AIRCRAFT COLOURS AND MARKINGS OF THE FIRST
WORLD WAR ERA
France
In the late 1960s, Commandant E. Moreau-Berillon produced a limited edition
folio of French insignias entitled "L'Aviation Francaise1914-1940:
Ses Escadrilles - Ses Insignias". This is a series of eight folders
containing hundreds of handpainted (!!!) insignias as used by the French
up to 1940. The illustrations themselves are somewhat crude in many regards,
but the information on colours and what unit to attribute them to is an
amazing resource. On top of which, there are also summaries of the various
escadrilles. So, all-in-all, it is a very useful volume and many of the
illustrations in the French section here are partially based on the folio,
and it is to this set that the phrase "French Markings Folio"
refers to in the source section of many profiles.
The Flying Machines Press book "French Aircraft in WWI" by
James Davilla and Arthur Soltan is the best English language source on
French aircraft in the Great War. As always with such a massive work,
there are some minor errors, but these in no way detract from its usefulness
in cataloguing the multitude of French aircraft used, and has been one
of my sources. FMP French book refers to this volume.
A more recent source on French aircraft is the website http://albindenis.free.fr.
This is a treasure trove of photos and illustrations of the various French
escadrilles and has been extremely useful in filling in holes in my collection.
INDEX BY ESCADRILLE
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