Pilot Horst Rippert claimed Saint Exupéry : 31 July 1944 / 15 March 2008 !

[RolandF]

Nothing of the nonsense written in the international press (the usual "Nazi pilot" sensational stories etc.) especially the obvious crap written in the otherwise good informed French "Figaro" appears in the German press of today. In his younger days Horst Rippert has been a reasonable and reliable sport´s jounalist working for the German TV channel ZDF, being one of the first reporters being employed when the channel started to work in the 60s. I hope he has not lost his credibility and his wits due to his high age...

Anyway, I understand the story as follows: German TV journalists from the otherwise very reliable public channel "ZDF" were researching for a known German historical documentary series "Tauchfahrt in die Vergangenheit" about archeological sites on the sea bottom like any kind of ship wrecks.
As one of the topics Saint-Exupery´s Lockheed F-5 reconaissance wreck was chosen. To spread some light on the puzzle they researched the adresses of former JGr 200 pilots being still alive and having been stationed in Southern France during the crucial time in 1944.

Horst Reinert´s name appeared on this list so they contacted their former colleague. When the journalists started to interview Reinert about his opinions about Saint-Exupery´s death (the story of his brother Hans-Rolf aka "Ivan Rebroff" has nothing to do with WW2, here the "Figaro" is writing utter nonsense), he said: "You can refrain from further search - it was me..."

I´m still sceptical because of his 64-year-long silence but ZDF announces a TV report with the final proofs. So let´s see...

Regards

Fran