Airship Monuments in France
French Monuments: Beuvais - R-101 * Allonne - R-101 * Saint Cloud * Neuilly-sur-Seine * Neuilly-sur-Seine (14-bis) * Neuilly-Santos-Dumont * Paris * Pierrefeu-du-Var * Cuers-Pierrefeu French Navy Air Field
There are a number of monuments in France dedicated to the the British R-101 which crashed while passing through France in 1930, to the early work of Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont, and to the French "Dixmude".
Beuvais - Crash site of the British R-101:
It's one of the most well-known disasters of any kind, the unfortunate crash of the British R-101 on 5 Oct, 1930 on a rushed trip to India. The story is heartbreaking yet fascinating, and is amply covered in books and on the Internet. You are encouraged to read her story.
Photo credit: Aerofilms: A History of Britain from Above
Photo credit: Google Earth
The map-tack is at (Lat Lon) 49.390698 002.11068, about 39 Miles North of Paris. When zooming in on the Google-Earth map-tack we find the brush is still cleared at the crash site! Why? See the photo following this one:
Photo credit: Google Earth
There is a marker there! Deep in the brush, evidently on private land, but kept clear by the land-owner! It is evident that a path or paths are maintained to the marker:
The location in Google Maps:
Allonne - Monument to the British R-101:
Near the town of Allonne, there is a great memorial, dedicated on the crash anniversary in 1933. Here is the newspaper clipping for the dedication:
Photo credit: Undetermined
Here is the memorial as depicted on a post card at the time:
Photo credit: Undetermined
And as it appeared just a few years ago, 2019:
Photo credit: Google Maps
This beautiful memorial is located at (Lat Lon) 49.404463 002.121920 along Route Nationale 1. Sadly, there is no apparent parking near the memorial, and it appears all but forgotten and hard to access to view.
The location in Google Maps:
Saint Cloud - Monument to Alberto Santos-Dumont:
In the town of Saint Cloud, west of the Seine and west of Paris is a wonderful dedication to Alberto Santos-Dumont who, in the early 1900's chose the Paris area to conduct his experiments in lighter-than-air and ultimately in heavier-than-air aviation.
Photo credit: Undetermined
The pedestal is the original but the bronze statue of Icarus is a reproduction as the original was destroyed and melted down by the Germans during WW II. There is a photo of Santos-Dumont himself standing next to this statue which honors him. The inscription reads: "THIS MONUMENT HAS BEEN ERECTED BY THE AEROCLUB OF FRANCE TO CELEBRATE THE EXPERIENCES OF SANTOS-DUMONT, PIONEER OF AIR LOCOMOTION".
Photo credit: Public domain
This beautiful dedication is located at (Lat Lon) 48.856815 002.220032.
The location in Google Maps:
Neuilly-sur-Seine - Dedications to Alberto Santos-Dumont:
Alberto Santos-Dumont arranged for different locations in the Paris area to conduct his experiments in flight. At Neuilly-sur-Seine there exists a couple of citations to Santos-Dumont. One, honors his achievement in the first flight of his "14-bis" airplane, the other marking the location of his residence and workshop/hangar.
Neuilly-sur-Seine - Monument to the 14-bis.
(This is, of course, not an airship monument, but it is about Santos-Dumont):
Photo credit: Undetermined
This monument is located at (Lat Lon) 48.868044 002.240111.
The location in Google Maps:
Neuilly-sur-Seine - Marker of Santos-Dumont residence/workshop/hangar.
Photo credit: Philippe Jegousse
This monument is located at (Lat Lon) 48.880688 002.251722.
The location in Google Maps:
Paris - Marker of Santos-Dumont Residence.
Photo credit: Undetermined
This monument is located at (Lat Lon) 48.872086 002.301169.
The location in Google Maps:
Pierrefeu-du-Var - Monument the LZ-114 "Dixmude".
On December 21, 1923, the Dixmude was destroyed in a storm off the Island of Sicily. Fifty men, crew and passengers lost their lives. The people of Pierrefeu, France collectively raised enough money to build a monument to the memory of the Dixmude and her crew and passengers. The monument was inaugurated on 22 May, 1927.
Photo credit: collioure59, Panoramio
This monument is located at (Lat Lon) 43.227802 006.143187.
The location in Google Maps:
Cuers-Pierrefeu French Navy Air Field.
Thi memorial is obscure and has a sordid history. It was first placed and commemorated on the Base Aeronavale (Naval Air Base) Cuers-Pierrefeu, appropriately near where the valiant crews worked and near where the two hangars once stood. It was located at (Lat Lon): 43.247395 006.115479. It looked like this:
Photo credits: Undetermined.
The nice commemorative plaque is seen here linked to aerosteles.net due to copyright:
Photo credits: Christian Pourcelot.
But at one time it was also located somewhere else on the base:
Photo credits: Undetermined.
Then in 2010 it was physically moved from Base Aeronavale (Naval Air Base) Cuers-Pierrefeu to the side of a highway in a spot where it is now accessible to the public, but completely unknown! Here is what it looks like now. Notice the commemorative plaque is gone:
Photo credits: Pierre-Clément Got. Claude Dannau.
The monument is now at (Lat Lon) 43.236258 006.103325 between Cuers and Pierrefeu-du-Var as seen here in a Google Street View snapshot:
Photo credits: Google Earth.
See also the monument to the Dixmude in the "Italy" page in the Monuments menu.