Dewoitine 01

Stamp from the Airmail series featuring the Dewoitine D1 fighter.

On the stamp are represented the plane Dewoitine as well as the aircraft carrier Le Béarn.

In 1923, the French Navy placed an order for 44 units. About thirty are delivered and are partially put into service on the aircraft carrier Béarn, as an on-board fighter. From 1927 to March 1928, then from August 1928 to January 1932, in the 7C1 aviation squadron – the first fighter squadron of the Béarn flotilla, created on March 1, 1926 –, the Dewoitine D1. C1 serves aboard this aircraft carrier. During the first period, aircraft wore the general insignia of wing aviation – the seagull on the turtle. During the second period, and in order to differentiate the three squadrons (hunting, bombing and reconnaissance) of Béarn, it is the winged seahorse which is represented, installed as the official insignia of the 7C1, without inscriptions on the rudder.