MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
I read an account of RN aircraft attacking Egyptian airfields that mentioned the French were using Avengers from their carriers. Surely they were not flying Grumman TBM's then?
French Naval Air in The Suez Crisis
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fubar57
General
I've got one book saying they flew with them at least until April 1966. This is from the book...
"In the early 1950s, the United States donated a number of TBM-3E and TBM-3S-2/W-2 to the French Navy......Avenger planes were also stationed at the Arromanches, Lafayett and Bois-Belleau aircraft carriers. Avengers, painted on the fuselage and wing tips with white stripes, took part in the air cover of the British-French operation in the Suez Canal area in 1956...."
"In the early 1950s, the United States donated a number of TBM-3E and TBM-3S-2/W-2 to the French Navy......Avenger planes were also stationed at the Arromanches, Lafayett and Bois-Belleau aircraft carriers. Avengers, painted on the fuselage and wing tips with white stripes, took part in the air cover of the British-French operation in the Suez Canal area in 1956...."
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MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
Well, I'll be darned.....
fubar57
General
I'm thinking the book may be wrong about the stripes being white. All other aircraft had yellow and black stripes.
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vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
Very cool
Admiral Beez
Major
This mention of the French carrier Arromanches reminds me of just how much wartime action the British-made Colossus/Majestic class has seen.
For starters you have the Colossus class ships HMS Triumph, Theseus, Glory, Ocean and the Majestic class HMAS Sydney fighting in the Korean War, the latter also fighting in the Vietnam War. We have Arromanches in the Indo-China war, and the same French carrier being joined by HMS Ocean and Theseus at Suez. Then we have HNLMS Karel Doorman fighting in Indonesia and New Guinea, INS Vikrant fighting against Pakistan in 1971, and ARA Veinticinco de Mayo fighting the British in 1982. I'm sure I'm missing several further examples. Had things gone south, HMCS Bonaventure would have seen combat at the Cuban Missile Crisis, as is was the carrier was in the thick of things. The Colossus/Majestic class were the universal aircraft carrier of the postwar era.
For starters you have the Colossus class ships HMS Triumph, Theseus, Glory, Ocean and the Majestic class HMAS Sydney fighting in the Korean War, the latter also fighting in the Vietnam War. We have Arromanches in the Indo-China war, and the same French carrier being joined by HMS Ocean and Theseus at Suez. Then we have HNLMS Karel Doorman fighting in Indonesia and New Guinea, INS Vikrant fighting against Pakistan in 1971, and ARA Veinticinco de Mayo fighting the British in 1982. I'm sure I'm missing several further examples. Had things gone south, HMCS Bonaventure would have seen combat at the Cuban Missile Crisis, as is was the carrier was in the thick of things. The Colossus/Majestic class were the universal aircraft carrier of the postwar era.
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