Victor-Léon-Ernest Denain (6 November 1880, in

Dax Dax or DAX may refer to: Business and organizations * DAX, stock market index of the top 40 German companies ** DAX 100, an expanded index of 100 stocks, superseded by the HDAX ** TecDAX, stock index of the top 30 German technology firms * Dax ...

– 31 December 1952, in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

) was a French general, aviator and politician. He was behind the creation of the

Salon-de-Provence Salon-de-Provence (, ; oc, label= Provençal Occitan, Selon de Provença/Seloun de Provènço, ), commonly known as Salon, is a commune located about northwest of Marseille in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d' ...

Air School and the general development of military aviation.

Biography

Denain graduated from Saint-Cyr in 1901 and joined the French Army's cavalry. In 1903, he was assigned as Second Lieutenant to the 6e régiment de chasseurs à cheval (6th Cavalary Regiment) and in October 1905, as a First Lieutenant, he campaigned in the southern territories with the 5e régiment de chasseurs d'Afrique (5th Regiment of Chasseurs d'Afrique). In 1915, he transferred to the French Air Force where he commanded the aircraft of the Allied armies on the Eastern Front (1916–1918). With the French Air Force, he served in the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...

from 1918 to 1923, mainly in Syria. As such, he became a protege of General Weygand who arranged a foreign career for him. Denain was Head of the

French Military Mission to Poland The French Military Mission to Poland was an effort by France to aid the nascent Second Polish Republic after it achieved its independence in November 1918, at the end of the First World War. The aim was to provide aid during the Polish-Soviet War ...

1924 through 1931. 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 Pierre Jules Cot (20 November 1895, in Grenoble – 21 August 1977, Paris), was a French politician and leading figure in the Popular Front government of the 1930s. Born in Grenoble into a conservative Catholic family, he entered politics as a ...

, 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. Denain developed a strategic role for the Air Force with plans in 1933 for equipping it with 1,000 new planes. From 9 February 1934 to 24 January 1936, he was Aviation Minister in the

Gaston Doumergue Pierre Paul Henri Gaston Doumergue (; 1 August 1863 in Aigues-Vives, Gard18 June 1937 in Aigues-Vives) was a French politician of the Third Republic. He served as President of France from 13 June 1924 to 13 June 1931. Biography Doumergue ca ...

government."Le général Denain face au défi allemand : continuité, ambitions et déceptions (février 1934 – janvier 1936)" in Thierry Vivier: ''La Politique Aéronautique Militaire de la France: janvier 1933–septembre 1939'', Editions L'Harmattan, 1997, p. 136. . During this time, an on behalf of France, Denain announced this his country would organize a Paris to

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

air race in 1935, modeled after the London-Melbourne race. By August 1936, under the Blum government, General Denain, had become High Commissioner of

French Morocco The French protectorate in Morocco (french: Protectorat français au Maroc; ar, الحماية الفرنسية في المغرب), also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco between 1912 to 1956. The prote ...

. The next year, as Inspector General of the Air Force overseas, he transferred into the reserves. A very skilled pilot, he performed reconnaissance trips on numerous occasions. For example, as Air Minister he piloted his personal Breguet 27 to Belgrade, accompanied by two squadrons of Breguet 27s and a

Dewoitine Constructions Aéronautiques Émile Dewoitine was a French aircraft manufacturer established by Émile Dewoitine at Toulouse in October 1920. The company's initial products were a range of metal parasol-wing fighters which were largely ignored by th ...

, to attend the funeral of King

Alexander I of Yugoslavia Alexander I ( sr-Cyrl, Александар I Карађорђевић, Aleksandar I Karađorđević, ) ( – 9 October 1934), also known as Alexander the Unifier, was the prince regent of the Kingdom of Serbia from 1914 and later the King of Yug ...

on 17 October 1934.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denain, Victor French aviators French politicians French generals 1880 births 1952 deaths People from Landes (department) Chiefs of the Staff of the French Air and Space Force