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Re: Trying to verify Villacoublay as French Airfield where this photo was taken
Hello all,
Thanx for all your very helpful suggestions and photos. Göran Larsson just sent me a photo from P. 53 of "Avions Hors Serie 24, La Débacle de mai-juin 1940." It shows exactly this scene only taken further down the runway closer to the larger tower. In the distance on my photo, it's now clear that all the indistinct images farther down the field are French a/c wreck and debris. That whole end of the runway is covered with them. There is a significant aircraft wreckage dump there. So this answers my qualms about no French wrecks--there were plenty of them, just not near the a/c in my photos. This also suggests that there was time to clear off the airfield area around the photo site, and move all the French wrecks down to a dump site at the far end of the field.
The clincher is that this new photo also shows the wingtip of Bf110 "White G" that has the distinctive top wing-cross style used only by LG 1 during the WC, and early BoB. This a/c was L1+GH, for which I have several other photos, including one which matches these wingtip markings.
I think that Gerhard's (Merlin) suggestion that L1+XB (with the Adj wingtip L1+YB) was there for a commander's conference for V. Fliegerkorps units. To me this does date this at least to late-June, 1940, and possibly sometime during the early Battle of Britain period. This explains why Villacoublay is not listed as one of the places V.(Z)/LG1 was based during this period.
My final task which might allow me to date this photo precisely involves taking the Horst Liensberger FBs that I have for this period and see if I can find a sortie to Villacoublay. That will tell me if this is late or end FC or early BoB.
Thanx again for all the help. I'll let you know what story the FBs tell.
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