Workshop form K 39-31 "Standard Components Modified During Assembly", erased inscriptions

In this document

This is a printed form from the S/Direction Réparations (Repair Sub-Directorate), bearing the header "P.D. – R.A.B. – O.S." and titled "État des Organes Standard Retouchés au Montage" (Status of Standard Components Modified During Assembly) (reference K 39-31), Division 1 p. 5.

The form provides a five-column table: Date, File No., Component type, Potez serial no., Modifications performed p. 5. It was also intended to indicate the workshop, the week concerned ("193...") and the foreman's name, but these fields are not filled in legibly p. 5.

Unfortunately, almost all the handwritten inscriptions entered in this table are now illegible: ink or pencil very faded, watermark traces. Only one line, towards the bottom of the table, allows one to guess uncertainly the words "... A ... driver ..." p. 5, without the full meaning being able to be restored.

We also note, in the "Modifications performed" column, a small freehand sketch: an elongated rectangular shape crossed by a vertical line, which could represent a mechanical part, but without an identifiable legend p. 5.

No date, file number or component designation can therefore be drawn with certainty from this document.

Context

The acronym Potez refers, in the industrial context of the time, to the aircraft manufacturer Potez, with which Citroën had historical ties (the Levallois factory, in particular). The mention "Potez serial no." suggests that this workshop form was used to track standard components, some of which came from or were referenced according to the Potez nomenclature — but this connection is a matter of general knowledge and is not made explicit in the document itself.

The printed format "K 39-31" and the mention of the year "193..." place this type of form in the 1930s, a period when Paul Magès was already conducting engineering work on various mechanical components at Citroën.

Archivist's perspective

This document belongs to a series of similar forms repurposed as supports for notes or sketches, as evidenced by other items in the same collection bearing the same reference K 39-31 — see for example the K 39-31 forms "Status of Standard Components Modified During Assembly" or the corresponding blank form.

It seems that Magès, or a collaborator, reused this administrative workshop paper — normally intended for assembly quality tracking — to scribble a small technical diagram, a common practice for an engineer in a hurry to capture an idea. The very degraded state of the ink unfortunately prevents any precise documentary exploitation of this sheet, which probably only has the value of material testimony regarding the media used at the time.