Helmut Braun and Herbert Wilms

[gilles collaveri]

ever heard of Helmut Braun and Herbert Wilms ?

They were FW190 pilots and died whil their aircraft collided in 1943 over Toulouse;

I am looking for any data about them.

Thanks

GC

[Laurent Rizzotti]

An Uffz Helmut Braun and a Lt Herbert Wilms who both died on the same date (28 June 1943) are buried in Dagneux German War Cemetery.

This Cemetery was built (or extended) in the 1960s to gather German war graves from a great part of Southern France, including Haute-Garonne, and so Toulouse.

PS: Gilles, just curious if you're just interested into this case or into the air history of the area. I'm from Blagnac, even if I now live in Paris.

[gilles collaveri]

I am interested in the history of the area and I have located several crash sites in the Toulouse region, with the story in background.

For instance, in this very case, the two FW190 took off, collided in flight, both pilots jumped but both parachutes failed : this is why they were both killed the same day.

A local witness told me the story, showed me the crash site and I found some remains of one aircraft.

If you want to exchange similar stories, I 'll be glad to.

GC

[Laurent Rizzotti]

One story I remember in Blagnac was that, according to local lore, one day a German pilot had engine problems over the village and began to fall from the air... diving on a school on a schoolday. The German pilot remained aboard and managed to avoid the school but was killed in the crash.

I have never taken time to check if the story was true or not....