L'Armée de l'Air En Indochine 1945-1956 (Hardcover)
Text in French
La guerre d'Indochine d buta v ritablement la fin de l'ann e 1946, lorsque H Chi Minh, le chef du Vi t-Minh, un front r volutionnaire d'ob dience communiste qui avait proclam l'ind pendance de la r publique d mocratique du Vietnam lors de la capitulation nippone de septembre 1945, d clencha une insurrection g n rale contre la pr sence fran aise dans le pays. D's les premiers jours de ce conflit, l'arm e de l'air, en l'absence de toute menace a rienne adverse, fut engag e dans l'appui au sol et dans le soutien des troupes fran aises, un nombre non n gligeable d'unit's, aussi bien de chasse, de bombardement, de reconnaissance ou de transport tant engag es. Les difficiles conditions m t o r gnant en Indochine, ainsi que le renforcement progressif des moyens antia riens adverses, firent payer un lourd tribut aux aviateurs fran ais jusqu' ̀ la chute dramatique de Di n Bi n Phu, le 7 mai 1954, date qui marqua le d but du d sengagement de la France en Indochine.
Cet ouvrage de 200 pages relate cette p riode assez mal connue de l'histoire de l'arm e de l'air, au moyen de plusieurs centaines de photographies, souvent in dites car issues de collections particuli res, toutes les unit's impliqu es dans cette guerre tant d crites en d tail, y compris celles compos es d'h licopt res, un type d'a ronef qui n'en tait alors qu' ses d buts mais qui allait jouer un r le pr pond rant quelques ann es plus tard au m me endroit, lors de la guerre du Vietnam.
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The war in Indochina really began at the end of 1946, when Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the Viet-Minh, a revolutionary front of communist obedience which had proclaimed the independence of the democratic republic of Vietnam during the Japanese surrender in September 1945, triggered a general insurrection against the French presence in the country. From the first days of this conflict, the Air Force, in the absence of any adverse air threat, was engaged in ground support and support of French troops, a significant number of units, whether fighter, bombardment, reconnaissance or transport being engaged. The difficult weather conditions prevailing in Indochina, as well as the progressive reinforcement of the enemy anti-aircraft means, made French airmen pay a heavy price until the dramatic fall of Di n Bi n Phu, on May 7, 1954, date which marked the beginning of the disengagement of France in Indochina.
This 200-page book recounts this relatively unknown period in the history of the Air Force, using several hundred photographs, often unpublished because they come from private collections, all the units involved in this war being described in detail, including those composed of helicopters, a type of aircraft which was then only in its infancy but which would play a major role a few years later in the same place, during the Vietnam War.
La guerre d'Indochine d buta v ritablement la fin de l'ann e 1946, lorsque H Chi Minh, le chef du Vi t-Minh, un front r volutionnaire d'ob dience communiste qui avait proclam l'ind pendance de la r publique d mocratique du Vietnam lors de la capitulation nippone de septembre 1945, d clencha une insurrection g n rale contre la pr sence fran aise dans le pays. D's les premiers jours de ce conflit, l'arm e de l'air, en l'absence de toute menace a rienne adverse, fut engag e dans l'appui au sol et dans le soutien des troupes fran aises, un nombre non n gligeable d'unit's, aussi bien de chasse, de bombardement, de reconnaissance ou de transport tant engag es. Les difficiles conditions m t o r gnant en Indochine, ainsi que le renforcement progressif des moyens antia riens adverses, firent payer un lourd tribut aux aviateurs fran ais jusqu' ̀ la chute dramatique de Di n Bi n Phu, le 7 mai 1954, date qui marqua le d but du d sengagement de la France en Indochine.
Cet ouvrage de 200 pages relate cette p riode assez mal connue de l'histoire de l'arm e de l'air, au moyen de plusieurs centaines de photographies, souvent in dites car issues de collections particuli res, toutes les unit's impliqu es dans cette guerre tant d crites en d tail, y compris celles compos es d'h licopt res, un type d'a ronef qui n'en tait alors qu' ses d buts mais qui allait jouer un r le pr pond rant quelques ann es plus tard au m me endroit, lors de la guerre du Vietnam.
**********
The war in Indochina really began at the end of 1946, when Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the Viet-Minh, a revolutionary front of communist obedience which had proclaimed the independence of the democratic republic of Vietnam during the Japanese surrender in September 1945, triggered a general insurrection against the French presence in the country. From the first days of this conflict, the Air Force, in the absence of any adverse air threat, was engaged in ground support and support of French troops, a significant number of units, whether fighter, bombardment, reconnaissance or transport being engaged. The difficult weather conditions prevailing in Indochina, as well as the progressive reinforcement of the enemy anti-aircraft means, made French airmen pay a heavy price until the dramatic fall of Di n Bi n Phu, on May 7, 1954, date which marked the beginning of the disengagement of France in Indochina.
This 200-page book recounts this relatively unknown period in the history of the Air Force, using several hundred photographs, often unpublished because they come from private collections, all the units involved in this war being described in detail, including those composed of helicopters, a type of aircraft which was then only in its infancy but which would play a major role a few years later in the same place, during the Vietnam War.