Any confirmation of H.J. Marseille crash in France in summer 1940 ?

[gilles collaveri]

Has somebody ever heard of H.J.Marseille crashing (belly landing) in France with a 109, somewhere in summer 1940 ?

It allegedly took place in Vendée near Chantonnay, which is near the Atlantic coast.

Any confirmation of this crash ?

Thanks for your advice.

GC

[Oberst]

I can only think of while returning from a bomber-escort mission on 23 September 1940, his engine failed after combat damage sustained over Dover, he tried to radio his position but was forced to bail out over the sea.

[ouidjat]

Salut Gilles,

1/ This thread: http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=21555
2/ Where did you find this belly landing in Chantonnay? Ferry Flight? Erg. Unit? Location seems strange.

Regards, Franck.

PS: No news of our friend?

[gilles collaveri]

merci to both of you

en effet, I shall remind him.

All best to you

Gilles

[gilles collaveri]

I forgot to answer your question as to why I asked this:

local witnesses between Chantonnay and Pouzeauge said they saw an airplane belly land in summer 1940, that they rescued the pilot who was unhurt,

after that, they allegedly recognized H.J.Marseille in "Adler" in which he was pictured.

I have a slight doubt, but that is why I asked the question.

all best

Gilles

[Chris Goss]

Gilles: This surely was a very very unreliable source??!! He wouldn't have featured in Adler until a year later and in any case, what would a non-aviator or for that matter non-Luftwaffe member know?

[CJE]

Salut le Toulousain,

Marseille was a member of 1.(J)/LG 2 at that time, a unit that operated from Calais-Marck, out of reach of Vendée however strong the wind was.
He was shot down three times in September 1940 but always in the Calais area. He said he was treated each time by the same surgeon who became suspicious about his mental health.

[tmolitor]

Hi Larry, I have a copy of the booklet you mention above and I can agree there is a photograph of this particular aircraft.

[ouidjat]

Welcome tmolitor!

.... Hemmm, can you share a scan please?

Regards, Franck.

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Here are the two photos that I know of relating to the FL a/c at "Calais-Marck" with a note that they show an a/c of "3.(J)/LG2" flown by "Marseille." I presume that these photos were captioned from information provided by Heinz Nowarra, and come to us via the Peter Petrick and Jochen Prien Collections. I seriously question this identification as one of Marseille's crashes because his first of three with this unit was on 2 Sept 1940, when he crash-landed a "White 14" from 1.(J)/LG2 at Calais-Marck. By this time the rudder should have been painted white or yellow, or at least tipped in white or yellow. Instead it is covered by a heavy two-tone mottle of gray and green. No a/c code is visible due to the angles. Obviously, this was at or immediately after harvest time on the Pas-de-Calais. Based upon the rudder alone, it seems to me that this would more likely be late-July-early August, before the white or yellow tactical markings were applied on the rudder. If this was a 3 Staffel a/c, it wasn't likely to be Marseille, who was with 1 Staffel.

What I'm hoping by posting these is that someone will recognize other views of this a/c that may have appeared on eBay, or in other sources, that provide further identification of the a/c, perhaps even displaying a unit insignia. The grain shocks may help correlate these with other views of the crash-landing.

Regards,

Larry Hickey
EoE Project Coordinator

http://ihra.smugmug.com/photos/i-X9N...-X9Npw7B-M.jpg
http://ihra.smugmug.com/photos/i-gbd...-gbd7hnm-M.jpg