The Eagles Over Europe Project

[ClinA-78]

I will dig it up...

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Have now received the original press photo that this image came from. It is still very grainy which makes me think that it was a frame from a movie film. Anybody have any thoughts on where that film might be available? Perhaps a caption with it will give us a location that will link to one of the four possible crash sites.

[edwest]

For what it's worth:

http://www.servicehistorique.sga.def...y-the-SHD.html



Ed

[Luc Vervoort]

Hi,

http://www.gaumontpathearchives.com/...=14565&rang=64

http://www.gaumontpathearchives.com/...205433&rang=97

http://www.gaumontpathearchives.com/...14593&rang=163

Some movie films were made and are kept at Gaumont Pathé Archives.

http://www.gaumontpathearchives.com/...ml=5&langue=EN

It is however not possible to watch them on this website.

Best regards

Luc

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

1) I have received a direct email from a French source that indicates that this is the crash of Oblt. von Roon on my list of possible crashes, with a possible location of Vry, a village, near Andilly. This accounts for all the people, which apparently numbered as many as 200 visiting the crash site.

One mystery still remains, how did von Roon survive this crash for even a couple of days? Did he bail out just prior to the crash and land with severe injuries either from the air battle or a parachute jump? It's hard to see how he could have survived the crash itself, if he was still in the aircraft.

2) Luc, thanx for the excellent research on the film archives. Does anyone have access to these films? Do scans of frames exist from these that will further help tell the story of the 6 Nov air battle (or any others from the Phoney War period)? Does any of this material contain further film of the Bf109Ds that crashed? Has anyone already researched these film archives for such material?

The great support for this request is deeply appreciated. We've now gone from an unidentified smoking hole in the ground to very likely a full identification and additional information on an important air battle, that at that time was a great French success. Are there French publications that have reconstructed this action in detail and which might contain additional useful photos, other than the blog images posted earlier in this thread? Does anyone have a photo of von Roon?

[edwest]

Perhaps a clue from feldgrau.net


"As a result of the aerial combat which took place on November 6, 1939 against 9 French Hawk H-75 (GC II. / 5) escorting a reconnaissance plane Potez-63, two squadron leaders were killed in action; Oberleutnant Waldemar v. Roon of the 1./ JGR 102 (replaced by Hauptmann Armin Ettling) and Oberleutnant Joachim Kellner-Steinmetz of the 3./ JGR 102 (replaced by Oberleutnant Eberhard Sauer). Four other aircraft made ​​forced landings with serious damages and one injured pilot.

"Hauptmann Armin Ettling took command of the 1./JGr 102 from December 13, 1939 onwards. He was a veteran of the Legion Condor as Leutnant he had won the Spanish Cross in Gold in the J/88 and was awarded the Iron Cross 2º Class in 1939; later he assumed command of the 7./JG 2."

Sources: http://forum.panzer-archiv.de/viewtopic.php?t=8741
Der Adler Nº 21 1939.

[udf_00]

AVIONS N°157 contains an article by Lionel Persyn :
http://www.avions-bateaux.com/produit/avions/1026