Victor Denain
Victor-Léon-Ernest Denain (6 November 1880, in Dax – 31 December 1952, in Nice) was a French general, aviator and politician.[1] He was behind the creation of the Salon-de-Provence Air School and the general development of military aviation.
Biography
Denain graduated from
From 10 March 1933 to 6 February 1934, General Denain served as the Chief of the Air Force General Staff under Air Minister Pierre Cot, replacing General Joseph Barès. Denain and Cot dealt with the Armee de l'Air's technological issues. They built a series of new aircraft built to make the air services competitive; they worked with French aircraft manufacturers on improvements to aircraft design and production; and they made threats to nationalize the French aviation industry.[4] Denain developed a strategic role for the Air Force with plans in 1933 for equipping it with 1,000 new planes.[5] From 9 February 1934 to 24 January 1936, he was Aviation Minister in the Gaston Doumergue government.[6] During this time, and on behalf of France, Denain announced this his country would organize a Paris to Hanoi air race in 1935, modeled after the London-Melbourne race.[7]
By August 1936, under the
References
- ^ "Général DENAIN 1939 1940", ATF40 - Armée de Terre Française 1940. (in French) Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- ^ L'Air et l'espace (in French). G. Roche d'Estrez. 1953. p. 109. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-395-25104-1. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-8131-2374-5. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ISBN 9780306812163. (in French)
- ISBN 9782738450333. (in French)
- ^ Aero digest. Aeronautical Digest Pub. Corp. 1934. p. 22. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ^ Gannes, Harry; Marion, George (1936). Spain defends democracy. Workers Library Publishers. p. 10. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
- ^ Gannes, Harry; Repard, Theodore (1937). Spain in revolt. Knopf. p. 142. Retrieved 17 July 2012.