FRENCH MILITARY AVIATION 1919–1934. Its units, its men, its insignia

At the end of the Great War, the French Military Aviation was reorganised into aviation regiments. It was the heir to the glorious battle-forged legacy of the escadrilles that had fought for four years above the trenches.

Some of its regiments would in turn face the ordeal of aerial operations, in the Levant and in Morocco. The air arm, gradually gaining its autonomy, also rested on a structure of schools, technical support services, as well as a balloon corps and, briefly, anti-aircraft defence units.

The symbolism used in the escadrilles was rich and varied, sometimes unique, both on the aircraft themselves and on unit emblems. The Armée de l'Air took flight in 1933 but was not created ex nihilo: it took up the torch of this interwar Military Aviation, building on the proven foundations of its organisation, its practices and its traditions.

This work was, from the outset of its writing, conceived as the sequel to "les escadrilles de l'Aéronautique militaire 1912–1920 ", one of the very last publications of the Service historique de l'armée de l'Air, issued in 2004. It also aims to be a synthesis of the knowledge patiently accumulated by researchers and enthusiasts of aeronautical history. It features previously unpublished aircraft profiles and original insignia drawings produced from period photographs and documents. Four indexes allow easy access to a unit by searching for a pilot, an insignia, a location or its traditions.

Illustrated with 394 photographs, 320 insignia drawings, 55 profiles and 6 maps across 306 pages.