L’aérostation d’observation française de 1919 à 1940 : l’engagement du général Bienvenüe pour la sauvegarde d’une spécialité méconnue

The observation balloons branch is a little-known specialty of the French army. However, it plays an important role during World War One in intelligence gathering and directing artillery fire. But sterling service does not prevent it to undergo a crisis during the interwar period, mainly for lack of...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Seivert, Kévin
Format: Article ou chapitre numérique
Langue:Français
Publié: 2016
Accès en ligne:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Description
Résumé:The observation balloons branch is a little-known specialty of the French army. However, it plays an important role during World War One in intelligence gathering and directing artillery fire. But sterling service does not prevent it to undergo a crisis during the interwar period, mainly for lack of sufficient funds. The ballooning observation, a part first of the Engineer corps then of the Air Force, has an organization, staffing, hardware, employment doctrine of its own. General Paul Bienvenue, one of the first balloonists, keeps alerting his superiors on the poor state of the branch in the years 1920-1940, without success. Lacking modernization, it is debilitated when embarking on the 1940 campaign, before collapsing under the blows of the Luftwaffe.