Talk:Le héros de la Marne

First, thanks to Thierry Matra who let me to discover this movie.

Jules Védrines and "La Vache"

Jules Védrines was one if not the most popular French pilot just before the World War One. At 32, in August 1914, the headquater enlisted him as pilot but with no rank.
In 1912, he has had test the Blériot 36 for the Army. This plane was intended to reconnaissance duties and got some armour. Its poor performance let the Army to cancel the order. Jules Védrines was the pilot of a variant (Blériot 36 bis or 39 ?) with a double engine. Védrines christened the plane "La Vache" (The Cow) which in slang means an astonishment with some admiration. But a cow never fly ! (French pilot say "aller aux vaches" to describe a landing following an engine failure). Some say it was in homage to his family's roots in the Limousin region.
Despite the poor handling of the Blériot, Jules Védrines has used this airframe several weeks at the beginning of the war but the plane was out of service in September.
Later, Védrines was largely involved in clandestine missions, landing behind enemy lines to drop or pick up agents at the controls of a Morane Saulnier Parasol (but this aircraft never worn the cow's head blazon nor a christen name). The MS 138 seen in the movie has a similar layout but the action didn't take place in August 1914.
In 1915 and until 1918, the blazon was seen on some of his aircraft (Nieuport 80hp but not the 110 hp one) but with a slighty different drawing (horizontal ears with two wings on the diagonal). LVCDC 13:45, 10 May 2016 (MDT)