Armee de´l Air after the WWII: Colonial Conflicts

Thanks. Never knew the French used so much different kit, especially all the Japanese stuff. All of it looks (sorry to say) a bit worn and badly maintained, though.

There is a PhD sitting and waiting there, I think.

Twin-engined eight-passenger transport aircraft (Si.204A) and military instrument trainer (Si.204D), production of which began in 1942 at the SNCAC factory at Bourges for French and Luftwaffe service. Post-war SNCAC put the aircraft back into production as the NC.701 (Si.204D) and NC.702 (Si.204A) powered by Renault 12S engines (440kW SNECMA S-12-SO2-3Hs, French-built Argus As.411s). About 300 or so were built. The NC.702 version accommodated a crew of two and eight passengers (four on each side of a central aisle), with a toilet and luggage compartment aft. As a freighter, the interior equipment was removed and the cabin divided into four compartments. Among the many operators of the Martinet were Air France and CSA of Czechoslovakia.

Very cool!

Great post Gekho !

I knew french air force used lots of different airplanes, and built german-type planes in France (Not too difficult, as the french factories had been seized by the nazis for their own purpose), but I never imagined seeing a FW 190 with french "cocardes". (markings)

jipi said:

Great post Gekho !

I knew french air force used lots of different airplanes, and built german-type planes in France (Not too difficult, as the french factories had been seized by the nazis for their own purpose), but I never imagined seeing a FW 190 with french "cocardes". (markings)

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Really!!?? them that picture is more rare than I imagine....

Yes, the NC900 is certainly the fighter which had the shortest carreer in the armée de l'air, as the first have been delivered in february 1946, and all were replaced by spitfires in november.

This plane has been used by the Normandie-Niemen group, which fought in Russia during WW2. Its pilots were very reluctant to fly the plane they fought against.

Nouvelle page 1

jipi said:

Yes, the NC900 is certainly the fighter which had the shortest carreer in the armée de l'air, as the first have been delivered in february 1946, and all were replaced by spitfires in november.

This plane has been used by the Normandie-Niemen group, which fought in Russia during WW2. Its pilots were very reluctant to fly the plane they fought against.

Nouvelle page 1

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Merci beaucoup pour la page. Comme vous avez vu, beaucoup de photos de mes articles que j'ai trouvé ici. Je pense que c'est la meilleure page de l'aviation've français jamais vu.

gekho said:

Nakajima A6M2 Rufe
1.- Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero
2.- Mitsubishi G4M Betty
3.- Mitsubishi J2M Jack

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Terrific pictures, Gekho. These aircraft listed that flew with the Allied Technical Air Intelligence Unit South East Asia were wearing British markings, not French and were intended for evaluation by the RAF in the UK at the end of WW2, although none of those pictured actually made it to Britain. The ATAIU SEA was a joint British and American unit. The pictures of the Rufe were taken at RAF Seletar in Singapore. Oddly enough the aircraft in flight were flown by Japanese pilots when these images were taken.

Here is another showing the Zero BI-12 with BI-05, of which the centre section survives in the UK.



Do you have more of Japanese aircraft that operated with the French? Oscars, for example?

In 1942 the manufacture of the Messerschmitt Bf 108 was transferred to SNCAN (usually known as Nord) at Les Mureaux in occupied France. Before the liberation 170 Bf 108s were built and Nord continued to build the aircraft using scavenged Bf 108 airframe parts as the Nord 1000, until stocks of German Argus engines were exhausted. The type was then re-engined with a 233hp (174kW) Renault 6Q 11 six-cylinder inline engine and was designated the Nord 1001 Pingouin I. A further update followed with a Renault 6Q 10-powered variant which was designated the Nord 1002 Pingouin II. Total production was 286 with the majority used as communications and liaison aircraft with the French armed forces. The design was further developed with the tricycle landing gear Nord Noralpha.

The Pingouin was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a braced trimmable horizontal tail surface combined with elevators, and single fin and rudder. It had a tailwheel landing gear with outward retracting main gear. The engine was nose-mounted and it had an enclosed cabin that seated four in two rows of two. Like the Bf 108, the wings had automatic leading edge slats and could be folded when the aircraft was on the ground, allowing the complete aircraft to be transported by rail.

Source: Nord Pingouin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

After the Allied invasion of French North Africa, the main part of France's air force, which the Vichy government had withdrawn to the colonies after the 1940 defeat – and had fought against the British or Americans on several occasions – went back on the Allied side. Of course, several problems arose at once. First, re-uniting the former Vichy Air Force and the Free French Air Force – both sides looking at the other one with disdain and resentment - proved to be a true political can of worms, as was having the proud Armée de l'Air serving under US tactical command… The other problem was easier to solve : the Armée de l'Air's material was desperately obsolete (most of its aircraft being war-weary machines that had seen the battles of 1940 – the Free French being equipped with old British material), and the personnel had no experience with modern Allied aircraft, procedures or tactics. First, second-hand or second-rate equipment was provided for training in North Africa, until the New French Air Force, having proven its skills and dedication to the Allied cause, was considered fit to carry the fight to Italy and France… this time with large numbers of much better aircraft (I'm not speaking of the war-weary P-39 Airacobras which were replaced with P-63s only after war's end), the spearhead of the Armée de l'Air's fighter-bomber force being 6 "groupes de chasse" of P-47 Thunderbolts, the air-superiority role being held by seven groups of Spitfire IXs.

Originally operating from Italy, then from Sardinia and Corsica until the Provence landings, mainly flying missions against German and R.S.I troops in northern Italy and the French Alps, the P-47 units then followed the Allied armies from airfield to airfield up the Rhône valley to Dauphiné, Bourgogne, Franche-Comté, Alsace and Lorraine, crossing the Rhine in April 45 and ending the war in southern Germany, some Thunderbolts being used against the German-held harbors of the Atlantic coast until the very last day. Their combat records show heavy losses and only few aerial victories… the reason for this is that the French Thunderbolts were used mainly for ground attack – rarely meeting a Luftwaffe that had become elusive, and playing a daily, deadly low-level attrition game against the Flak, mauling German trains and convoys, and more than once saving the day for the ground troops that had to face fierce resistance and brutal counter-attacks. A muddy, dangerous, unglamourous yet vital job performed under sometimes terrible weather conditions that won them the respect of their allies. After war's end, the remaining 131 "lend-lease" P-47s were given to France and stayed for 16 more years in service, flying their last combat missions in 1957 during the Algeria war (none of them seeing active service in Indochina). The last machines were written off in 1960, long after the Armée de l'Air had entered the "jet age".

French use of the Thunderbolt continued on for several years after the end of the war in Europe. GC II/3 and GC II/5 were redesignated GC I/4 and GC II/4 in July of 1947. They remained as part of the occupation forces in Germany until late 1949. Also in July of 1947 GC I/4 and GC I/5 were redesignated as GC I/3 and GC II/3. The personnel of the 3eme Escadre were sent to Indo-China in support of the supression of the Viet Minh insurrection, but their planes remained in Europe and they flew other aircraft. When the personnel returned to France late in 1948, they again operated P-47s until 1950, when the P-47s were replaced in service by De Havilland Vampire jets.

Many of these French Thunderbolts were then transferred to Algeria, where they were used against the nationalist forces during the Algerian civil war. GC I/10, GC II/10, and GC III/10 were established from reserve training units in 1951. The first two were redesignated Escadron d'Entrainement a la Chasse (EEC) II/17 and Groupe d'Entrainement a la Chasse (GEC) II/17 in 1954. EEC I/7 was formed in the same year. In 1956, these operational training units were formed into the 20-eme Escradre for combat operations in Algeria. GC I/20 Ayres-Nementcha operated P-47s into mid 1950 but GC II/20 Ouarsenis operated P-47s as late as 1960. They were finally phased out of service during 1960, at about the same time that the French pulled out of Algeria.

Source: Thunderbolt with Free French

That is just a massive aircraft!

The Avro Anson is a British twin-engine, multi-role aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force, Fleet Air Arm and numerous other air forces prior to, during, and after the Second World War. Named for British Admiral George Anson, it was originally designed for maritime reconnaissance, but was soon rendered obsolete in that role. However, it was rescued from obscurity by its suitability as a multi-engine air crew trainer, becoming the mainstay of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. By the end of production in 1952, the Anson spanned nine variants and a total of 8,138 were built in Britain by Avro. From 1941, a further 2,882 were built by Canadian Federal Aircraft Ltd.

The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a bomber by the larger four-engine "heavies" such as the Avro Lancaster. The Wellington continued to serve throughout the war in other duties, particularly as an anti-submarine aircraft. It was the only British bomber to be produced for the entire duration of the war.

Postwar conversions of the Wellington Bomber into training aircraft by Boulton Paul in Wolverhampton. For navigation training the front turret was removed and replaced by a fairing and the interior re-equipped. Some were sold to France, serving with the Aeronavale; first with the Flottille 2.F (earlier No. 344 Squadron RAF) that operated Wellingtons between 1945 and 1952, and the 55S Escadrille, that operated Wellingtons between 1948 and 1952.

When France was free by the Allies, many Ju-52 were captured and used against their own owners.Many others were destroyed after the war, but 585 were manufactured after 1945. In France, the machine had been manufactured during the war by the Junkers-controlled Amiot company, and production continued afterwards as the Amiot AAC 1 Toucan. These aircrafts were widely used in not only in France, but also in Algeria, Vietnam and Thailand, being employed as a parachuters platform, transport aircraft and bombers. They were finally replaced by the american C-47 Dakota.

The success of the Hudson in RAF service led Lockheed to propose a military version of the larger Lockheed 18 Lodestar and resulting British interest led to development of the Lockheed 37. During 1940 a total of 675 of these aircraft was contracted for the RAF, which named the type the Ventura, and the company lost little time initiating production in the Vega factory. By comparison with the Hudson, the Ventura had far more effective armament, a heavier bomb load and more powerful engines, and appeared to have considerable potential. First used operationally by the RAF on 3 November 1942, the type was soon found to be unsuited to daylight operations and was transferred to Coastal Command. Nevertheless, the Ventura was procured in large numbers under Lend-Lease, and was built for the US Army Air Force and US Navy, this last service designating it the PV-1 Ventura. Venturas served with all the Commonwealth nations, the Free French and with the Brazilian air force. A long-range version, the PV-2, had been ordered by the US Navy in June 1943 and, differing in several respects from the Ventura, was named the Harpoon; Ventura and Harpoon production totalled 3,028 in September 1945.

The French Aeronautique Navale (Aeronavale) obtained a few PV-2s which saw some limited service with Escadrille de Servitude 12S before being transferred to Portugal as more modern equipment became available.

Great info gekho.
I remember as a younglad my dad taking me to Southend air museum, I seem to recall they had an Avro Anson there - my dad used to remember them very fondly as a one of the training aircraft the RAF used in his time.

Edit to add -

Ooops, perhaps not, having checked it appear Southend didn't have an Anson, it was at Hendon.
I do remember the Spanish Heinkel the Beverly at Southend, sadly now long gone.

Cool stuff!

Great images.

Ooops, perhaps not, having checked it appear Southend didn't have an Anson. I do remember the Spanish Heinkel the Beverly at Southend, sadly now long gone.

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Southend did have an Anson, it's now at Duxford, along with the Beverley's cockpit section. The Spanish Heinkel flew in the movie Battle of Britain and is now in the USA in bits.

Thanks nuuumannn, I coul have sworn it was Southend......I wasn't sure if my memory was failing me!