Charles Toussaint Védrines, commonly known as Jules Védrines, was born in December 1881 in Saint-Denis, France. His aviation career began with an apprenticeship at Société des Moteurs Gnome (the Gnome Motor Company), after which he worked as an aviation mechanic in England.
In December 1910, after completing a flying course at Blériot’s school, Védrines obtained his pilot’s licence, numbered 312. From that point onwards, his aviation career developed very rapidly.
In May 1911, Védrines won the Paris–Madrid air race, flying a Morane-Saulnier Type A aircraft. He then took part in the Pommery Cup on the Paris–Angoulême route, finishing second. Later that same year, he competed in the Circuit of Britain and the Circuit of Europe air races, taking second and third place respectively.
In 1913, Védrines flew from Paris to Cairo in a Blériot-built monoplane. This flight was connected with political affairs and almost turned into a duel. Nevertheless, it made Jules Védrines the focus of attention for the French press for several weeks.
During the Great War, Védrines served in the French Air Force. His aircraft was provocatively nicknamed la Vache (“the Cow”) – an allusion to Védrines’s origins in the Limousin region, famous for its cattle – and carried a painting of a cow’s head on the fuselage.
Shortly after the end of the Great War, the French department store Galeries Lafayette announced an unusual and dangerous aviation challenge. The aim was to land an aircraft on the twenty-eight by twelve metre terrace on the roof of the main Galeries Lafayette building on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris. Almost immediately, the challenge was banned by the Paris authorities because of the significant safety risk involved.
Despite the official ban, Jules Védrines decided to take the risk. On 19 January 1919, he successfully landed his Caudron G.3 on the roof of Galeries Lafayette. Having completed this almost impossible feat, Védrines ordered his aircraft to be turned around and, to everyone’s astonishment, took off from the building and returned to the Issy-les-Moulineaux airfield.
For this extraordinary achievement, Védrines was fined sixteen French francs. However, Galeries Lafayette paid him a prize of 25,000 French francs (equivalent to approximately €200,000 today). As a result, it proved to be a very profitable exploit.
Full story here.
Cover photo: Védrines shortly before taking-off for Paris to Madrid air race, 1911 (source: Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France, ark:/12148/btv1b53240723t, cropped)
