The Sixth Louis Bleriot Lecture was given in London by General Guy du Merle on 19th March 1953 at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Storey's Gate, S.W.I. Mr. G. H. Dowty, F.R.Ae.S., President of the Society, presided and welcomed particularly M. Jules Jarry, President of the Association Francaise des Ingenieurs et Techniciens de l'Aeronautique, and members of A.F.I.T.A., who had come over from France for the occasion.
Introducing the Lecturer, the President outlined his career. After leaving school General du Merle went into the corps of aeronautical engineers, which was then of civil status but had since been militarised. He spent two years at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l'Aéronautique, graduating in 1932, and obtained his certificate as a pilot of military aircraft including seaplanes. For the next two years he served as an engineer pilot at the Centre d'Essais en Vol (Flight Testing Centre) testing prototype aeroplanes at Villacoublay, during which time he flew both French and foreign aircraft. He next became Engineer at the Technical Department of Aeronautics at the Air Ministry and then Director of the Department. While a professor at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de I'Aéronautique he had published a book on the construction of aeroplanes, a copy of which was in the Library of the Society. Upon being attached to civil aviation at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, he founded and directed for two years the National School of Civil Aviation at Orly. General du Merle was then appointed Director of Navigation and Air Transport at the same Ministry, and represented France at a number of international meetings on Civil Aviation. Appointed Ingénieur Général de l'Air, he had regained for a short time his original Ministry, which he now represented on the Interim Committee of E.D.C. He had been on missions to England a number of times since the end of the war, and in 1947 had flown several British aeroplanes, including the Sea Fury, the Meteor and the Vampire. He was a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and was also an Officer of the Legion d'Honneur and held the Medaille de l'Aéronautique. General du Merle was at present Commandant des Ecoles et Stages at the Ministere des Travaux Publics et des Transports (Officer in charge of Schools and Courses).
