Quelques têtes du Pont-Long Pau 18

RARE WITNESS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR, entitled "Quelques têtes du Pont-Long", dated 1918 in Pau and signed by a certain J. H. Chapelle. This is a collection of some fifty portraits of military personnel who worked at the Pont-Long military aviation school, the famous moor known for having hosted the world's first aviation school, that of the Wright brothers from 1908, before becoming the home of military aviation.

These few heads are first introduced by an illustrated ode to these "demi-gods", servants of the Sun god Apollo, around whom aviators gravitate before heading off to Mars to go "forcing barricades".

From the most prestigious captain, like Captain Campagne, to the simplest corporal, everyone is represented. It's a poignant testimony to military and aeronautical activity in Béarn, a pioneering territory in this field, but also a gripping account of life far from the front lines, for those who were preparing to go there to confront the enemy in the air, or on their way back.It also bears striking witness to life far from the front lines, for those who prepared to go there to confront the enemy from the air, or who returned, like Lieutenant Rabatel of the Stork Squadron, an aerial hero who shot down several German fighters before being wounded and leaving the front to go and train new pilots at Pont-Long.

Each portrait, reproduced in black, is accompanied by a handwritten note from the author, a witticism intended to immortalize the portrait: "Aspires to leave his 80 horses to ride only one" or "despite his detachment from the things of this world, is forced to command them".

A unique work, a warm testimony to military life in Béarn during the First World War.