[Peter Cornwell]

Michel,

You may well be correct regarding my potential error regarding the death of QUANDT as published in BoFrT&N ten years ago. Additional information obtained after publication confirms that his aircraft crashed and burned out in a meadow belonging to Mr Francois GUYANT of Douvrend situated at ‘Saint-Laurent’, on the slopes of Auberville, outside Envermeu, at around 11.15 a.m. on 6 June 1940. His carbonised remains were buried in situ but exhumed on 7 June 1941 and reinterred in Champigny-St-André.

According to an old listing of French fighter claims that I have on file, GC I/4 claimed five Bf109s plus three more probables in combat between Ferrières and Picquiny, immediately north & west of Amiens, at unrecorded times on this date. So while my original conclusion does not seem unreasonable I concede that the source material could be mistaken - particularly as I do not find the combat recorded by Arnaud GILLET in VCF 3 ? Alternatively, and as you say, Hurricanes of No.17 & No.111 Squadrons operating together from Hawkinge provided escort for No.40 Squadron Blenheims to Abbeville that morning and were engaged by Bf109s from around 09.50 a.m. German claims suggesting that these were elements of 5.JG3 and 3.(J)/LG2. So, while I do not have a definitive answer to your question, maybe this additional information may help you reach some conclusion. Finally, I would add three Bf109s claimed destroyed by Hurricanes of No.43 Squadron over Le Tréport around 11.00 a.m. to the mix.