Force Landing of "Black 7" of 2./JG76 May, 1940

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Can anyone help solve this mystery? Recently on eBay, another photo of a Bf109E of "Black 7" of 2./JG76 was sold at auction <http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&viewitem=&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fs earch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3 DR40%26satitle%3D130076518054%26fvi%3D1&item=13007 6518054&rd=1>). Being along a road, this is a well-photographed incident, including a very similar photo on P. 376 of Dr. Prien's JFV Vol. 3, and another view on the next page. This time there is a caption written on the back of the photo which translates, "a force landed fighter in the vicinity of Mont..." the latter part of the word looks like "...cheni" or "...chene." Does anyone recognize what this location is? or can identify anything about this location from the background, including the farmhouse in the background? A clue might be another photo of this aircraft came up on eBay a couple of years ago with the note that it was at or near "Raucourt," which I have noted is south of Metz about 12 miles. Raucourt is in the Ardennes area of France, which probably indicates a date very early in the French Campaign, somewhere between about May 10th through May 14th. I note that on 11 May, I./JG76 moved to Wengerohr, about 60-70 miles NNW of Raucourt. Can anyone shed any further light on this force landing? I'm trying to determine specific location, date and, if possible, the pilot and circumstances of the force landing.

Thanx. Any help would be appreciated.