AVIATION 1940. Autograph manuscript by an aviator, Journal 2 - Lot 364

AVIATION 1940. Autograph manuscript by an aviator, Journal 2, March-August 1940; Fleur des Neiges school notebook (22 x 17 cm), 98 pages. (slight wetness). Daily account of a serviceman who passed through Salon, Châteauroux, Paris, Dijon, Macon, Montluçon, Compiègne, Avignon, Vierzon, Saint-Priest, Tours, Savonnières, Limoges, Angoulême, Saint-Jean d'Angély, Saintes, Cognac, Bagnères de Bigorre, Lourdes, Varenne sur Allier. This notebook, a continuation of a missing no. 1, runs from March 24 to August 23, 1940. Here are some brief extracts. April 11. "The captain and 3 crewmen on their way to convoy a Bloch 210 charred in a forced landing after takeoff". April 14. "During my leave most of the Bloch aircraft left. Potez 633s were added to the formation, as the Bréguets are easily demolished... the Bréguet is fairly well armed, but the Potez is not". May 11th. Bombing: "We heard whistling noises that filled us with horror, and almost immediately the sound of exploding bombs. Everything was shaking with an appalling din. I threw myself into the corridor and lay down, getting up as soon as the bombs exploded to get outside, but new whistles made me throw myself under the washbasins and for a few seconds there was an indescribable thunder. Amidst the dust and debris, men lay strewn on the ground. I passed the first shelters with so many others fleeing and ran for cover under a hedge of trees 500 m from the barracks, passing through fields and swamps where I was up to my belly in water and mud"... June 14. Exodus... Etc.