Lt. Ezano/Enzanno ? - FAFL, 1940

[Martin Gleeson]

Hallo,

Could anyone please help me with the first names and correct version of his surname ? He escaped to England in June 1940 and was retrained on Lysanders. He was sent to Africa during August 1940 with Groupe Mixte de Combat No 1 and soon commanded the No 3 Escadrille. There is an excellent article on the French Lysanders in Africa in 'AERO JOURNAL', No. 13 by Christian-Jacques Ehrengardt. This pilot is mentioned three times, but unfortunately his surname is spelt in three different ways ! Enzano / Ezanno / Enzanno.

Regards,

Martin Gleeson.

[CJE]

Sorry to have mislead you.
Its Yves, Paul, Émile Ezanno.

Chris

[Bertrand H]

More on him :

http://www.ordredelaliberation.fr/fr...gnon/1048.html

[Martin Gleeson]

Chris et Bertrand,

Merci, mes amis !
Your assistance is much appreciated.

Martin.

[Henk Welting]

Dear friends,
What was EZANNO's aircraft serial which he crashed on the peninsula Walcheren 4-11-1944 ? I know that somewhere in a file was mentioned Typhoon MN707 however Air Britain has for this serial 18-7-1944 - 443 Sqn - Flak at Orne bridge. (I've F/Lt Robert M. McKENZIE - RCAF J/11317 killed in this incident).
BTW: Ezanno survived an accident 21-5-1941 flying Maryland AH293 on a delivery flight from El Fasher, Sudan to Takoradi.
Regards,
Henk.

[Henk Welting]

Delivery flight was from Takoradi to El Fasher.....................
Henk.

[Observer1940]

Martin and Henk

Lt Ezano [Ezanno] was involved involved in a force landing near South Warnborough Hampshire on 15 August 1940, in a Lysander R2624, in the Free French Air Force, under the Command of the Air Ministry. Despite the location given on the A.M. 1180, the Lysander came down in a field next to the pub at South Warnborough, Hampshire and the Westlands Lysander was written off.

I thought the Inquiry was a bit unfair on him, unless there was a bit more to the crash landing! He was doing circuits and landings, so would be low at times, had engine failure and only clocked up 2 hours in this country, as there was no record of his other hours, previously, according to the A.M. 1180.

However, this is what the Accident Card states:-
"EF (flt) Mishandling."
"Low flying (contra) on type of a/c in which pilot was doing first solo."
"A/c lost speed, stalled, throttle opened up suddenly, failed to pick up - a/c struck grnd."
"Pilot experienced but head strong."
"Forbidden to fly any more at this Station. CO taking discplinary action (OC)."

Cause "F1A" which is the "Unauthorised low flying or acrobatics" (RAF Accident Groupings).

Sounds like he had a shaky start, but became very decorated by the end of the war!

Somewhere I have some research on him, taken from about four various sources, which you should be able to find online and at Google Books.

Also see the RAF Odiham ORB, there is a brief reference to the Free French July / mainly August 1940, before being posted abroad.

Regards Mark

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Mark. Will add this to my files.
Unfortunately still no answer on the accident 4-11-1944 on peninsula Walcheren. Moreover this aircraft loss is NOT listed in the Dutch list of aircraft losses over Holland 1939-1945.
Regards,
Henk.

[Chris Thomas]

Originally Posted by Henk Welting

Thanks Mark. Will add this to my files.
Unfortunately still no answer on the accident 4-11-1944 on peninsula Walcheren. Moreover this aircraft loss is NOT listed in the Dutch list of aircraft losses over Holland 1939-1945.
Regards,
Henk.

I am a bit puzzled by this one Henk. Ezanno finished his tour towards the end of October 44 and was replaced by Sqn Ldr Ridler.

Unfortunately I do not have 198's ORB to hand but according to my notes from the ORB, MN707 does not appear to have been used by the unit.

198 Sqn does appear on MN707's Form 78 movement card in the last entry ('FBE Cat E 3.11.44') but I am sure this is an error as it had already been written off as FB Cat E on 17.7.44, with 438 Sqn, in the penultimate entry. Entries on wrong cards are by no means uncommon.

Flg Off J.L.Allan, 198 Sqn reportedly forcelanded at Zuid Beveland on 3 Nov 44 in MN702 TP-F. Allan subsequently died of his injuries; MN702 was recovered by 413 RSU but was not repaired and eventually was 'SOC' on 19 Feb 45. The date and serial of the forced landing is confirmed on the Form 101s which accompany 198's records in the National Archive.

Somewhat unlikely, but the only link I can imagine with Ezanno is that he normally flew 'TP-E' and somewhere down the chain 'TP-F' was reported as 'TP-E'.
CT