Bordeaux-Aéronautique
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | March 17, 1939 |
| Founder | Marcel Dassault, André Curvale, Henri Deplante, Claude de Cambronne |
| Headquarters | Talence , France |
| Products | Aircraft fuselages (Bloch MB.175 and MB.1020) |
Bordeaux Aéronautique (BA) was a French aerospace firm established on 17 March 1939 by Marcel Dassault (originally Marcel Bloch), alongside André Curvale, Henri Deplante, and Claude de Cambronne.
History
In response to the rising demand for aircraft manufacturing, SAAMB purchased industrial facilities in Talence near Bordeaux in September 1939, which laid the groundwork for Bordeaux-Aéronautique. This period coincided with a major phase of French military rearmament.
The company’s initial purpose was to manufacture front fuselages for the Bloch MB.175 and MB.1020 models intended for the Vichy French Air Force. Production was halted following the 1940 Battle of Dunkirk and the subsequent German occupation, which also saw Marcel Bloch arrested on 6 October 1940. During his imprisonment, authorities scrutinized Bloch’s enterprises amid wartime economic purges.
Although the Comité d'organisation de l'aéronautique postponed Aryanisation measures, German officials appointed Jean de Broë as interim administrator of the Bloch firm in Saint-Cloud in 1942. Meanwhile, in December 1940, Marcel Bloch transferred control to Henri Carol.
The Vichy French Air Force operated Bloch MB.150 fighters and MB.170 bombers deployed across units stationed in both the unoccupied zone and North Africa. By November, Luftwaffe fighter pilot training involved 173 MB.152/155 aircraft.
Significantly, during World War II, Chuck Yeager piloted P-51 Mustangs with the 363d Fighter Squadron near Bordeaux before being downed in March 1944 by German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters based at Cazaux.
Following the German withdrawal from Bordeaux in August 1944, SNCASO recommenced activities at Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport to support Allied operations. Marcel Dassault returned from Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1945 and restarted his aviation enterprise in Talence. By mid-1945, he revitalized the BA 30 initiative, which culminated in contracts for prototypes such as the Sud-Ouest Bretagne and Dassault MD 315 Flamant powered by SNECMA-Argus S12 V12 engines. In 1947, Jacques Chaban-Delmas—a former Resistance general and associate of Dassault—assumed office as Mayor of Bordeaux.
See also
- Groupe Dassault
- Dassault Aviation
- German military administration in occupied France during World War II
- Battle of the Atlantic