general of higher military education
centres.
On 2 September 1939, Georges Blanchard became Commander of the
1st Army with the rank of Army General. Following the death
of General Gaston Billotte on 23 May, Georges Blanchard was
appointed Commander of the 1st Army Group, a position he held
until its dissolution six days later. It was under his command
that the French armies successfully supported the withdrawal
of the British expeditionary force to Dunkirk.
Under the Vichy regime, Blanchard was inspector of the ninth
and twelfth military regions before retiring in August 1940.
|
Born
9 December 1877, Orléans (45 - Loiret)
Died at Neuilly-sur-Seine (92 - Haut de Seine) on 22 November
1954 |
|
| BLANCHET
Pierre - François |
- General
Ingenior
|
On mission
to the USA at the end of 1939 to obtain American aircraft.
Director of the Manufacturing Department at the Ministry of
Air.
|
Pierre
BLANCHET graduated from the École Polytechnique and the
École d'application du génie maritime.
He served in the artillery during the First World War. Assigned
to the technical Service in 1920, he became a marine engineer
from 1920 to 1924.
In 1928, he became a civil aeronautical engineer. In 1939, he
went on a mission to the USA to obtain the American aircraft
needed to modernise the French Air Force.
He was appointed Director of Manufacturing at the Ministry of
Air. After the war, he became chairman of a number of companies. |
Born
on 13 October 1895 in Reuilly (36 - Indre)
Died in Paris (75) on 15 October 1984 |
|
| BODET
Pierre - Louis |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1924
- Lieutenant 1926
- Captain 1931
- Commander 1937
- Lieutenant-colonel 1943
- Colonel 1944
- Air Brigade General 1946
- Air Division General 1949
- Air Corps General 1953
- Air Force General 1957
|
Assigned
to the Air Force General Staff in 1938
|
Pierre
Bodet was admitted to the Saint-Cyr Military School in 1922.
He was posted to the 64th Moroccan Rifle Regiment in October
1924. He was appointed instructor at Saint-Maixent before campaigning
in Morocco in 1925-1926. In 1927, he joined the Avord school
to obtain his pilot's licence. He was admitted to the Ecole
Supérieure de Guerre in 1932. In 1936, he was assigned
to the military cabinet of the Minister for Air, then in 1938
to the Air Force General Staff. He became Senior Air Commander
in AFN in June 1940 and was posted to the Air Command Staff
in AOF in 1942, then to the French Air Force Staff in Great
Britain in February 1944. As head of the 2nd bomber brigade
in 1945, he took part in the Germany campaign.
In 1946, he was promoted to Air Brigade General and assigned
to the National Defence Staff, before being sent to the Far
East as Air Commander in 1947. Pierre Bodet took charge of the
1st Air Division and the 1st Air Region in 1950 and was seconded
to SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) in 1951.
He became Deputy General to the Commander-in-Chief of land,
naval and air forces in Indochina in May 1953. In 1954, he was
appointed Air Corps General and promoted to Commander-in-Chief
of the Central African strategic zone. He left the active army
in 1958. |
Born
on 29 August 1902 in La Rochelle (17 - Charente Maritime)
Died in Paris (75) on 11 November 1987 |
|
| BORDES
Paul - Gustave |
-
General of the Air Brigade |
Assigned
to the Caen Bombing Training Centre (05/10/39 to 02/01/40)
Commander of Marignane Air Base (02/01/40 to 01/06/40 )
Commander of Cazaux Air Base (01/06/40 to 28/06/40) |
|
Born
on 9 September 1882 at Lembeye (64 - Pyrénées-Atlantiques)
Died 6 January 1950 |
|
| BOUSCAT
René |
- General
|
Commanding
Air Operations Zone East
|
René
BOUSCAT graduated from the Saint-Cyr Military School. Having
chosen infantry, he opted for aeronautics during the Great War.
After graduating from the École de Guerre, he commanded
aeronautics in French West Africa (AOF) in 1928, before joining
the fledgling Ministry of Air in 1930. In 1940, he commanded
the Zone d'opérations aériennes Est (ZOAE - Eastern
Air Operations Zone) adapted to Army Group 2 (GA2) commanded
by General Prételat. In 1942, he joined the Alliance
network in Algeria. Chief of Staff of the Air Force from July
1943 to October 1944, he was responsible for the merger between
the Free French Air Force (FAFL) and the Vichy Air Force deployed
in French North Africa (AFN). He was again appointed Chief of
the Air Staff in 1946, as an air force general, before being
placed on aircrew leave. |
Born
on 7 September 1891 in Thuir (64 - Pyrénées-Orientales)
Died in Paris (75) on 22 June 1970 |
|
| BROCARD
Félix - Antonin |
-
General of the Air Brigade |
Commandant
of the Ecole Principale de Pilotage d'Etampes (02/09/39 to 01/05/40)
Deputy Commander of the 2nd Air Region (01/05/40 to 25/05/40)
Head of the Polish Air Force Training Organisations. (25/05/40
to 01/06/40)
Chargé de mission to the Chief of the Air Staff for air
defence in the interior zone (01/06/40 to 01/07/40) |
|
Born
14 November 1885 in Biol
Died in Paris (75) on 28 May 1950 |
|
| BRUN
Jean - Jacques |
Captain |
Air
Force General Staff - 5th office |
|
Born
on 10 May 1905 in Brest (29 - Finistère)
Killed at Saint-Dizier (52 - Haute-Marne) on 13 June 1940 |
|
| BRUN
Jean |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1914
- Lieutenant 1917
- Commander 1940
|
General
agent for Air France in the United States and Canada from
1937 to 1940.
Mobilized in 1939 as assistant to the Air Attaché at
the French Embassy in Washington.
|
An
engineer from the École Centrale de Paris, he was called
up on 1 August 1914 to the 47th artillery regiment. He was seconded
to the air force in 1915 and qualified as an aircraft pilot,
being posted to the C 66 squadron in October 1915.
Commander of the SOP 111 squadron in 1917, then of a group attached
to GB 6, he earned 6 commendations. He was demobilised at the
end of the war and became Director of Manufacturing at the Blériot
factories from 1919 to 1925. From 1926 to 1933, he was Managing
Director of Farman Airlines. When Air-France was created, he
became Director of the European network from 1933 to 1937. He
was appointed General Agent for Air France in the United States
and Canada from 1937 to 1940. In 1939, he was mobilized as deputy
to the Air Attaché at the French Embassy in Washington.
He became Director of Air France's Paris branch in 1940. He
joined the infantry as a Commander, then in 1944 the FTP alongside
Colonel Fabien. He took charge of the 151st RI of the 2nd Moroccan
division. |
Born
on 1 March 1890 in Belfort (Territoire de Belfort).
Died on 25 May 1984 in Courbevoie (92 - Hauts de Seine). |
|
| CANONNE
Paul - Gaston |
- General
|
Commander
of the Air Forces of Cooperation attached to the 1st Army
|
Gaston
CANONNE was appointed Air Brigade General in 1939. He successively
exercised the following commands: Commander of the 9th air brigade,
Commander of the 2nd air division, Commander of the 6th air
division and the 5th air subdivision, and finally Commander
of the Air Forces and Ground Forces against aircraft of the
1st army. After the Armistice, he joined the resistance and
was arrested by the Germans in May 1944. First interned in Fresnes,
then in Compiègne, he was deported to Germany. He was
released by the Russians at Eisenberg on 8 May 1945. He was
placed in the reserve section in 1946. |
Born on the 21st of March
1889 in Solezsmes (59 - Nord)
Died on 8 April 1962
|
|
| CHALLE
Maurice - Prosper |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1925
- Lieutenant 1927
- Captain 1932
- Commander 1939
- Lieutenant-colonel 1944
- Colonel 1945
- Air Brigade General 1949
- Air Division General 1955
- Air Corps General 1957
- Air Force General 1958
|
Assigned
to the 4th Air Region Staff in September
1939, then to the Grand Air Headquarters in February 1940.
Member of the Wiesbaden Armistice Commission in July 1940.
|
Maurice
CHALLE is a former student of the Ecole Militaire de Saint-Cyr,
promotion 1923. He obtained his certificate as military pilot
in 1927. After several assignments in aviation regiments, he
entered the Air War School in 1937. He was assigned to the General
Staff of the 4th Air Region in September 1939, then to the Grand
Air Headquarters in February 1940. He was a member of the Armistice
Commission in Wiesbaden in July 1940. Detached to the training
squadron of Toulouse in 1941, he is put on Armistice leave in
1943. He joined the Resistance and joined the François
Villon network. He was recalled to active duty, and assigned
to the 11th bombing brigade.
After the war, he was appointed 3rd deputy chief of the Air
Commander in Morocco in 1949. In 1951, he became Chief of the
Special Staff of the Secretariat of State for the Armed Forces
and then for the Air Force in 1952.
In 1953, he was appointed Director of the Centre d'Enseignement
Supérieur Aérien and Commander of the École
Supérieure de Guerre Aérienne. From 1955 to 1957,
he became Chief of the General Staff of the armed forces and
then Major-General of the armed forces. He was appointed in
1958, Commander-in-chief of the forces in Algeria, then Commander-in-chief
of the allied forces in Central Europe in 1960. In disagreement
with the Algerian self-determination policy of France, he resigned
from the army in 1961 and participated. After the speech of
Charles de Gaulle in April 1961, he decided to take over the
putsch at Algiers and was imprisoned for this in the prison
of la Santé in Paris; he was sentenced initially to 15
years' imprisonment, but was released in December 1966 and amnestied
by De-Gaulle in 1968. |
Born
on 5 September 1905 in Le Pontet (84 - Vaucluse).
Died on 18 January 1979 in Paris (75) |
|
| CHAMBE
René - Michel |
- Colonel
|
Commander
of the Air Forces of Cooperation attached to the 7th Army
|
René
Chambe, son of a lawyer, joined the army at the age of 18 and
was assigned to the cavalry in 1914. In December, he joined
the aviation force at his request. Promoted to captain after
a brilliant service, Chambe was a member of several ministerial
cabinets before creating the historic Air Force service. When
war broke out, he was a colonel. In May 1940 he operated as
air cover for the 7th Army. Retired after the armistice of 1940,
the officer sheltered during the occupation the most famous
escaped from France, his former leader, general Giraud. He joined
him in Algiers in 1943 and became his chief of staff. From there,
he joined the general June, as a simple infantryman, with the
tirailleurs of the Italian campaign. He then landed in Provence
in August 1944, participated in the German Campaign where he
remained in the French occupation zone until 1946, when he retired. |
Born
on the 3rd of April 1889 in Lyon (69 - Rhône)
Died on 24 November 1983 in Baudinard-sur-Verdon (83 - Var) |
|
| COCHET
Gabriel - Roger |
- Air Brigade
General 1940
|
Commander
of the Air Forces of Cooperation attached to the 5th Army
|
As
early as 1935, he sounded the alarm against the danger of German
rearmament, notably in a novel that depicts an offensive by
Hitler against France. Calls for a new sacred union, to "resist
the Teutonic avalanche"
In 1940, he himself carried out reconnaissance flights. Having
become a brigadier general, he retired in June 1940 to the Puy
region. As soon as he hears the armistice request, he decides
to continue fighting until it becomes effective. He then urges
his men to resist despite the hostility he encounters among
civilians and the apathy of his hierarchy.
Before he was even put on leave in October, General Cochet undertook
to "do something". He does not plan to join de Gaulle
but he plans a time to flee to the colonies.
He takes the pretext of an order from his hierarchy to have
deposits of material set up at private individuals, in the Massif
Central. Very soon, he tries to gather "adherents",
and from July, he begins to circulate in the free zone to spread
his instructions. On 6 September, he signed his name as the
first in a long series of leaflets and letters that attest to
both his desire for revenge and his commitment to the regime.
He acts with his face uncovered, being convinced to act in harmony
with the political line of Vichy. But the secret services of
the regime put him under surveillance and his movement is being
hounded. His activities make him too suspect in the eyes of
Vichy and Darlan interns him on 21 June 1941 in Vals-les-Bains.
Indignant, he understands that he is an outlaw. From 1943, he
was in the service of General de Gaulle, in London and then
in Algiers.
He was the founding president of the Comité d'action
de la Résistance in 1948, which he chaired until his
resignation in 1952. He founded and chaired the association
Les Premiers de la résistance.
He served on the board of directors of air France from 1948
to 1960.
He was awarded the military medal on 4 June 1952, the highest
award for a general officer.
|
Born
on the 22nd of October 1888 in Saumur (49 - Maine-et-Loire)
Died on 14 December 1973 in Perpignan (66 - Pyrénées-Orientales) |
|
| DARNAUD
Jean - Théophile |
Commander
|
Air
and Army Staff of the 1st Land Army |
|
Born
on 17 October 1902 in Reillane (04 - Alpes-de-Haute-Provence)
Died at Croix-Fonsomme (02 - Aisne) on 8 November 1939 |
|
| D'ARNAUD
DE VITROLLES René - Marie |
- Sub-Lieutenant
TT 1919
- Lieutenant 1921
- Captain 1928
- Commander 1936
- Lieutenant-colonel 1939
- Colonel 1943
- Air Brigade General 1944
- Air Division General 1946
|
Assigned
at the beginning of the war to the staff of the Air Force
as head of the 2nd Bureau.
Promoted to Commander of Group 1/52 (Strategic Reconnaissance).
Seconded to the North-East Front Air Force Command.
Called to the 3rd office of the Secretary of State for War
in June 1940.
|
René
D'Arnaud de Vitrolles graduated from the military school of
Saint-Cyr and was assigned to the infantry in 1918. Detached
in aviation, he was assigned to the 59th Squadron based in the
Levant in 1920 and then to the 52nd in 1921. He joined the 34th
Aviation Regiment in Le Bourget and took command of a squadron
in 1924. Sent as Commander of the 2nd Squadron of the 37th Aviation
Regiment in Morocco in 1930. Returning to the French mainland,
he entered the École Supérieure de Guerre in 1933.
He was transferred to the staff of the 2nd Air Region in 1935,
to the Inspection of the Overseas Air Forces in Algiers and
then sent to Morocco to the 3rd Air Squadron in 1936. He was
appointed Deputy to the General Director of the Centre des hautes
études aériennes in 1937. He was assigned at the
beginning of the war to the staff of the 1st Air Force as head
of the 2nd office before being promoted to commander of the
GR I/52 group. He is then seconded to the Command of the Air
Forces of the North-East front and called to the 3rd Office
of the Secretary of State for War in June 1940. He was a member
of the Joint Control Commission n°5 in Aix-en-Provence in
1941. He joined the Resistance in 1942 and was arrested by the
police of Vichy at the PC of the Alliance network in 1943. He
managed to escape and join the FAFL in Great Britain. René
D'Arnaud de Vitrolles is placed at the disposal of General Bouscat,
Commander-in-chief in the AFN. He then took command of the joint
group no. 8, and then of the air force in Morocco in 1943. He
is Chief of Staff in Algiers in 1944 and successively commands
the 3rd Air Region, the Air Schools, and the 5th Air Region
in Algiers. He left the active army in 1950 with the rank of
Air Division General. |
Born
on January 1, 1899 in Marseille (13 - Bouches-du-Rhône).
Died on 25 October 1996 in Vitrolles (05 - Hautes-Alpes) |
|
| D'ASTIER
DE LA VIGERIE François |
- Sub-Lieutenant 1908
- Captain 1917
- Air Brigade General
1936
|
Command
the North Air Operations Area
|
François
D'ASTIER DE LA VIGERIE enlisted in October 1907. He entered
Saint-Cyr in 1908 (promotion “Morocco”) and was promoted
to Sub-Lieutenant of the cavalry in the 13th Regiment de dragons.
Lieutenant in 1911, he went on campaign on 2 August 1914 before
moving to the Staff of the 1st Brigade of the Moroccan Division.
In December 1915 he entered the aeronautics and obtained his
military pilot’s licence in April 1916. He is doing internships
at Avord, Cazaux and Pau and is assigned to the 65th squadron,
of which, promoted Captain, he will take command in 1917. He
then creates the 88 Fighter Squadron. Again wounded, He is cited
seven times.
Between the two wars he was, among other things, Director of
the military aeronautical mission in Finland, deputy head of
the technical cabinet, air attaché in Rome. He participated
in the Rif campaign in Morocco and from 1926 to 1929 was commander
of the centres of Fez and of the southern aviation group. He
will then command the 3rd Aviation Regiment and then the 3rd
Brigade.
Il suit les cours du Centre d'Etudes Tactiques d'Artillerie
puis du Centre des Hautes Etudes Militaire, et est nommé
Air Brigade General en octobre 1936. Il commande à partir
de 1937 la région aérienne d'Aix-en-Provence et
devient titulaire de la chaire de l'aéronautique des
HEDN (Haute-Ecole-Defense-Nationale) puis inspecteur général
des écoles.
Commander of the Northern Air Operations Zone (Z.O.A.N.) from
September 1939, he led the air battle of France in liaison with
the Royal Air Force. On 10 June, he proposed to General Vuillemin
and Admiral Darlan that the air force be withdrawn to the AFN
to continue the fight: he was relieved of his command on 16
June and sent on a mission to Morocco. He was again relieved
of his command on 23 August 1940 for having taken a stand in
favour of Pierre Mendès France, whom he welcomed into
his staff. He returns to France and joins in November, "The
Last Column", group of resistance created by his brother
Emmanuel.il also makes two depositions to discharge at the trial
of Pierre Mendès-France in November 1940.
He joined the Free French Forces in London on 18 November 1942
and was appointed deputy to General de Gaulle on 1 December
1942. He is a member of the High Military Committee.
Sent to Algiers from 19 to 22 December 1942, his mission was
to review the political situation.
Inspector General of the FAFL on 15 May 1943, he was appointed
in July 1943, Commander of the French military forces in Great
Britain, then Superior Commander of the French troops in Great
Britain, in October.
Military delegate in London of the COMIDAC, Committee of Action
in France, from December 1943, he is responsible for preparing
the French military participation to the future landing. He
liaises with General Eisenhower in January 1944 in preparation
for offensive operations from Great Britain.
Recalled by General de Gaulle in April 1944, he was replaced
by General Koenig and went to North Africa. He was sent to Spain
in June 1944 to prepare the gathering of the French mobilizable.
The mission being cancelled, he returned to London on 20 July
1944. He was appointed Ambassador of France to Rio de Janeiro
in November 1944, a post he held until 1946.
Returning to France after the departure of General de Gaulle
in January 1946, he founded with René Capitant the Gaullist
Union and published the Cahiers de la France Libérée.
he then campaigned politically in favour of the return to power
of General de Gaulle until his death. |
Born
on the 7th of March 1886 in Le Mans (72 - Sarthe)
Died on 9 October 1956 in Paris (75) |
|
| DAVET
Jules - Maurice |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1910
- Lieutenant 1912
- Captain 1915
- Commander 1927
- Lieutenant-colonel 1933
- Colonel 1935
- Air Brigade General 1938
- Air Division General 1943
|
Commander
of the Pau base in 1939
|
Engaged
as a volunteer in 1905, Jules DAVET went to the Ecole militaire
d'infanterie. He was assigned to the 1st group of airbase at
Versailles in 1914.
He is taken prisoner and will be repatriated to France in 1918.
He was transferred to the 2nd aerostation group in 1920 and
then to the 1st aerostation regiment in 1923. He was appointed
to the Technical Inspection of Aeronautics from 1926 to 1931.
He was seconded in 1931 to the office of the under-secretary
of state at the air ministry and in 1932 to the military cabinet
of the minister of national defence. He joined the Air Force
Staff in 1933 and in 1934 the Air Minister’s special Staff.
He was appointed Commander of the Air in Tunisia in 1935.
At the mobilization in 1939, he commanded the air base of Pau.
He leaves his command in June 1940 and is appointed military
advisor to the French embassy in Bern.
In Switzerland, he will participate in the establishment of
the General Delegation of the Resistance, designed by Philippe
MONOD and intended to coordinate the actions of the different
groups of resisters. But General de Gaulle does not recognize
this delegation: he had commissioned jean MOULIN to coordinate
the groups of Resistance in france, and he sees with a bad eye
this parallel delegation. Its members will sometimes be called
anti-Gallistas... This episode will be known as "The Swiss
Affair" |
Born
on the 6th of January 1884 in Toulon (83 - Var)
Died on 6 December 1978 |
|
| DEBERNARDY
Marcel |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1932
- Lieutenant 1933
- Captain 1938
- Commander 1943
|
In September
1939, assigned to the 3rd EMAA office; in April 1940, to the
Air High Command in the AFN.
|
Marcel
DEBERNARDY follows a Military-tanks preparation in 1932. He
passed his pilot’s licence in October 1932 and took courses
at the military school and the air force application from 1933
to 1935. He was assigned to the 4th Squadron in 1935 in Tunisia
at the 1st Squadron. He completed an internship as a transmission
officer in Villacoublay in 1937. In September 1939, he was assigned
to the 3rd office of the Air Force’s ETat-Major. In April
1940, he was appointed Senior Air Commander in AFN. He participated
in the landing of Sardinia with the GB 1722. He commanded the
GB I/22 in 1944. After various assignments, he took command
of the air force in Morocco. He attended the Air War School
in 1949. He became deputy chief of staff at the joint headquarters
of the land forces in the Far East in 1951. He took command
of GATAC North in 1952 and was assigned to the Inspection of
Land Forces, Air and Sea in 1953. He became Commander of the
Air in Tunisia in 1955 and was appointed to the Supreme Commander
of the Allied Forces in Europe in 1957. He became Chief Equipment
Officer of the Air Force in 1958 before leaving the Air Force
at his request in 1960. |
Born
on the 18 January 1908 in Marseille (13 - Bouches-du-Rhône)
Died on20 January 1997 in Paris (75) |
|
| DE
BOYSSON René - Charles - Marie |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1914
- Lieutenant 1916
- Captain 1919
- Commander 1926
- Lieutenant-colonel 1932
- Colonel 1936
- Air Brigade General 1939
- Air Division General 1945
|
Commander
of the Air Forces of Cooperation attached to the III eme Army
|
He
was commissioned in 1908 into the 21st Artillery Regiment and
took part in the affairs of Morocco in 1910 and 1911. Until
1917 he was assigned to several artillery regiments as an observer.
In 1917, he went to the Orient and in 1919 was assigned to the
army of the Levant. He was a pilot in Istres in 1922. Again
assigned to the Levant until 1931, he was appointed Commander
of the 4th Aviation Group in Tunis in 1932. He became Commander
of the squadron of the Ecole de l'air at Versailles in 1935
and commanded the 10th air brigade at Metz. In 1939, he took
command of the Air and Land Forces against 3rd Army aircraft.
He is interned in Switzerland in June 1940, and will be released
in March 1941. He is appointed chairman of the Air sub-commission
of the French delegation to the Italian Armistice Commission.
In April 1944, he became Director of the Air Works and left
the active army in 1946 with the rank of Air Brigade General. |
Born
on 12 September 1890 in Langon (33 - Gironde).
Died on 11 June 1983 in Paris (75) |
|
| DE
BURETEL DE CHASSEY Xavier - Marie |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1927
- Lieutenant 1929
- Captain 1934
- Commander 1941
- Lieutenant-colonel 1944
- Colonel 1946
- Air Brigade General 1952
- Air Division General 1959
|
Air Liaison
Officer - 2nd Air Region
|
Xavier
DE BURETEL DE CHASSEY joined the military school of Saint-Cyr
in 1925. He was assigned to the 3rd and 5th Group of Aircraft
Workers and in 1929 to the 32nd Aviation Regiment. He was assigned
to the air base of Dijon between 1932 and 1937 and entered the
Ecole supérieure de guerre in 1938. In June 1940, he
joined the NFA as a member of the High Command staff. He is
assigned to the 31st Bombardment Squadron and will participate
with this group in the landings of Italy and France. He trained
at the Kasba-Tadla school and returned to the 31st Squadron
in 1945. He was assigned to CESA in 1946 and became Director
of Studies at the CSI in 1950. He was First Deputy Chief of
Staff of the Air Force in 1951. He was appointed Commander of
the 1st Air Region in 1953. He became deputy Commander of DAT
in 1955 and then Commander of DAT in 1957. he left the active
army in 1959. |
Born
on the 9 January 1906 in Saint-Saulves (59 - Nord)
Died on 20 June 1996 in Clamart (92 - Hauts de Seine). |
|
| DE
CASTEL François - Marie |
-
General of the Air Brigade |
Commander
of the 6th Air Brigade (03/09/39 to 22/10/39)
Commander of the 2nd Air Subdivision (22/10/39 to 01/07/40) |
|
Born
on 17 January 1886 at Saint Servant (56 - Morbihan)
Died in 1970 |
|
| DE
CASTET-LABOULBENE Jacques |
- Sub-Lieutenant 1915
- Captain 1934
- Commander 1934
- Lieutenant-Colonel
1940
|
Commander
of GIAB Group 19 (GB II/11 - GBA I/51 - GBA II/51 - GBA II/35))
|
Jacques
DE CASTET-LABOULBENE enlisted in 1914 and went to the front
in 1915. He was a sub-lieutenant and a pilot in 1917. He is
assigned to the Orient Army and commands the 502 Squadron in
Sofia in November 1918. Prisoner of the Bulgarians, he is condemned
to death but will be saved by the Armistice of November 1918!
In 1923, he was assigned to the Levant and then participated
in the operations of the Djebel Druze. He left with the Black
Cruise in French West Africa from 1933 to 1934, was promoted
to Captain, then Commander in 1934.
He made the first military flight between Paris and Hanoi and
returned to Vietnam, and took command of the 51st Bombardment
Squadron in 1937.
At the head of the 19th assault group, he participated in the
French campaign from December 1939 to June 1940.
After the Armistice, then Colonel, he joined Indochina and took
command of the Groupement Nord Aviation. Arrested by the Japanese
on 13 March 1945, he was interned and tortured for more than
a month. He managed to escape, continued to serve in Indochina
until his return to France in February 1946...
He became president of the association «Les Ailes Brisées»
in 1947. |
Born
on the 20 November 1896 in Toulouse (31 - Haute-Garonne)
Died on 23 October 1979 in Méras (09 - Ariège) |
|
| DELAFOND
Jean - Maurice |
-
General of the Air Brigade |
Commander
of the Montpellier Fighter Training Centre (02/09/39 to 27/01/40
) |
|
Born
on 11 September 1882 at Choisy au Bac (60 - Oise)
Died at Choisy au Bac on 6 January 1964 |
|
| DE
MONTARBY Paul - Antoine |
-
General of the Air Brigade |
Commander
of the 6th Air Subdivision (02/09/39 to 10/11/39)
Available (10/11/39 to 30/07/40) |
|
Born
on 11 September 1882 at Choisy au Bac (60 - Oise)
Died at Choisy au Bac on 6 January 1964 |
|
| DENAIN
Victor - Léon |
-
Air Force General |
Chargé
de Mission by the Minister of National Defence and War (in charge
of recruiting, organising and training the Polish Armed Forces
constituted on French territory) (02/09/39 to 25/06/40) |
|
Born
on 6 November 1880 at Dax (40 - Landes)
Died at Nice (06 - Alpes-Maritimes) on 31 December 1952 |
|
| DE
RANCOURT DE MIMERAND Henry |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1933
- Lieutenant 1935
- Captain 1939
- Commander 1941
- Lieutenant-colonel 1943
- Colonel 1944
- Air Brigade General 1954
- Air Division General 1959
- Air Corps General 1961
|
Appointed
Captain in June 1939, he was successively assigned to the
personnel management at the Air Ministry and then to the North
Air Operations Area
|
Henry
DE RANCOURT DE MIMERAND entered the Saint-Cyr Military Special
School in 1931. Detached in the aviation, he enters the military
and application school of the air force in 1933. Assigned to
the 23rd Bombing Squadron in 1935. He is called to the staff
of the North air operations area in 1939 and will be sent to
Morocco in Rabat at the 3rd office in June 1940. He escapes
and joins the AFLS. Became Commander of the Odiham flight school
before being transferred to the air staff in London, then to
the particular staff of the
General de Gaulle in 1941. He was promoted to commander of the
226th RAF squadron in 1942 and of the Lorraine group in 1943.
He became Chief of Staff to General de Gaulle in 1944. He was
appointed military expert at the French embassy in London in
1945. He was deputy commander of the air force in Morocco in
1948. He entered the École supérieure de guerre
aérienne and attended the Cour supérieure interarmées
in 1949.
He was successively appointed head of the intelligence service
of the President’s Council’s private staff and then
head of the general information service at the permanent secretariat
of the National Defence in 1950.
Sent to the USA for an internship at the Armed Forces Staff
College in Norfolk in August 1950. Appointed as Air Attaché
in London in 1951. On his return to France in 1954, he was placed
at the disposal of the general commander of the allied air forces
Central Europe. He was promoted to commander of the GMMTA in
1958 and then attaché of the air near the embassy of
France in Washington in 1960. He took command of the 4th Allied
Tactical Air Force in 1964 before leaving the active army in
1965 and entering as a technical advisor for France at the Boeing
International Corporation. |
Born
on the 4th of July 1910 in Cernoy-en-Berry (45 - Loiret)
Died on 28 July 1992 in Paris (75) |
|
| DESACHE
François |
- Captain
|
Present
at the 2nd Staff Office during the French Campaign
|
François
ERNOUL de la CHENELIERE joined the Ecole spéciale militaire
de Saint-Cyr in 1929 and was assigned to the aviation when he
left. He was trained at the École militaire et d'application
de l'aéronautique in Versailles in 1929 and at the École
pratique d'aviation in Avord in 1930. He was assigned to the
11th Aviation Regiment in 1931 and then to several bombing squadrons
from 1931 to 1937. He was called to the Air Force Staff in 1937,
and will be present at the 2nd Office of the General Staff during
the Campaign of France. He was appointed liaison officer at
the Italian sub-delegation of control for Algeria in 1941. He
became the General Secretariat of the Council’s vice-presidency
in 1941. HE joined the AFN in 1942 and was assigned to the Special
Services Directorate in 1943. He was appointed Chief of Staff
of the No. 11 Bombing Brigade in October 1944. He participated
in the campaigns of Italy, France and Germany from 1944 to 1945.
He joined CESA in 1946, then in 1947, was sent to Buenos Aires
as an air attaché. He was appointed Chief of Staff to
the General Chief of Staff, Air Force General in 1950. Promoted
to commander of the Groupement des moyens militaires de transport
aérien in 1953, and took command of GATAC nord in Indochine
in 1954. On his return to the French mainland, François
ERNOUL de la CHENELIERE was appointed Commander of the Air in
Morocco in 1955 and then Commander-in-chief of the French forces
in Morocco in 1959. He finished his career as a French military
adviser to the OTASE in 1961-1962. |
Born
on 28 November 1907 in Vannes (56 - Morbihan).
Died on 3 October 1985. |
|
| DE
TURENNE Armand - Jean |
- Colonel
|
Commander
of the new group 24 (the other Gpt 24 has been transformed)
|
Armand
de Turenne enlisted on 30 April 1908. He was assigned to the
cavalry and joined the 21st Saumur Dragon Regiment. In June
1915, he joined the aviation and obtained his military pilot’s
licence on 21 December 1915. He was assigned to N48 Squadron.
He wins 5 victories which will make him an Ace. He is made a
knight of the Legion of Honor, and receives the War Cross.
Becomes Commander of the SPA 12 Squadron and wins other victories.
At the end of the conflict, he won fifteen victories, thirteen
shared with other pilots.
After the armistice, he remained in the active army and was
posted to North Africa in 1920, then to Rhineland in 1922 before
returning to North Africa. He participated in the Black Cruise
of General Vuillemin in 1933.
He is then assigned to the air base 112 of Reims and will command
the 6th fighter squadron, equipped with biplane fighters Nieuport
62.
When the conflict broke out in 1939, he commanded the hunting
group N° 24 responsible for defending the borders with Italy.
He retreats to North Africa after the armistice, and is maintained
by the Vichy government at a command post in Tunisia then in
Morocco. But his support for the allies led to his retirement
on 1 April 1942. He retired to Rabat, and did not return to
France until the 1950s, when he lived between Paris and the
château de Caumont in the Gers. |
Born
on the 2nd of April 1891 in Le Mans (72 - Sarthe)
Died on 10 December 1980 in Paris (75) |
|
| DE-MOUSSAC
Marie - Joseph |
- Lieutenant-Colonel
|
Commander
of Group 25 (GC I/4 - GC III/1 - GC III/2)
|
|
Born
on the 23 March 1893 in Compiègne (60 - Oise)
Died on 22 January 1985 |
|
| D'HARCOURT
Bernard - Gabriel |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1911
- Lieutenant 1913
- Captain à TT 1917
- Captain à TD 1918
- Commander 1923
- Lieutenant-colonel 1928
- Colonel 1931
- Air Brigade General 1936
- Air Division General 1939
- Air Corps General 1939
|
Inspector
and Commander of the Hunting
|
Jean
d'HARCOURT enlisted in 1906 and was assigned to the 9th Dragons
before joining the Saumur Cavalry School from which he graduated
as a sub-lieutenant in 1911. In 1912, he applied for a secondment
to the aeronautical service and was certified pilot in 1913.
But at the beginning of the conflict, he did not get permission
to fight in the air force and it was in the cavalry that he
fought his first battles, covering himself with glory. When
the trench war takes place, his maintenance in the Cavalry is
no longer necessary, and he can finally join the aviaition.
He was assigned in 1915 to the N38 squadron, of which he took
command, before being appointed to the head of the N103 in 1916
and finally, of the hunting group 13 in 1918. After the war,
in 1919, he was assigned to the Directorate of Aeronautics.
He commanded the 32nd Aviation Regiment in April 1924 and the
2nd Aviation Regiment in 1931. Posted to the Centre des hautes
études militaires in 1933, he will take command of the
3rd air brigade in 1934, then that of the 12th air brigade and
the Centre d'expériences
Reims Air Force in 1935. He was appointed inspector and senior
commander of the fighter aviation from 1938 to 1940.
He moves to AFN as Deputy General, Senior Air Commander in AFN
and becomes Secretary-General for Family and Home
Youth in August 1940. General Jean d'HARCOURT created "Youth
and Mountain" before taking the direction of civil aviation
in December 1940 and leaves the active army in 1945. |
Born
on 15 December 1885 in Paris (75)
Died on 1 February 1980 in Paris |
|
| DORDILLY
François - Henri |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1917
- Lieutenant 1919
- Captain 1927
- Commander 1936
- Lieutenant-colonel 1939
- Colonel 1945
|
Commander
of the Night Fighting Group (GCN I/13 - GCN II/13 - GCN III/13
- GCN IV/13)
|
François
DORDILLY was a candidate for the Naval School in March 1915.
He was assigned to the 38th RAC, then to the 36th RAC in 1916.
He was transferred to the air force in 1916 and passed through
the air shooting school of Cazaux at the end of 1916 before
being assigned to the F 58 squadron. He made a stint at the
school of Istres and was successively Patent observer in 1917,
and pilot in 1919. He was transferred to the 35th Air Regiment
in 1920, then to the Centre d'étude de l'aéronautique
de Versailles in 1924. He was sent on a mission to Brazil in
1927-1930. Upon his return, he was successively assigned to
the 22nd Aviation Regiment in 1930, to the General Staff of
the Air Forces in 1933, to the 2nd Air Squadron where he took
command of the night hunting group in 1936, finally to the 3rd
Group of the 1st Wing at Étampes in 1938.
He was called to command the night hunting of Paris in 1939
and joined the group of the hunting squadrons of Nuit 1/13 in
Nîmes in 1940. In 1942, he was assigned to GB 1 before
being posted to the Air Defence staff at Vichy in 1943, seconded
to the cadres
Engineers of the state communications officers.
He was a member of the military mission for German affairs in
1945 and was demobilized in 1946. |
Born
on the 8th of July 1896 in Roanne (42 - Loire)
Died on 28 May 1990 in Ville d'Avray (92 - Hauts de Seine) |
|
| DUMEMES
Bernard - Daniel |
- Colonel
|
Commander
of Group 22 (GC I/2 - GC II/4 - GC II/5 - GC II/6 - GC I/8)
|
|
Born
on 12 August 1890
Died on 14 July 1972 |
|
| ESCUDIER
Philippe - Jean |
- General
|
Commander
of the 1st Air Division
|
|
Born
on the 1st of December 1891 in Chasselay (69 - Rhône)
Died on 15 November 1975 in Lyon (69 - Rhône) |
|
| ETEVE
Albert |
- General
Inspector
|
Director
of the Air Armament Service from 1936, he was called to the
Air Force Staff in October 1939
|
Albert
ETEVE graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique in 1904, in engineering
and was assigned to the aerostation in 1906. He is a patented
pilot of
balloon and observer in a captive balloon in 1907. He participated
in the campaign of Morocco.He was a pilot of airship then pilot
of plane at the school of Pau in 1910. He commands the aviation
school of Versailles and the aviation section of the 6th Corps
d'Armée.e.
In 1914, he was appointed to the Manufacturing Service and then
to the Technical Section of Aeronautics. At the end of the war,
he was posted to the
Centre d'études aéronautiques. He was sent to
the Ecole d'application de l'aéronautique and left the
active army in 1925 to enter
in the Aeronautical Engineers Corps. He was promoted to Inspector
General of Aeronautics in 1936, Director of the Air Weapons
Service.
When the conflict was declared in October 1939, he was called
to the Air Force Headquarters and was given the task of setting
up the defence of the air bases. He will be retired on 31 December
1941. |
Born
on the 24 May 1880 in Paris (75)
Died on 18 April 1876 in Paris |
|
| FAURE
Pierre - François |
-
Air Brigade General |
Commander
of the Toulouse Pérignon Aerostation Training Centre
(02/09/39 to 30/07/40) |
|
Born
on 22 November 1884 |
|
| FRANCOIS |
- Colonel
|
Commander
of the Group n°9 of the 1st Air Division (GB I/34 - GB
II/34)
|
|
|
|
| FRANDON
René - Auguste |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1924
- Lieutenant 1926
- Captain 1932
- Commander 1939
- Lieutenant-colonel 1944
- Colonel 1945
- Air Brigade General 1949
- Air Division General 1954
- Air Corps General 1956
|
Assigned
to the Air Force Headquarters, 1st office, in 1937, becoming
its chief in 1940. Assigned to the General Staff of the Air
Force Inspectorate. Head of the Armistice section at the Air
Force General Staff.
|
René
FRANDON was admitted to the Ecole Militaire de Saint-Cyr in
1922. He spent his career in the army until 1930, then joined
the Military and Aeronautics School of Versailles before joining
the Ecole d'Avord. He was assigned to the 36th observation aviation
group and then to the 36th squadron. He took courses at the
Ecole de guerre in 1935. He was assigned to the Air Force Staff,
1st office in 1937 and became its chief in 1940. He is assigned
to the General Staff of the Air Force Inspectorate. At the end
of the French Campaign, he was appointed Chief of the Armistice
section of the Air Force Staff. He is sent to the AFN as Commander
of the GB I/23 group in 1941 and will be seconded to the American
command after the Allied landings in North Africa in November
1942. He was stationed at the Air Staff in Morocco in 1943.
In 1944-45, René FRANDON was posted to the National Defence
Committee. He was appointed Chief of Staff of the AFN Commander-in-Chief
in 1949. He is responsible for inter-Allied matters with the
Air Force Major General. He was successively appointed Commander
of the Air in Morocco in 1951, Commander of the 2nd and 5th
air region and finally Commander of the Air Defense of the territory
in 1957. He left the active army in 1959. |
Born
on the 13th of January 1904 in Briançon (05 - Hautes-Alpes).
Died on 28 December 1990 in Paris (75) |
|
| GALLOIS
Pierre - Marie |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1939
- Lieutenant 1941
- Captain 1942
- Commander 1945
- Lieutenant-colonel 1949
- Colonel 1953
- Air Brigade General 1957
|
In 1939,
he was assigned to the staff of the 5th air region at Algiers.
|
Pierre
GALLOIS volunteered for the air force in 1931. He trained at
the Avord Aviation Practice School in 1932 before being assigned
to the 31st Regiment of Aviation. He was placed in the reserve
in November 1932, and will be reinstated in the active army
in 1937. Assigned to 61st Wing in Tunisia in 1937, to regional
air group 588 at Columbus-Bechar in 1938 before being transferred
to the staff of the Superior Air Command in AFN in 1940. He
joined the GR I/52 based in Marrakech in 1941 and was appointed
deputy commander of the base of Marrakech and liaison officer
with the allied troops in 1942. He joined London in 1944 and
was successively assigned to the 334th squadron in July 1944,
to the staff of the FAF in Great Britain to the information
section in March 1945. He was transferred to the civilian cabinet
of the minister of air in August 1945, then called to the cabinet
of the general chief of staff general of the air force (EMGAA)
at the ministry of the armed forces in 1946. He was transferred
to the 4th office and returned to the office of the head of
EMGAA in 1947. He attended the École supérieure
de guerre aérienne before being appointed chief of staff
to the General Staff Chief of Air Force in 1953. He is then
assigned to the Supreme Allied Command in Europe
(SHAPE) in September 1953 and left the active army in 1957 to
take over the commercial management of the aircraft company
Marcel Dassault. |
Born
on 29 June 1911 in Turin (Italy).
Died on 23 August 2010 in Paris (75) |
|
| GAMA
Paul Jules - Joseph |
- Lieutenant 1916
- Captain 1918
- Lieutenant-colonel
1931
- Colonel 1935
- Air Brigade General
1939
- Air Division General
1942
|
Commander
of the Bombardment Aviation Training Group
|
In
1910, Paul GAMA enlisted for five years and joined the 7th artillery
regiment then the 50th artillery regiment in January 1911. In
1915, he was assigned to the military aviation as an observer
in the C 47 squadron from August 1915. He obtained his military
pilot’s licence in April 1916. Wounded in July 1916, he
was appointed lieutenant in October 1916 and went on training
at the artillery school of Fontainebleau in November. In November
1917, he took the command of the C 56/ SAL 56 squadron and was
promoted to captain in May 1918. Wounded again, he was in convalescence
from October to November 1918.
After the war, he was appointed Commander of a squadron in Morocco
from February to November 1919 before being assigned to the
4th observation aviation regiment in January 1920. He was assigned
to the 34th Aviation Regiment of Bourget-Dugny in July 1920
and joined French West Africa from September 1920 to May 1923,
as Commander of the Dakar squadron. He returned to the mainland
in June 1923 and was assigned to the 35th Lyon-Bron Aviation
Regiment before joining the 34th Bourget-Dugny Aviation Regiment
in October. From December 1923 to May 1926, he was again in
AOF. On his return in December 1926, he was appointed Battalion
Chief and after a raid in Africa, was assigned to the technical
inspection of aeronautics in November 1929 before being seconded
to the general directorate of the air forces and then to central
administration in April 1930. He is appointed Commander of the
French West Africa Aeronautics and promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel
in December 1931. On his return, he was assigned in February
1933 to the group of new aircraft before being named Director
of the Centre d'essais du matériel aéronautique
in March 1934. Named Colonel one year later, he is Commander
of the air half-brigade of Bordeaux from June to August 1936
- Commander, in the interim, of the 1st air brigade, on 18 August
1936 - On proposal of the Commander of the air base of BordeauxMérignac,
moved from the 4th group of the 19th wing to the 1st group of
the 19th wing, on 1 March 1938 - On mission in the United States,
boarded at Cherbourg, on 7 December 1938 - End of mission and
landed at Le Havre, on 31 December 1938 - Commander of the Sous-CorpsIstres
aircrew officers from 9 January to 28 August 1939. Promoted
to Air Brigade General in January 1939.
In October 1939, he became Deputy to the command of the bombing
aviation training group of the 3rd air region and then Commander
of the 9th air brigade from October 1939 to July 1940.
After the Armistice, he was appointed Superior Air Commander
in French East Africa from August 1940 to March 1943. Appointed
Air Division General in July 1942, he became assistant to the
Commander-in-chief of the French North African Air and Commander
of the Expeditionary Air Corps from April to September 1943.
He was put on leave from September to October 1943, then placed
on standby until April 1944 before being put on active leave
and then placed on permanent leave of the aircrew in September
1945, he retired in April 1949 |
Born
on the 15 September 1892 in Montigny Les Metz (57 - Moselle)
Died on 27 October 1983 in Rocquencourt (78 - Yvelines) |
|
| GAMBIER
Paul |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1911
- Lieutenant 1913
- Captain 1917
- Commander 1924
- Lieutenant-colonel 1930
- Colonel 1934
- Air Brigade General 1937
|
Appointed
technical general inspector to the army in 1938. Commander
of the base at Auch in July 1940
|
Paul
GAMBIER was admitted to the Ecole Polytechnique in 1909. After
the Ecole militaire d'artillerie, he was assigned in 1913 to
the 35e régiment d'artillerie. He is a certified aircraft
observer and successively assigned to the MF 28, MF 8 and C
28 squadrons. Wounded, he was assigned as an instructor in the
artillery and then was certified pilot in 1916. He took command
of the C 106 squadron, then C 64 before becoming technical assistant
to the Commander of the Centre for Experimental Development
in Ferté-Alais in 1918 and then to the Service des aircraft
manufacturing in 1919. He graduated as an engineer from the
Ecole supérieure d'aéronautique in 1919 and was
appointed Inspector General of Aeronautics in 1922. He becomes
second commander of the 5th group of aeronautics workers and
of the school of Avord.
In 1926, he was commander of the school of apprentice mechanics
at Rochefort, commander of the 21st squadron in 1934 and finally
commander of the 3rd air subdivision at Cherbourg in 1936. He
was appointed technical inspector general to the armies in 1938.
then commander of the base of Auch (July 1940). Left the active
army in 1945. |
Born
on 19 May 1888 in Fontenay-le-Comte (Vendée).
Died on 11 December 1981. |
|
| GARDE
Raoul - Louis |
-
Air Brigade General |
Commander
of the 24th Air Brigade (15/10/38 to 03/09/39)
Commander of the 8th Air Subdivision (03/09/39 to 01/07/40) |
|
Born
on 4 December 1884
Died 11 February 1946 |
|
| GASTIN
Paul - Adrien |
-
Air Brigade General |
Commander
of the Air Force in Tunisia (02/09/39 to 01/07/40) |
|
Born
8 November 1886, Avignon (84 - Vaucluse)
Died August 25th 1976 at Nice (06 - Alpes-Maritimes) |
|
| GEFFRIER
Hubert - Marie |
-
Air Brigade General |
Chief
of Staff of the Northern Air Operations Zone and the 1st Air
Army (02/09/39 to ??/06/40) |
|
Born
15 April 1893 at La Flèche (72 - Sarthe)
Died at Pré-Charmoy (71 - Saône et loire) on 24
November 1968 |
|
| GIRIER
Lucien - François |
- Captain 1919
- Lieutenant-Colonel
1931
- Colonel 1936
- Air Brigade General
1939
- Air Division General
1945
|
Commander
of the Group n°18 of the 1st Air Division (GBA I/54 -
GBA II/54)
|
In
October 1910, Lucien GIRIER enlists for three years in the 17th
Regiment of Dragons. In September 1912, he was reformed and
sent home after a fall from a horse.
On 6 August 1914, Lucien Girier volunteered for the duration
of the war in his former regiment. In March 1915 he was transferred
to the 13th Regiment of the Alpine Fighter Battalion, and was
wounded in June 1915 and evacuated from the front. After his
convalescence, he was detached in the aviation and sent to the
Ecole d'Avord in October 1915, then to the Ecole d'Ambérieu
in Bugey as a student pilot. He obtained his pilot’s licence
in January 1916, and was assigned to Squadron 210 in April.
In July 1918 he moved to the 209 squadron and then to the Night
Flights Section of the 3rd Army. After the war, he remains in
the army and is promoted to Captain in October 1919, he joins
in April 1920, the 5th Observation Aviation Regiment at Lyon-Bron,
Le Captain Girier will command a squadron.
Lucien GIRIER will participate in many air raids and records:
• Détenteur avec le Lieutenant Mairey de la Coupe
Michelin en 1923 sur Breguet 14 A 2,
• Tour de France en 3 jours, avec son escadrille, en 1923.
• Deuxième de la Coupe Breguet en 1925.
• Troisième du Military-Zenith en 1925
• Raid Paris-Téhéran-Paris au cours de l'hiver
1925-1926.
• Raid Paris-Omsk en juillet 1926 au cours duquel il bat
le record du monde en ligne droite avec 4715 kilomètres.
• En 1928, il est détenteur de la Coupe Renault.
• En 1929, il établit le record du monde de vitesse
sur 5000 kilomètres avec le Commander Weiss.
• In 1930, he made the first Paris-Pondichéry and
return route, then he won the Bibeseco Cup after the Paris-Bucharest
race in 9 hours.
• In 1931, he made the circuit of the European capitals
with the squadron of the general de Goys.
On 1 October 1931, in Lyon, he took command of the Centre d'Instruction
Aéronautique no. 35 which became the Centre d'Instruction
de la base aérienne no. 5 in December 1931, when he was
promoted to lieutenant-colonel.
He remained in this post for a year, but in 1932 he made a raid
on Paris-Tehran in 29 hours returning through North Africa and
Portugal, and took command of the new 55th Squadron in December
1932. He remained in this position until 15 October 1934 after
having participated in 1933 also to the Black Cruise of General
Vuillemin.
At the end of 1934, he joined Morocco in the 37th Aviation Regiment
and took command of air base 137 in January 1935. Promoted to
colonel in June 1936, he left Morocco in July 1937 to take command
of the Training School for Flying Personnel NCOs at Istres,
which became the Centre-École d'Istres on 1 January 1937.
On 1 August 1937, he returned to Lyon to take command of the
5th Air Brigade, a post which he continued to occupy after his
promotion to Air Brigade General on 5 February 1939.
On 28 August 1939, he was put at the head of the Air Forces
of the 8th Army, then of the 6th Aerial Bombardment Brigade
on 20 September. Finally, he participated in the May-June 1940
French Campaign as Commander of the 18 and 19 Assault Groups.
In September 1940 he is appointed Commander of the Air in Algeria.
With a total of more than 3,400 hours flying time, General Lucien
Girier was placed on leave from the air crew in February 1942.
Promoted to Air Division General under the Congé du Personnel
Navigant on 25 June 1945, he was placed in the 2nd section (reserve)
on 23 February 1947.
After the Second World War, General Lucien Girier is a director
of the Société Transatlantique Aérienne
(STA). In 1948, he also took the role of Technical Advisor,
Meyer that of chief pilot and Hoé was appointed Commercial
Director. |
Born
on the 23rd of February 1890 in Lyon (69 - Rhône)
Died on 1 May 1967 in Antibes (06 - Alpes - Maritimes) |
|
| GONAND
René |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1928
- Lieutenant 1930
- Captain 1934
- Commander 1943
- Lieutenant-colonel 1946
- Colonel de réserve 1946
|
Assigned
to the Staff of the 2nd air region then to the Staff of the
air forces of the
Northeast front.
|
René
GONAND was admitted to the Ecole Polytechnique in 1926. He entered
aviation and became a certified aircraft observer and pilot
in 1929. He was successively assigned to the Air Regiment in
1930, to the 1st Light Air Defence Wing in 1933 and finally
to the 4th Air Brigade in 1936. He was admitted to the Ecole
supérieure de guerre aérienne of Versailles in
1937 before being assigned to the General Staff of the 2nd air
region and then to the General Staff of the air forces of the
northeast front.
He was placed on armistice leave in 1942. In 1943, a member
of the "Alliance" resistance network, he was arrested
and deported to Buchenwald. He was released by the American
soldiers in April 1945 and repatriated to France. He was put
on leave from the aircrew in 1946.
After the war, he became mayor of Bresse from 1965 to 1977 and
CEO of a carpentry company - locksmith |
Born
on the 15th of December 1906 in Remiremont (88 - Vosges)
Died on 17 March 1988 in Biarritz (64 - Pyrénées-Atlantiques) |
|
| GUYOMAR
Alfred |
-
Air Brigade General |
Liaison
officer to the War Armaments Manufacturing Directorate (02/09/39
to 16/05/40)
Chargé de mission to the Air Force Chief of Staff for
air defence in the Interior zone (16/05/40 to 01/06/40)
Head of the Air Armament Department (01/06/40 to 01/07/40) |
|
Born
on 05 May 1887
Died 16 August 1963 |
|
| HEBRARD
Jean - André |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1914
- Lieutenant 1916
- Captain à TD 1922
- Commander 1925
- Lieutenant-colonel 1931
- Colonel 1935
- Air Brigade General 1938
|
Commander
of the 6th Air Division (ZOAS)
|
Jean
HEBRARD was mobilised in August 1914 and assigned to the 16th
Dragon Regiment. He joined the air force in 1915 and was a licensed
pilot. He was assigned to the ECP 115 squadron in 1916, and
became commander of the CAP 130 squadron in 1918. He was assigned
in 1921 as Commander of the 21st Aviation Regiment, 1st Group.
In 1924, he joined the General Staff of the Ministry of War
and was transferred to the Inspection of Military Aeronautics
equipment in 1925. Assistant professor in aeronautics class
at the Ecole supérieure de guerre de Versailles in 1926
before taking command of the 22nd Aviation Regiment in 1930.
He was assigned to the Air Ministry in 1932 before being appointed
Air Attaché at the Belgian embassy in 1935. He took command
of the 4th Air Division in 1938 and left the active army in
1940. |
Born
on 21 November 1888 in Paris
Died on 1 September 1979 |
|
| HEURTAUX
Alfred - Marie |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1914
- Lieutenant 1915
- Captain 1918
- Commander 1931
- Lieutenant-colonel 1939
- Colonel 1942
- Air Brigade General 1945
|
Recalled
in November 1939 and assigned to the GQG of the Inspection
of the Fighter Aviation
|
Alfred
HEURTAUX entered the Ecole Militaire de Saint-Cyr in 1913. He
was mobilized to the 9th regiment of hussars in 1914, where
his bravery was noticed and earned him a spear wound and a citation.
He entered the air force in December 1914 and was certified
as an Air Observer and a pilot in 1915. He was put into service
with the 8th Army, and became Chief of the Stork Squadron in
1916. Driver Emeritus, he has 21 sure wins and 13 probable ones,
which makes him an ace. But wounded several times, he was forced
to leave the fighting in September 1917, and this until the
end of the conflict. He was placed in the reserve with the rank
of Captain, in 1919.
Alfred HEURTEAUX was elected Deputy for Seine-et-Oise from 1919
to 1924, then joined the automobile industry as director at
various manufacturers.
Recalled in November 1939 and assigned to the GQG of the Inspection
of Fighter Aviation. Demobilized after the Armistice of June
1940, he joined the Resistance and organized in particular the
SR Air Intelligence Service. He is arrested in November 1941
and is interned first in prisons in Germany before being sent
to the camp of Buckenwald on March 13, 1945. He was released
on 11 April 1945 by the Allied soldiers.
He is assigned to the German Military Mission and appointed
Reserve General in December 1945.
Returned to civilian life, he became an engineer consultant. |
Born
on 20 May 1893 in Nantes (44 - Loire-Atlantique).
Died on 30 December 1985 in Cires Les Mello (60 - Oise) |
|
| HONNORAT
Paul - Auguste |
- Sub-Lieutenant
(reserve) 1919
- Lieutenant (reserve) 1923
- Captain (reserve) 1940
|
Recalled
in 1939 and assigned to the General Staff of the North Air
Operations Zone Commander in 1940. Retired the same year.
|
Paul
HONNORAT volunteered in 1913 and was assigned to the 101st Infantry
Regiment. He joined the aviation in 1917 and joined the schools
of Avord and Crotoy. He was a licensed pilot and assigned to
SAL 16 in 1918, then to Squadron 223 in 1919. He served as a
reserve between the two wars.
He was recalled in 1939 and assigned to the General Staff of
the Commander Air Operations North in 1940. He is entitled to
retirement in the same year. |
Born
on 8 May 1894 in Mexico City (Mexico).
Died in January 1984 in Paris (75) |
|
| HOUDEMON
Jean-Paul - Marie |
- Captain 1914
- Air Brigade General
1938
|
Commander
of the 3rd Air Force
|
Jean
HOUDEMON entered the Ecole Militaire de Saint-Cyr in October
1903. On his departure, he chose the cavalry, and it is at the
school of cavalry in Saumur that he met a young man: George
Smith Patton, who would become his friend.
He joined the staff of the 63rd Field Infantry Division in August
1914 and was wounded during the fighting. He was hospitalized
at the Pitié-Salpêtrière in Paris. He was
appointed a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in November
1914 and promoted to Captain in December 1914. In August 1915,
he joined the staff of the Xe army under general Joseph Brugère.
In 1916, he entered the aviation and was certified pilot in
July 1916. He is again wounded, an explosive bullet in the left
hip, during a reconnaissance, but manages to reach his lines.
After the end of the cnt, he became a professor at the École
supérieure de guerre in 1927.
In December 1929, he took command of the 34th Aviation Regiment
and was assigned to the air force staff at the Ministry of Air
in October 1931. In 1935, he became the first Commander of the
Air School and was appointed Air Brigade General in January
1938.
In 1939, he was appointed Commander of the Southern Air Area
before taking command of the Alpine Air Area on 16 May 1940.
After the armistice of 22 June 1940, he was placed on leave
from the aircrew. He retreats to Pont-à-Mousson, where
he is arrested by the Germans for his activities in 1944. He
is a prisoner in Bavaria, at Trier then at Koblenz and at Plansee,
in Tyrol and is liberated by the allied soldiers in May 1945:
he will be repatriated in Franc with the personal plane of general
Georges Patton.
After the war, he became the 35th military governor of the Hôtel
des Invalides from 1951 until his death in 1960. |
Born
on the 11 March 1885 at La Flèche (72 - Sarthe)
Died on 20 October 1960 in Paris (75) |
|
| JANNEKEYN
Jean - François |
-
Air Division General |
From
July 1939 to May 1940, head of the military cabinet of the Minister
for Air and second deputy head of the Air Force General Staff.
From May 1940 to July 1940, Commander of the Air Force Reserves
in the Eastern Mediterranean Theatre of Operations. |
|
Born
16 November 1892, Cambrai (59 - Nord)
Died 16 November 1971, Paris (75) |
|
| JAUNEAUD
Jean-Henri |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1912
- Lieutenant 1914
- Captain 1916
- Commander 1924
- Lieutenant-colonel 1932
- Colonel 1934
- Air Brigade General 1936
- Air Division General 1939
- Air Corps General 1940
|
Commander
Levant Aviation (GC I/7)
|
Jean
JAUNEAUD was admitted to the military school of Saint-Cyr in
1911. Upon his release, he is assigned to the infantry and will
begin the Great War within the 125th Regiment of Foot. He fought
in the trenches and was wounded 3 times, which is why he passed
in the aviation in June 1915 and obtained his pilot’s certificate
in September of the same year. He fought notably in the squadron
MF33, MF71,... from November 1915 to March 1919 then was assigned
to the office of the staff of the Air Division in April 1919.
He was admitted to the Ecole de guerre in 1921 and became a
staff officer in 1922. In 1924, he went on mission to Brazil
and became responsible for air training and instruction within
the French mission led by General GAMELIN. Back in France, he
joined from 1932 to 1934, the military cabinet of the very recent
Ministry of air led by Minister Pierre COT. He will be responsible
for the creation of the Ecole de l'Air in the region of Salon
en Provence. He took command of the 2nd Air Region before returning,
in 1936, to the Ministry of the Air where he was appointed deputy
chief of staff of the Air Force. But in this new Air Force,
the doctrines are opposed, and Jean JAUNEAUD, ambitious and
convinced by his ideas, is not only friends, and will not be
appointed Chief of Staff as he hoped. He was appointed commander
of the 2nd Air Region in February 1938. During the French Campaign,
he is Commander in Chief of the French Forces in the Mediterranean
East, and Jean JAUNEAUD is in Lebanon at the time of the German
attack on 10 May 1940. Recalled to France in June 1941, he was
put on Armistice leave and retired in January 1942. |
Born
on 17 August 1892 in Angers (49 - Maine-et-Loire).
Died on 6 June 1976 in Quimper (29 - Finistère) |
|
| JOUHAUD
Edmond - Jules |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1926
- Lieutenant 1928
- Captain 1933
- Commander 1939
- Lieutenant-colonel 1944
- Colonel 1946
- Air Brigade General 1949
- Air Division General 1954
- Air Corps General 1956
- Air Force General 1958
|
Head
of the Air Force First Air Force Bureau in 1939.
Transferred to the North East Front Air and Land Air Force
Command Staff in 1940.
Appointed Commander of Reconnaissance Group 1/36.
Retreated to Algeria and joined the Air Staff in August 1940.
|
Edmond
JOUHAUD entered the École spéciale militaire de
Saint-Cyr in 1924. He entered the aeronautics field in 1926
and was certified as a pilot in 1928. He was posted to French
West Africa in 1928, and when he returned to the mainland in
1933, he took command of the 2nd squadron of 55e escadre before
being appointed to 54e escadre at Dugny in 1936. He was admitted
to the Superior School of Air Warfare in Versailles in 1938.
Became Chief of Staff at the 1st Air Force in 1939, then transferred
to the North East Front Air and Land Anti-Aircraft Command Staff
in 1940. He is appointed commander of the reconnaissance group
GR I/36. In June 1940, he retreats to Algeria and becomes the
General Staff of
the Air in August 1940. On returning to the mainland, he was
called to the military cabinet of the Secretary of State for
Aviation in 1942. He joined the ORA (Army Resistance Organization)
and became regional chief of staff of the FFI. He took over
command of GR I/36 in 1944 and was successively appointed deputy
commander at the Groupement des moyens militaires de transport
aérien in 1945, head of the 4th office at the Air Force
Staff and then 2nd deputy chief of staff of the Air Force in
1946. He took command of the Air in Tunisia in 1948, then that
of the Tactical Air Forces in AFN. He was appointed to the leadership
of the school of air force mechanics in 1949, before taking
command of the 1st Air Region in 1951. He followed the courses
of the CHEM (Centre des hautes Etudes militaires) then again
commanded the First air division in 1952, the ler CATAC and
finally the French air forces of Germany in 1953, the Air in
Far-East in 1954. Back in the French mainland, he is a major
general of the air force. In 1957, he returned to North Africa
and took command of the 5th Air Region in Algiers. He was appointed
Chief of Staff of the Air Force in 1958 and Inspector General
of the Air Force in 1960. Edmond JOUHAUD, opposing the referendum
of self-determination of Algeria, is one of the 4 generals who
organized the putsch in Algiers from 22 to 25 April 1961. He
is arrested in March 1962 and imprisoned in France. He is sentenced
to death on 13 April 1962 and will be pardoned, without enthusiasm
by General de Gaulle. His sentence is commuted to life in prison.
He was finally released in December 1967 and granted amnesty
in 1968. |
Born
on 2 April 1905 in Bousfer (Oran department, Algeria).
Died on 4 September 1995 in Royan (17 - Charentes-Maritimes) |
|
| LA
CHAMBRE Guy - Charles |
|
Air Minister
in the cabinets Chautemps, Blum and Daladier from January
1938 to March 1940
|
Guy
LA CHAMBRE pursued a political career from 1928 to 1955. He
will hold positions of high responsibility, including: Under-secretary
of State for the War from 1932 to 1934 - minister of the merchant
navy in 1934 - chairman of the Commission of the army of the
Chamber of Deputies from 1936 to 1938 - minister of air in the
cabinets Chautemps, Blum and Daladier from January 1938 to March
1940. |
Born
on the 5th of May 1898 in Paris (75)
Died on 24 May 1975 in Neuilly-sur-Seine (92 - Hauts de Seine) |
|
| LACOLLEY
Auguste - Paul |
-
Air Brigade General |
Commander
of the 2nd Air Subdivision (25/11/39 to 01/07/40 ) |
|
Born
on 3 October 1879 at Sancerre (18 - Cher)
Died at 10 April 1959 |
|
| LAMON
Jean - Romain |
- Lieutenant-Colonel
|
Commander
of Group 24 (GC II/7 - GC III/6)
|
|
Born
on the 26 July 1893 in Brive-la-Gaillarde (19 - Corrèze)
Killed on the 10th of May 1940 in Longvie (21 - Côte d'Or) |
|
| LAURENS
Benjamin - Jean-Baptiste |
- Sub-Lieutenant 1910
- Captain 1915
- Lieutenant-Colonel
1928
- Colonel 1934
- Air Brigade General
1937
|
Commander
of the Air Forces of Cooperation attached to the Army of the
Alps
|
Benjamin
LAURENS, teacher in the civil, volunteers for 3 years in October
1904. He is assigned to the 17th regiment of infantry. In 1907,
he extended his engagement for one year and was assigned to
the 151st Infantry Regiment before returning for two years in
1908, and again for one year in October 1910. Named Aspirant,
he joined the infantry military school in October 1910. On his
release, he was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant and assigned to the
150th Infantry Regiment in October 1911. He moves on to military
aeronautics and enters the military aviation school of Reims:
he is a pilot in August 1914. He was assigned to the Saint-Cyr
aviation reserve, before being mobilized in August 1914. He
took command of the V-21 squadron from December 1914 to June
1915, then became commander of the V-97 squadron from June to
November 1915. He was appointed captain in September of the
same year and took over command of VB 101 squadron from November
1915 to May 1917. He then commanded the 2nd bombardment group
from May 1917 to January 1918. Wounded in a bombing mission
in July 1917, he was hospitalized until January 1918. On his
return to the front, he took command of the GB 8 from January
to July 1918, and was again wounded in July 1918. He was appointed
Commander of Bombing Squadron 14 in August 1918. After the war,
he was assigned to the air-fire and bombing training centre
of Cazaux from December 1918 to June 1922 and then appointed
second commander of the 11th day-bombing aviation regiment of
Neustadt (Germany) in June 1922. He remained based in the occupation
of the Rhine countries until April 1928. He was assigned to
the 21st Night Bombing Regiment in March 1928 and, after being
appointed Lieutenant-Colonel on 25 December 1928, became Second
Commander of the 21st Night Bombing Aviation Regiment in March
1929. Despite the sequelae of his war injuries, he was kept
in business with a 60% pension in December 1929 and was assigned
to aviation shop no. 3 in April 1930. He worked at the Centre
d'études de l'aéronautique from February to March
1933 before becoming Director of the Special Aviation Warehouse
3 in December 1933. He was appointed Colonel in March 1934 and
joined the General Technical Inspection of Air Equipment, Safety
and Facilities in February 1936. He commanded the 3rd Air Brigade
in September 1936, then promoted to Air Brigade General in June
1937, and commanded, on an interim basis, the 3rd Air Division
in April 1938. A permanent pension of 95% was granted to him
in April 1938. He was assigned to the air base of Metz-Frescaty
in May 1938, then placed in 2nd reserve section from March to
September 2, 1938. Recalled to the mobilization activity, he
took command of the 1st Air Sub-Division in September 1939.
He was made available to the staff from November to December
1939 and was appointed Commander of the air forces of the army
of the Alps and of the air defence forces of the 3rd army from
December 1939 to June 1940. He was Commander of the air base
of Marignane in July 1940 before being put on leave from the
aircrew in September 1940. He is arrested by the Germans at
the Liberation, and imprisoned for a time in Bordeaux before
being released. He was placed in the reserve section in March
1944. He received a 100% disability pension.
It has 2,574 hours of flight including 1,027 hours of war for
304 war missions... |
Born
on the 29 March 1884 in Orgeix (09 - Ariège)
Died on 21 September 1972 in Marseille (13 - Bouches du Rhône) |
|
| LAURENT
Léon - Edmond |
-
Air Brigade General |
Commander
of the 4th Army's Air and Land Forces against aircraft (02/09/39
to 08/04/40)
First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force (08/04/40 to 30/07/40) |
|
Born
on 22 March 1888
Died 3 July 1967 |
|
| LAUZIN
Henri - Emmanuel |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1923
- Lieutenant 1925
- Captain 1931
- Commander 1939
- Lieutenant-colonel 1943
- Colonel 1945
- Air Brigade General 1949
- Air Division General 1952
- Air Corps General 1958
|
In the
staff in 1938 and then in January 1939 Commander of the squadron
at the 36th air wing.
In June 1940, he was assigned to the EM of the general chairman
of the French delegation to the German Armistice Commission.
|
Henri
LAUZIN is admitted to the École Militaire de Saint-Cyr
in 1921. He served in Morocco in 1925, before obtaining his
certificate of observer and pilot in 1928. He joined Indochina
from 1931 to 1934. On his return, he was assigned to the office
of the General Staff of the Air Force (EMGAA) and was admitted
to the competition of the School of War of Versailles in 1935.
He joined the General Staff again in 1938 and then became, in
January 1939, Commander of the squadron at the 36th air squadron.
In June 1940 he was assigned to the General Staff of the French
delegation to the German Armistice Commission. He took command
of GB 1/31 in Istres in 1941, and joined the AFN in 1941. Upon
returning to France, he held various positions in the staff.
He was assigned in 1946 to the cabinet of General Bouscat. From
1947 to 1949, he was Air Attaché at the French embassy
in the USA. He was appointed Inspector of Reserves in 1950,
then Commander of the Air in the Far East from June 1953 to
August 1954.
Henri LAUZIN left the active army in 1958. |
Born
on 28 December 1903 in Bayonne (64 - Pyrénées-Atlantiques).
Died on 21 November 1977 in Paris (75) |
|
| LEFORT
Henri - Jospeh |
- Colonel
|
Commandant
du Groupement n°6 de la 1ère Division Aérienne
(GB I/12 - GB II/12)
|
|
Born
on 22 July 1894 inRosoy sur Amance 52 - Haute-Marne)
Died on 1st May 1966 inMeaux (77 Seine et Marne) |
|
| MAGINEL
Marie - Auguste |
-
Air Brigade General |
Commander
of the 5th Air Subdivision (Tours) (03/09/39 to 10/06/40 )
10/06/40 placed on permanent leave from the Air Force. |
|
Born
August 14, 1880 in Nancy (54 - Meurthe et Moselle)
Died 6 September 1958 in Paris (75) |
|
| MASNOU
François - Henri |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1914
- Lieutenant 1915
- Captain 1917
- Commander 1929
- Lieutenant-colonel 1936
- Colonel 1938
- Air Brigade General 1946
|
Assigned
to the North Air Zone Command Staff in 1939.
Deputy Chief of SM South
Commander of the Pau air base in 1940.
Assigned to the press service of the State Secretariat for
Aviation in 1940.
|
François
MASNOU was commissioned into the Army in 1912, to join the 155th
Infantry Regiment in 1912. Educated at the Ecole spéciale
militaire in 1913, he was transferred to Escadrille 98 in Orient
in 1915. He took command of the 555 squadron, then 551 in Morocco
in 1917. He was assigned to the 36th Regiment of Aviation in
1920 before joining the Ecole Supérieure de Guerre in
1923. Upon his departure, he was assigned successively to the
1st office of the EMA and to the Technical Inspection of Aeronautics
in 1929. Appointed military attaché to the French legation
in Greece in 1930, he was then assigned to 55° Wing in 1936.
He became an attaché in the office of the President of
the Republic in 1938. During the French Campaign, he was assigned
to the staff of the command of the air zone Nord in 1939, then
commander of the air base of Pau in 1940. He was assigned to
the press service of the State Secretary for Aviation in 1940,
and was appointed in 1942, 2nd deputy chief of staff of the
Air Force General Staff. He joined the Resistance and under
the pseudonym "Le Gall", became the head of the ORA
in Brittany. (Organisation Résistance Air). He is hunted
by the Germans and escapes in extremis in March 1943. He manages
to take refuge in Switzerland where he will continue his intelligence
activities. He was appointed Commissioner of the Air in 1944
and left the active army in 1945 |
Born
on the 30 April 1894 in Bourges (18 - Cher)
Died on 10 November 1986 in Louveciennes (78 - Yvelines) |
|
| MASSENET-ROYER-DE-MARANCOUR
Robert - Léon |
-
Air Force General |
Commander
of the 3rd Air Region (02/09/39-30/07/40) |
|
Born
14 January 1880, Chaumont
Died August 6th 1969, Paris (75) |
|
| MARTIN
Jacques - Edouard |
-
Air Brigade General |
Deputy
Commander of the 5th Air Army (30/08/39 to 04/03/40 )
Aide-Major General and Director of Services of the French Air
Force (04/03/40 to 25/06/40 ) |
|
Born
on 2 May 1888
Died 5 February 1980 |
|
| MATHIS
Pierre - Georges |
-
Air Brigade General |
1/07/37-01/04/40
Director of Military Personnel at the Air Ministry
Director of Military Personnel at the Ministry of Air (03/09/39
to 01/04/40) |
|
Born
25 December 1885, Nancy (54 - Meurthe et moselle)
Died August 12th 1956 at Clamart (92 - Hauts de seine) |
|
| MENDIGAL
Jean |
- Bataillon Commander
1925
- Lieutenant-Colonel
1932
- Colonel 1935
- Air Brigade General
1938
- Air Division General
1940
|
Major
General of the Grand Air Headquarters
|
Jean
MENDIGAL was admitted to the special military school of St-Cyr
in 1910 and volunteered for four years. He was assigned to the
1st Regiment of Chasseurs d'Afrique, based in Algeria from October
1910 to May 1911. He participated in the war operations of Fez
and Meknes in Morocco from May to August 1911 then in the operations
in Algeria from August to December 1911. Named Sub-Lieutenant,
he joined the 10th Dragon Regiment in October 1912. He took
courses at the École d'Application in Saumur in October
1913 before being assigned to the 7th Hussar regiment from May
to December 1914. He switched to military aviation as an observer
in December 1914 and became an observer at the V-21 squadron,
then an observer at the N-38 squadron. He obtained his military
pilot’s licence at the Crotoy Military Aviation School
in September 1916, completed a training course at the Châteauroux
Military Aviation School in October and became a GDE pilot until
December 1916. Assigned to C 212 squadron from December 1916
to March 1917, then to C 11 squadron from March to October 1917.
He was wounded in action in October 1917. Promoted to temporary
Captain, he became successively Commander of the SOP 61 squadron
from December 1917 to February 1918, of the C 61 squadron from
March to July 1918, of the SAL 30 squadron from September 1918
and finally of the BR 207 squadron from September to October
1918. He was then sent to the staff school of Melun before being
assigned to the 4th office of the direction of aeronautics,
in September 1919. He was assigned to the 5th observation regiment,
the 2nd observation regiment in April 1920 and finally to the
33rd observation regiment in August 1920.He was appointed captain
on 30 June 1921, and was assigned to the 32nd Aviation Regiment
in January 2022. He was admitted to the Superior School of War
in March 1925 before being assigned to the 34th Aviation Regiment
in November 1925. He joined the staff of the 19th Army Corps
in Algiers in September 1927 as an intern. He was promoted to
Battalion Chief on 25 March 1928 and then assigned to the technical
inspection of aeronautics, seconded to the general directorate
of air forces in September 1929. He was appointed trainee professor
in the aeronautics course at the École supérieure
de guerre in January 1930 before being promoted to lieutenant-colonel
in December 1932, then colonel in June 1935. He was appointed
Commander of the 12th Bombardment Squadron of Reims-Courcy from
August 1935 to September 1936 and then Chief of Staff of the
1st Air Corps, in March 1938. Graduate of the Centre des hautes
études aériennes, he became the first deputy chief
of staff of the air force and was promoted to the rank of Brigadier
General in August 1938. He was appointed deputy chief of the
air force staff in October 1938. During the campaign, he was
appointed Major General, Air Force General and Major General
in March 1940. After the armistice, he was appointed Commander
of the 1st air region and the Southern air defence sector in
Aix-en-Provence, then Superior Commander of the Air in North
Africa in August 1941, a position he retained until June 1943,
date on which he will be replaced by General BOUSCAT. He is
on permanent leave of the aircrew, on 1 April 1949 |
Born
on the 15th of April 1890 in Caen (14 - Calvados)
Died on 12 September 1976 in Garennes-Colombes (92 - Haut de
Seine) |
|
| MONTRELAY
Léon - Marie |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1919
- Lieutenant 1921
- Captain 1934
- Commander 1935
- Lieutenant-colonel 1938
- Colonel 1942
- Air Brigade General 1944
- Air Division General 1947
|
Commander
of the Air Equipment Testing Centre at Villacoublay in late
1938.
Appointed to the staff of the command of the French air forces
in the Mediterranean in January 1940.
|
Léon
MONTRELAY was admitted to the École Polytechnique in
1917 and assigned to his exit, in the artillery. He joined the
aviation in 1920 as an observer at the 54th
squadron then to the 53rd squadron before being certified pilot
in 1922. He was assigned to the 22nd Regiment of Aviation and
then to the Commission for Practical Tests of Military Aviation
from 1923 to 1927. He was part of the French Mission to Brazil
from 1927 to 1932. Back in the French mainland, he completed
an internship at the Ecole supérieure de guerre de Versailles
in 1934. Appointed acting commander of the 12th Air Squadron
in 1938, before being posted to the Villacoublay Air Equipment
Test Centre in late 1938. He is appointed to the staff of the
command of the French Air Forces in the Mediterranean in January
1940. After the armistice, he became Chief of Staff at the command
of the air in the Levant from June 1940 to September 1941. He
commands the base of Blida in 1942 and is placed at the head
of the French Air Force in Africa in 1943.
He was appointed Director of Equipment at the Commissariat de
l'Air in 1944.
After the war, he became Commander of the 3rd Air Region in
1947 and then Commander of the Air Defence of the territory
in 1948.
Léon MONTRELAY leaves the active army in 1949 |
Born
on February 1, 1898 in Lorient (56 - Morbihan).
Died on 3 August 1986 in Saint-Mandé (94 - Val de Marne) |
|
| MORRAGLIA
Jean-Baptiste |
- Lieutenant 1918
- Colonel 1939
- Air Brigade General
1945
|
Commander
of No. 15 Group of the 1st Air Division (GB I/15 - GB II/15)
|
Son
of a couple of servants, Jean MORRAGLIA is incorporated in the
army in 1911. During the 1st World War, he was a bomber pilot
in the Br 120 squadron. He was appointed lieutenant in 1918.
After the war, he joined Pierre-Georges Latécoère
in 1919 and became chief of the aeroplace of Alicante (Spain).
His career with the Lignes Aériennes Latécoère,
then CGEA, is relatively short, since he would have left the
company in 1920 to return to the army. In 1939, he became a
colonel and commanded the 15th Bombardment Group.
After the defeat, he joined an armistice commission. In 1942,
he was recruited by Léon Faye to join the Alliance network
(code name «Épervier»), of which he was responsible
for the south-west in 1943.
At the Liberation of France, Jean Morraglia was a brigade general
of the FFI, commander of the region B (Basses-Pyrénées,
Landes, Charente-Maritime, Vendée, Deux-Sèvres,
Gironde). He was named Air Brigade General before joining the
reserve. |
Born
on 05 May 1890 in Paris (75)
Died on 16 November 1965 in Port d'Envaux (17 - Charente Maritime |
|
| MOUCHARD
Henri - Eugène |
- Lieutenant 1918
- Colonel 1930
- Air Brigade General
1933
|
Commander
of the 1st Air Force
|
Henri
MOUCHARD was admitted in 1905 to the Special Military School
of Saint-Cyr. He entered the air force as a lieutenant in October
1911, and obtained his pilot’s licence in May 1912.
Henri Mouchard was one of the "old-timbers" (Association
des pilotes et amis de l'aviation, created in 1920) of which
he was the last survivor. He had participated in the First World
War as a reconnaissance pilot and then as a bombing pilot, where
his conduct earned him the 1914-14 War Cross1918 before this
merit earned him his appointment as deputy to the commands of
the Air Force.
Colonel in 1930, he became a brigadier general in 1933.
He was commissioned as a staff officer in January 1922 to the
office of the Minister of War, where his action contributed
to the creation of the military and aeronautics school, which
became the air school he commanded in 1939.
At the same time, he will be appointed as a member of the Permanent
Consultative Commission of the League of Nations in Geneva.
General Henri Mouchard was subsequently to ensure the highest
commands, this is how he became director of personnel at the
Ministry of Air. He will then command the bombing brigade of
Chartres and the first air region before becoming director of
the center of high aerial study, In 1940, he assumed command
of the first air force and completed his career as inspector
general of aviation.
Holder of numerous French and foreign Orders, General Henri
Mouchard received in 1939 the National Order of the Legion of
Honour, where he became a grand officer, as well as the Order
of Leopold in Belgium and the Order of the White Eagle in Poland.
In 1939 he was appointed member of the Superior Council of the
Air (from 1 July 1937 to 31 October 1940).
He has been inspector general of the Air Force Schools since
15 October 1938 and inspector general of the Higher Air Education
since 1 July 1939.
He was Commander of the 1st Air Force (from 2 September 1939
to 26 February 1940, then on call from 26 February 1940 to 1
March 1940).
Inspector-General of Schools and Staff (from 1 March 1940 to
1 July 1940).
He is president of the French air delegation to the German Armistice
Commission (from 1 July 1940 to 1 October 1940). |
Born
on 29 June 1885 in Bougie (Agérie)
Died on 24 May 1980 in Céret (66 - Pyrénées-Orientales) |
|
| MUIRON
Emile - Marius |
-
Air Brigade General |
Commander
of the 3rd Air Subdivision (02/09/39 to 30/07/40) |
|
Born
18 July 1878, Vannes (56 - Morbihan)
Died at Nancy (54 - Meurthe et moselle) on 27 May 1947 |
|
| NICOT
- Jean - Louis |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1932
- Lieutenant 1934
- Captain 1938
- Commander 1943
- Lieutenant-colonel 1945
- Colonel 1951
- Air Brigade General 1957
- Air Division General 1960
- Air Corps General 1960
|
In October
1939, he was assigned to the staff of the inspector general
of
bombing.
|
Jean
NICOT entered the Ecole spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr
in 1930, then the Ecole militaire et d'application de l'aéronautique
in 1932. He was certified pilot in 1933 and observer in 1934.
He was assigned to the 32nd observation wing before being appointed
Commander of III/31 in 1936. After the mobilization, he was
assigned in October 1939 to the staff of the general inspector
of bombing. In 1940, he took the command of the 4th Squadron
of the GBA II/51 and participated in the campaign of France.
In 1941, transferred to Bamako (AOF: French East Africa), he
commanded the I/61 squadron and then joined the Major General’s
Staff of the No. 1 group of Thiès in 1942. In 1943, he
was assigned to the inter-army school of Rabat and in 1944 to
the Gascogne bombing group of the Free French Air Forces. He
participated in the campaign of Italy, the landing of Provence
and the campaigns of the Rhine and Germany. He was assigned
to the military cabinet of the Ministry of Armed Forces in 1945,
then to the General Inspectorate of
the air force in 1946. Commander of the 61st transport wing
in 1947. He took the courses of ESGA (Ecole Supérieure
de Guerre Aérienne) in 1949 and became Head of the 3rd
Bureau of EMGAA (General Staff of the Air Force) in 1952, and
of the French-Air delegation to the Interim Committee of the
CED in 1952. In 1953, he took command of the air transport in
Indochina. He leads the operations of Dien-Bien-Phu and then
the Tonkin Air Bridge. He was repatriated to the French mainland
in 1954, and became an auditor at CHEM (Centre des Hautes Etudes
Militaires), then Commander of the bombing aviation in 1957.
He was successively appointed Major-General of the Armed Forces
in 1959, military adviser, head of the Prime Minister’s
military cabinet in 1960 and finally Major-General of the Air
Force in 1961. |
Born
on 14 February 1911 in Paris (75)
Died on 30 August 2004 in Paris |
|
| ODIC
Robert - Jean-Claude |
- General
|
Commander
of the South Air Operations Area
|
Robert
Odic was born in 1887 into a Lorraine family. In 1906, he was
admitted to the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr,
where he joined the colonial infantry. During the Great War,
first chief of a battalion of Senegalese riflemen, he became
an aviator and ended the war as Captain, commander of the aeronautics
of the 4th Army Corps.
During the interwar period, he served in Morocco as an assistant
to the Commander of the Air.
In 1939, General Vuillemin gave him the task of inspecting the
intelligence aviation and then commanding the southern air area.
After the armistice, he was chief of the air region of Chateauroux.
On 4 September 1940, the Minister of the Air, General Pujo,
appointed him Chief of Staff, but Pujo was immediately replaced
by General Bergeret, who was hostile to him and sent him away
to Algiers as Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force in North Africa
on 25 September, Command he held for nearly a year under General
Weygand. He opposed General Bergeret on the military application
of the Paris protocols and the Syrian crisis, and was put on
leave from the aircrew on 9 August 19411. He is replaced by
General Mendigal.
On the occasion of the expulsion of Weygand, he fled in November
to the United States and announced that he would join General
de Gaulle. He arrives in London on 12 December, joins the FFL
and meets General de Gaulle several times. But the two generals
do not agree at all, especially about Weygand, whom de Gaulle
calls a traitor, like Pétain. Odic defends a conciliatory
attitude with Vichy and accuses De Gaulle of aiming at dictatorship
and dividing the French and reproaches him for «making
war more in Vichy than in Germany». On 20 February 1942,
his engagement in the FFL was terminated.
He then returned to the United States, where he played an occult
role, hostile to De Gaulle and favorable to General Giraud.
On 23 March 1943, he returned to Algeria but left on 26 June.
On 9 July, he sent Admiral Leahy a six-page brief in which he
put the Gaullism and the "National Revolution" of
Vichy on the same plane and called de Gaulle the "new Hitler".
Threatened at the Liberation to be arrested and then brought
to justice, he only returned to France in November 1946 and
died in 1958. His posthumous book "Another look at de Gaulle"
is only published in 2021. |
Born
on the 9th of September 1887 in Neufchâtel-en-Bray (76
- Seine Maritime)
Died on 1 June 1958 in Paris (75) |
|
| PASTIER
Albert - Léon |
-
Air Corps General |
Commander
of the 2nd Army Group's Air and Land Forces against Aircraft
from 02/09/39 |
|
Born
on 26 September 1889 in
Died 17 August 1955 |
|
| PAGNY
Henri |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1919
- Lieutenant 1923
- Captain 1940
|
Mobilized
in 1939 and seconded to the GQG’s Technical Service and
Scientific Research of Aeronautics.
|
Before
the 1st World War, Henri PAGNY worked at Delaunay-Belleville
as a construction engineer. He holds 15 patents of invention.
He enlists in 1914 and is assigned to the 2nd aviation group
as an aircraft mechanic. He joined the flight schools of Bron
and Chartres and was certified military pilot in 1915. He was
assigned to the MF 7 squadron. He was technical assistant to
the commander of the school in Châteauroux and then to
the general inspection of schools and aviation depots in Paris
in 1917. He was awarded a night observer and bomber certificate
in 1918 and joined the 25th Squadron. After the war, he was
attached to the Flight Test Service at SAT in 1919 before being
demobilized and becoming a reservist. He was mobilized in 1939
and was seconded to the GQG’s Technical Service and Scientific
Research of Aeronautics. |
Born
on 3 June 1885 in Wignicourt (08 - Ardennes).
Died on 23 February 1987 in Neuilly sur Seine (92 - Hauts de
Seine) |
|
| PENNES
Roger |
- Captain 1916
- Lieutenant-Colonel
1926
-Colonel 1929
- Air Brigade General
1933
- Air Division General
1936
|
Commander
of the 5th Air Force
And
Air Commander AFN (GC I/9 - GC I/10 - GC III/4 - GC III/5)
|
In
1903, Roger Pennès entered the Ecole Spéciale
Militaire de Saint Cyr and chose the Cavalry. He was assigned
to the 13th Cuirassiers regiment, then in 1912 to the 5th Chasseurs
d'Afrique regiment based in Algiers,
Lieutenant when war breaks out, he participates in the fights
of the Yser then of the Argonne before joining in March 1915,
the 19th Battalion of Hunters on Foot. He was wounded in May
1915 and hospitalized until February 1916. Named captain, he
is declared permanently unfit to campaign, and asks to pass
in the Aviaition in March 1916: he is patented pilot on May
18, 1916. He was assigned to the F 25 squadron in August 1916,
then took the lead of the F 221 squadron in November 1916 before
being appointed Commander of aeronautics of the 8th Army Corps
and then of aeronautics of the 2nd Army Corps. At the end of
the war, he was second in command of the Centre d'instruction
d'aviation de chasse et de bombardement (CIACB).
In March 1919, Roger Pennes left for Morocco as commander of
the Moroccan bombing group at Meknès. In June 1922, he
was appointed to the post of Second Commander of the 37th Aviation
Regiment, at Meknès.
In December 1923, the battalion chief Pennès becomes
a professor at the Ecole Supérieure de Guerre of Versailles.
Promoted to lieutenant-colonel in December 1926. Posted in July
1927 to the 39th Aviation Regiment in Lebanon.
Roger Pennès, in August 1929, takes the head of the 5th
Group of aeronautical workers (GOA) and the aviation school
of Avord. Promoted to colonel, he was assigned in August 1929
to the general staff of the Air Force in Paris. There he headed
the 3rd office.
He was then appointed to the 34th Regiment of Aviation before
attending, in May 1932, the courses of the Centre des Hautes
Etudes Militaires (CHEM). In April 1933, promoted to brigadier
general, he was appointed commander of the 8th Air Brigade of
Metz.
In August 1936, he was promoted to Major General and appointed
deputy then commander of the 5th Air Region of Algiers. At the
same time, he was appointed deputy director of the College of
High Studies of National Defence, then Inspector-General of
Bombing Aviation in October 1938 and finally member of the Superior
Council of the Air in January 1939.
At the declaration of war, General Vuillemin reorganizes the
Air Force: two North and East Air Operations Zones are created,
which bring together "reserved" air forces and "organic"
air forces linked to the North-East army groups. The air corps
are then dissolved and General Pennès takes the head
of the East Air Operations Zone.
As soon as he took up his duties, there were many frictions
between General Pennes and General Prételat, commander
of Army Group 2. The two leaders disagree on the issue of subordination
of air assets, a conflict complicated by an obvious incompatibility
of characters. General Vuillemin who must arbitrate this conflict,
decides to transfer General Pennes to Algiers... He left his
command on 25 October 1939 and was appointed to head the 5th
Air Force in Algiers. and thus takes command of the air forces
and anti-aircraft forces of North Africa (AFN) and the 5th air
region. Reached the age limit in May 1940, he is temporarily
retained in his duties.
Following the armistice of 22 June 1940, he was appointed permanent
representative of the chief of staff of the air force having
authority over all the directions of the Ministry of Air stationed
in AFN. At the end of June, General Pennès sent a mission
to France in order to direct on the AFN the combat materials
still existing in the depots but the disorder and panic that
reigned in metropolis make this attempt fail.
It is in this context that the British attack the fleet at Mers
el-Kébir on 3 July 1940. General Pennes then gives the
order to the air forces to stand ready to intervene, and gives
the order to proceed with a rapid rehabilitation of other aircraft
to combat the English air raids. General Pennès is placed
on leave from the aircrew in September 1940, replaced by General
Odic.
Returning to the mainland, General Pennes made contact with
the Resistance and was part of the Kummel network (escape of
allied airmen) from 1943 to 1944. From July 44, he participates
with the FFI in the preparation of a plan for the landing of
troops and equipment behind the former Hindenburg line. He was
thus appointed chief of staff of the A region of the FFI in
August 1944 and went into hiding under the pseudonym "Barat".
General Pennes is placed on permanent leave from the aircrew
in May 1945. |
Born
on 18 May 1883 in Paris (75)
Died on 23 December 1975 at Charly sur Marne (02 - Aisne) |
|
| PERSONNE |
- General
|
Commander
of the Air Forces of Cooperation attached to the Cavalry Corps
|
|
|
|
| PETIT
Jean-Marie |
- Lieutenant
(reserve) 1916
- Captain 1918
- Lieutenant 1916
- Captain 1926
- Commander 1940
|
Mobilized
in September 1939 and appointed to the 4th Bureau of the General
Staff.
|
Jean
PETIT volunteered in 1913 and was incorporated into the 28th
Artillery Regiment. He went into aviation as an observer in
the MF 8 squadron, then to the C 39 in 1916. Wounded and evacuated
first to Bordeaux then to Biarritz, he joined after his convalescence,
the schools of Chartres, Avord, and Pau as a student pilot.
Assigned to SPA 53, he then took command of BR 218 in 1918 and
then of 138 Squadron in 1919.
Resigned in 1922, he was placed in the reserve until his mobilization
in September 1939. He was appointed to the 4th Bureau of the
General Staff.
Jean PETIT was finally removed from the reserve cadre of the
Air Force in 1949. |
Born
on 10 May 1892 in Réthel (Ardennes). |
|
| PICARD
Louis - Alphonse |
- Air Brigade
General 1930
- Air Division General 1934
- Air Force General 1939
|
Recalled
at the beginning of the war, he was successively Inspector
of the Schools of the Air Force, Chief of the Staff of the
Air Force and Chief of the General Staff of the Air Force
|
Louis PICARD has held
the following commands: Deputy General Director of Military
Aeronautics at the Ministry of War, Commander of the 5th Aviation
Brigade, Commander of the 4th Air Region (Lyon), Deputy Chief
of Staff General of the Air Force, Chief of the Air Force
General Staff, Member of the Air High Council and finally
Chief of the Air Force General Staff. He was placed on permanent
leave from the Air Force in 1936 and then returned to the
Air Force Section in 1939.
Recalled at the beginning
of the war, he was Inspector of Air Force Schools, Chief
of Air Force Staff and Chief of Air Force General Staff.
He was placed in the reserve section in 1941.
|
Born
on the 28th of January 1880
Died on 12 August 1943 |
|
| PINSARD
Armand |
- Lieutenant 1916
- General
|
Commander
of Group 21 (GC I/1 - GC II/1 - GC III/3 - GC II/10 - GC III/10)
|
Amand
Pinsard enlisted in 1906 and joined the 2nd Regiment of Spahis
in Morocco until 1908 before being assigned to the 1st Regiment
of Horse Hunters in France. He volunteered for military aviation
and obtained his pilot’s licence in 1913. He served in
MS23 (en) Squadron in August 1914.
At the mobilization, he is assigned to the squadron SPA 23 and
will be taken prisoner in February 1915 after landing behind
the German lines. After several attempts, he managed to escape
a year later by digging a tunnel under the wall of his prison.
Promoted to Lieutenant after joining the Allied lines, he became
familiar with the new aircraft before being assigned to Squadron
N 26 equipped with SPAD S.VII. He then took command of the N78
and ended the war in his first squadron, SPA 23. with a fine
record of 27 confirmed air victories between November 1916 and
August 1918. His Spad was painted black.
He remained in the active army after the war and went on to
various senior positions in the fighter aviation during the
interwar period.
In 1932, he created and commanded the 7th Fighter Squadron,
on the grounds of Dijon. before taking over the 11th Hunting
Brigade, based in Chartres in November 1936.
In 1940, with the rank of general he commanded the hunting group
21, at Gouvieux-Chantilly. He has at his disposal a Morane Saulnier
406 which he painted in black, marked with the stork of ex-SPA
26, which he calls "The Pirate". He was seriously
wounded on the ground on 6 June 1940 during the bombing of the
Aigles aerodrome in Chantilly. Hospitalized in Paris, he evacuates
the capital in an ambulance just before the arrival of the German
troops.
He spent his convalescence in a free zone, where he reflected
on the causes of the defeat. He wrote a letter to Marshal Pétain
in which he pleaded for an implacable military dictatorship
to straighten out the country: «The French only ask to
be led, so it is enough to give him the leaders who are fit».
Guéri, Pinsard moved to Vichy and campaigned for the
acquittal of Émile Dewoitine, who was imprisoned by the
Vichy regime. He is in fact paid by the Japanese government,
which wants to hire the French industrialist. General Jean Bergeret
then had General Pinsard expelled from Vichy. The latter joined
Paris in early 1942, and became close to the collaborationist
circles. He supports the government of Pierre Laval and, in
August 1943, accepts the post of inspector general of social
works for the Legion des volontaires français contre
le bolchevisme (LVF).
He is arrested by the police at the Liberation in September
1944 and interned in the prison of Fresnes. Tried for collaboration,
he was sentenced in November 1944 to forced labour for life
and the confiscation of these assets. He is granted leniency:
his sentence was commuted in 1946 to ten years in prison. He
was released in 1947 and reinstated in his general pension rights
in 1948. His son Jacques, whom he had enrolled in the Milice
in 1944, was condemned to national indignity and left for Argentina,
where he died in a road accident in 1947. |
Born
on the 29th of May 1887 in Nercillac (16 - Charente)
Died on 15 May 1953 in Ceyzériat (01 - Ain) |
|
| POLI-MARCHETTI
Don Côme Paul - Marie |
-
Air Force General |
Commander
of the 1st Air Region (06/11/39 to 01/07/40) |
|
Born
18 September 1879 at Talasani (2B - Haute-Corse)
Died 23 August 1968 |
|
| PUJO
Bernard - Bertrandt |
-
Air Force General |
Minister
of State for Air (16/06/40 to 12/07/40) |
|
Born
on 26 August 1878 in Orignac (65 - Hautes-Pyrénées)
Died in Paris (75) on 14 September 1964 |
|
| REDEMPT
Léopold |
-
Air Division General |
12/06/36-20/08/40
Director of Military Air Materiel at the Ministry of Air. |
|
Born
16 October 1884, Saint-Germain les Belles
Died in Paris (75) on 8 September 1969 |
|
| RICHARD
Esther - Eugène |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1930
- Lieutenant 1934
- Captain 1947
|
Assigned
to the air force staff of the 9th Army in 1939
Assigned to the General Staff of the Army on 1 June 1940
|
Esther
RICHARD volunteered on 22 August 1914 in the 14th Hussar Regiment.
He was designated as a student pilot on 3 May 1918 and was certified
pilot on 11 August 1918 before joining the school of Avord.
He was demobilized in September 1919 and served several periods
as a reserve force during the inter-war period. At the mobilization,
he was recalled to the active Air 101 battalion in August 1939
before being assigned to the General Staff of the Army on 1
June 1940. He was demobilized on 27 July 1940. |
Born
on 9 September 1896 in Paris (75)
Died on 12 September 1983 in Boulogne-Billancourt (92 - Hauts
de Seine). |
|
| RISLER
Franck - Charles |
Lieutenant
Engineer |
Air
Ministry |
|
Born
in Lyon (69 - Rhône) on 4 June 1913
Killed at Graves on 28 November 1939 |
|
| ROBERT
Marcel - Alexandre |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1918
- Lieutenant 1918
- Captain 1925
- Commander 1935
- Lieutenant-colonel 1939
- Colonel 1942
|
Assigned
to the staff of the 8th Squadron in September 1939 and then
to the hunting group 28 at Salon finally to the staff of DA
at Aix on 15 December 1941
|
Marcel
ROBERT sengage voluntarily in January 1915 and is incorporated
into the 8th Fighter Regiment. He was assigned as a student
pilot to the aviation group in Dijon in 1916 and went through
the schools of Avord and Pau. After training, he was assigned
to the 3rd aviation group in Bron, then directed to Italy, and
was assigned as a pilot to squadron no. 561. He joined SPA 124
in Champagne in March 1918. After the war, he was assigned to
SPA 92 in 1919 and was directed to Morocco in 1919. He is assigned
to the 2nd Hunting Regiment and is directed on the Rhenish Countries
from March to May 1920. He was appointed Commander of the 10th
squadron in 1921 and then deputy to the 3rd Group Commander
in 1928. He then joined the staff of the 1st Air Division in
1929. He was successively assigned to the 38th Aviation Regiment
as Commander of a hunting group in 1931, to the 6th air squadron
in Reims in 1933 as Commander of Arms of the base of Marignane
in October 1938. In September 1939, he is assigned to the staff
of the 8th Wing then to the hunting group 28 at Salon finally
to the staff of the Air Division at Aix on 15 December 1941.
Marcel ROBERT is placed on armistice leave with employment in
April 1943. |
Born
on the 14th of August 1897 in Angers (49 - Maine et Loire)
Died on the 8th of November 1911 in Illiers-L'Eveque (27 - Eure) |
|
| ROMATET
Jean - Charles |
- Captain 1921
- Commander 1927
- Lieutenant-colonel
1937
- Air Brigade General
1939
- General of the Army
1942
|
Commander
of Group 23 (GC i/5 - GC II/2 - GC III/7 - GC I/16)
|
Jean-Charles
Romatet studied brilliantly in Marseille and then entered the
special military school of St Cyr. He is then assigned to the
8th Horse Hunter Regiment, with which he will be mobilized.
He participated in the battle of the Marne and the battles on
the Yser. With the stabilization of the front, cavalry was useless
and he volunteered for aviation. He became an Observer in December
1916.
He is assigned to the N 38 reconnaissance squadron and follows
a shooting course at the school of Cazaux. He volunteers to
be a pilot and is patented in February 1918 at the SPA 76 squadron
based on the front of the Meuse. After four victories, he took
command of a new fighter squadron, SPA 165, which was formed
in August 1918. He will win three more victories a few months
before the armistice.
After the armistice, Lieutenant Jacques Romatet remained in
the active army and took over the SPA 85 in March 1919 before
being assigned to the special warehouse n°2 in Nanterre
as head of the engine service, then to the Ministry of War in
the Directorate of Aeronautics in July 1920 where he was responsible
for the intelligence service. Promoted to captain in September
1921, he joined successively the 2nd Aviation Regiment, the
staff of Marshal Fayolle in September 1923, then the 33rd Aviation
Regiment at the end of 1923. He was promoted to commander in
December 1927 and obtained his brevet de staff at the war school
in 1929. In June 1930, he was appointed deputy officer to the
general secretariat of the air ministry. Then, promoted lieutenant-colonel
in 1937, he was appointed chief of the French Equatorial Africa
Aviation. On his return from Africa, Romatet is appointed 2nd
Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.
In March 1939, he was promoted to Air Brigade General, and took
the lead in 1940, of the fighter group 23 comprising GC III/2,
III/7, II/2, I/3 and ECMJ I/16. But the organization of the
Air Force complicates decisions... Thus, on 17 May 1940, General
Romatet ordered GC I/1 to cover the Montcornet region where
Colonel De Gaulle’s tanks attempted a counter-offensive.
The GC I/1 is under the responsibility of the 21 group in charge
of the defence of Paris and the Seine basin. General Pinsard,
at the head of this group, annulled this order and reminded
that the unit is under his command and that he alone can decide
on its employment. The arbitration of the conflict between the
two men will give reason to Jean-Charles ROMATET, but too late...
After the Armistice, General Jean Romatet became Chief of Staff
and took over the command of the Armistice Army in September
1940. He was appointed General of the Corps in November 1942.
In order to maintain the potential of the armed forces until
better days and the resumption of the struggle, the organization
youth and mountain is created. Romatet participates in the inauguration
of several centers, to keep mobilized many cadres who the armistice
has deprived of employment. These centres will be recruitment
sites for the resistance.
Although General Romatet was far from a spirit of resistance,
he gave his resignation in March 1943 in a burst of pride and
was put on armistice leave at his request. On liberation, he
made himself available to the FFI of Auvergne on 18 August 1944...
Two days after the end of the fighting in the sector, as maliciously
pointed out the FFI chief who on his request signs a certificate.
General Jean Romatet wants to regain command in the air force
and wrote for this to the minister of air Charles Tillon in
September 1944. Communist resistance of the first hour, the
minister opposes a scathing rejection in October 1944 by reminding
him that he did not fight with the Germans after the free zone
attack, and never sought to transfer men and material in North
Africa to escape the occupier...
The High Court of Justice seized shall not hold a fact that
could be charged with criminal proceedings for acts of collaboration,
but the Air Force’s purging commission notes that it is
a pity that given the positions occupied by this general officer,
he could not have been in contact with the various resistance
movements.
Consequently, after being laid off in May 1946 and then on leave
of the personnel on board on 23 November, he was placed on compulsory
retirement in May 1947 by decision of the Minister of Air. General
Romatet will conduct a long legal battle against this sanction
which he considers unjustified and in 1947 he will start a legal
action which he will lose. After the amnesty law of August 6,
1953, he will again ask for his reintegration in the 2nd reserves
of the air force and a reconstitution of career to see his pay
increased... New appeal which he lost in 1960. The proceedings
were not terminated until 1973, when the Conseil d'Etat gave
a definitive ruling to the plaintiff in which it was found wrong
and ordered to pay the costs. |
Born
on the 23 May 1893 in Borgo (20 - Corsica)
Died on 15 May 1975 in La Bazoche-Gouet (28 - Eure et Loir) |
|
| RONIN
Georges - Marie |
- Sub-Lieutenant 1913
- Lieutenant-Colonel
- Colonel 1936
- General 1942
|
Commander
of GIAB Group 7 (GB I/23 - GB II/23)
|
Georges
RONIN joined the Special Military School of Saint-Cyr in 1913
and became a sub-lieutenant in the 2nd squadron of the 16th
Dragon Regiment. in which he will take part in the fighting.
He will participate in a famous fight in September 1914. Alerted
to the presence of an eight-man squadron of Aviatik aircraft
stationed for the night. The 40 dragons charged the German planes.
The German squadron leader is killed and the eight aircraft
are destroyed. This battle, which precedes the Battle of the
Aisne, had an important echo for its symbolic scope: medieval
chivalry was measured against modern artillery and aviation.
Georges Ronin is one of the 27 French survivors and remains
captive until the armistice of 1918
Georges Ronin joined the Air Force in 1921, first as an observer
and then as a pilot. From 1936, raised to the rank of colonel,
he commanded the air section of the Second Bureau led by General
Louis Rivet. In this post, he will exchange with his British
colleagues of MI16 on information about the Luftwaffe and the
Aeronautica Militare.
In June 1940, after the battle of France, he went to Algeria
and Morocco to try to remobilise the airmen. Recalled in August,
he was placed under the authority of Louis Rivet (head of special
services), Jean Bergeret (minister of aviation) and Charles
Huntziger (minister of war). He takes the lead of SR Air in
the Bureau des Sorties antinationales of the Armistice Army,
based in Vichy.
In the spring of 1941, MI16’s Dunderdale and Winterbotham
were linked to SR Air through Colonel de Berroëta, who
met with Winston Churchill in London. The SR’s links with
England are revealed almost immediately, after the return from
England of Georges Groussard, member of the Cagoule and close
to Ronin, who boasts of having secretly met Churchill at the
request of Pétain in June. Admiral Darlan puts Ronin
under arrest. General Bergeret intervenes in his favour and
Ronin is rehabilitated, after having been lectured by Darlan.
He will even receive the Francisque from the hands of Marshal
Pétain...
In the occupied zone, officers from Paillole and Ronin subsidise
Les Petites Ailes de France, Combat Zone Nord, and the Hector
network of Alfred Heurtaux.
Informed of the imminence of the Torch operation by Bergeret,
Georges RONIN flew to North Africa on 6 November 1942, joining
Rivet who took off the day before. He joined Giraud who appointed
him general, and coordinated the Pearl Harbour mission that
led to the liberation of Corsica. Winterbotham travels to Algiers
in December and takes him to London. On his return in January,
after the assassination of Admiral Darlan, Giraud entrusted
him with the direction of special services along with Rivet
and Paillole.
Relations are execrable with Charles de Gaulle, who refuses
to receive Ronin in London, reproaching him and the other officers
of the secret services for not having followed him to London
in 1940. After the proclamation of the French National Liberation
Committee, the intelligence services in Algiers merged with
those of Colonel Passy to form the DGSS. Like many others who
pledged allegiance to Giraud, Georges RONIN was dismissed at
the Liberation. |
Born
on the 20 January 1894 in Cherbourg (50 - Manche)
Died on 8 May 1954 in Paris (75) |
|
| ROQUES
Ernest - Georges |
- General
|
Commander
of the Air Forces of Cooperation attached to the II eme Army
|
|
Born
on the 23rd of January 1891 in Paris (75)
Died on 4 April 1944 in Fes, Morocco |
|
| ROTIVAL
Maurice - Emile |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1914
- Lieutenant 1916
- Captain 1918
- Commander 1934
- Lieutenant-colonel 1943
- Colonel 1945
|
Mobilized
to the General Staff of the 1st Army in
1939. Member of the French Legation in Caracas in January
1940.
Demobilized in July 1940.
|
Maurice
ROTIVAL volunteered in September 1912 and was incorporated into
the 4th and 20th artillery regiment in August 1914. He was certified
as an aircraft observer in 1915 before being seconded to the
air force and assigned to the MF 33 squadron in 1916. He was
certified pilot in November 1916 and joined the shooting school
of Cazaux in 1917. He was appointed Commander of the BR 257
squadron and then assigned as a liaison officer to the American
army with the GQG in August 1918. He was admitted as a cadet
officer at the École centrale de Paris in 1919 before
being placed in reserve. In 1939, he was mobilized to the staff
of the lère army. He becomes a member of the French Legation
in Caracas in January 1940 and will be demobilized in July 1940.
Joined the Free French Forces on 22 October 1940 in New York,
he was appointed deputy head of the Combat Military Mission
of France in Washington in 1942. Placed at the disposal of General
Koenig, he was appointed military delegate to Great Britain
for the Theatre of Operations North in 1944. Maurice ROTIVAL
was demobilized on 13 May 1946. |
Born
on 28 March 1892 in Paris (75)
Died on 4 February 1980 in Paris |
|
| ROUGEVIN-BAVILLE
Alfred - André |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1915
- Lieutenant 1917
- Captain 1923
- Battalion Commander 1930
- Lieutenant-colonel 1937
- Colonel 1940
|
At the
beginning of the Second World War, appointed to the Staff
of the 9th Fighter Squadron.
|
Alfred
ROUGEVIN-BAVILLE enlisted in 1911 and was incorporated into
the 21st Dragon Regiment. He joined the air force in 1915 and
was appointed commander of the SPA 99 squadron. He was transferred
to the Aviation Repair Service in 1919, then to the French Army
of the Levant to the command of aeronautics. He took command
of the 54th Squadron in 1922 and served in various assignments
between 1924 and 1939. At the beginning of the second world
war, iul was appointed to the General Staff of the 9th Fighter
Squadron. He is then Director of the storage bases of Oran and
Périgueux before being Commander of the base of Ambérieu.
He retired in 1943. |
Born
on 30 November 1892 in Versailles (78 - Yvelines).
Died on 30 November 1982 at Chesnay (78 - Yvelines) |
|
| ROUSSELOT
DE SAINT-CERAN Pierre |
- Sub-Lieutenant 1911
- Captain 1919
- Air Brigade General
1939
|
Commander
of the Air Forces of Cooperation attached to the 8th Army
|
Pierre
ROUSSELOT DE SAINT-CERAN committed in 1909 for three years,
and joined the 15th hunters on horseback. He re-enlisted for
a year in September 1911 and again in September 1912. He took
the Cadet course at the Cavalry School of October 1911. Named
Sub-Lieutenant, he was assigned to the 6th Regiment of Hussars
in October 1912. Certified Air Observer in April 1915, he joined
the C 13 squadron from February 1915 to July 1916. He was wounded
in his left hand by one of the two propellers of his plane during
an air battle in September 1915. He is a military pilot at the
Crotoy military aviation school in November 1916, he joined
the C 225 squadron from January to October 1917 before taking
command of the C 42/ SPAbi 42 squadron until April 1918. He
was again injured by a propeller blow, this time to the ground
in January 1918. Hospitalized, he came out of convalescence
in March 1918.
Appointed captain in March 1919, he was appointed deputy commander
of the North African Aeronautics in May 1919. He is placed in
the "Off-Frame" position, from May 1920 and is assigned
to the 36th aviation regiment based in Algeria in August 1920.
He then joined, in June 1921, the staff of the 19th Army Corps
and was assigned to the Algerian Air Force Staff in January
1923. He joined the 31st Aviation Regiment in September 1927.
He was appointed Chief of Staff to the General Commander of
the 3rd Air Division from March 1929 to July 1932. He was assigned
to the direction of the ground air forces at the Ministry of
the Air from July 1932 to October 1933: he was then Lieutenant-colonel.
He was assigned to the 1st Section at the General Staff of the
Air Force from October 1933 to October 1935. He boarded for
Casablanca in October 1935 and was appointed Commander of the
3rd air squadron of the South Moroccan from October 19, 1935
to April 1938. He was appointed to attend the courses of the
Centre des Hautes Etudes Aériennes in 1938. He is appointed
Brigadier General in February 1939 and will be seconded to the
staff of the Ecole de l'Air in Paris from April to September
1939.
He was appointed Chief of Staff of the General Commander of
the air and ground forces against aircraft of the ground army
group no. 1 in September 1939, then Command air and ground forces
against Army aircraft #108 from September 1939 to June 1940.
Taken prisoner in the Vosges on 24 June 1940, he was interned
at the camp of Neuf-brisach on 23 July 1940 and then transferred
to the Oflag IV B of Koenigstein in August 1942. Released by
the Russian troops on 9 May 1945, he was placed on a five-year
leave of absence from the air force, effective 9 August 1946.
|
Born
on the 9 August 1889 in Vesoul (70 - Haute-Saône)
Died on 27 October 1954 in Biot (06 - Alpes-Maritimes) |
|
| ROUSSY
DE SALES André |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1928
- Lieutenant 1930
- Captain 1935
- Commander 1942
|
Assigned
in 1938 to the staff of the Fighting Inspectorate.
|
André
ROUSSY DE SALES enters the Special Military School of Saint
Cyr, and at the end in 1928, chooses the Aeronautics. He joined
the Military School of Aeronautics Application in Versailles,
and was certified as an observer in aircraft in 1929, then obtained
his certificate of fighter pilot. He was then assigned in May
1930 to the mixed regiment Army and Aviation in Dijon to the
34th Regiment of Aviation (hunting group) where he flew on Nieuport
62.
Appointed Lieutenant, he was posted in April 1933 to the Cabinet
of the Military Staff of Marshal Lyautey while continuing to
fly. It is in this position that he makes a remarkable synthesis
on the French colonies and the colonial military power of France
"yesterday, today and tomorrow". He then took command
of the 4th Fighter Squadron. It was then that he organized and
participated in various air raids (London Melboure, and the
Tour de France in three days with 9 aircraft, which earned him
the congratulations of the General of the 4th Brigade and a
Testimony of satisfaction of the General Commander of the 2nd
Air Region in 1934.
In September 1935, he was called to the Air Ministry’s
Cabinet for the Air Expansion service, and in 1937, unable to
obtain his transfer to Villacoublay, he went to Marignane to
take command of a mixed-fighter squadron with the navy.
During the French Campaign, General d'Harcourt who is looking
for "an experienced hunter" calls him and assigns
him to his Staff of the Inspection of hunting, then to the Higher
Command of Hunting.
At the armistice, General d'Harcourt sends him to Blida in Algeria
to the Command of the Fighter Aviation of General Giraud of
the 7th Army. André de Roussy de Sales is thinking of
leaving the Army but he was called by General d'Harcourt and
decided to create Jeunesse et Montagne in order to keep the
experienced staff active so that he could resume the fight later.
He entrusts to Roussy de Sales the links with the various air
bases that must provide the equipment.
De Roussy de Sales is appointed Chief Commissioner of Youth
and Mountain. and ensures its command until the liberation despite
the great difficulties encountered both from the Italian and
German occupier, as well as from some VICHY authorities and
also from the Chantiers de Jeunesse with whom he continued to
play "cat and mouse".
de Roussy de Sales and "JEUNESSE et MONTAGNE" have
never ceased to be protected and supported by the Air Force
and particularly by General d'Harcourt and Commander Archaimbault,
as well as by many other complicities. This is how the J.M.
was remarkably commanded and directed while preparing its cadres
and volunteers, physically and morally, for the resumption of
fighting as soon as the order will be given.
The Commander of Roussy de Sales is reinstated in the Cadres
of the Air Force in July 1946, as an Active Cadre, and assigned
to CRAP 203.
However, for personal convenience, he left the air force in
1947.
|
Born
on the 15 June 1906 in Arceau (21 - Côte-d'Or)
Died on 20 November 1990 in Thônex, Canton of Geneva (Switzerland) |
|
| ROZOY
Marie - Joseph |
-
Air Brigade General |
Head
of the French Air Mission to the British Air Ministry (26/08/39
to 11/12/40) |
|
Born
in Sedan (08 - Ardennes) on 02 December 1891
Died in 1988 in Neuilly sur Seine (92 - Hauts de Seine) |
|
| SALASCA
Marcel - Xavier |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1942
- Lieutenant 1944
- Captain 1948
|
Aeronautical
Assistant at the French Embassy in Buenos-Aires
|
Marcel
SALASCA was hired as a volunteer in 1932. He went through the
school of the non-commissioned officers of Istres before being
assigned to the 12th night bombing squadron; He was then aeronautical
assistant at the embassy of France in Buenos-Aires. He joined
the FAFL on 8 September 1941 in London. Trained in OTU and English
schools, he fought in the RAF and from 1943 in a night fighter
squadron. He was assigned to GT I/15 in Morocco in October 1944
with which he returned to France in 1945. After the war, he
was assigned to the Technical and Industrial Air Directorate
in 1946 before being demobilized in 1948. |
Born
on 3 January 1910 in Orléansville (Algeria)
Died on 19 March 2000 in La Garde (83 - Var) |
|
| SARDIER
Jean - Marie |
- Adjutant
1917
- Lieutenant 1918
- Captain (reserve) 1927
- Commander (reserve) 1933
- Lieutenant-colonel 1938
|
Posted
to the Office of the Minister of the Air Force in 1940
Chief of the Eastern Air Operations Area
|
Jean
SARDIER is an As of the 1st World War. He volunteered in August
1914 and was assigned to the 5th African fighter. He was detached
in the aviation in December 1915 and passed through the schools
of Pau, Buc, Avord and Cazaux in 1916. He was certified military
pilot in the same year and assigned to Squadron 77. He was appointed
Commander of the SPA 48 squadron, and achieved 15 air victories.
He was placed in reserve in 1920 and became founder of the Auvergne
aero-club. He served periods of reserve from 1923 to 1938. During
the Campagne de France, he was assigned to the minister’s
military office. |
Born
on the 5th of May 1897 in Riom (63 - Puy de Dome)
Died on 7 October 1976 in Clermond-Ferrand (63 - Puy de Dôme) |
|
| SCLAFER
Charles - Jean |
-
Air Brigade General |
Commander
of the Versailles Villacoublay Air Base and School Group (01/05/40),
Second Deputy Chief of Staff of the French Air Force (01/05/40-) |
|
Born
23 October 1890 at Lachapelle-Auzac (46 - Lot)
Died at Lanzac (46 - Lot) on 26 August 1976 |
|
| TARNIER
Auguste - Albert |
-
Air Brigade General |
Senior
Air Commandant in Morocco (40)
Head of the Air Minister's military cabinet (04/03/40) |
|
Born
26 April 1889, Fauverney (21 - Côte d'Or)
Died August 26th 1975 |
|
| TAVERA
Sylvestre |
- Colonel
|
Commander
of the Air Forces of Cooperation attached to the 4th Army
|
Commander
Sylvestre Tavera commanded the Base and the 3rd Group of Marrakech
from July 1933 to May 1934.
But colonel Tavera, the chief of aviation in Indochina, fearing
the flight of his pilots, had them sign a pledge not to desert
to China using French aircraft. |
Born
on 9 April 1894 or 24 November 1899
Died on 26 February 1979 or 21 January 1981 |
|
| TETU
Marcel - Louis |
- General
|
Commander
of the North-East Front Cooperative Air Forces
|
Marcel
Tétu was admitted to the École polytechnique in
1908 and chose artillery upon his graduation. He was in the
air force and made his career there to the rank of Air Corps
General.
In July 1939, Chief of the Air Staff, before successively taking
command of the Eastern Air Operations Zone and then, in February
1940, the Command of the Cooperative Air Forces, Liaison between
the Allied air and ground forces for the theatre of operations
in the northeast, under General GEORGES. At the same time, he
also holds the position of inspector general of the Reconnaissance
aviation and is a member of the Supreme Council of the Air Force.
After the Armistice, he was successively appointed Commander
of the Limoges Air Region, Commander of the 2nd and then 1st
Air Region before being appointed Vice Governor General of French
Equatorial Africa.
His disciplined loyalty to the Vichy regime means that he will
be sent to Gabon to counter the colony’s attempt to rally
to the Gaullist dissidence on 29 August 1940. Marcel Tétu’s
mission was to restore the authority of the metropolis and to
strengthen the will of the governor in office, Georges Pierre
Masson, who had accepted the rally to the Gaullists before withdrawing
under pressure from the men of Vichy.
On 26 October 1940, the military operations of the Gabon campaign
began. Marcel Tétu received the order from Pétain
to resist by arms to the French Free Forces (FFL). It has four
artillery battalions, four modern bombers, the Aviso, Bougainville,
and a submarine Poncelet. He also mobilized a number of settlers
to fight the troops of Free France. On 9 November 1940, he was
forced to capitulate in Libreville. He refused to join the Free
French Forces (FFL) and was entrusted to the hospitality of
the Fathers of the Holy Spirit, then interned in Brazzaville
as a prisoner of war for two years. He left in 1943 for Algiers,
where he was placed under the orders of General Henri Giraud.
At the Liberation, his dedication to Marshal Pétain will
mean he will be removed from the Air Force with loss of right
to wear uniform and decorations.
He will be amnestied in May 1965. |
Born
on the 30 October 1888 in Chalons-sur-Saône (71 - Saône-et-Loire)
Died on 15 December 1983 in Nice (06 - Alpes-Maritimes) |
|
| THOUVENOT
Stéphane - Paul |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1929
- Lieutenant de réserve 1931
- 3rd class aeronautical engineer 1932
- 2nd class aeronautical engineer 1935
- 1st class aeronautical engineer 1938
- Chief engineer 2nd class 1939
- Chief engineer 1st class 1943
Militarised from 1943:
- Chief engineer 2nd class 1943
- Chief engineer 1st class 1945
- Air Force Engineer General 2nd class 1950
|
Visiting
officer in the USA in 1939.
Appointed director of the import and export department of
the technical and industrial directorate of the air ministry,
then of the industrial workshop of the air in Casablanca in
1940.
|
Stéphane
THOUVENOT is a student at the Ecole Polytechnique: detached
in aviation and admitted to the military school and aeronautics
application in 1929. He was assigned to the 1st group of aeronautics
workers in the Technical General Directorate in 1930. He left
the army in 1930 and joined the National Meteorological Office
in 1932. He was appointed engineer in the aeronautics manufacturing
department in 1935. Promoted to head of the statistics and awards
section at the Air Ministry in 1937 before being posted to the
military cabinet of Air Minister Guy La Chambre in 1938. Visiting
officer in the United States in 1939, he was appointed director
of the import and export department of the Technical and Industrial
Directorate of the Air Ministry, then of the Air Industrial
Workshop in Casablanca in 1940. He was appointed Chief of the
Aeronautical Control Division in Marseille in 1943 and then
sent to Spain as an air attaché. He took successively
the sub-direction in 1944, the direction in 1945 of the production
and markets of the aeronautics, that of the air transports in
1948, finally that of the navigation and air transports in 1949.
Stéphane TOUVENOT finished his career as deputy general
manager of the International Air Transport Association in 1951-1952. |
Born
on the 14 July 1909 in Nantes (44 - Loire-Atlantique)
Died on 22 June 2001 in Paris (75) |
|
| VALIN
Martial |
- Lieutenant 1920
- Captain 1929
- Commander 1938
- Lieutenant-colonel
1940
- Colonel 1940
- Air Brigade General
1941
- Air Division General
1944
- Air Corps General
1945
- Air Force General
1950
|
Commander
of the 3rd Air Division (ZOAE)
|
After
his baccalaureate, Martial VALIN enlisted and was assigned in
April 1917 to the 4th Regiment of Dragons. He passed the military
school of Saint-Cyr and entered the school from May 1917 to
February 1918. Aspirant, he then takes part in the fight within
the 3rd hunters of Africa. Gazé, he was hospitalized
and did not join his unit until September 1918.
After the war, he was assigned to the 16th Dragons and in 1920
completed a year at the Saumur Cavalry School. Promoted to lieutenant,
he volunteered for the Levant and was assigned to the 21st Moroccan
Spahis Regiment in Constantinople before serving in Morocco
at the 22nd Spahis and participating in the Rif campaign in
1925. Returned to France in 1926, he was assigned to the 4th
Hussars de Rambouillet, then went into aviation. Observer in
1927, pilot in 1928, he specializes in bombing and night flight.
Captain and squadron commander in 1929, he studied from 1930
the question of the group flight at night without any fire and
landing in the dark with only a few discreet lights. Officer
of the 12th Air Brigade in Chartres, in 1935, his studies of
air tactics led him to be called to the 3rd Office of the General
Staff of the Air Force, where he remained for almost three years.
Assigned in 1938 to 33e Escadre aérienne, Commander Valin
is at the head of a reconnaissance group that will be the first
to be equipped with Potez 63 in 1939. He will be the French
Campaign at the head of this group.
Later appointed to the Air Force Staff of the North-East Theatre,
he became head of the 2nd Bureau in Jouarre and worked closely
with the RAF. In March 1940, Commander Valin is assigned to
the French military mission in Rio de Janeiro. Promoted lieutenant-colonel
in June 1940 then colonel, he sent in November 1940 a telegram
of rally to General de Gaulle who called him in London and reached
the United Kingdom in March 1941. Succeeding Admiral Muselier,
he was given the task of developing and directing the Free French
Air Forces. Appointed commander of the FAFL in July 1941, he
created in England the hunting group "Ile-de-France"
and in Chad the bombing group "Bretagne". He then
forms the hunting group "Alsace" and the bombardment
group "Lorraine" with the airmen stationed in the
Levant and with the personnel rallied after the campaign of
Syria. Promoted to Air Brigade General in August 1941.
In October, Martial Valin is called to the French National Committee
as National Air Commissioner. He succeeded in forming, with
the support of the British, the autonomous aviation groups that
distinguished themselves on all fronts. He also reorganized
the transport aviation which, in October 1941, first connected
Syria to French equatorial Africa, then to Madagascar and Djibouti.
He formed the parachute units of Free France, which were distinguished
in Libya and Crete and during the liberation of France. After
forming the groups "Artois" and "Picardy",
he constitutes the hunting group "Normandy" that General
de Gaulle designated for the front of the east. Promoted to
Air Division General in March 1944, he cumulated until June
1944 the post of Commander of the French Air Forces in Great
Britain, that of Deputy Chief of Staff General of the Air Force
and finally head of the Air Mission in London.
Despite his responsibilities, braving the ban of the allied
command, he participated in several operations; thus, he took
part on 4 August 1944 in a major bombing of the Falaise pocket
aboard a bomber as... tail gunner.
A few days later, Martial Valin having landed at Bayeux, meets
the chiefs of the maquis of the region at Chartres, at whose
head, with a thousand FFI, he arrives at the Porte d'Orléans
alongside General Leclerc and participates in the liberation
of Paris.
Appointed Secretary General of the Air, he ensures the start
of the Ministry of the Air until the return from Algiers of
Minister Charles Tillon. In November 1944, General Valin became
Chief of Staff before being Commander of the 2nd Air Region.
In January 1945, he was promoted to the rank of Air Corps General.
In March 1946, he was appointed head of the French military
delegation to the United Nations Staff Committee where he remained
until February 1947. On this date, General Valin was appointed
Inspector General of the Air Force and, promoted to Air Force
General in 1950, remained at the General Inspectorate until
1957. By decree of 3 June 1954, General Valin is maintained
without age limit in the 1st section of the framework of the
General Staff, having commanded in chief before the enemy.
Permanent member of the Conseil supérieur de l'Air from
1946 to 1968 and member of the Conseil supérieur des
Forces armées in 1955, 1957 and 1959, Martial Valin has
more than 5,000 hours of flight time, including 1,000 at night. |
Born
on the 14 May 1898 in Limoges (87 - Haute-Vienne)
Died on 19 September 1980 in Neuilly-sur-Seine (92 - Hauts de
Seine) |
|
| VENOT
Gaston |
- Sub-Lieutenant
1926
- Lieutenant 1928
- Captain 1933
- Commander 1939
- Lieutenant-colonel 1943
- Colonel 1945
- Air Brigade General 1948
- Air Division General 1953
- Air Corps General 1956
|
Transferred
to the Grand Air Headquarters at the 3rd Bureau in 1939.
Assigned to the Air Force General Inspectorate and then to
the Air Force Staff Office in 1940.
|
Gaston
VENOT was a student at the École spéciale militaire
de Saint-Cyr in 1924. After various assignments, he took command
of the 4th squadron in 1934 before moving to the staff of the
2nd air region in 1935, then to the École supérieure
de guerre aérienne in 1937. Transferred to the Grand
Air Headquarters at the 3rd Bureau in 1939, he was then assigned
to the General Inspectorate of the Air Force and then to the
Air Staff Office in 1940. He was appointed commander of the
II/23 Guyenne bombing group in 1942 and of the I Bombardment
group in 1945. He was successively called as 2nd deputy chief
of the air force staff in 1945, to the bombing aviation inspection,
then to the overseas air force inspection as chief of staff
in 1946.
He was seconded to the military cabinet of the President of
the Council in January 1948. Promoted to Chief of the Air Force
Personnel Service in August 1948 before taking command of the
3rd Air Region in 1952. He was successively appointed deputy
chief of staff of the Allied air forces Central Europe at Fontainebleau
in 1953, commander of the air defence of the territory in 1956
and finally major general of the air force in 1957.
Gaston VENOT ended his career as deputy for the air defence
of the territory of the general chief of staff of the air force
in 1959.
He leaves the active army but will be recalled to work on the
Air Investigation Commission in mainland France from 5 May to
31 May 1961. |
Born
on 22 November 1904 in Asnières (92 - Hauts-de-Seine).
Died on 13 November 1979 in Dijon (21 - Côte d'Or) |
|
| VOISIN
André - Paul |
-
Air Brigade General |
Commander
of the 4th Air Subdivision (02/09/39 to 30/07/40) |
|
Born
on 02 March 1877 in Nancy (54 - Meurthe et Moselle)
Died in Paris (75) on 19 December 1966 |
|
| VUILLEMIN
Joseph |
- Sub-Lieutenant 1910
- Captain 1915
- Commander 1918
- Lieutenant-colonel
1925
- Colonel 1930
- Air Brigade General
1932
- Air Division General
1938
|
Chief
of the Air Force
|
Joseph
Vuillemin comes from a modest family and lived in a working-class
neighbourhood. He leaves school early, without a certificate
of education, and becomes an apprentice electrician.
He was incorporated in November 1904 and joined the 14th Foot
Artillery Battalion, based in La Rochelle. At the end of his
military service, he re-enrols twice, and passes the entrance
exam to the military school of artillery and engineering of
Versailles. Admitted in 1909, he returned in 1910 with the rank
of sub-lieutenant and was assigned first to the 34th artillery
regiment then to the 52nd artillery. In March 1913, he was transferred
to the 62nd Artillery Regiment.
In July 1913, he volunteered to join the new weapon, the Aviation,
and obtained his military pilot’s licence in November.
While remaining administratively attached to the 32nd Artillery
Regiment, he will train new pilots at the military flying school
of Reims until mobilization.
At the beginning of the war, he fought in the CM squadron, equipped
with Caudron G2 and attached to the 5th Army. After the stabilization
of the front, Joseph Vuillemin takes command of the squadron
which will become the C 39 squadron in March 1915. Although
a pilot of observation aircraft, he will not hesitate to fight
with enemy aircraft. Thus, while he was a captain, commander
of the C11 squadron, he shot down his first German aircraft
in September 1915. Victory to be attributed to him, as well
as his observer. He will get a second victory in March 1916,then
a 3rd in May 1917.
Promoted to commander, he took the head of the 12th bombing
squadron in February 1918, composed of 9 flying squads equipped
with Breguet 14. Despite his responsibilities, he will continue
to participate in missions and win 4 additional victories until
the armistice, which will bring his record to 7 victories, a
good score for a pilot who has not fought in the Hunt!
After the war, he still commanded the 12th Bombardment Squadron,
before being promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, and taking the
head of the Algerian Air Force in September 1925
With the rank of colonel, he was appointed in 1932, Commander
of the Moroccan Air Force, then promoted to brigadier general
within the newly created Air Force.
From November to December 1933, he organized and took part in
the Black Cross: this raid, carried out with 30 Potez 25 TOE,
will connect in several stages all the French colonies in Africa:
25000kms traveled on board these venerable biplanes, demonstrating
the reliability of French equipment...
This feat earned Joseph VUILLEMIN a solid reputation and great
prestige: in 1934, he was appointed deputy inspector to the
inspector general of bombing aviation, then deputy inspector
of metropolitan defence aviation, before joining the benches
of the Centre for Advanced Military Studies. Appointed Commander
of the 1st Air Corps in August 1936, he was appointed Major
General in February 1938, and became Chief of Staff of the Air
Force.
During the French Campaign, General VUILLEMIN will have a hard
time maintaining a semblance of cohesion in an Air Force in
material inferiority against the enemy. The recurrent disputes
over aviation employment doctrine will repeatedly oppose it
to the Army Generals who would like to keep their hands on this
Aviation for their support needs. In hindsight, Joseph VUILLEMIN
will often be reproached for not being firm enough in his positions,
and if everyone recognizes him as a man of great courage, his
qualities as Chief of the Air Force will often be criticized.
But despite the disaster of the Armies, a large part of which
will be attributed to the Air Force, General VUILLEMIN is not
dismissed following the process of Riom, and becomes inspector
general of the Air Force under the orders of Marshal Pétain.
In November 1940 he is put on leave of the sailing staff at
his request, and will take no part in the Vichy Government whose
"values" he does not share...
After the landing of the Allies in North Africa, he leaves his
reserve and, presenting himself with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel,
volunteers to fight in a Bombardment squadron equipped with
B26 Marauder... But his health does not allow him to serve again,
and Joseph Vuillemin is placed in the reserve section in March
1945.
After the war, in 1946, he founded a small airline, the Compagnie
Algérienne des Transports Aériens (CATA), whose
aircraft, four NC 702 and three Douglas DC-3, will be decorated
with the famous cocotte that he wore on these devices during
the First World War. The company was acquired in 1950 by Aigle
Azur.
After the independence of Algeria, Joseph VUILLEMIN returns
to the French mainland. He died of a heart attack on 23 July
1963 at the military hospital in Lyon. |
Born on the 14 March
1883 in Bordeaux (33 - Gironde)
Died on 23 July 1963 in Lyon (69 - Rhône)
|
|
| ZIEGLER
Henri - Alexandre |
- 3rd class
aeronautical engineer 1931
- 2nd class aeronautical engineer 1933
- 1st class aeronautical engineer
|
Deputy
head of the air purchase mission to the USA in 1939.
|
Henri
ZIEGLER is a student of the Polytechnic School in 1936 then
of the military school and aeronautics application. In 1928,
he was appointed aeronautical engineer before joining the Ecole
nationale supérieure d'aéronautique in 1929. He
was appointed deputy director of the flight test centre at Villacoublay
in 1937 and then became deputy head of the air purchase mission
to the USA in 1939. He became Chief of Staff of the French Forces
de l'intérieur under General Koenig in 1944 and was sent
on missions to Great Britain and the USA.
He was appointed deputy general manager of Air France in 1946
and then general manager in 1948. He became director of the
firm of Chaban-Delmas in 1954, then of the firm of Corniglion-Molinier
in 1955 and again of Chaban-Delmas in 1956. He was appointed
Director-General of the Société anonyme des ateliers
d'aviation Louis Breguet from 1957 to 1967, CEO of Sud-Aviation
in 1968 and then of SNIAS from 1970 to 1973. He is the founder
of Airbus Industrie. |
Born
on 18 November 1906 in Limoges (87 - Haute-Vienne)
Died on 24 July 1998 in Paris (75) |
|
| WATTEAU
André - Louis |
-
Air Brigade General |
Second
Deputy Commander of the 1st Air Army (02/09/39 to 27/09/39)
Assigned to the Eastern Air Operations Zone (27/09/39 to 25/06/40) |
|
Born
23 July 1883 at Précu-sur-Oise (60 - Oise)
Died in January 1946 |
|
| WEISS
Pierre - Théodore |
-
Air Division General |
Deputy
Inspector for Pre and Post Military Preparation to the Inspector
of Higher Air Education (01/07/39 to 04/03/40)
Deputy Commander of the 5th Air Region in charge of Schools
(04/03/40 to 01/07/40) |
|
Born
in Nancy (54 - Meurthe et moselle) on 17 October 1889
Died August 8, 1970 at Antibes (06 - Alpes-Maritimes) |
|
