The Eagles Over Europe Project

[Larry Hickey]

lilsis,

Indeed this is useful information about his association previously with U-30. We've added that as a comment to our loss report. Thanx.

[schnellmeyer]

Hi Larry , on 25 Nov. 1940 a BV138 landed off the SW coast of Ireland due to engine trouble , the plane landed in rough seas and suffered damage to one of the floats and was unable to take off again .The crew made it to a near by island and were later interned in Ireland until August 1945 . One of the crew was Fw Hans Biegel , must be the same guy as in your first post !
He passed away a few years ago .

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

At the EoE WG (Working Group) we're trying to locate and catalog photos of every known LW and Allied a/c loss from 01.09.39 through 09.05.40. I think that there is a high probability that photos exist of all or almost all crash or force-landing incidents, especially LW planes that came down in France. Here is one that stumps me. The caption is dated 17.11.39 and says it shows the remains of a "Messerschimitt" shot down by French Curtiss fighters in a big air battle with 27 Bf109s "over the French lines."

I'm sure that other photos must exist of this incident, and it is sometime prior to the release date of the photo, perhaps even several weeks. Can anyone help put a precise date and place on this photo? Does anyone have additional photos relating to this incident, or a better copy of this photo?

http://ihra.smugmug.com/photos/i-CHd...-CHdRTSD-M.jpg
http://ihra.smugmug.com/photos/i-gTD...-gTDRvz2-M.jpg

We've got photos of most or all of the better-known crashes and FL, including those in the Netherlands and Belgium, but if anyone has photos of some of the lesser known, or not recently published incidents, I'd appreciate hearing from you.

[sidney]

Larry,

Here is I believe relevant excerpt from Mike Spick's book Luftwaffe Fighter Aces, page 36: "... A more significant combat took place on 6 November 1939. Polish campaign top-scorer Hannes Gentzen , at the head of JGr 102, was patrolling the frontier between the Maginot and Sigfried Lines. Well below he spotted a French Potez 637 on reconnaissance, escorted by nine Hawk 75s of GC II/5. Everything was in his favour - altitude, combat experience, and a numerical advantage of 3:1. He dived to the attack.

The French fought back fiercely. During the ensuing dogfight four Bf 109s were shot down and another four force-landed. The sole French casualty was a Hawk 75 which belly landed but was repairable...."

The above seems to fit the story on the back of the photo, including its delayed release.

Regards,
Sinisa

[Luc Vervoort]

Hi Larry,

The battle ' 9 against 27 ' (see text on the back side of the second picture) happened on 6 november 1939 when 9 aircraft of GC II/5 attacked (during the afternoon) approx 20 Bf109's.


Best regards


Luc

[mathieu]

A bit strange, the stamp of a Dutch company in Amsterdam! Would that mean the person who toke the photo was Dutch?

[udf_00]

Not directly relevant : a photo-blog on GC II/5.
http://maquette72.free.fr/themes/laf...sse/index1.php

[ClinA-78]

Lovely crater...

ClinA-78

[sidney]

Post No.5: It appears to me that the link to a photo blog on GC II/5 might actually be relevant - photos No.16 and 17 are captioned as "photo 16 : 1939 - novembre- le 6 - Slt Tremolet", which reads "6 November 1939 - Slt. Tremolet (i.e., the pilot)". So this Hawk 75 coded "Yellow 3" would be the only GC II/5 casualty of the day.

[Luc Vervoort]

Hi Larry,
Avions 157 (pages 4 - 14) mentions in the article " The battle of " 9 against 27 " " by Lionel Persyn the following details about the Bf109's which crashed in France :

One Bf109 crashed at Antilly. Pilot Oberleutnant Waldemar Von Roon, Staffelkapitän of I./JGr 102, is seriously injured and will not survive. His plane was shot down by sergent Legrand.
The second one crashed at Ittersdorf. The pilot, Leutnant Günter Voigt of Stab/JGr 102, baled out and was taken prisoner. This plane was shot down by sergent Edouard Salès.
A third one is shot down at Anzeling. His pilot, Feldwebel Fritz Gielh of the I.Staffel is also taken prisoner. His plane was shot down by aspirant Lefol.
A last Bf109 crashed at Hunnenberg. The pilot Oberleutnant Josef Kellner-Steinmetz, Staffelkapitän of 3./JGr 102, is killed aboard his plane. His plane was shot down by sergent Edouard Salès (2° victory).

Another one crashed in Germany (pilot Unteroffizier Hans Jenning, aircraft for 70 % destroyed).
3 other ones returned damaged to their base at Lachen-Speyersdorf.

A scanned copy of the article can be supplied.



A few comments from my side regarding the photographs published :
The plane dived with high speed in the ground.
I don't think that a pilot aboard this plane could have survived this crash. Can it be presumed that the pilot was dead or that he bailed out ?
The photograph must have been taken very shortly after the crash.
A lot of people are watching something, but they are not watching in the direction of the plane. Are they watching the pilot ?
Was this huge crater caused by the crash of the Bf109 ?
Are the many people on the photograph soldiers ? If so, the plane must have crashed close to a military installation where a lot of them were stationed, sa. Anzeling (a Maginot-fortress).

Best regards from Belgium

Luc