French
L’ARMÉE DE L’AIR
before Armistice

Version 2005_08_07
54 pics of aircraft

After the Armistice, some units joined the Vichy Regime and continued fighting for the Axis side, mainly in the MTO.
Some units joined/became the Free French Air Force fighting for the Allies together with some units fighting under external command, for example the french units incorporated in the RAF (Groupe Alsace, Ile de France, Lorraine ...), or the Normandie-Niemen group, that fought for/in Russia.

Escuadron de Chasse 1

Groupe de Chasse I/1

1. Escadrille
'Archers'

2. Escadrille

- ? -

(34) n°425
Chef d'Escadrille, Capitaine Garde, mai 1940

Groupe de Chasse II/1

3. Escadrille

4. Escadrille

1937 - Dewoitine D.510 - Etampes

(5)

(7)

(N°219) (R-2 49) under the wings

1940 - Morane-Saulnier MS.406 - Battle of France

(1)

-
(28)

1940 - Marcel-Bloch MB-152C - Battle of France

(10)

-
(28)

(71)

Groupe de Chasse III/1

5. Escadrille

6. Escadrille

1940 - Morane-Saulnier MS.406 - Battle of France

(7) n°730
piloté généralement par l'Adj Gagnaire, mai 1940

(34) n°101
-

Escuadron de Chasse 2

Groupe de Chasse I/2
'Cigogne'

1. Escadrille

2. Escadrille

1940 - Morane-Saulnier MS.406C - Battle of France

(7) n°138 (58) 'Bretagne'

(2) n°438 (58) 'Flandre'

(15) MS.406 n°676 (L7-05)
Sgt. de Puybusque en mai 1940

(XV/33 (No.704)
Nimes june 1940

Groupe de Chasse II/2

3. Escadrille

4. Escadrille

1940 - Morane-Saulnier MS.406 - Battle of France

MS.406 n°286 codé (4) (matricule N698)

Groupe de Chasse III/2
'Alsace'

5. Escadrille

6. Escadrille

1937 - Dewoitine D.510 - Etampes

Escuadron de Chasse 3

Groupe de Chasse I/3
'Corse'

1. Escadrille

2. Escadrille

1940, april-may - Dewoitine D.520-79 - Cannes-Mandelieu

This plane was belonging in 1940 to the fighter group GC I/3, second Escadrille. It owns theorically 25 planes, 12 for its first Escadrille numbered from 1 to 12, 12 for its second Escadrille numbered from 14 to 25 and a plane for the group's chief numbered 13.

(14) (N°94)
So '14' is the serial inside the unit and '94' the serial number given by the airplaine builder.
Note: unit insignia is a snake in an triangular pennant.
(Doesn`t the snake belong to 1. Escadrille ?)

(2) (N°90)
Sg.Lt.Madon, june 1940

Groupe de Chasse II/3
'Dauphiné'

3. Escadrille

4. Escadrille

1940 - Morane-Saulnier MS.406 - Battle of France

Markings of both Escadrilles - probably group's chief

Groupe de Chasse III/3
'Ardennes'

3. Escadrille

4. Escadrille

1940 - Morane-Saulnier MS.406 - Battle of France

Escuadron de Chasse 4

Groupe de Chasse I/4
'Navarre'

1. Escadrille

2. Escadrille

1937 - Dewoitine D.500 - Reims

1940 - Curtiss Hawk 75A-2 - Battle of France

(9)

Groupe de Chasse II/4

GC II/4 was formed in May 1939, comprising two escadrilles: SPA 160 Diables rouges and SPA 155 Petits Poucets. Both these units had traditions reaching back to the Great War, were dismantled in 1919 and reactivated after the Munich Crisis as a result of the general re-armament programme.

At the outbreak of war in September 1939, the unit had 23 Curtiss H75 and 2 Potez 631s. It achieved combat readiness already on August 28, 1939, being deployed to field airbase at Xaff�villers (close to Rambervillers) and operating from there throughout the Phoney War period. This name, by the way, does not reflect the true character of the conflict as far as GC II/4 was concerned.
On September 8, 1939, GC II/4 succeeds in destroying two Messerschmitt Bf 109Es, thereby scoring the first Allied aerial victories of World War II. The following months saw continuous and fierce aerial fighting over the Western front.

3. Escadrille

4. Escadrille

1940 - Curtiss Hawk 75A-3 - (-?-)

Escuadron de Chasse 5

Groupe de Chasse I/5
'Champagne'

1. Escadrille

2. Escadrille

The famous stork emblem has its roots reaching back to SPA 3 of World War I, the prestigious l'Escadrille Guynemer

1940 - Curtiss Hawk 75A-2 - Battle of France

(2) (n° 158)
Pilot - Lt. Marin La Meslee, May 1940

(14)

Group appeared again under Free French Air Force

Groupe de Chasse II/5
'La Fayette'

3. Escadrille
'Sioux'

4. Escadrille
'Cicogne'

1940 - Curtiss Hawk 75A-1 - Battle of France

(1)

(5)

(11)

Groupe de Chasse III/5

5. Escadrille

6. Escadrille

1940 - Dewoitine D.520 - Algeria

(6)
Sous Lieutenant Pierre Le Gloan

Escuadron de Chasse 6

Groupe de Chasse I/6

1. Escadrille

2. Escadrille

1940 - Dewoitine D.520 - Algeria

(6)
Sous Lieutenant Pierre Le Gloan

Groupe de Chasse II/6

3. Escadrille

4. Escadrille

1940 - Dewoitine D.520 - Algeria

(6)
Sous Lieutenant Pierre Le Gloan

Groupe de Chasse III/6
'Roussillion'

5. Escadrille

6. Escadrille

1940 - Dewoitine D.520 - Algeria

(6)
Sous Lieutenant Pierre Le Gloan

1940 - Morane-Saulnier MS.406 - Battle of France

(6)

Escuadron de Chasse 7

Groupe de Chasse I/7

1. Escadrille

2. Escadrille

-?-

Groupe de Chasse II/7

3. Escadrille

4. Escadrille

1940 - Dewoitine D.520 - Battle of France

(4)

(6)
Sous Lieutenant René Pommier-Layrargues, June 1940

Groupe de Chasse III/7

5. Escadrille

6. Escadrille

1940 - Morane-Saulnier MS.406 - Battle of France

(2)

(3)

(5)

Escuadron de Chasse 8

Groupe de Chasse I/8

1. Escadrille

2. Escadrille

1939 - Dewoitine D.510 - ?

(N-6 04) under wings

Escuadron de Chasse 145 (Polish)

Groupe de Chasse I
'Warsaw'

The Group's pilots downed several German aircraft in June 1940.
The French fuselage roundel was partially overpainted by an incomplete Polish national insignia.

1. Escadrille

2. Escadrille

1940 - Caudron C.714 C.1 Cyclone - Battle of France, Dreux, Lyon-Brone, Billancourt

(2) (I-204) (N°14)

(2) (I-227) (N°14)

(6) (I-217) (N°24)

(10)

(13) (I-222)
Billancourt

1940 - Morane-Saulnier MS.406C-1 - Lyon Bron

(4)
Czeslaw Glowczynski (Polish), May

(7)
First Flight flew with 5. Escadrille GdC III/1

First Flight flew with 5. Escadrille GdC III/1
Cambrai, mai 1940

Escuadron de Bombardement 31

Groupe de Bombardement I/31

1. Escadrille

2. Escadrille

1940 - Bloch MB.200D - ?

(7)

1940 - LeO 451 - Algeria

(13)

Escuadron de Bombardement 34
Groupe de Bombardement I/34
1. Escadrille	2. Escadrille
?
-	-
Groupe de Bombardement II/34
3. Escadrille	4. Escadrille
1940 - Amiot 351 - Orano-La Senia, Algeria
(S-N° 56) (351/84)	-

Escuadron de Bombardement 51

Groupe de Bombardement I/51

1. Escadrille

2. Escadrille

Groupe de Bombardement II/51

3. Escadrille

4. Escadrille

1940 - Breguet Bre.693 - Battle of France

Escuadron de Bombardement 54

Groupe de Bombardement I/54

1. Escadrille

2. Escadrille

1940 - Breguet Bre.693 - Battle of France

(3)

AB....
A...(?) de Bombardement
AB1	AB2
1940 - Chance Vought V-156F (SB2U-1 Vindicator) - Battle of France
(12) Cherbourg	(9) Cuers