Andrée Dupeyron (née Mailho) (19 October 1902 – 22 July 1988) was a French woman civil and military aviator who broke distance records in the 1930s and flew for the Free French Air Force and the Premier corps de pilotes militaires féminins.

Early life

Julie Victorine Andréa Eugénie Mailho was born on 19 October 1902 in

Ivry-sur-Seine Ivry-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Paris's main Asian district, the Quartier Asiatique in the 13th arrondissement, borders the ...

, Paris, the daughter of a working-class family. Her father died fighting in the First World War and in 1916 she started work in a munitions factory making ammunition shells. She met her future husband, the mechanic Gustave Dupeyron, at the age of 16 when he was working at the Ecole d'Aviation de Pau. They married at the end of the First World War. Passionate about mechanics, the couple soon became interested in aircraft. In 1920, after the birth of their first child, René, the Dupeyron family moved to Gustave's home town of

Mont-de-Marsan Mont-de-Marsan (; Gascon dialect, Occitan: ''Lo Mont de Marçan'') is a communes of France, commune and capital of the Landes (department), Landes Departments of France, department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Population Milit ...

in Landes and settled there, having a daughter Jacqueline. They opened a car repair shop and then bought a garage in Dax. The Dupeyrons agreed that Andrée would look after the latter and Gustave would manage the workshop in

. When he could, he spent time at the Aéro-club des Landes next door to the workshop. The aeroclub had been created in 1928 by Henri Farbos. The aviation bug caught the whole family and they bought a plane, a

Potez 43 The Potez 43 was a family of French light utility and sports aircraft, developed in early 1930s. They were three-seat single-engine high-wing monoplanes. Design and development The plane was a development of Potez 36. First of all it featured ...

. Gustave Dupeyron earned his pilot's licence in 1932, followed by Andrée in 1933. She was the second woman pilot at the Aéro-club de Mont-de-Marsan after the famous aviator

Hélène Boucher Hélène Boucher (; 23 May 1908 — 30 November 1934) was a well-known France, French pilot in the early 1930s, when she set several women's world speed records and the all-comers record for 1,000 km (621 mi) in 1934. She was killed in an acciden ...

Flying career

Andrée Dupeyron earned her amateur

pilot's licence Pilot licensing or certification refers to permits for operating aircraft. Flight crew licences are issued by the civil aviation authority of each country, which must establish that the holder has met minimum knowledge and experience before issui ...

and then her professional pilot's licence. The couple sold their garage in Dax and set up an aircraft repair workshop in a hangar in Mont-de-Marsan. Andrée Dupeyron upgraded her plane to a Caudron Aiglon, better suited to her ambition of breaking the straight-line distance record. In 1936 and 1937, she took part in the Hélène Boucher Cup race and the Mont-de-Marsan - Marseille - Tours - Paris international rally. On 16 May 1938, Dupeyron broke the women's record for non-stop straight-line distance. She flew from Oran in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

to Tel El Aham in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

in a Caudron C-600 Bengali 6.351 l aircraft, a civilian tourist aircraft converted to fly long distances. She beat the women's straight-line distance record recently set by Élisabeth Lion. She ended up stranded in the desert. On 31 December 1938, Dupeyron broke another record, for distance in a straight line without landing, flying from

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

to Mersa Matroh in Egypt in the same aircraft. Achieving these world records made the 36-year-old mother a heroine throughout the France. She was nicknamed ''La mère de famille volante'' for her speed. With her husband, Dupeyron was one of the first to join the Aviation Populaire des Landes club, founded in 1936 at the instigation of the

Front Populaire The Popular Front (, ) was an alliance of French Left, left-wing movements in France, including the French Communist Party (PCF), the socialist French Section of the Workers' International, SFIO and the Radical Party (France), Radical-Socialist ...

, which sought to promote and establish aviation among the working classes.

Second World War

With the outbreak of the Second World War, Dupeyron enlisted in 1939, and after being demobilised with the Fall of France, she joined the Resistance. She flew as a pilot in the

Free French Air Force The Free French Air Forces (, FAFL) were the air arm of the Free French Forces in the Second World War, created by Charles de Gaulle in 1940. The designation ceased to exist in 1943 when the Free French Forces merged with General Giraud's force ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was sponsor of a squadron that bore her name. One of her sons was also a military pilot in the

Free French Air Forces The Free French Air Forces (, FAFL) were the air arm of the Free French Forces in the Second World War, created by Charles de Gaulle in 1940. The designation ceased to exist in 1943 when the Free French Forces merged with General Giraud's force ...

. She hid the co-pilot of an American B17 in an attic in Place Saint-Roch, Mont-de-Marsan. Dupeyron's life story inspired

Jean Grémillon Jean Grémillon (; 3 October 1901 – 25 November 1959) was a French film director. Biography Grémillon was born in Bayeux and spent his early years in Cerisy-la-Forêt in Normandy. His father was employed by the Ouest railway company. Durin ...

's 1944 film '' Le ciel est à vous'' ( The Woman Who Dared in English) which was made during the Nazi occupation of France during the

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

's Air Minister, Charles Tillon, wanted to create a corps of female military pilots. During the winter of 1944–1945, Dupeyron was part of the first group of women pilots recruited for the Premier corps de pilotes militaires féminins (First Corps of Female Military Pilots) alongside

Maryse Bastié Maryse Bastié (; 27 February 1898 – 6 July 1952) was a French aviator who set several international records for female aviators during the 1930s. Early life She was born Marie-Louise Bombec in Limoges, Haute-Vienne; Bastié's father died ...

. Dupeyron trained at Kasba-Tadla Air Force School in Morocco, alongside Paulette Bray-Bouquet, Gisèle Gunepin, Élisabeth Lion and Yvonne Jourjon, and qualified as a military pilot in 1945 with the rank of second lieutenant. In 1946 she became a student pilot at the

Gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sports, air sport in which pilots fly glider aircraft, unpowered aircraft known as Glider (sailplane), gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmospher ...

Centre of Montagne Noire (France), the only woman in training there.

Post war

In 1949, she made another record attempt, flying from

in France to

Jiwani Jiwani (Urdu, ) is a town and commercial port located on the Gulf of Oman in the Gwadar District of the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The town has a population of 25,332 and is expected to become a major commercial centre in concert with the d ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. She flew alone, after 31 hours and 23 minutes. Andrée Dupeyron was awarded the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

that same year. Andrée Dupeyron died on 22 July 1988 and was buried in the cimetière du Centre de Mont-de-Marsan.

Commemoration

''Promenade Andrée Dupeyron'', a road in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, is named in her honour. A roundabout on

Simone Veil Simone Veil (; ; 13 July 1927 – 30 June 2017) was a French magistrate, Holocaust survivor, and politician who served as health minister in several governments and was President of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1982, the first woman t ...

boulevard in Mont-de-Marsan was named after Andrée Dupeyron in 2019, alongside two other roundabouts named for fellow women pilots Elisabeth Boselli and

Adrienne Bolland Adrienne Bolland, born Boland, (25 November 1895 – 18 March 1975) was a French test pilot. She was the first woman to fly over the Andes between Chile and Argentina. She was later described as "France's most accomplished female aviator", set ...

References