ABSTRACT
The World War II brought a stark reminder of France’s energy deficiency: no oil and scant coal supplies that the occupier found it easy to confiscate. In 1943, under the Vichy Regime, a technical committee for studying wind energy was set up as part of the Committee for Organising Electric Energy, headed by Pierre Ailleret (1900-1996), an engineer who had graduated from the prestigious French universities, National School for Roads and Bridges (Polytechnique, Ponts et Chaussées) and French Graduate School of Engineering (Supélec).
