Jean-Louis Nicot was the commander of the French Air transport fleet during the First Indochina War

First Indochina War

The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...

. He was later sent to prison for his involvement in the Algiers putsch

Algiers putsch

The Algiers putsch , also known as the Generals' putsch , was a failed coup d'état to overthrow French President Charles De Gaulle and establish an anti-communist military junta...

.

Biography

Nicot graduated from the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr

École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr

The École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr is the foremost French military academy. Its official name is . It is often referred to as Saint-Cyr . Its motto is "Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre": literally "They study to vanquish" or "Training for victory"...

 and entered the French Air Force

French Air Force

The French Air Force , literally Army of the Air) is the air force of the French Armed Forces. It was formed in 1909 as the Service Aéronautique, a service arm of the French Army, then was made an independent military arm in 1933...

. He moved up through the ranks until he reached lieutenant-general, serving as second-in-command of the Air Force.

Conviction

Algiers putsch

Algiers putsch

The Algiers putsch , also known as the Generals' putsch , was a failed coup d'état to overthrow French President Charles De Gaulle and establish an anti-communist military junta...

 occurred on April 23, 1961. Nicot was found to have been involved in delaying the transmission of certain orders at the time of the French counter-attack, as well as aiding in the secret transfer of Generals Maurice Challe

Maurice Challe

Maurice Challe was a French general during the Algerian War, one of four generals who took part in the Algiers putsch...

 and André Zeller

André Zeller

André Zeller was a French Army general, one of the four generals who organized the Algiers putsch of 1961...

 to Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

.

General Nicot was tried by the High Military Court and convicted on June 19, 1961, for collusion "with the leaders of an insurrectionist movement." He was sentenced to twelve years in prison, eight less than the prosecution's requested twenty years.

After release from prison

Nicot was released from prison in 1965, and later reinstated to the Air Force Reserves in November 1982, following the adoption of a bill by the French legislature "relating to the settlement of certain consequences of the events of North Africa", whose goal was to reinstate 800 officers, 800 policemen and 400 civil administrators expelled between 1961 and 1963 into public office, except for the eight putschist generals expelled from the reserves.

General Nicot accumulated 4500 hours of flight time during his career.

Decorations

• Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur
  Légion d'honneur
  The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
  
   ("Legion of Honour")
• Ten citations, with nine on order of the army
• Distinguished Flying Cross
  Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
  The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...
  
  (UK)