Breguet Br.14S Ambulance of the Uruguay Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya) in the 1920s.

 

The Greek Air Force used this Breguet Br.14A2 against the Turkish Forces in 1921

Used throughout the war, the innovative Bréguet Br.14 was a highly successful biplane used by the French, Belgian and American air services. Designed by Louis Bréguet in 1916, it was one of the first aircraft constructed with duralumin in the airframe.

Breguet, who flew the first prototype (originally designated Breguet AV) on its first flight on November 21, 1916. The design was a come-back for Breguet to designing conventional planes, after designing pusher type aircraft Breguet BUM. Later that month, the French Army’s Section Technique de l’ Aéronautique (S.T.Aé.) issued requirements for four different new aircraft types. Breguet submitted his new design for two of those categories – reconnaissance aircraft, and bomber.

Following evaluation in February, the Breguet Br.14 was accepted for both these roles, and in March, orders were placed for 150 reconnaissance aircraft and 100 bombers, designated Breguet Br.14A.2 and 14B.2 respectively (by 1918 written Breguet XIV A2/B2). The A.2 was equipped with a camera, with some carrying radio, while the lower wing of the 14B.2 was modified slightly in order to accommodate bomb racks (built by Michelin). Both variants featured automatic flaps but these were not fitted to production aircraft.

Later came the improved Br.14 Tbis and the three-passenger Breguet Br.14 T2. During the 1920s, the Lignes Aeriennes Latecoere company used more than 100 Breguet Br.14 in various versions on its routes between Toulouse and Dakar (West Africa) and between Natal and Santiago di Chile in South America. Renault-engined Breguet Br.14 formed the basis of the Compagnie des Messageries Aeriennes, Louis Breguet’s mail-delivery firm operating between Paris, Brussels and London, and was the first plane to fly over the Sahara desert. Later versions of this plane were used by the Latecoere airline between Toulouse and Dakar, and between Natal and Santiago di Chile, linking up parts of the French colonies, as well as by the military as an air ambulance in Morocco and Syria in the 1920s.

The final version worthy of mention was the 14S (sanataire) air ambulance, adapted from the Breguet Br.14T. This version was widely operated in the 1920s during the campaigns in Morocco and Syria. Each could carry two stretchers in the rear fuselage.

The total production figures for Breguet Br.14 (5,500 before the war ended, 8,370 by 1928) is based on engines or airframes, the division of reconnaissance and/or bomber is further

complicated because the basic Breguet Br.14 was also given over to variants including night bomber, ambulance and seaplane. Also, the 14.A2s with the Fiat engines went to Belgium.

Operational Use

The Breguet Br.14 B 2 was the long-awaited French daylight bomber. The plane began to enter the French air inventory in quantity by the end of 1917. While the Breguet transformed many existing escadrilles into daylight units, other escadrilles within the same group remained dedicated to night bombing. These GBs were known as mixed groups. Since problems resulted in the mixed units from trying to combine two distinct functions within one organization, French bombardment aviation was reorganized in January 1918. The mixed GBs were separated into unique day-flying and night-operating units. Each GB contained three escadrilles as follows :

GB 1 became GB 1 (night) and GB 6 (day),

GB 3 became GB S (night) and GB 3 (day), and

GB 7 became GB 7 (night) and GB 5 (day).

Additionally, GB 4′s five Sopwith-equipped escadrilles began converting to the Breguet the same month. As the aircraft changeover neared completion, three escadrilles were taken from the group to form GB 9.22 Further refinement came with the instruction of 11 February 1918 when most of the French GBs became components of a larger organization, the escadre . The escadres were formed by order of General Petain to make mass employment of day or night bombardment easier to coordinate and carry out. Escadre 11, containing the French night GBs, was assigned to the strategic blockade of the Briey Basin. GB 8 remained independent to provide tactical night bombardment against targets during the upcoming German spring offensive. In April 1918 the second night bombardment escadre (no. 14) was formed by grouping together GBs 2 and 8.

Greek Airforce WWI

The Greeks already had and aviation during the Balkans wars (1912-1913), but very limited. The English navy gave a few training planes to the Greeks after 1915 (Bristol scouts), but the real expansion of the Greek aviation came after 1917 when the country officially declared war to the central powers. Some French Greek squadrons were created and flew French planes with French and Greek pilots. They had SPAD fighters and Breguet 14 bombers. The French ace Dieudonné Costes was for a time posted in one of those French-Greek escadrilles.

American Expeditionary Force and Belgium WWI

The Americans flew their first bombing missions in French-built Breguet Br.14 bomber aircraft, borrowed from France’s air force. With these airplanes, the first American bomber unit, the 96th Aero Squadron, flew its maiden combat mission on June 12, 1918. Following successful deployment by the French, the type was also ordered by the Belgian Army (40 aircraft) and the US Army Air Service (over 600 aircraft). Around half the Belgian and US aircraft were fitted with Fiat A.12 engines due to shortages of the original Renault 12F. By war’s end, those first American bomber crews had flown sorties penetrating 160 miles into German air space.

Post WWI

The type continued to be widely used after the war, equipping the French occupation forces in Germany and being deployed to support French troops in the colonies. A special version was developed for the harsh conditions encountered overseas, designated 14TOE (Théatres des Operations Extérieures). These saw service in putting down uprisings in Syria and Morocco, in Vietnam and in France’s attempted intervention in the Russian Civil War. The last trainer examples were not withdrawn from French military service until 1932.

Other air arms using the type included Brazil (30), China (70), Czechoslovakia (10), Denmark, Finland (38), Greece, Japan, Siamese Air Force, Uruguay (9) and Spain. Polish Air Force used 158 Breguet Br.14s, about 70 of them were used in combat in the Polish-Soviet war. In Japan, Breguet Br.14s were licence built by Nakajima.

Post war, Breguet had also begun to manufacture dedicated civil versions. The 14T.2 Salon carried two passengers in a specially modified fuselage. An improved version of this was the 14Tbis manufactured as both a land-plane and seaplane. The 14Tbis also formed the basis of an improved air ambulance, and 100 mail planes custom-built for Pierre Latécoère’s fledgling airline, Lignes Aeriennes Latécoère. After changing name to CGEA, the airline used among others 106 Breguet 14s for flights over Sahara desert. The 18T was a single 14T re-engined with a Renault Ja engine and equipped to carry four passengers.

Specification for Br.14 A.2

Powerplant: 300 hp Renault 12Fe inline

Number of Powerplants: 1

Length: 29 ft 1-1/4 in (8.87 m)

Height: 10 ft 10 in (3.3 m)

Wing Span: Upper: 47 ft 1-1/4 in (14.96 m); Lower: 40 ft 8 in (12.4 m)

Wing Area: 511.3 ft2 (47.5 m2)

Empty Weight: 2,271 lb (1,030 kg)

Max Takeoff Weight: 3,450 lb (1,565 kg)

Maximum Speed: 114 mph (184 km/h)

Service Ceiling: 19,690 ft (6,000 m)

Range – Hours: 3 hrs

Crew: 2

Armament: 1 fixed 0.303-in (7.7-mm) Vickers machine gun on fuselage, port side

2 ring mounted 0.303-in (7.7-mm) Lewis machine guns in observer\’s cockpit

Up to 88 lb (40 kg) bombload