WesWorld

Friday, December 1, 1944
Air France initiated its "air ferry" service between Paris-Orly and London's Gatwick Airport. Eventually, the airline intends to offer four daily flights between terminals.

Saturday, December 2, 1944
The Salon nautique international de Paris opened today.

Wednesday, December 6, 1944
The Menier Chocolate Company announced their intention to partner with the importer Martel-Lestrange S.A. of Le Havre to increase importation of cocoa from Cote d'Ivoire, Cote d'Or, and United Togo.

Friday, December 8, 1944
The film Cécile est morte! opened today in Paris theaters. The film stars Albert Préjean as Police Commissioner Maigret and Santa Relli as Cécile.

Saturday, December 9, 1944
The amphibious landing ship Destrées arrived today at the mouth of the Niger River. The landing ship will remain offshore for several days, offloading equipment to go up the Niger River to join Groupement Scipion.

Monday, December 11, 1944
The Louis Dreyfus Group initiated a regular cargo ferry service between Marseilles and the Iberian port of Barcelona with the 2,000-ton vessels Calanque de Sugiton and Calanque de Sormiou. Among the main cargoes expected for the new service is Iberian-grown oranges.

Wednesday, December 13, 1944
The Air Ministry confirmed that it had cancelled all further orders for the Dewoitine D.800 Flèche, citing poor performance.

Tuesday, December 19, 1944
Due to rising urban population, particularly in the region of Paris and Lyon, a movement advocating the creation of villes nouvelles ("new towns") has risen, echoing developments from Britain. The movement points to the construction in the quickly-expanding town of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines as a potential model for the rest of the movement within France to follow.

Friday, December 22, 1944
Excerpt from a report by the Marine Nationale about the advisability of landing existing jet aircraft on aircraft carriers:
- Bf-262: German-built jet in French service. Not suitable for carrier landings or take-offs.
- Dewoitine D.800: Not suitable for carrier landings or take-offs.
- Arsenal VG.640: Capable of arrested carrier landings and takeoffs with proper preparation.
- Spartan Stormrider: Mixed-power Atlantean fighter. Single example loaned from Atlantis currently undergoing carrier trials with Atlantic Fleet. Acquire more for further trials.
- Dassault Ouragan: Not yet flown, no commentary yet available.

Thursday, December 28, 1944
German Foreign Minister Thomas Dehner arrived this evening in Paris for consultations with Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Pierre Murail. Rumored topics of discussion include East Asia.

Notice! I have updated the Paris Air Show thread with some information about the Japanese entries, which I did not have at the time I originally wrote the post.

News and Reports: First Battalion of the Indochinese Marines Inaugurated into Service
Article from Le Spectateur militaire.

November 25 - The 1st Marine Battalion of the Indochinese Territorial Security Forces received its colours today in a ceremony at their newly-constructed caserne in Ha Long. The battalion's commander, Commandant Truong Khanh, accepted the colours from Governor-General Truong Van Bao, who was given the honour of announcing the battalion's nickname, "Wild Birds". The 1st Marine Battalion's activation is the first of a series of new marine infantry units funded and organized by the autonomous Indochinese state to improve their military capabilities. Previously, the Territorial Security Forces operated a number of independent riverine infantry companies throughout Indochina, operating in conjunction with the French Troupes Coloniale and Fusiliers Marins. Two of these companies have been merged in order to form the cadre of the 1st Marine Battalion. According to Viet-language newspapers in Hanoi and Saigon, the autonomous government intends to create two more marine infantry battalions and a marine artillery battalion by July of next year, with the eventual goal of creating a Marine Brigade.

For the last ten years, the Indochinese Territorial Security Forces and its precursor organizations have worked to create a professional and capable cadre of officers and NCOs. Indochinese citizens have been inducted into the French Army's colonial divisions, and throughout the years, high-performing soldiers were selected to undertake officer or NCO training, occasionally at the prestigious military academy of St. Cyr. Local instruction is taken on by the Centre d'Instruction de l'Infanterie (established in Saigon in 1934) and the more recently-founded Centre d'Instruction de l'Arme Blindée en E.O. (opened in 1941). A school of military medicine, the École de Médecine Militaire Viet-Namienne, was established last year in Hanoi in order to train military doctors. The men trained in these schools often served their first few months or years of service in the French Army, benefitting from the opportunities of promotion and training available in the larger force; but now the Indochinese officers and men are migrating back to the armed services of their native region.

Such is the case with Commandant Truong Khanh, who joined the 1er Régiment de Tirailleurs Tonkinois in 1932 as an enlisted rifleman, entering the service at the age of seventeen in order to help support the education of his two younger brothers. His French commanding officer noted Khanh's abilities and offered him the chance to win a spot in the premier class of the Centre d'Instruction de l'Infanterie in Dalat. Khahn remained with the French Army until 1942, rising in the ranks and gaining experience with the riverine troops, predominantly on the Red River Delta. In a private interview offered to Le Spectateur militaire, Khanh revealed that he wished to return to the Territorial Security Forces in order to help strengthen the forces of his homeland against the possibility of invasion by the Chinese Empire. "Someday they will come, as they have in past centuries," he said confidently, "And we shall destroy them as Tran Hung Dao and Ngo Quyen destroyed them at Bach Dang." Khahn also expounded on his theory of leadership. "My soldiers are my sons, and my officers are my brothers. Their blood now runs in my veins. As a father, I must teach them discipline, honor, and righteous devotion to our duty and country - but I shall make them strong men, and reward them with every good thing."

The new 1st Marine Battalion is organized along relatively conservative lines, being divided into three 'Dinassaut Commandos' and a headquarters company. The Dinassaut Commandos, each numbering a hundred and eighty-three men, are in turn composed of a company headquarters, three assault infantry platoons, and a support platoon with 60mm mortars, recoilless rifles, and demolition charges. The headquarters company includes intelligence, signals, supplies, and medical troops. Attached to the 1st Marine Battalion as a supporting unit - although not as an integral part of the battalion's table of organization - is a specialized transport company, equipped with Unic ACM-4 amphibious trucks, in quantities sufficient to transport the entire battalion and its combat equipment.