Civil Airliner losses Battle of France

[Chris Goss]

Apart from the AW Ensigns and DC-3 OO-AUI/2094 lost at Arques 23 May 40, can anyone tell me what other impressed airliners were lost in the BofF?

[Thierry K]

One ex SABENA SM73P damaged (straffed on Merville airfield) one other shot down by Bf 109s on 23 May 1940.
Cheers Thierry

[Peter Cornwell]

Chris,

Let's cut to the chase. Does anyone have reliable information on where & when the attached aircraft was lost ? Many thanks.

[Martin Gleeson]

Peter's photo shows the ex-SABENA OO-AUI as mentioned in the post by Chris. Many photos of this aircraft exist showing it before and after its destruction. At least one photo of this wreck clearly shows the 'OO-AUI' markings while one in its intact state barely reveals the bottom of the above registration.

One E-Bay caption of a photo showing the intact aircraft claims that it was captured near Arques by the 3rd Panzer Division on 24 May 1940. I have seen nothing conclusive about its fate. Some sources suggest two of the Belgian crew were killed or that several passengers were injured. It seems certain that it was destroyed soon after capture, one popular theory is that it was strafed by RAF fighters.

Regards,

Martin Gleeson.

[Peter Cornwell]

Martin,

Thanks for the information. So the two photos attached show the same aircraft soon after its arrival at Arques and before its eventual destruction ? I recognise that the camouflage pattern does seem the same and there is a distinctive chimney(?) in the background of a couple of shots.

[Col Bruggy]

Hello,

From a dated, but reliable source:

Meanwhile, the DC-3 OO-AUI, en route to St Nazaire, was hit by flak and, having lost a part of its wing, made a crash-landing in a field at Arques, killing the pilot and wounding the other members of the crew. The mechanic Piet Vrebos was captured by German forces but his civilian status was apparently accepted and he was sent home. The loss of two valuable pilots - Raymond Charlier and Victor Moreau - was a blow for Sabena.

An Airlne at War.
De Wulf,Herman.
Air Enthusiast. No.13 (Aug/Nov. 1980)
p.74.

Col

[Peter Cornwell]

Thank you Col,

Many thanks but that information I have. I'm trying to positively identify the aircraft shown in various photos.

[Stig Jarlevik]

Peter

I don't think the two sets of photos show the same aircraft. Your second set of two DC-3 shows basically an intact aircraft captured by the Germans. There are no trace of any AA-fire as far as I can see.
There is another photo from e-bay of this aircraft which I have attached (hopefully) which clearly shows it with German troops.

So unless we surmise that this aircraft somehow escaped after a number of photos had been taken of it and later was shot down by AA-fire, I would say we are looking at two different aircraft.

Cheers
Stig

[Pieter H]

To me it is not entirely clear.

These are the usual facts as I know them:
- Two Belgian Sabena DC3's escaped to England and were taken over by (probably) the RAF No.24 Sqn. These were the OO-AUH and OO-AUI.
- The OO-AUI was shot down on May 23 while over Calais and crashed near Arques (near St Omer). All reports say this was due to part of the left wing being shot away. The crash was pretty heavy since the pilot died in the accident.
- The OO-AUH ended up in Algiers around June 1940 and was given to the Italians.
- I can't find any references to other DC3's used by the RAF in May 40.

What do we see on the different pictures?
- The two pictures from Peter's 2nd mail and the one from Stig are very likely the same a/c, which seems fully intact, and abandoned on a large air field (Merville?)
- The first picture of Peter of the burnt a/c - and I have more of the same plane - shows in my view an aircraft that has been fired deliberately. It was standing on its wheels when fired, there are no bullet holes etc. Also note that the left wing seems entirely intact.

So my questions or assumptions:
- There seem to be three different aircraft:
1) the OO-AUI that crashed and from which there doesn't seem to be pictures.
2) the OO-AUH that ended up in Italian service.
3) the burnt out aircraft
- If there indeed only two and not more DC3's operated by the RAF in May 40, then the only conclusion can be that the burnt aircraft must be the OO-AUI. But then the stories about a damaged left wing, a crash etc don't seem accurate. The pictures suggest it landed properly but was then set alight.
- I assume that the captured aircraft was the OO-AUH, otherwise I can't explain how an RAF plane ended up in German hands in Algiers.
- Of course all theories change if there were more than two DC3 in use.

Regards, Pieter

[Peter Cornwell]

Many thanks Stig for the additional photo of OO-AUI. This is the key to unravelling my question as you can make out the lower half of the serial on the rear fuselage confirming its exact identity.

Pieter summarises precisely the same problems I was experiencing with these and other photos of the burned out DC-3. But Chris Goss pointed out the partial serial OO-AU remaining on one of the shots of this one. So, given the exact match in camouflage pattern, plus the distinctive chimney in the distance in some photos, I am now reasonably well satisfied that we are looking at the same machine which landed intact near Arques on 23 May 1940 and subsequently became burned-out.

Thank you all for your input.